I’ve been a big believer in the MMM philosophy for a long time, but I seem to have trouble putting it into action. Other people with incomes less than ours have FIREed already. What do you see in here that makes you go “hmmm”? Our goal is for both of us to be retired in 10 years, so I want you to be aggressive.
Married filing jointly
Household is me (44 yo), my wife (44 yo), two teenagers at home, one kid in college. (We also have an adult son. We still consider him part of the family, but he’s on his own financially.)
Gross Salary:
Me: $3,500 per month. 24 paychecks a year.
DW: $5,732.80 per month. $2,866.40 per paycheck, every other week. Twice a year she has a 3-paycheck month. 26 paychecks per year.
Individual amounts of pre-tax deductions
Me: No deductions. My company pays 100% of my health care premiums. Discontinued 401k contribution to save for home down payment.
DW: (all per month) $253.84 health insurance, $17.08 dental insurance, $160 FSA. Discontinued 401k contribution to save for home down payment.
Other Ordinary Income:
~$12 per month – interest on bank accounts
~$5 per month – book sales on Amazon
~$30 per month – credit card rewards
~$125 per month – authorized user slot sales on credit card (thanks @areblespy!) Can’t increase this because this is the only card we have that is qualified.
Adjusted Gross Income: Includes everything above, but doesn’t include taxes.
Me: $3,500 per month
DW: $5,301.88 per month
Other: ~$172 per month
Combined household: $8,973.88 per month
Taxes:
Me: $471.74 per month
DW: $1,183.48 per month
Combined household: $1,655.22
Total available money per month, after all taxes and deductions: $7,318.66
Current expenses: All of these are monthly averages.
Category monthly
Auto:Gas 131.83
Auto:Insurance 49.93
Auto:Service 136.89
Auto:Other 3.62
Bicycles 23.73
Books 2.13
Charity 607.54
Clothing 88.61
Entertainment 43.65
Furniture 43.16
Gifts 47.67
Groceries 773.63
Haircuts 5.00
Household 306.11
Insurance:Life 384.75 includes policies for all six of us
Insurance:Long-Term Care 90.81 policies for DW and me cancelled
Liquor 2.22
Medical:Doctor 5.59 medical expenses not covered by insurance
Medical:Drugs 2.00 drugs not covered by insurance
Misc. 114.54
Mortgage: PI 1,082.56
Mortgage: TI 191.39
Nursing 18.44 license, uniforms for DW job
Recreation 12.28
Restaurant 220.17
School 122.96 field trips, uniforms, sports fees, etc
Utilities:Garbage & Recycling 18.25
Utilities:Gas & Electric 157.85
Utilities:Internet 88.79 reduced to $67/mo by dropping TV
Utilities:Telephone 46.60
Utilities:Water 62.59
Utilities:Other 15.56
Vacation 161.12
OVERALL TOTAL 5,061.94 4,949.37
Assets:
house 224,900 just bought, haven't made 1st payment yet
2004 Hyundai XG350L 1,837
2007 Hyundai Entourage GLS 3,294
checking #1 2,073
checking #2 2,822
savings account 10,176
DW 401k 54,751
my 401k 3,359
my IRA 25,043
taxable investment 5,386
OVERALL TOTAL 333,641
Liabilities:
mortage $212,928
no other debt
Income minus expenses equals $2,256.72 per month. We're using this to pay off our moving expenses and build up some equity in the house, and then we will turn on the 401k contributions again.
If anyone knows a way to format this a little better, please tell me.