Welcome to the fray,
@WellBehavedWallet !
I work in NENJ and it is expensive. I saved a lot of money and time by clustering all my errands. Hair cuts, gym, groceries all bundled together – no solo trips. It’s the money on gas but it is also the time.
Side hustle – is that the music lessons? How much do you charge, how many clients, how to get more etc.
If you are working full time, commuting and trying to have any kind of social life you may not have the bandwidth for “forward movement” here. Job change for a raise might hold more promise; I’ll defer to others here.
Track down the IRA info and post here (amount, who it is with)
“Savings at present = $1000” - everyone will want to know if this is in a high yield savings account like CIT or Ally; is this different than the $200/month you put into “immediate savings”?
Do the math to figure out how much you need to survive in an emergency month.
This math is a bit different than your monthly budget b/c if you lose your job you are not going to be eating out, driving around as much.
Then ask yourself how long it would realistically take to get a new job. 1.5 months? 3 months? 6 months?
Use that to figure out how much you need in your emergency fund.
So you will have two numbers: your monthly budget # and your emergency fund #.
Make a list of steps you need to take.
Housing – wow $1,000 is a lot. Granted, you cannot afford a to buy a house right now. Owning is a lot more than just a mortgage. You are also so young to be tied down with a mortgage in one of the most expensive places to live in the NE. Property taxes will kill you in NJ. But for that price you can get a lot in a roommate situation; or better yet cut that in half and move closer to your job so you 1) spend less time commuting, 2) spend less on gas (& maybe tolls) and 3) stop bankrupting yourself paying off your mom’s mortgage. Is there any reason your mom cannot sell the house now?
Tithe – it’s easy for me to say ditch this and donate your time instead but I know it is important to some people. You should consider telling your pastor that you are getting ready for some big changes financially and that for the next six months you will volunteer instead of donating money. If they kick you out or don’t handle it with grace you can evaluate if that’s the relationship you need with God.
Utilities -- $300 a month – please clarify if that is half and then break down what exactly this includes, with exact amounts. Do you have internet, Amazon Prime, HBOGo, Showtime, Netflix and Redbox all hiding in here?
Seasonal housing costs – ANOTHER $200 A MONTH??? What kind of palace do you two live in?? See if you can cut this down; post exactly what this is for.
Student loan – what is interest rate? who is the lender?
Phone – you will not die if you switch to Cricket or one of the other low cost carries. You might think you will die but you will not die.
Gym – not bad. How far is the drive from work and/or your house? There a few, right? Are you going to the one that makes the most sense drive-wise?
Groceries – omg I feel you. When I posted my case study I put $400 and my jaw still hurts from the face punches. I’m a single person and after a year my new average is $100/month on groceries.
Gas – hmm…post more about how you use so much gas. Guessing you live far from office, commute all over the pace for your errands, music lessons, friends etc and that this could be cut down if you were able to bundle your errands.
Personal care – I’d like to see more details. Nails? Hair cuts? Hair coloring? Massages? What are you spending this money on?
Transportation – is this what you are spending a month or an estimate on future costs like repairs. Consider putting the REAL number here and start a separate list of sinking funds for repairs, registration, tires etc.
Food out – you are allowed a social life you just can’t afford it right now. I’m not going to be too harsh on this line item but this needs to be viewed as a major perk rather than something you deserve. Best I can ask is that you bundle this stuff in with other errands/car time so that you aren’t racking up more miles/gas costs to spend money with your friends.
Additional – ah, good old miscellaneous. Break this out. Insurance (car? health?); medical (preventative, prescriptions?), outings (wait on TOP of the $75/month??)
Missing: travel, pets, internet (guessing in with utilities), laundry, so many other things. Clothing? Credit card?
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Please update these items and then we’ll all circle back with more suggestions.
I found it very helpful to create a numbered to do list when I did my case study so that I wouldn’t lose track of all the suggestions.
I found it helpful to make a list then just cross things off as I got them done.
E.g. from my case study:
1. Immediately move cash from checking to savings.
2. Investigate money market account
3. Look for cheaper phone plan
4. Google home waxing (ruled it out)
5. Think about storing activity gear in my home vs storage unit
6. Think about moving to a job on my side of the river
7. Save September grocery receipts for analysis of purchases
8. Read investment order link
9. Re-read posts about IRAs