It looks like you're currently spending your net, with your investments and savings coming from tax refunds and not out of your regular paychecks -- is that correct? If so, I'm guessing your savings rate is pretty low, since currently it's pretty much that 3% plus the match. You don't mention goals other than having kids, but if you want to have kids on your current income, you're going to need to decrease expenses or increase income -- kids ain't cheap, after all. ;) Plus, I'm assuming you have other goals that you want to meet, too.
Before going forward, let me point you to the
investment order sticky, which is incredibly helpful.
I don't have kids, but were I planning to have them, what I'd focus on right now:
1. Those credit cards.
2. A healthy emergency fund.
3. The medical insurance.
The credit cards -- obviously you want them out of the way, and I agree with you that the looming possibility of high interest on a large sum is something to be avoided. Paying off debt is also a guaranteed return, which is nice.
That being said, you also only have a little over one month's of expenses in your savings. I am somewhat risk-averse, so I keep four-six months myself, and also have a small sinking fund for known expenses like car insurance and travel for family. If I were planning for children, that emergency fund would get upped to eight months to a year, most likely.
For the medical insurance -- ACA plans unfortunately vary by state. I was on the ACA in California in 2014/2015; I grossed about $4k a month and paid about $300 a month for a Bronze level plan. If you have real health problems and are looking to have a baby, you might want a higher level plan than that. If your state is anything like California, you should be able to make an account on the online marketplace and review plans and pricing without actually signing up for anything -- I'd check that out ASAP. You should also be able to contact people with the marketplace if you need help understanding the plans.
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My questions for you:
1. What are your minimal debt payments? How much extra are you usually paying?
2. What's your timeline for kids?
3. What's your baseline risk tolerance?
4. How likely is it that you will be able to transfer that CC balance to other zero interest cards?
If you are very positive that you can transfer that balance (I know nothing about balance transfers -- never done one), then I would focus on boning up your emergency fund to a level that you are satisfied with first. I know the CCs will be an itch that you want to scratch, but especially if you want kids sooner rather than later, having liquid cash available can make a real difference. Once your emergency fund is funded to a level you're comfortable with, then you can start moving cash towards those cards. (This could be a stepped system, too; you throw all your extra into the emergency fund until it hits three months, then you start throwing half into the emergency fund and half at the cards until it hits five months, then you start throwing it all at the cards, etc.)
Another Q -- are you leaving money on the table with that 401k match? Most companies match up to 6% of salary or more. This isn't an immediate concern, but it does bear on your far-off future!
As far as spending goes, yours certainly isn't super high. Your charity spending is high, but I'm not a person who's going to knock you for that at all. However, I'm guessing you have ideas of where you might be able to or want to economize. If you give us some ideas of that, people here can definitely help you figure out how to shave off some $ that you could then use for your debt or for emergency savings.
Super rooting for you!
