Well, I've already introduced myself in the "introduce yourself here thread", but posting out here gives me a little more opportunity to divulge some information, and get some feedback. So, if you are reading this, it's going to be a bit long - I'm a fast typer, I get a bit wordy, and I typically, at least according to my wife, am a bit too thorough at times - so, I'm going to try to keep this brief.
Family of 3 - Me - 27, Wife 26, Daughter 11 months...in 6 days.
Obviously, by my screen name, one can imagine what I do - I'm an insurance agent - I sell crop, farm, home, auto, commercial - we do life, health, etc., but I haven't got that license yet.
My wife is JUST finishing up school, she has an undergrad degree, but after 3 years, didn't make it into the graduate program she was hoping for. So, she is finishing another 2 year degree, her last day of clinical's is actually TODAY! She has one week of class, than starts her job the first Monday in May - Hell yes, finally.
So, our numbers are going to seem crazy low compared to most on here, income wise, mortgage wise, etc. And that is because we live in a very low cost of living area, rural as can be. I go to three different offices, and two of those offices are in towns of less than 600 people. Pretty sweet.
So, I make 38k + commission (I'll make close to 50k this year)
My wife will be starting out at $10.50 per hour, until she passes her boards, and then she jumps up to $18 an hour
Mortgage: 15 year, purchased the home in 2013 for $82,500 @ 3.75- acreage actually, 3.5 acres of land, house, and a couple of sheds.
We owe $59k - Pay $650 a month including escrow
House appraised at $125k last week due to us finishing a basement and doing a BUNCH of other work to the property
Student loans - my wife has none, I have 48k owed and those are on income based repayment as my wife was in school, and that was my ONLY way to be able to keep up on all our bills. I pay $334 for those right now
Daycare is 500 a month
We suck at budgeting for anything, that'll change now that my wife has a job, steady income, and we can expect the same thing, week after week, month after month
My goal is to be able to get close to a $750 a month student loan payment, thus getting those paid down. We COULD, with our new house value, re-start our loan, which they'd group my student loans into, but then we'd be losing all our equity. We plan to move in 3-5 years, closer to my wifes job (30 mile commute) and the family farm that we help on.
Our jobs are very, very secure. The agency I work for has been around for 96 years, very solid book of business, and the other 3 in the office are in their mid-50's, and the potential to grow into the vice president role (president owns the bank, and agency, but he doesn't do anything on the agency side).
We have health insurance, I have a 401k, she had a 403b at her previous job - she will be able to get a state retirement plan through her new employer, which is awesome.
We pay $570 a month for health insurance, $25 of that is more me, the rest is for my wife and child. She'll be able to have her own health insurance after her first month in the job, so we'll be weighing those options. Very well will put $200-$400 a month back in our pocket.
So, that's me, questions? Comments? I was a bit all over the place, and I didn't want to divulge a TON of info, which it appears I did anyway.
No real FIRE goal - we just moved here two years ago, it is our "home" from when we were kids. I guess my goal would be able to get my student loans paid off within 5-7 years, and then when I hit about 45, I'd like to be able to do just crop and farm insurance, work part time in the office, and work part time farming. That'd be the coolest thing ever.