25 years old, are we on the right track?

[appleguy]

My wife and I have been married for a year and a half. We are both in our mid twenties, we just graduated college in 2013. We had close to $45,000 in debt when we graduated (combined). We paid off both cars, paid off her student loans, paid off half of my student loans and the wife started her masters.

We're doing Dave Ramsey's plan, we're on "baby step 2, getting rid of debt"

Last year we moved $35,000 towards debt. $5000 towards her masters degree, $3000 to fitness and my hobbies.

We made $100,000 together last year before taxes, approx. $70,000 after taxes. This year we expect to make at least $115,000 before taxes (more with raises and bonuses).

Our costs of living are:

Rent $1100
Food $400
Eating out $300
Tithe $800
Car payment (new car, got it so we can have credit to get a good mortgage) $200
Phones $150
Comcast $80
Utilites $100
Car insurance $150
Gas $200

Total $3490 per month.

Monthly income of $6900.

We have about: $3400 a month to direct to our goals ($41,000).

This years goals are:

1. Pay off my remaining student debt of $10,000
2. Continue paying for masters in cash, $15,000
3. Save for a house $10,000

With our increase in salary, I'm hopeful to save $20,000 - $30,000 for our home.

Given all this data we live in Denver, Colorado.

Our emergency fund consists of a few thousand dollars in our bank account, an HSA with funds and the fact that our cost of living is low enough we could live on either salary without hurting us, we would cut back on giving and eating out, which really lowers our cost of living.

We're directing 50% of our income towards debt and savings goals right now. Denver is becoming a pricey market so we're looking at buying a house in 1-2 years in a lower market like Phoenix or Tucson (my wife wants to live there), which for $100,000 - $150,000 we can get a really great home. We would buy when it's cheap, rent it out for the next 2-3 years until we're in a place to move and start our family down there. Talking to family and relators in the area we can get a home for a monthly cost of $500 a month in that price range and a monthly cash flow of $850 - $1100.

I work in Technology so I don't think finding a remote job or one locally in Tucson or Phoenix is a big deal. We're probably going to take a crusie vacation this summer for $3000-5000.

How are we doing?

Scary things that we're planning for is buying a house and having 2-3 kids. From what people tell me it's impossible to save money once you have a kid or two. My goal is have enough money and rental income for me to have the OPTION to retire in about 15 years when I'm in my 40s.

What are my options for mortgages for rental properties to become primary residence in a few years?
How can I retire by the time I'm 40?
How can I afford kids / how much do they cost?

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

You can absolutely save money with kids, especially if you've paid down most of your debt. There's no need for your kid to have expensive clothes or horribly noisy toys that cost $30 each. And there's always people giving away or selling clothes and toys for cheap.

That $300 on eating out, though...wow. Even if stopping eating out meant you bought $100 more in groceries a month, which it shouldn't, you'd save nearly a quarter of the amount you want to put towards debt this year.

[so.mpls]

You're doing alright but can definitely improve in some areas.  $300 / month eating out is a lot.

Cell phone - you can get your bill down to $50-70 per month with Republic Wireless or Ting, lots of threads on that.

Comcast - Is this for cable TV and internet?  You should be able do comcast internet + netflix for around $50/month

Gas - can you drive less?  Denver is a pretty bike-friendly city isn't it?

Tithe - I would never tell someone not to tithe or give to charity, but $800 a month is a lot to be giving when you have 5 figure student loan debt, are paying additional tuition, saving for a house etc.  My wife and I are the same age as you, and while we do give to charity ($50-100/month) we also both volunteer regularly to fulfill our 'giving back' needs.  We may eventually give more but not until we're FI or well on our way.

Overall though, keep saving 50% of your income and you'll be able to retire at 40 pretty easily, as long you both continue to work full time and your salaries increase as expected.

[mrsggrowsveg]

Are you really spending nothing other than rent, food and bills?  What about car repairs, home maintenance, clothing, and just misc spending?  Phones, car insurance, gas and eating out all seem a little high. 

Is the car insurance full coverage? 

Can you switch to a lower cost phone plan like Ting or Republic wireless?

How far is your commute?  What kind of mpg do you get on your car?

Eating out is high, but you probably already know that. 

To retire by 40, you will need to save 50-55% of your income.  See this:  http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/  This seems totally doable for you, especially with some of the debt paid off.

You can definitely still save money with kids.  Especially in the first year, kids do not cost much money.  The highest expense will be daycare if your wife continues working.  You may decide to space your children in such a way that you wouldn't have three in daycare. 

[appleguy]

You can absolutely save money with kids, especially if you've paid down most of your debt. There's no need for your kid to have expensive clothes or horribly noisy toys that cost $30 each. And there's always people giving away or selling clothes and toys for cheap.

That $300 on eating out, though...wow. Even if stopping eating out meant you bought $100 more in groceries a month, which it shouldn't, you'd save nearly a quarter of the amount you want to put towards debt this year.

We already knew cutting back on eating out is probably a good idea. That's about our average cost.

[appleguy]

You're doing alright but can definitely improve in some areas.  $300 / month eating out is a lot.

Cell phone - you can get your bill down to $50-70 per month with Republic Wireless or Ting, lots of threads on that.

Comcast - Is this for cable TV and internet?  You should be able do comcast internet + netflix for around $50/month

Gas - can you drive less?  Denver is a pretty bike-friendly city isn't it?

Tithe - I would never tell someone not to tithe or give to charity, but $800 a month is a lot to be giving when you have 5 figure student loan debt, are paying additional tuition, saving for a house etc.  My wife and I are the same age as you, and while we do give to charity ($50-100/month) we also both volunteer regularly to fulfill our 'giving back' needs.  We may eventually give more but not until we're FI or well on our way.

Overall though, keep saving 50% of your income and you'll be able to retire at 40 pretty easily, as long you both continue to work full time and your salaries increase as expected.

My wife and I want to keep our iPhones. Are there options that aren't on the Sprint Network? We had sprint for a while (which is what I thought Ting and Republic use) and there are so many deadzones.

Gas - can you drive less?  Denver is a pretty bike-friendly city isn't it? -- I live 8 miles from work, I could bike when the weather is nice, but my wife has a disability.

Tithe -- $800 is a little more then 10% of our income, which is what we give to support our church

[appleguy]

Are you really spending nothing other than rent, food and bills?  What about car repairs, home maintenance, clothing, and just misc spending?  Phones, car insurance, gas and eating out all seem a little high. 

Is the car insurance full coverage? 

Can you switch to a lower cost phone plan like Ting or Republic wireless?

How far is your commute?  What kind of mpg do you get on your car?

Eating out is high, but you probably already know that. 

To retire by 40, you will need to save 50-55% of your income.  See this:  http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/  This seems totally doable for you, especially with some of the debt paid off.

You can definitely still save money with kids.  Especially in the first year, kids do not cost much money.  The highest expense will be daycare if your wife continues working.  You may decide to space your children in such a way that you wouldn't have three in daycare.

Are you really spending nothing other than rent, food and bills?  What about car repairs, home maintenance, clothing, and just misc spending?
-- Incidentals like car repairs and clothes do bump down our savings a bit, but they're so in frequent that they don't factor into our budget. I drive a Toyota and the owners manual says service every 10,000 miles.

Rent is high in our area so that we can live closer to work. If we lived farther away we'd pay less, but then have to drive more.

Maintenance is taken care of by our apartment complex.

Is the car insurance full coverage? 
-- Yes. We just bought a new car and it's required by our bank

Can you switch to a lower cost phone plan like Ting or Republic wireless?
-- Looking for an option that doesn't offer crappy service and we can use iPhones
 
Eating out is high, but you probably already know that. 
-- Yes we did. :)

Especially in the first year, kids do not cost much money.
-- This is the first I've ever heard that. I've heard expect $1000-1500 per month, per child from most people I ask.

[mxt0133]

Especially in the first year, kids do not cost much money.
-- This is the first I've ever heard that. I've heard expect $1000-1500 per month, per child from most people I ask.

If both of you continue to work then a baby will probably cost you an extra 10-15k with daycare, formula, ect a year.  But if one parents stays home then a child would probably cost 2-3K tops.

For us our expenses went down after having kids, even with my wife quitting her job.  We did not go out to eat as often and if we did we got take out.  We stopped going out to bars, movies, ect.  We switched to picnics, bbqs, and inviting people over for dinner.  We stopped paying for entertainment such as amusement parks, concerts, ect and mostly did free concerts, plays, and shows.  If the baby is breast feed then no formula expenses.   Free cloth diapers is cheaper than diapers.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

-- This is the first I've ever heard that. I've heard expect $1000-1500 per month, per child from most people I ask.

Those people are Consumer Suckas unless their child has major medical problems. Daycare is expensive but like many others here we have found many savings in one parent staying home.

[Kingomri]

You don't need a car loan to get a good mortgage. I've never had one and got a great rate on my mortgage. Credit mix is one of the lower-importance parts of credit scoring - have at least 2 CCs and keep the balances low in relation to the credit limit and you'll be fine. (When I say the balance, I don't refer to the balance you carry, which should always be $0, but what your statement balance is when your statement cuts each month - this is what is reported to the credit bureaus). I would strongly recommend not buying new cars in the future.

Consider whether it's worth putting more towards tax-deductible retirement accounts - you're presumably in the 25% bracket, so you could save a ton on taxes. Based on your take home income relative to your stated salary, you're not contributing a ton, probably because you have debt and savings goals you're working towards. Make sure you weigh the tax impact against the cost of interest on your student loans - in my opinion, the tax savings and earlier jump on retirement savings are likely worth it at least until you get out of the 25% bracket.

The numbers you hear in the media for raising kids are thoroughly ridiculous. Our first is coming up on his first birthday in February and aside from medical expenses from the birth and an ER visit (darn you, high deductible health insurance plan!), he's cost us less than we've gained in tax deductions/credits. Of course, my wife staying home instead of working (free child care and no need to buy formula) has played a significant role in this - not sure what your plans are there.

Kudos on the tithing, by the way.

[Retired To Win]

...My goal is to have enough money and rental income for me to have the OPTION to retire in about 15 years when I'm in my 40s.

Taking a general look at your finances, you are certainly doing much better than a lot of other people.  But the real answer to "how are you doing" is all about the quote from your original post that I have excerpted above.

To get that answer, you need to project what your basic living costs are going to be in your 40's. Since that is a lot of projecting, start with what your basic living costs are now.  Then adjust for the difference between where you live now and where you want to end up living once you become financially independent, as well as major changes such as home ownership.  Add to that how much DISCRETIONARY spending you want to do on things such as all that restaurant eating.  And then adjust for inflation going forward.

With that rough number for how much annual cash outflow you'll need to cover, you can then calculate how much of a stash you need to build up over the next 15 years to have the cash inflow to at least match that outflow.  If it looks good, great.  If you're going to fall short, now is a perfect time to start making adjustments to eliminate that gap.

Good luck!

[Red Beard]

I too live in Denver and housing has gotten scary high so your rent is pretty reasonable if you are in the city. The one area that stuck out to me is gas. Right now we fill our 11 gallon tank up for just over $20 - meaning that at $200 you are purchasing 10 tanks of gas every month! At an average of 28 mpg that means you are driving almost 3100 miles a month. I know biking isn't always feasible (especially since they don't clear the roads) but living in town you should be able to get away with driving MUCH less. My fiance and I spend roughly $50 a month on gas including a couple trips to Boulder each month.

[appleguy]

I too live in Denver and housing has gotten scary high so your rent is pretty reasonable if you are in the city. The one area that stuck out to me is gas. Right now we fill our 11 gallon tank up for just over $20 - meaning that at $200 you are purchasing 10 tanks of gas every month! At an average of 28 mpg that means you are driving almost 3100 miles a month. I know biking isn't always feasible (especially since they don't clear the roads) but living in town you should be able to get away with driving MUCH less. My fiance and I spend roughly $50 a month on gas including a couple trips to Boulder each month.

We're north of Denver. Our daily round trip is about 60 miles. I take my wife to her work then go to my work, making a full circle by the end of the day.
Then on weekends we drive to a bunch of places putting 300-400 miles on it a weekend.

[surfhb]

What does Dave say about giving so much to your church when you are so deeply in debt it's affecting your future?  Not being snarky....I'm just curious.    He has some great info on his show. 

Are there other ways to help out by volunteering?   To me, and how I've intrepreted it, it's that the "giving" aspect of his plan is ONLY after you've help yourself.    Isn't the Bible very specific on this?   

You're obviously somewhat unsure of the future about kids and a home purchase.     I'd talk to your pastor about what your writing here and tell us what he says on such a high tithe when one in in such debt

[MakingSenseofCents]

I think you are doing well. I do have some suggestions.

Eating out $300 - Can this be cut, at least a little bit? Food spending is an area that we are really working on, so I do understand that it can be hard or that you may not be interested.
Phones $150 - Have you thought about switching to Republic Wireless or Ting for a savings of probably $100 per month?
Car insurance $150 - Have you looked into cheaper car insurance? My husband and I both have new cars (no one kill me!), but our car insurance is only $500 every six months for full coverage.

[projekt]

What does Dave say about giving so much to your church when you are so deeply in debt it's affecting your future?  Not being snarky....I'm just curious.    He has some great info on his show. 

He seems to be pro-tithe without many reservations: http://www.daveramsey.com/article/daves-advice-on-tithing-and-giving/lifeandmoney_church/

[d3minimis]

We use our iPhones on the Ptel network and have had great service with them ($40/month for us both). They run on the Tmobile network so if your phones are CDMA it should work.

[boarder42]

DUDE - 3-4k for a cruise is way way way way way way too much money.. my wife and i just did a cruise all inclusive(yes beer wine liquor) balcony cabin 7 days 1600 plus around 400 for shore excursions booked for 2 people... 2k total. 

you need to re-evaluate how you're booking this cruise.

[appleguy]

DUDE - 3-4k for a cruise is way way way way way way too much money.. my wife and i just did a cruise all inclusive(yes beer wine liquor) balcony cabin 7 days 1600 plus around 400 for shore excursions booked for 2 people... 2k total. 

you need to re-evaluate how you're booking this cruise.

How are you doing that?

[appleguy]

You don't need a car loan to get a good mortgage. I've never had one and got a great rate on my mortgage. Credit mix is one of the lower-importance parts of credit scoring - have at least 2 CCs and keep the balances low in relation to the credit limit and you'll be fine. (When I say the balance, I don't refer to the balance you carry, which should always be $0, but what your statement balance is when your statement cuts each month - this is what is reported to the credit bureaus). I would strongly recommend not buying new cars in the future.

Consider whether it's worth putting more towards tax-deductible retirement accounts - you're presumably in the 25% bracket, so you could save a ton on taxes. Based on your take home income relative to your stated salary, you're not contributing a ton, probably because you have debt and savings goals you're working towards. Make sure you weigh the tax impact against the cost of interest on your student loans - in my opinion, the tax savings and earlier jump on retirement savings are likely worth it at least until you get out of the 25% bracket.

The numbers you hear in the media for raising kids are thoroughly ridiculous. Our first is coming up on his first birthday in February and aside from medical expenses from the birth and an ER visit (darn you, high deductible health insurance plan!), he's cost us less than we've gained in tax deductions/credits. Of course, my wife staying home instead of working (free child care and no need to buy formula) has played a significant role in this - not sure what your plans are there.

Kudos on the tithing, by the way.

The student loan is 0% interest from family.

[boarder42]

DUDE - 3-4k for a cruise is way way way way way way too much money.. my wife and i just did a cruise all inclusive(yes beer wine liquor) balcony cabin 7 days 1600 plus around 400 for shore excursions booked for 2 people... 2k total. 

you need to re-evaluate how you're booking this cruise.

How are you doing that?

Sign up for the travel emails from crucon best for cruises. They run celebrity specials all the time.
Also you may want to sign up for the travel hacking class being offered over in share your badassity. This will hook you up with a southwest companion pass. At the very least.

[appleguy]

You don't need a car loan to get a good mortgage. I've never had one and got a great rate on my mortgage. Credit mix is one of the lower-importance parts of credit scoring - have at least 2 CCs and keep the balances low in relation to the credit limit and you'll be fine. (When I say the balance, I don't refer to the balance you carry, which should always be $0, but what your statement balance is when your statement cuts each month - this is what is reported to the credit bureaus). I would strongly recommend not buying new cars in the future.

Consider whether it's worth putting more towards tax-deductible retirement accounts - you're presumably in the 25% bracket, so you could save a ton on taxes. Based on your take home income relative to your stated salary, you're not contributing a ton, probably because you have debt and savings goals you're working towards. Make sure you weigh the tax impact against the cost of interest on your student loans - in my opinion, the tax savings and earlier jump on retirement savings are likely worth it at least until you get out of the 25% bracket.

The numbers you hear in the media for raising kids are thoroughly ridiculous. Our first is coming up on his first birthday in February and aside from medical expenses from the birth and an ER visit (darn you, high deductible health insurance plan!), he's cost us less than we've gained in tax deductions/credits. Of course, my wife staying home instead of working (free child care and no need to buy formula) has played a significant role in this - not sure what your plans are there.

Kudos on the tithing, by the way.

The student loan is 0% interest from family.

You're going on a cruise without paying back a family member?!

They'll be paid off by the end of March and cruise in July or December.

[boarder42]

Just got an email from Crucon today about Norwegian  Oceanview rooms for under 600 a person includes all booze.  that 100 dollar credit will cover over half your gratuities.  Probably would cost around 13-1400 a person after taxes/port charges/gratuities plus whatever you do while in port. 

$ 549 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Port Canaveral w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 549 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Houston w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 559 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Tampa w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 579 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT New Orleans w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 649 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Miami w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 699 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Miami - Newest Ship w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 699 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 999 pp BALCONY: 8 nt. Bahamas RT NYC w/ All Drinks, Tips & $ 100 Credit
$ 829 pp OCEANVIEW: 9 nt. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 1199 pp BALCONY: 10 nt. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks, Tips & $ 100 Credit
$ 1149 pp OCEANVIEW: 11 nt. S. Carib. RT Miami w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 1699 pp BALCONY: 12 nt. S. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks, Tips & $ 100 Credit

[boarder42]

there are celebrity cruises with ocean view and gratuities included for a bit more.  Crucon is about the cheapest place to book a cruise from what i've seen. 

[appleguy]

Just got an email from Crucon today about Norwegian  Oceanview rooms for under 600 a person includes all booze.  that 100 dollar credit will cover over half your gratuities.  Probably would cost around 13-1400 a person after taxes/port charges/gratuities plus whatever you do while in port. 

$ 549 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Port Canaveral w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 549 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Houston w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 559 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Tampa w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 579 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT New Orleans w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 649 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Miami w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 699 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT Miami - Newest Ship w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 699 pp OCEANVIEW: 7 nt. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 999 pp BALCONY: 8 nt. Bahamas RT NYC w/ All Drinks, Tips & $ 100 Credit
$ 829 pp OCEANVIEW: 9 nt. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 1199 pp BALCONY: 10 nt. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks, Tips & $ 100 Credit
$ 1149 pp OCEANVIEW: 11 nt. S. Carib. RT Miami w/ All Drinks & $ 100 Credit
$ 1699 pp BALCONY: 12 nt. S. Carib. RT NYC w/ All Drinks, Tips & $ 100 Credit

Cruises are great, but the airfare is the hardest part. How do I get a deal from Denver?

[waltworks]

Why are you paying so much in taxes? Do you have IRAs/401ks? If you both have a 401k through work you should be able to cut you tax burden to basically zero.

-W

[boarder42]

get a southwest credit card or just book on southwest.com SIGN UP FOR THE TRAVEL HACKING COURSE.  southwest.com roundtrip to houston from denver is sub 300 a person right now bringing that total to just under 2k. 

[Seņora Savings]

Scary things that we're planning for is buying a house and having 2-3 kids. From what people tell me it's impossible to save money once you have a kid or two. My goal is have enough money and rental income for me to have the OPTION to retire in about 15 years when I'm in my 40s.

The question of how you are doing is dependent on if you will meet your goals.  I'm going to use a 4% safe withdrawal rate and I think that you should too.  Maybe you'll be able to get better than that in real estate, but I'm pretty skeptical of free money.

Given what you spend on yourselves, I would budget $1000 a month for each kid.  That gives you a retirement budget of about $5500.  You'll need $1,650,000 to fund this.  With a 7% interest rate (generous), no kids before retirement (generous) and no increase in earnings (stingy) I have you reaching your goal in about 20 years.  If you're serious about your goal you've had some great responses on cutting spending.

[rmendpara]

Many sources will suggest roughly 15% savings rate in order to have a fully funded retirement at a "traditional" age after a "full" career.

In order to retire ~20 years early, it's obvious that you'll need to be saving and investing drastically more assuming you want to live a full life with kids, vacations, school, etc.

Most others already pointed to some areas for cutting, so it's no secret really. Get used to living and entertaining yourselves on less that currently, and try not to let that inflate as your income increases. You're at a pretty solid baseline with saving ~3.4k (40k) on a salary of 115k... ~35%. No doubt your expenses could increase to around 50-65k when you have kids and as they grow up, so in order to keep the same rate of savings, your income would need to go up to the 142-186k range.

Of course, there's a huge middle ground of trying to manage today vs tomorrow responsibly, so as long as you're in the right ballpark and work hard to stay there, it's not unreasonable to hope to be able to slow things down in the career in your late 30s and potentially even leave a full time job at some point in your 40s... or even temporarily in the next few years while the kids are young.

It's all about planning and setting reasonable goals, and you don't seem too far off.

Good luck

[dunhamjr]

We made $100,000 together last year before taxes, approx. $70,000 after taxes. This year we expect to make at least $115,000 before taxes (more with raises and bonuses).

Our costs of living are:
Rent $1100
Food $400
Eating out $300
Tithe $800
Car payment (new car, got it so we can have credit to get a good mortgage) $200
Phones $150
Comcast $80
Utilites $100
Car insurance $150
Gas $200

Total $3490 per month.
Monthly income of $6900.

We have about: $3400 a month to direct to our goals ($41,000).
This years goals are:
1. Pay off my remaining student debt of $10,000
2. Continue paying for masters in cash, $15,000
3. Save for a house $10,000

How are we doing?
Scary things that we're planning for is buying a house and having 2-3 kids. From what people tell me it's impossible to save money once you have a kid or two. My goal is have enough money and rental income for me to have the OPTION to retire in about 15 years when I'm in my 40s.

What are my options for mortgages for rental properties to become primary residence in a few years?
How can I retire by the time I'm 40?
How can I afford kids / how much do they cost?

i think everything has been said already.

rent seems ok, but being 30 miles out of town are you sure that its reasonable compared to the car, fuel, and time costs of commuting?
food sounds reasonable to me, but with only 2 people, MMM would suggest that your food budget is high.
eating out is $3600/yr.  sounds like a lot with having such lofty goals near... buying a house, having 2-3 kids, AND retiring at 40.

tithe.  i am SURE we will always disagree on this.  good on you for wanting to give.  but IMO $800/mo is WAY too much at your current income and position in life.  its like paying for a whole 2nd apartment.  i assume you won't but i think a lot can be cut here.  take the MMM approach of life long giving, and move the commitment to giving further down your life when you have tons of assets and are for lack of a better word, rich.  at this point, unless you forget to include it... you have no assets, but are giving nearly $10k/yr to your church.

your car payment is reasonable.  but buying a new car in the name of building credit isnt logically.  paying installment loans will help, but so will having 1-3 CC's that you use and pay off in full each month, not to mention, unless you got a good deal... you are paying interest on that car loan.  whereas with proper payment of CC's you will not pay any interest, and may even get cash rewards back.  (citi doublecash 2% on everything, amex blue cash 3% on groceries, etc...)

your cell bill sounds high as well.  i have 3 android smart phones with unlimited everything at tmobile for $138/mo.  i am certain you can shop around and spend much less here.

comcast seems ok.  sounds like basic cable and internet service.  could look into buying your own modem (if you havent) which will usually save $8/mo and pay for itself in less then a year.

car insurance.  this is another place to shop around.  i have 2 drivers(39yo), 2 cars (2004/2013), full coverage and we pay $89/mo... but i am looking to move to maybe esurance, geico, or metromile to see about cutting the bill down even further.

gas $200 is a lot.  but you drive a lot.  your numbers suggest around 31-35k miles/yr (60x5 commute, plus another 300-400 on weekends)  yikes.  like holy crap dude.  that is an amazing amount of 'normal' driving.  so that is TONS of gas cost.  not to mention wear and tear on your car... tires every year or two, 5k mile oil changes 6-7 times per year at $40 a pop, and potentially the need for a brand new car every 4-5 years... etc.  there has GOT to be some savings here by living more locally, or moving closer to your jobs.  you ALMOST have to count your rent, car payment, gas, AND insurance into the equation to determine if you can live closer to work to determine savings potential.

with all that.
you seem to be doing fine.  you are 25.  paying things off.  and you are aware that you need to save more than a couple dollars here and there to make things happen.  you are further ahead than most your age.

we have two kids.  2.5yo and 3 mo.  while SOME things are expensive, because they will need lots of clothes, food, and a good place to sleep.  overall, if you are aware of your spending having kids is not THAT expensive. 

that $1000-1500/mo quote you have heard.  nope.  that's probably way off base unless that is covering daycare, college savings accounts, health insurance premiums, etc...
i can at least say that its WAY off base from my experience.  beyond the actual birth, which our last kid was a 5 week premie... the monthly 'running' costs of having a kid isnt too bad.

we did/do cloth diapers.  buy used strollers, etc on craigslist.  make our own baby food, its way WAY easy, just do it.  buy in bulk at costco.  and we, or at least i, try to avoid buying any new clothes/toys that are not on huge clearance.  buy off season and buy at thrift shops.

[DeltaBond]

Everyone can adjust a little in their budget, although it sounds like you and your wife are doing really well.  You spend a lot on food, but I'm sure someone already commented on that.