You guys rock! Hubby won't quit although you're right, it would definitely make financial sense. He loves his job and really gets a lot of personal enjoyment from it.
I am going to start looking at where I could live around here that would be cheaper but not add too much time to my commute. We originally chose this house because it has a bedroom, full bath, and kitchen-type sink in the basement so my parents could live with us, and then they decided not to. So we could definitely downsize, although odds are right after we did they would then want to move in with us. :)
Taxes are added up from our W2s so not sure why they are so far off from some of the commenters (we usually owe a couple hundred bucks on both Federal and State, haven't gotten a tax refund in a LONG time). I will update after I do my taxes just in case I am somehow off this year! Our problem is that for the last several years if I take the mortgage deduction I get hit with AMT which even takes away the child tax credits. I do the taxes both ways (deducting what we can deduct, and going standard deduction), but with the AMT it gets rid of all the basic stuff most other people get to deduct. Where are all the high income tax loopholes I keep hearing about!??
401k is a good point. My employer doesn't offer a match so it just hadn't been a priority. Plus I was worried about tying up too much money and then not being able to access it without paying a penalty if we did end up retiring early. Although we do have a good chunk not tied up in it now ... I will take another look at this and see if we can do better here.
I am considering paying next years tuition up front to get a 5% discount. Of course, that would make moving much more difficult.
The 25k expense category includes a lot more I didn't list out. Food, utilities, phone, internet, medical, gas, car insurance, and a ton I am not thinking of at the moment. I'm actually kind of proud of it because we don't buy coffee, eat out much, have cable, or a home phone, or buy clothes, watches, purses or whatever fancy things people buy, or new toys for the kids (of course they are still in the "this cardboard box is the BEST EVER" phase). I am not really willing to cut this much more. I don't even think we would get rid of a car if hubby WAS willing to quit - he would still need it in case the kids needed to go to the doctor while I was at work, or if he wanted to take a trip to a museum or something. If we both quit? Absolutely we would drop a car.
I do expect to have medical and housing responsibilities for my parents down the road, so my financial goals are a bit higher than just FI for myself. I unfortunately have experience with serious medical situations and have found that a good cushion of cash gives you priceless options.
What do you guys think about refinancing to a 30 year and saving more? I was afraid that would drag out my golden handcuff time period, but maybe it would open up more options by boosting savings?
Really appreciate your feedback and ideas!!!