A couple of points:
- Consider reading The Minimalists. I read their books and website and found I needed far less stuff that I thought I needed to be happy. I now have the minimal possessions that I need to live a happy, clutter free and financially stable life.
http://www.theminimalists.com/- I own an investment property with my fianc'e in a 50/50 joint ownership limited company. This has worked well for us. I highly suggest you stick to this plan.
- If you are going to buy the property through a company, I'd put all the excess savings you have directly into the offset/revolving credit mortgage. This is what we have done. Sometimes things just come up with the property and you need a few thousand dollars set aside to fix these things. These being repairs, vacant property for several weeks, etc. You can always withdraw the money from the offset account at a later stage to purchase shares when they are cheap. We are only able to do this if we purchase the shares in the name of the company though. If I bought shares in my own name from withdrawing from the company offset account, we wouldn't be able to offset that loan interest for the purpose of getting investment income (dividends). Talk to your accountant about this as rules in Aussie might be different from NZ where I'm based.
- Health insurance looks expensive. I actually self insure with our health insurance. In NZ we have a thing called ACC which is the government owned health cover. If I was seriously in life danger, treatment would happen or if I had cancer, etc they would treat me. If I broke my leg or needed surgery, I could go on a 3 month waiting list and get it for free. I was paying around $700 for health insurance (I was a healthy 24 year old male) and my excess was $1000. This meant if I made any claims, It would need to be over $1000 for me to even bother. If I needed to speed up my treatments, I could always just pay the $1000 out of my pocket. I had to get an MRI scan which cost $1200 last year so I paid it myself as the wait list was 5 months. I haven't had health insurance and instead put that $60 or so a month into investments. If I ever need something done medically in the private sector I weigh up the urgentness of it and the cost and the waitlist and either decide to wait a few months or pay it myself. I would never get health insurance for me ever again. I may condier it when we have kids for them, but for me, never again. My best friend worked for Sovereign (who are owned by Commonwealth Bank) and their insurance brokers got taken on worldwide trips twice per year if they sold enough insurance. I also went to their head office and the cost of all of this I figured of the $700 I was paying them each year, over enough years for them to be in business I'd never get that $700 back. I cancelled my insurance the day after I met him in their offices. I highly consider you looking into self insurance for health. I still keep car insurance 3rd party (my car is worth $4k or so, not worth full coverage which is an extra $600 per year) and also contents insurance (for legal liability if we burn a house down). We have house insurance for our rental property and thats it. Consider these options.
- Just generally think about anything you are spending. Can you buy cheaper haircuts, cheaper meals out, not buy lunch but make it yourself, etc. I know these are little pesky things and I was hesident to cut out certain things but even saving $2 per week by getting cheaper phone plans all adds up.
- Lastly, you look in a good position, don't forget to have a little fun with your money, it isn't all about skimping and saving money. If you want to go to the movies with your partner, just go, make a night out of it. There is a book a few Canadian PHD students put together about getting the most happiness out of spending your money. I found it really helpful.
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Science-Happier-Spending/dp/1451665075