Young professional here (Both my wife and I are 22) who just discovered the MMM way of living. Frugality is not necessarily my first instinct, but I am willing to accept the challenge. Ironically enough, I am in the financial planning profession (sitting for the CFP exam in November), but would like input on my situation to have views outside of my own (Dr. not diagnosing himself etc. etc.).
Income:
Me-Varies based on bonus, but lets say $4,000/mo net
Wife-$1700/mo net
-I defer 7% with a 3% match to my Simple IRA
-Wife defers 15% with a 1.25% match to her company 401(k)
Expenses:
Home-$813
Tithe-$500-700 (depending on income)
Groceries-$400
Restaurants-$200 (Bad, I know)
Utilities (Water/Sewer+Electric)-$250/mo --Our electricity rates are pretty high with Vectren
Gas-$150/mo
Shopping/Gifts-Probably around $50-100/mo
Mobile Phone-$60
Y Membership-$45
Internet-$25
Monthly Gifting-$25
Pet (1 dog)-$20
Assets:
Cash-$6,000
Simple IRA-$8,200
Rollover IRA (Previous Employer)-$3,000
Company 401(k)-$600 (she just started working)
Home-$134,000
Cars ('04 Solara & '98 Avalon) $7,000
Debt:
Me student loan: $5,300, 4.5% interest, $57/mo
Mortgage $124,000 4% interest, P&I+escrow $813/mo
This constitutes the bulk of our spending. We will take day trips to other cities from time to time for fun, but tend to shy away from spending money on fancy hotels/restaurants and the such. Only other upcoming expenses not accounted for would be Christmas (usually budget around $300-400 for our families), and visiting my sister in France next summer ($2,500, we will stay with her so the only cost is plane ticket).
We have paid off her two student loans in the past 6 months, will pay off mine within two months from bonus money, and are faced with either paying down mortgage debt or contributing to investments (real estate or qualified retirement accounts). Really curious to get input on how we could continue to reduce our expenses (I'm sure you all will hit me on the groceries/restaurants), and best utilize our free cash flow. Thank you for being a cool community!