I've been reading MMM for a while, and finally decided to try and get my act together. I am 42, self-employed as a photographer, single-ish (going through the breakup) no kids. I realize that I'm kind of at a turning point here, and I am really trying to figure out the best path to take. I have read a lot of case studies where it seems the majority are people with full time employers, or couples with one or both employed - I have not seen a lot of case studies by self-employed people. So, as a rule - being self-employed implies figuring it out yourself, but I thought I could use a bit of extra help. My parents are both immigrants, so living a good life to them was survival and how to raise a family on as little as possible. They were Mustachian before I ever heard the term. They paid cash for everything and are doing ok financially, but I didn't really have a lot (any) financial education growing up. As an adult, I thought I was doing ok if I had some money in the bank and could pay my bills. Now, as an adult in mid-life (gulp) that is really freaking me out! Having learned about FIRE over the last year, this is a new way of thinking for me and I want to give it a shot.
Gross Salary/Wages: $106,073 - As a photographer, my income is pretty irregular - I could make $1500 one month, or $20,000 the next. I pay myself $3500 monthly owner's draw to cover my bills. The rest pretty much stays in the business account to cover business expenses.
Pre-tax Deductions:
Other Ordinary Income: None
Taxes: I pay quarterly estimated taxes of $6K per year Federal, $800 State. My taxes for this year were $2373 Federal, $339 State.
Personal Expenses that I pay monthly:
Rent: $975
Health Ins.: $388
Cooking Gas: $19
Electric: $79
Phone: $90 (Iphone on T-mobile plan)
Beauty: $32 (I am counting 2 yearly haircuts, shampoo, shaving cream, personal care items, etc. in this category)
Car Ins.: $84
Car Maintenance/Fees: $134 (repairs and registration fees from the last year)
Renter's Ins.: $16
Charity: $6
Christmas/Holidays: $61
Clothing: $39
Dentist: $14
Dining out: $195
Emergency Fund: $100
Entertainment: $17.42 (Netflix & Hulu)
Gas/Transportation: $112
Groceries: $415 (my amt from the last year of receipts - this was for 2 people, soon to be just me)
Gym: $70
Household: $30 (toilet paper, dish detergeant, etc.)
IRA Contribution: $100
Pets: $315 (my amt from the last year of receipts - I have 2 elderly cats, & that amt includes food, litter, & vet) - and no, I am not getting rid of 16 yo cats at this point
Sports/Recreation: $12
Travel: $50
Vision: $39
Assets:
Roth IRA - $3825.23 - I contribute $100 a month
403B Retirement Plan from when I worked at a university in 1997 - $1952.06 - no contribution
Annuity: $1491.59 - no contribution
Savings Account: $1100 - I contribute $100 a month
Liabilities: None
No student loans, mortgages or credit card debt
These are my goals/what I need help with:
For the budget, I know I can cut the obvious things - food and cell phone. I am just getting started learning about investing and would like to put some $ in to index funds. What do I do with the retirement plan from the university? Do I contribute to it? Leave it? I'm assuming I can't just take that money and put it into index funds? What would be the best way to start investing? As a photographer, I don't really anticipate 'retiring' per se, but I definitely don't want to be shooting weddings at 67. I am trying to consider my 'exit plan' strategy right now. My other goals are to eventually own a cabin somewhere (probably Michigan) and to renovate an Airstream. Two pretty big projects - I will probably start on the Airstream project within the next three years. So I know I need to save for these things too.
Any help/insight would be much appreciated!