First of all, Thanks for all the feedback! It really is helpful.
My food expenses include going out to bar/dinner/lunches with friends. I am a terrible cook so i spend lots of night eating outside. I am trying to lower my food expenses by:
1) Cooking my own lunch/dinner.
2) Invite friends to come over instead of eating outside.
3) Shop at Costco (I got a membership card from my family)
My utilities include Electricity, Gas, Wifi, Cable, Netflix and some occasional expenses that are split between roommates (Ex: Tooth paste, garbage bag, New door knob, etc)
I am trying to convince my roommates to drop cable since we already have Netflix (bye bye HBO).
My $112 transportation cost is an monthly unlimited Metrocard (for subway and bus). Since Its quite convenient to travel via public transportation in NYC, I don't owe a car atm, but I am looking forward to buy one when I can afford it (used car of course!).
In terms of career, I am an accountant and I am in the process of getting certified (CPA). I don't see myself making double of what I am making now in the near future, but (hopefully) I don't have to worry about job and should be able to maintain a steady flow of income.
I will check out the Roth IRA account and 401K and crunch some numbers and put together a more detailed game plan. My goal is to reach FI around my mid-late 30s, with enough asset to generate $50,000 per year and an apartment/house in NYC area with no mortgage.
Thank you for all suggestions! I will check out those recommended books.
As a NY based CPA either working for a financial firm or opening up your own business you can easily double to triple your annual salary if not more throughout your career, good luck. Just don’t inflate your lifestyle with it.
If you live in Manhattan a car is completely unneeded don't waste your money, just use ZipCar when needed, even in the outer boro's Zip it is. If you plan to live outside of the city in the burbs like I do then a car is essential.
You can reach FI by your mid to late 30's working in NYC if plan to leave the NYC area with your assets, you will not be staying in NYC based on your numbers and be FI that quickly, it is just too expensive, that is price you pay for the lifestyle choice of the Big Apple.
Also an apartment/house mortgage free is possible but highly unlikely, NYC real estate is astronomical, you can pay upwards of $1000 sq ft for a crappy neighborhood, in the burbs you can get down to under $200 sq ft, but your down payment in the NYC metro area buys a house outright in the much of the rest of the country. A decent Manhattan 1 bedroom can easily cost $700k; a crappy one maybe can be had for $300k if you’re really lucky.
Based on a SWF of 4% you need investable assets of $1.25m to get a $50k annual income, based on you current savings of $10,000 + $463 and maxing out a Roth at $5,500 and a $17,500 annually for 17 years which puts all the way out to 40 years old with a 7% annual return your investments will be worth just shy of $750k, $500k short of what is needed. So you would need to save more for retirement then you are now and that would be at the expense of the house down payment, so you are either still renting or not mortgage free, either way NYC is a tough place for FIRE unless you make a lot of money or are very diligent.
-Mister FancyPants