Life Situation: Married filing jointly, no dependents but in the process of trying (having some trouble), live in NJ right outside of NYC, wife and I are both 34, and we have a 2 year old dog.
Gross Salary/Wages (combined income): ~$170,000
Pre-tax deductions: 401k (Me: 10%, Wife: 6%; health/dental/vision/LTD insurance through employers: ~$400/month
Other Ordinary Income: n/a
Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains: n/a
Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: n/a
Taxes: Federal - 25%, state/local - 5%, and FICA - ?.
Adjusted Gross Income after taxes: $98,880
Current expenses: I attached the Mad Fientist FI Spreadsheet detailing September's expenses under the "Averages" tab (and also contains a lot more information like rent, savings, etc). Note that we did spend quite a bit this month for a vacation we are taking in October, but this normally only done once per year.
Assets: n/a (we've paid off about 60% of a 2013 Honda Accord - about $6,500 remaining)
Liabilities: As mentioned above we have a car loan on a 2013 Honda Accord. The original loan was for ~$10,900 at a rate of 2.5% over 5 years. Monthly payment is $278. We have about $6,500 left over 24 months. I haven't considered paying more than the monthly payment given the low rate. No other loans/liabilities other than credit cards which are paid off twice a month after paydays.
Specific Question(s): First I just want to note that I tried to download the MMM Spreadsheet, but my work network blocks Google Drive, so I used the Mad Fientist one instead. Please let me know if this is lacking in any necessary info, and I'll complete the spreadsheet when I'm at home.
The reason for posting a Case Study is mainly due to the fact that ever since I was a kid with my first job I have been TERRIBLE at saving money. I always saved up for the shiny new gaming system or sports equipment, and blew everything I had all at once. Basically, my excuse was that I could die tomorrow, so why not enjoy whatever I want now?
Now that I've been reading into FIRE I want to change my ways. Right now, FIRE really seems like a pipe dream. I've brought it up with my wife recently and she thinks (paraphrasing) "it's a good idea to save, but that 'normal' people don't actually do that - you have to dedicate your life to doing that and never do anything fun". She is a pretty good saver (she contributed most of our savings when we were married in 2013), but I don't think she gets the whole FIRE thing.
My main questions revolve around what to focus on first. I know our spending this past month was REALLY BAD, as seen in the attached spreadsheet. However, we make a decent combined income even for an expensive location, so I think we have a good base to really start saving. My main focus right now is to reduce discretionary spending on restaurants and clothes/merchandise/etc. Is this a good goal to start with?
I know that reducing the "big stuff" is usually recommended. We have talked about moving to a cheaper area, but our entire family lives in NJ and MD which are just about equal in Cost of Living (MD is a bit better, but not by much). I love the outdoors and would love to move to Colorado, but the wife just isn't on board, especially since we are trying to start a family, and our parents would play a big part in day care. And, believe it or not, $2,100 for a 1 bedroom in our area is on the cheaper end - I would even say that you can't find any 1 bedrooms for less than $1,900. Our savings is really for a down payment for a house in the next few years (which is why it's all in savings and not Vanguard indexes), but we are happy renting for now since with both work in NYC and the commute is very good from where we live.
If anyone has any suggestions on what else to focus on, or things that I'm missing, please let me know. And feel free to ask for more info that could help. Hope this wasn't too rambling!
-mgFIRE