Reader Case Study: 24k/yr and ~50% savings rate - Not satisfied, please help!

[Future Lazy]

Okay, well..

I'm pretty young. Not like, high school young, kind of just out of college young, but without the debt and without the degree. But, I refuse to accept the idea that I need college to get ahead, since it is such a stupidly ridiculous expense that augh why even would you choose that debt spiral? Ahhh! I also refuse to accept that my problem is my age - just because I'm still in my early twenties doesn't mean I'm not supposed to be succeeding. So, here I am, trying. Trying to educate myself, and trying to beat the system in every way possible. Wheee.

I'm a bit nervous to post this, because I'm not sure if I'm completely ready to take on and implement all the suggestions everyone will have, but I'm definitely going to try! Thanks in advance to anyone who reads and responds...

Things I'm looking for help with:

• Perhaps cut back some existing bills - I know there are many small expenses, like Hulu or Subbable, that I can just dump completely, but I'm way more interested in lowering the recurring expenses things I can't escape.
• Pushing my savings a bit more to get over the 5-6k hump. Next goal is 10k!
• Suggestions for breaking into new fields by learning new skills without having the weight of a college degree.
• Suggestions for encouraging an already otherwise pretty frugal spouse to look more closely at their food spending habits..?

The situation:

Age: 22
Status: Married (separate financial pictures), No Children
Education: HS Diploma, Self educated in Photoshop, Illustrator - working on CSS3, HTML5
Employment: Call center/Data entry, full time permanent employment with benefits
City: Arvada, (a suburb of Denver), Colorado -- See related avg expenses here: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=United+States&city=Denver%2C+CO

Income: ~$1800-2000 take home per month, all paycheck all the time. Summer sees a lot of overtime.

Monthly Necessary Expenses:
$230 Rent SHARED (Includes basement room, gas, elec, water, sew, trash, laundry facility, netflix, milk, toilet paper... It's a killer deal)
$150 Groceries (high estimation) SHARED (Mostly fresh things, canned foods like beans and fish, or sometimes pasta or frozen pizzas; also includes shampoo etc. Worst is I eat a lot of meat.)
$30  Phone and data, Republic SHARED (Just cut this back from AT&T $170-200 month - woo!)
$100 Health (Once monthly psych visits for chronic anxiety issues; all medical insurance is paid by my employer, so I mostly don't have to worry about that except for occasional copays - see Misc below)
$40 Gas SHARED (Would like to eliminate some driving, but public transport doesn't go close to my work, and I'm not fit enough to ride my bike the 16+ miles a day round trip. Husband could bike to work much easier than me, but not 100% sold on this... )

Monthly Luxury Expenses:
$250 Credit Card (Disappearing next month, see below)
$50 Fast Food (This is my most embarrassing expense, and I've worked a lot to cut this down from the $150+ it used to be, still working on it. I'm addicted.)
$25 Treehouse (Part of trying to raise my income. I've been regularly using this for 6 weeks, but will abandon it if I no longer need it or don't continue to work on it.)
$7 Hulu (So I can watch it on my PS3/Phone, purely luxury)
$25 Charity (I support a few educational channels on Youtube, through Subbable, promoting science literacy, core standard literacy and sexual wellness)
$100 Misc (Usually a demon category, I know. For an idea of what I mean here: In October, this has been an extra meal out, a $5 haircut, some unexpected medical copays and a flat tire. In September, this was completely unexpected medical bills. In August, this was presents for my mom, and new bras and pants (needed badly and purchased on sale, not an impulse purchase))

$1007 in Total Expenses (All SHARED expenses are split 50/50 with my husband, double for realistic couple-wide spending - but we keep our money separate, and these are the sums that come out of my pocket)

Two bills I am also interested in cutting, even though they don't directly apply to my pocketbook:
Car insurance is paid for by the husband, and it's apx $120/mo (22, Male, Good record, PT Cruiser, Liability only, Own the car - Progressive)
Internet is paid for by the husband, but it's apx $40/mo (Century Link, 7mb/s.. Not sure there's anything cheaper where I live... Bleh.)

Total Debts: ~$350 Total, CC Debts only
$250 Best Buy Credit Card, no interest, final payment in November
$100 Cap One CC, made up of various expenses as detailed above, also includes Republic wireless bill, always paid in full each month.

Savings and Assets:
~$450-500 per paycheck saved, on average. Should mean $900-1000/mo, but I just don't see the long term impact that I think I should? Constantly trying to keep this above 50%...
~$4000 in a Vanguard index fund, very recently purchased. I think I bought at what is known as a 'bottom', but I'm not sure, since MMM taught me to ignore market trends ;).
$750 Emergency Fund, ballooning this back up to ~$1500 after dumping all my moolah into the aforementioned investment account
Total Assets: ~$4750 and climbing.

I'm really irritated here, with my assets. Each time I get my assets above 4-5k, I tend to run into some expense. Medical, car repair, or whatever. It's getting really annoying, and feels like a hump I'm really struggling to get over. I would adore suggestions on how to push this just a little harder, so it actually, like... Snowballs, or whatever it's supposed to do! I'd really like to strive for a goal of 10k, but I don't know - realistically - how long it will take to get there.

Short Term Goals:

Increase my income - or, at the very least, have the same income doing something I enjoy, instead of data entry work. This might involve taking an unpaid internship, if it's in the right field.
Cost Est: $500-$6000, where the low cost is a few online classes and building up a website portfolio, and where the high cost is apx 6mos living expenses plus buffer, in the case of unpaid full time internship.

Save up a down payment for a house - renting here is twice as expensive as owning, so right now I'm living under a lot of artificial light in an unfinished basement, but hoping to buy a small house or townhome. Eventually would trade the first home for an income producing multifamily, like a quadplex.
Cost Est: $5000-$15000 down payment and closing costs.

Long term goal: Retire by 35, raise kids and a garden and do lots of projects and artwork!
Cost Est: $350k... More?

Frequently Suggested Solutions (and how they apply to me!):

Can your parent(s) help you pay for or reduce expense X? Can you use your parents insurance/credit to get X benefits?
Haha, no. My mom is buried under her own mountain of debt, and has much higher bills while making less than I do. We attempted to live with her once before, but she demanded more in rent than we would be spending on a studio apartment in our area, and asked us to pay some of her persona bills, so that was out. She's also about to be 60 years old, and is probably going to have a major health breakdown soon. Yikes. My father and stepmother live in Africa as missionaries and don't have assets or an income outside of their mission's work. The husband's parents are both deceased, and he used his inheritance up before either of us got our heads about us with money.

You need to earn more money! Why don't you go to college? Trade school?
Uh, yeah, I know. I noticed. College is hugely expensive, and I'm not very good at or interested in many of the high paying college degrees, like medical or engineering. I like art and psychology, but I'm not willing to bet 30k-100k on it after seeing many of my friends go through college and come out working at Target or McDonalds (if they're fortunate enough to have work). Right now I am working on Treehouse courses and building portfolio pieces for my resume, which should get me in the door somewhere, probably at an internship. I'm also working regularly on my blog to keep me focused on my financial goals.

Stop eating fast food! Ride a bike instead! Learn to drive!
Yep. Working on it, actually. Slow going on all of these, but they're coming along. I love cooking, but I don't always have the energy. My fitness level fluctuates - working 46+ hours a week puts a damper on spare time to get everything done. Working on getting fit enough to bike, so I can kill two birds with one stone.


So, that's about all. Once again, thanks to anyone that read that wall of text! And definitely thanks to anyone who posts suggestions. :3!

[RFAAOATB]

Have you considered enlisting in the armed services?  BAH + pay is more than you are making now and they will pay you to go to college afterwards.

http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm for BAH
http://www.dfas.mil/dam/jcr:f7c23091-f6a9-40ca-aee7-be4d59114788/MilPayTable2014.pdf for basic pay.

If you are too poor for college than this is your safest bet to a solid middle class.

[Ynari]

No face punches here, your budget looks fine.  You're really facing an issue of not making enough money rather than spending too much. Without knowing what particular career path you'd like to chose, the following is based solely from my experience.

To state the obvious, you can up your income by working more hours or by being paid more for the hours you do work. Educating yourself helps, but directed career moves probably help more.

You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and would interview well. Living outside of Denver I'm sure there are some corporate jobs that would be willing to take a chance on you. I would look into consulting firms and the like (which may have internships or entry level positions for things like sales, customer service, administration, etc., which you may be qualified for) and you may be able to double that income of yours.  Depends on if you think you'd be happy in the environment, though.

Until you find an upward career path, can you find a side gig to pull in extra income?  What are you studying/building your portfolio around, and can you turn that into freelance work?

ETA: Just noticed Treehouse was a computer programming thing.  Computer programming can sometimes be flexible about the whole no-Bachelor's thing, but you have to write your cover letter well.  You are a motivated self-starter who learned all that stuff on your own, and some companies love that shit.  Your cover letter is the key to making them favor you over other candidates with college diplomas.

[surfhb]

I like your blog....it's nicely done

Your only issue is your income.   You seem to have a good handle on your spending so increasing that take home pay should be number one right now.   

I'm also getting the feeling there's some unneeded sense of urgency with all this.   You've just entered into adulthood.   You will be a different Person in 10 years just as you were a different person 10 years ago.  Your values and view of the world will change especially when you have children.   

I also think your attitude on a higher education is completely wrong.   Investing is a large part of retiring early and investing in yourself tops the best mutual fund out there.   What about community college courses in web design and programming?   Knowing various programming languages is a must in your field.   I mean Mr and Mrs MMM would never have been able to do what they did without making a larger then avg salary and an education :).  The reason your friends with degrees work at Mickey D is because of them, for one reason or another.....I guaran-fucking-tee it :)

Regarding your budget, you need to include all those "extras" in your budget.   Things like car mantenence, health care, ect are not unexpected.    I say take your savings rate down to 30%, have a complete and thorough budget while working on improving your skills at school.

Why isn't your husband in this equation?    You landing a better job benefits him as well....can he help with any of this?

Honestly I think you're selling yourself short by hoping for $350k (yes, you need more) to retire on and garden the rest of your life.   :).    Think big girl!    Work on getting a gig where you're both making an avg salary and save and invest and you'll have $1m to retire on.   Make sense?

[NewbieFrugalUK]

Zero face punches from me. I'm impressed that you are saving as much as you are at 22. The majority of people on here are jealous of you, I assure you, as you have 'seen the light' financially at such a young age! I agree that focusing on a higher earning career is the way (sounds like you are already on your way with this, with the Tree House courses).

 A little story: When my now husband was 19 he had decided not to go straight to Uni as his A - level results were bad. He was working in a boring administration job he hated. So he wrote a speculative letter and sent it, with his resume, to every engineering firm in the area (over 50, apparently). At this stage he had no relevant experience or qualifications.  Only one firm replied, but they liked his attitude, took him on, paid for him to study part - time,  and after 4 years that enabled him to jump into the 2nd year of a full - time degree course. Once he graduated, the fact that he was a bit older and already had industry experience meant he got a good, well - paying job in his field straight away. It all came down to approaching those 50 companies when he was 19! :)

[southernhippie]

No face punches from me either.  Sounds like you have your shit together. 

Like everyone else it sounds like you need more income to get more ahead.  Your feelings on college are not wrong.  Now considering taking up a trade might be worth while.  But if you are working on your blog, then keep going with that.  You might have to do a bunch of odd little jobs that have good pay for little time. 

Keep this in mind though.  You are only 22.  And you have your shit together better than most 50 year olds.  You have time on your side. 

[MWM1220]

I work with developers on a regular basis. I would recommend continuing to take advantage of classes and maybe even saving to do a 3-month code school. They can be expensive (around $10k) but many of them guarantee a full-time position (entry level front-end development jobs typically start around $45k and could go as high as $60k+ depending on how clean your code is) after graduation and, if you don't have an offer, refund the cash for tuition. Development is definitely a field where your degree matters 5% and your code matters 95% so it's a GREAT field for you to be moving towards. Also check out many other free resources available, such as CodeAcademy.com or Aquent Gymnasium. Also reach out to a creative recruiter, like Aquent. it's free and they can help get you access to resources like Lynda.com and let you know what's going on in your market.

Also - Is there a particular reason that you and your husband keep your incomes separate? I know this is a personal choice, but shared goals and income would definitely be a step in the right direction as well.

I'm only a few years older than you it sounds like (Im 25) and I can tell you that those first few years in the work force mean BIG percentage jumps in income a lot of the time, because you're growing so rapidly professionally.

Good luck and keep up the hard work!

[nessness]

Look into GIS as a career field. The job market is strong in Denver, your computer skills would be helpful, and you can get started with just a certificate from a CC, which you could complete in about a year. Front Range has a good program, though only at the Longmont campus.

[Gone Fishing]

Looks like you are certainly on the right track.  The first step up in your career is always the hardest, it took me longer than many of my peers, but when I got it, I knew exactly what to do with the money.  Perhaps I was better off for it vs hitting it big right out of school. 

In the meantime, make sure to get plenty of outdoor excercise, it is free, will help with the anxiety, and help counter that lingering fast food habit.  Looking good for an interview will only help.   

Does that job with benefits include access to a 401(k) possibly with a match?   Another thing to consider is using a IRA for your savings to help on the tax front.  Even though your income is relatively low, you would probably be able to defer around 20% in taxes, giving a nice boost to your savings.  Depending on your husband's income, you might even get a little Saver's credit on your taxes.  At your point in the game, you just need to make sure you keep enough in emergency savings to avoid having to tap the retirement account for an emergency.  Also, I wouldn't keep any house down payment money in a retirement account. Sure, there are ways to do it with a ROTH, but it only complicates matters.

One thing you need to start considering is how to get rid of that 2001 PT Cruiser, it has already cost you a ton in repairs and will continue to do so if you drive it much.  Between the repairs and salvage value you could have almost bought a 100k mile Corolla with a lot of trouble free life left in it and better gas mileage.  Might be a tough sell with the husband, but one you need to make. 

At this point I wouldn't even worry about your final FIRE number, too much can change between now and then.  For now, I would just save as much as you can for the next 10 years.  After that, one day you will look up, do the math, and be able to pinpoint when you can pull the trigger.   
     

[Terrestrial]

The key to your situation is getting a better handle on your future lifestyle expectations and expenses.  Unless you know what that looks like for you in the future there's no way to tell if you're on course or not. 

Saving 50% is pretty decent...if you expected your lifestyle to stay exactly the same, you would be doing just fine.  Spending 1k/mo you need about 300k built up, and saving 1k/month from where you are now you'd get there in about 15 years, not long after your 35 goal.  Assuming you make more over time even in your same career field to track inflation and save it all and your relative expenses never went up, you'd might hit it by 35....but that assumes you live in an inexpensive basement forever and don't have expensive things like kids, doesn't seem to be your plan.

BUT, I expect that you don't want to live in a basement forever as evidenced by your desire to buy a house. Those take money.  I don't know if you are open to moving but i looked in your town and aside from a few small/foreclosed townhomes there is barely any inventory in Arvada for less than 180-200k.  This means that you SHOULD save up about 40-50k total to cover the down/closing, and assuming you split everything with your husband your portion needs to be 20-25k, not 5-15k.  Then consider that when you buy the home your half of the mortgage/utilities/maintenance will go from your $230/mo for rent to probably at least $600/mo plus all the 'unexpected' things that pop up in a house.  Now you aren't saving anywhere near 50% anymore.

So bottom line you have an income problem.  I would dispute the notion that it's not money well spent as long as you get the right degree and are conscious about how you get it.  There is no way I would make even close to half of what I do had I not gone to college and at the end of the day, you can be as tight as possible with spending but your upside is always limited by how much income you have to work with. 

You seem interested in computers/programming, get a computer science degree.  Do as much as possible at a community college before transferring.  Work full time as much as possible and do off hour/night school to cash flow your degree with minimal loans.  No it wont be easy, but there are still cost effective ways to get degrees.  Many of your peers that racked up 75-100k of debt did so because they went for the full out 'college experience' with no jobs during college, charging everything from housing to food to vacations onto their student loans, and to boot got degrees that are fairly worthless in terms of getting a career. 

You can do much better than that.  I see that the tuition for University of Denver (just picked a random proxy) is ~15k a year after tuition and books/fees.  I would assume that a community college is substantially less (half?) so your total degree could probably be done for 40-50k, maybe less as i'm sure there are cheaper options than the random one I googled.  You already have the capacity to save 12k/year, that's 48k over the 4 years.   You can largely cash flow a degree for the next 4 years if you are diligent about it, and at this point in your life an investment in yourself is the best investment you can make.   Computer science degrees are now in the top 10 paying out of college along with engineering and business degrees, and you shouldn't have any problem making 50-60k out the gate.  That doubling of your earning power off the bat with a much higher ceiling (i know several programers/CS friends who easily break 100k a year) will break even the cost of your degree in a couple years.   The additional upside is that programming is probably the easiest careers to telecommute/take on contract/work part time if you want to stay home with kids and still earn a bit of nice scratch in the future.

If you were 45 my advice would probably be alot different.  You're 22.  You have a ton of earning years ahead of you...maximize what they are worth (salary) in order to minimize how long you have to do it.

[Terrestrial]

Stop eating fast food! Ride a bike instead! Learn to drive!
Yep. Working on it, actually. Slow going on all of these, but they're coming along. I love cooking, but I don't always have the energy. My fitness level fluctuates - working 46+ hours a week puts a damper on spare time to get everything done. Working on getting fit enough to bike, so I can kill two birds with one stone.

The other part is, and I don't mean this to sound harsh, but stop making excuses if you really want to change something about your life.   

If you are too tired to cook at night, open a can of progresso chicken noodle soup ($1/can, 100 calories) and throw some lettuce in a bowl instead of fast food.  It takes 2 minutes...no more time than stopping by a drive in on your way home and far cheaper and better for you.

Regarding being fit enough to bike.  Just do it.  8 miles one way seems daunting but it's not.  I had the same fear when i started my 12 mi each way commute.  And yes i had to stop a couple times to catch my breath for the first week or two.  You get up to speed quickly....now 24 miles round trip breezes by quite easily, i go on recreational rides for 40-50 miles, and i've lost 15 lbs to boot.  All that progress in only 4 months of bike commuting 3 days a week.  The best way is just to start doing it.  Allow yourself another 15 mins in order to take a rest break or ride more slowly if needed.  You can do it.

[skunkfunk]

Face punch? Why? You're doing all right.

For the fast food, I find that if I think of it as gross food that isn't half as good as I can get at home, I don't eat it. Since this is true, it's easy.

Biking - 16 miles round trip isn't bad. It'll suck, yeah, but your fitness level increases FAST at first. Struggle through it a few times and it'll get easier, even after just a week or so. After a few months it's no big deal. I suggest starting with a one mile ride, adding a mile per ride (ride every other day), and once you're at 8 doing the commute a few times a week until you're ready for full time. Seriously, the best way to get fit enough for a commute is to commute.

Other option is electrically assisted bicycle, but this is practically pointless for an 8 mile ride.

[geek101]

Here are some suggestions, I'm 24 making 30k/year right now (not married) so I feel where you are at:

Focus on the big picture. Spend a lot of time laying out goals and dreams. Do a lot of research. Make a way for yourself into a higher paying job. I would recommend putting the majority of your time and mental energy towards this goal.

Then start side hustling. Look for low hanging fruit, remember, you want to stay focused on the big picture and the big issues (getting a significantly higher salary) so don't let small wins take up the majority of your effort. You are self taught in Photoshop? Offer to do editing on Fiverr. Send a portfolio to photographers around town and offer your services as an editor. It should be easy to find something you like to do that can make a little cash on the side. You get bonus points if what you do on the side will help you progress or career. When you're low income, even $100/mo makes a difference, but make sure your hourly rate is still solid. Don't let side hustling consume all of your extra time, that needs to be spent on career development.

Other low hanging fruit: consider donating plasma (for compensation of course). It's an easy process that takes an hour per donation, up to twice a week, which will earn you $200-$250 a month for doing almost nothing. As long as you are relatively healthy you will qualify, and it's super easy. Give it a shot even if it doesn't sound appealing. It's $25 an hour if you look at it like that. I use the hour to read up on personal finance or do research; you can do the same and get paid to learn. Most of my following recommendations were researched and discovered while donating plasma. http://www.donatingplasma.org/donation/find-a-donor-center

More easy money: credit card sign up bonuses. Read a few posts like MMM's and you'll see how easy it is, then check out NerdWallet to find the current sign up bonuses. You don't have to go crazy, even with low expenses it should be trivial to earn $1k in sign up bonuses a year. Read up on the AmEx Bluebird or Serve accounts for easy manufactured spending. The Serve allows 1k per month in manufactured spending, making a "spend  3k in the first 3 months" sign up bonus cost you 10 minutes of effort to setup the accounts and manufacture the spending. There are a ton of cards out there with no annual fee that offer $100 cash back for spending 500-1k in the first 3 months. Even with your low expenses you can generate that easy. You should be able to make at least $100/hour playing the CC bonus game. 

How about maximizing what you're already able to save? Your expenses look fine, with the exception of the auto insurance, I'll touch on that later.

You say you have benefits, does that include a 401k match? If so, make sure you are contributing enough to get the match.

If not, what type of account do you have your investment assets in? A Roth IRA is very powerful for young adults, especially because you are in a low tax bracket. Since you can start so young, run a calculator but I can pretty much guarantee it will work out better for you than a traditional IRA.

Additionally, because of your income level you should qualify for the Saver's credit; it's at least a $200 tax credit if you contribute $2k to any retirement account in 2014. It's a free $200 on your tax return. http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Plan-Now-to-Get-Full-Benefit-of-Saver%E2%80%99s-Credit

Finally, the car insurance. You say your husband pays it; 120/mo should be unacceptable. I'm a 24 y/o male and I pay $23.33/mo for 100/300 liability and comprehensive. You might not be able to do all of these but here are the tricks:

#1: See if you can get back on his parent's insurance. Some companies allow it even for married couples. The main qualification is to not own the vehicle yourself (or in this case your husband.) Write the title over to his parents (as long as you trust them) and bundle the insurance with them. This is the biggest factor in my low premium. My parents have years and years of a clean driving record so I'm getting all their discounts by bundling with them.
#2: Ditch the PT cruiser. Sell it and get a similarly old compact with a small engine. Preferably something reliable like a Civic or a Camry. My '04 Civic with 187k miles is worth like 3.5k, and will last me at least another 5 years. Having a small car with a small engine can drastically reduce the insurance premium for a young male. Bonus: better MPG. My mom had a cruiser and it was a gas hog really. It's not terrible but for that size of vehicle it's one of the worst.
#3: Prepay in advance. Pretty much all companies allow you to pay for 6 months of coverage at a time to get a discount.
#4: I'm on progressive as well and the snapshot program is a huge bonus. Other companies offer a similar program. I earned the maximum discount by driving like an elderly person for the months that the Snapshot was connected. Totally worth it.

If you follow all of that you can earn an extra 3-4k per year for only a few hours work per week.

[Gin1984]

Do you have access to a 401k?  If not, you should be looking into pulling money in an IRA.

[Seņora Savings]

Savings and Assets:
~$450-500 per paycheck saved, on average. Should mean $900-1000/mo, but I just don't see the long term impact that I think I should? Constantly trying to keep this above 50%...
~$4000 in a Vanguard index fund, very recently purchased. I think I bought at what is known as a 'bottom', but I'm not sure, since MMM taught me to ignore market trends ;).
$750 Emergency Fund, ballooning this back up to ~$1500 after dumping all my moolah into the aforementioned investment account
Total Assets: ~$4750 and climbing.

I'm really irritated here, with my assets. Each time I get my assets above 4-5k, I tend to run into some expense. Medical, car repair, or whatever. It's getting really annoying, and feels like a hump I'm really struggling to get over. I would adore suggestions on how to push this just a little harder, so it actually, like... Snowballs, or whatever it's supposed to do! I'd really like to strive for a goal of 10k, but I don't know - realistically - how long it will take to get there.

It sounds like you need to look at actual spending over as long a time period as you can.  Car maintenance is a thing, it will not go away, so it needs to be in your budget.  Medical expenses too.  I recommend that you redo your budget accounting for these things.  It will help you figure out what you need to cut out (the car is more expensive than it looks) and give you a realistic idea of how much money you need to save up.  Since you don't actually live on $1000 a month that is going to increase the amount that you need to save up.

It sounds like you are studying computer type stuff.  Do you think that your 15 year outcome for taking Treehouse classes looks better than getting a degree in software engineering, both in terms of $$$ and doing interesting things?  Also, any reply to the military suggestion?

[Future Lazy]

REPLIES PART ONE:

Holy wow this post turned out long.

I love this fourm because instant and awesome feedback. Thanks to everyone who has answered so far! I'm gonna try to answer everybody without repeating myself, which might be foolish, but... : ) Oh well. So, uh.. Look for your name below, if you're interested!

Have you considered enlisting in the armed services?  BAH + pay is more than you are making now and they will pay you to go to college afterwards.

Politically, I would much much rather not take this course of action. I'm a pacifist. Physically, I'm pretty out of shape and don't qualify. I considered this out of high school, and have reconsidered it often. It's really not for me. 

No face punches here, your budget looks fine.  You're really facing an issue of not making enough money rather than spending too much. Without knowing what particular career path you'd like to chose, the following is based solely from my experience.

To state the obvious, you can up your income by working more hours or by being paid more for the hours you do work. Educating yourself helps, but directed career moves probably help more.

You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and would interview well. Living outside of Denver I'm sure there are some corporate jobs that would be willing to take a chance on you. I would look into consulting firms and the like (which may have internships or entry level positions for things like sales, customer service, administration, etc., which you may be qualified for) and you may be able to double that income of yours.  Depends on if you think you'd be happy in the environment, though.

Until you find an upward career path, can you find a side gig to pull in extra income?  What are you studying/building your portfolio around, and can you turn that into freelance work?

Thank you!

I feel like I already get paid pretty well for not doing anything specialized - $13/hr with the spare time to write this response post :) - with 6+ hours of overtime a week. They pay for all out health insurance for me, and give me three weeks of vacation time, and I may have the option to eventually work from home. Compared to part time overnight shifts at Home Depot, where I used to work, this is a great gig. It makes me fat, though. Bummer.

That being said, I do interview well. There are people who've worked in call centers as a career that don't get past temporary employment where I work. I (think) only got my foot in the door here by telling them about working for my parent's tree cutting business as a teenager, paired with telling them stories phones ringing off the hook during snowstorms and other extremely busy seasons. I didn't tell them I was eight years old at the time of that snowstorm, but what they don't know didn't hurt them. I'm not happy where I'm at, though. I'm bored out of my skull pretty much all day every day, from not doing work that doesn't engage me in any way. Staring into a future of being bored every day is a far more powerful incentive to practice something I enjoy - in this case, web design, which I've been doing off and on since high school - than just earning more money. Moving up in a call center or in an administrative fashion wouldn't fulfill me in the long run, I don't think.

I'm looking closely at local internships, but I kind of live in a 'small town' area of a big city, and lots of the tech jobs are 20-30 miles from me in south Denver or Boulder, which I find a bit troubling. For now, I'm just focusing on using new things I've learned about html5 and css3 to build stuff that shows off some basic knowledge and creativity, and then I'll have a jumping off point. Writing a good cover letter and interviewing well is a skill I already have well established...

I like your blog....it's nicely done

Your only issue is your income.   You seem to have a good handle on your spending so increasing that take home pay should be number one right now.   

I'm also getting the feeling there's some unneeded sense of urgency with all this.   You've just entered into adulthood.   You will be a different Person in 10 years just as you were a different person 10 years ago.  Your values and view of the world will change especially when you have children.   

I also think your attitude on a higher education is completely wrong.   Investing is a large part of retiring early and investing in yourself tops the best mutual fund out there.   What about community college courses in web design and programming?   Knowing various programming languages is a must in your field.   I mean Mr and Mrs MMM would never have been able to do what they did without making a larger then avg salary and an education :).  The reason your friends with degrees work at Mickey D is because of them, for one reason or another.....I guaran-fucking-tee it :)

Regarding your budget, you need to include all those "extras" in your budget.   Things like car mantenence, health care, ect are not unexpected.    I say take your savings rate down to 30%, have a complete and thorough budget while working on improving your skills at school.

Why isn't your husband in this equation?    You landing a better job benefits him as well....can he help with any of this?

Honestly I think you're selling yourself short by hoping for $350k (yes, you need more) to retire on and garden the rest of your life.   :).    Think big girl!    Work on getting a gig where you're both making an avg salary and save and invest and you'll have $1m to retire on.   Make sense?

Thanks a bunch!

My sense of urgency is more-so vested in escaping the intense boredom described above. If I were doing something creative and productive that I enjoy, something that engages me, I might feel less urgency. But, I was twelve years old ten years ago, so I don't really have perspective on changing as a person. That being said, I do know that ten years from now, I want the option of having all the free time in the world to spend with my new kiddos, the same way my dad had all the free time in the world to spend with me. Mostly, that was through being an entrepreneur, delegating and picking his own hours. Retiring and quitting and gardening forever isn't as much the end all as the freedom to choose.

For clarification: I have a friend with an early childhood education degree, and I have a friend with an engineering degree, whom both work in their degree fields. I also have a friend with a pre-med biology degree whom is unemployed, and a friend with a literature degree who worked at Target before moving across the country to a place where her skills were more in demand - LA. It's not that I don't think the education system serves students, but I do definitely think it depends on the degree path you choose. I know enough about myself to know I wouldn't likely choose a profitable degree path - with the exception of web development and coding, which I can learn for almost free within my own structure, while earning a paycheck instead of paying for school... So why pay for that degree?

My husband pays his bills and keeps himself out of debt. He actually worked very hard this summer and paid away 3k in debt... But also failed to save anything on the back of that. And that's ok, because he's working through is own process. I prefer to keep his financial picture separate from mine for the following reasons:

Don't ask, don't tell - if he had fast food for lunch or bought a not very good Transformers video game for $60 (I am still so mad agh), I don't even want to know. How he spends his money is up to him. Co-dependence and emotional confluence play a big role - I haven't spent 5k+ out of pocket on therapy for nothing, and at the very least, I've learned to depend only on myself. I won't let relying on his income keep me from making decisions that are best for my future, and I won't let his overspending validate my own. The best way for me to do that is keep them separate. Basically, I'm taking a cue from Mad FIentist and also from ERE here. If my husband sees the light through my actions (and he has been, actually), and that brings him around to a more money conscious type of lifestyle, awesome. If not, oh well, because in that case, down the road, my income is still mine and my savings has stayed mine, so yay.

About thinking big: As someone who still only makes 24k a year, 350k is thinking big ;). I'm sure my goals will inflate as my ability to reach them inflates. That's also only to cover my half of expenses, not my husbands. Remember, separate financials in this picture, for right now.

Zero face punches from me. I'm impressed that you are saving as much as you are at 22. The majority of people on here are jealous of you, I assure you, as you have 'seen the light' financially at such a young age! I agree that focusing on a higher earning career is the way (sounds like you are already on your way with this, with the Tree House courses).

 A little story: When my now husband was 19 he had decided not to go straight to Uni as his A - level results were bad. He was working in a boring administration job he hated. So he wrote a speculative letter and sent it, with his resume, to every engineering firm in the area (over 50, apparently). At this stage he had no relevant experience or qualifications.  Only one firm replied, but they liked his attitude, took him on, paid for him to study part - time,  and after 4 years that enabled him to jump into the 2nd year of a full - time degree course. Once he graduated, the fact that he was a bit older and already had industry experience meant he got a good, well - paying job in his field straight away. It all came down to approaching those 50 companies when he was 19! :)

Thanks! That's a really inspiring story, actually, and encourages me in searching for a more future aligned career. This is pretty similar to what I plan on doing, although I would like to have some solid codes and stuff to show before I tackle applying for anything. Thanks for sharing!

No face punches from me either.  Sounds like you have your shit together. 

Like everyone else it sounds like you need more income to get more ahead.  Your feelings on college are not wrong.  Now considering taking up a trade might be worth while.  But if you are working on your blog, then keep going with that.  You might have to do a bunch of odd little jobs that have good pay for little time. 

Keep this in mind though.  You are only 22.  And you have your shit together better than most 50 year olds.  You have time on your side. 

I used to design and code websites for friends back in high school, and so my learning a trade course of action is to refresh my code skills to be more modern. Also, it's funny you say that about my age: watching my late 50's mom run around derpin' all over the place is part of what has inspired me to really get my shit together. I'm not willing to let my age hold me back, though - there's so much to be done while I have the energy!

I work with developers on a regular basis. I would recommend continuing to take advantage of classes and maybe even saving to do a 3-month code school. They can be expensive (around $10k) but many of them guarantee a full-time position (entry level front-end development jobs typically start around $45k and could go as high as $60k+ depending on how clean your code is) after graduation and, if you don't have an offer, refund the cash for tuition. Development is definitely a field where your degree matters 5% and your code matters 95% so it's a GREAT field for you to be moving towards. Also check out many other free resources available, such as CodeAcademy.com or Aquent Gymnasium. Also reach out to a creative recruiter, like Aquent. it's free and they can help get you access to resources like Lynda.com and let you know what's going on in your market.

Also - Is there a particular reason that you and your husband keep your incomes separate? I know this is a personal choice, but shared goals and income would definitely be a step in the right direction as well.

I'm only a few years older than you it sounds like (Im 25) and I can tell you that those first few years in the work force mean BIG percentage jumps in income a lot of the time, because you're growing so rapidly professionally.

Good luck and keep up the hard work!

I haven't heard of Aquent and  Lynda.com before, thanks for sharing! I'll add them to my list of resources. Actually, I have a lot of free time at work - like a LOT; I've written this entire post at work. That being said, do you know of any browser based non-video tutorials or follow along learning/projects for code and development? Something non-video that I can do at work would be awesome.

See bolded area above about my marriage and my finances and not combining them. :)

Look into GIS as a career field. The job market is strong in Denver, your computer skills would be helpful, and you can get started with just a certificate from a CC, which you could complete in about a year. Front Range has a good program, though only at the Longmont campus.

GIS actually has a huge foothold in the call center I work in. I hadn't considered this, but might, since it is one of the more interesting things I get exposed to at work. Longmont is a very long way to go for a class, though. Ouch.

.... 

Does that job with benefits include access to a 401(k) possibly with a match?   Another thing to consider is using a IRA for your savings to help on the tax front.  Even though your income is relatively low, you would probably be able to defer around 20% in taxes, giving a nice boost to your savings.  Depending on your husband's income, you might even get a little Saver's credit on your taxes.  At your point in the game, you just need to make sure you keep enough in emergency savings to avoid having to tap the retirement account for an emergency.  Also, I wouldn't keep any house down payment money in a retirement account. Sure, there are ways to do it with a ROTH, but it only complicates matters.

One thing you need to start considering is how to get rid of that 2001 PT Cruiser, it has already cost you a ton in repairs and will continue to do so if you drive it much.  Between the repairs and salvage value you could have almost bought a 100k mile Corolla with a lot of trouble free life left in it and better gas mileage.  Might be a tough sell with the husband, but one you need to make. 

....
     

Ha ha ha ha about that 401k. I was officially hired (no longer working for a temp agency, actually working for my employer) on Jan 6th 2014, and I was told "Oh, so sorry, we can't enroll you in that until December! If we'd hired you just a few weeks earlier, in Dec 2013... Oh well!" and that made me piissssed. But I was also happy to have a job, so whatever. Yes, there is a matching program, but I can't get my HR person to tell me about it; he's constantly dodging the question on the basis that I don't need to know until I actually am able to enroll in the program. But, yes, as soon as I am able to do this, I will be doing it.

We've put $4700 into the PT above the original purchase price of 3k, and that we and our mechanic can tell (the only mechanic that has ever worked on the car, we picked him up from the previous owner), there aren't any other major repairs coming in the next 12 months. For now, that's the car, but when it is more in the budget, we'll be making that change. Not sure how soon that will come, since my focus is more on increased salary.

[Future Lazy]

REPLIES PART TWO yeah because it exceeded 20,000 characters that's right

You need to build your cash inflows... before you even think about retiring.  $350K to retire on?  I mean, people have done it...  but with a number that low, you're mapping out a pretty austere existence, in my opinion.  To each her own.

How much are you factoring in for future healthcare expenses once you're retired?  Or are you planning on relocating to Canada? :)

You're smart, you can do it.  You're very blessed to find the early retirement community this young...

I have no idea, really. That's just a guess, and as everyone here knows, that's going to change. I just picked the highest number that seemed within reach, and that number will likely grow with my earning power. I'm not sure what to factor for medical expenses, how would that be estimated? Thanks for the encouragement, though, I'm really grateful to have found this community too. :)

The key to your situation is getting a better handle on your future lifestyle expectations and expenses.  Unless you know what that looks like for you in the future there's no way to tell if you're on course or not. 

Saving 50% is pretty decent...if you expected your lifestyle to stay exactly the same, you would be doing just fine.  Spending 1k/mo you need about 300k built up, and saving 1k/month from where you are now you'd get there in about 15 years, not long after your 35 goal.  Assuming you make more over time even in your same career field to track inflation and save it all and your relative expenses never went up, you'd might hit it by 35....but that assumes you live in an inexpensive basement forever and don't have expensive things like kids, doesn't seem to be your plan.

BUT, I expect that you don't want to live in a basement forever as evidenced by your desire to buy a house. Those take money.  I don't know if you are open to moving but i looked in your town and aside from a few small/foreclosed townhomes there is barely any inventory in Arvada for less than 180-200k.  This means that you SHOULD save up about 40-50k total to cover the down/closing, and assuming you split everything with your husband your portion needs to be 20-25k, not 5-15k.  Then consider that when you buy the home your half of the mortgage/utilities/maintenance will go from your $230/mo for rent to probably at least $600/mo plus all the 'unexpected' things that pop up in a house.  Now you aren't saving anywhere near 50% anymore.

$500/mo mortgage on a 2 bedroom condo, rent spare bedroom for $500/mo + share of utils = no more bill here. Just because I wouldn't be living in a basement doesn't mean I wouldn't be living with room mates. Put away my $500 a month toward a house fund, and then no worried about unexpected expenses. Some mortgage programs here will cover your entire down payment with a 0% interest loan, but that doesn't avoid PMI, which is icky. Regardless, there are way cheaper ways to get into real estate than putting 20% cash down, and I also have no idea if I will even try to stay in (very expensive) Denver & surrounding longer than I have to.

So bottom line you have an income problem.  I would dispute the notion that it's not money well spent as long as you get the right degree and are conscious about how you get it.  There is no way I would make even close to half of what I do had I not gone to college and at the end of the day, you can be as tight as possible with spending but your upside is always limited by how much income you have to work with. 

You seem interested in computers/programming, get a computer science degree.  Do as much as possible at a community college before transferring.  Work full time as much as possible and do off hour/night school to cash flow your degree with minimal loans.  No it wont be easy, but there are still cost effective ways to get degrees.  Many of your peers that racked up 75-100k of debt did so because they went for the full out 'college experience' with no jobs during college, charging everything from housing to food to vacations onto their student loans, and to boot got degrees that are fairly worthless in terms of getting a career. 

You can do much better than that.  I see that the tuition for University of Denver (just picked a random proxy) is ~15k a year after tuition and books/fees.  I would assume that a community college is substantially less (half?) so your total degree could probably be done for 40-50k, maybe less as i'm sure there are cheaper options than the random one I googled.  You already have the capacity to save 12k/year, that's 48k over the 4 years.   You can largely cash flow a degree for the next 4 years if you are diligent about it, and at this point in your life an investment in yourself is the best investment you can make.   Computer science degrees are now in the top 10 paying out of college along with engineering and business degrees, and you shouldn't have any problem making 50-60k out the gate.  That doubling of your earning power off the bat with a much higher ceiling (i know several programers/CS friends who easily break 100k a year) will break even the cost of your degree in a couple years.   The additional upside is that programming is probably the easiest careers to telecommute/take on contract/work part time if you want to stay home with kids and still earn a bit of nice scratch in the future.

Just to repeat some of the things scattered above: Why pay for a comp sci degree when I can take the classes almost free online, structure my own education and market myself while continuing to work a low key office job with benefits? Most of the development internships in my area are paid. They're paid less than what a degree holder might make, but they pay many dollars more than what I make now. I just can't see taking on all that debt if I don't absolutely need the structure of college, it doesn't click. Sorry...

If you were 45 my advice would probably be alot different.  You're 22.  You have a ton of earning years ahead of you...maximize what they are worth (salary) in order to minimize how long you have to do it.

...

Stop eating fast food! Ride a bike instead! Learn to drive!
Yep. Working on it, actually. Slow going on all of these, but they're coming along. I love cooking, but I don't always have the energy. My fitness level fluctuates - working 46+ hours a week puts a damper on spare time to get everything done. Working on getting fit enough to bike, so I can kill two birds with one stone.

The other part is, and I don't mean this to sound harsh, but stop making excuses if you really want to change something about your life.   

If you are too tired to cook at night, open a can of progresso chicken noodle soup ($1/can, 100 calories) and throw some lettuce in a bowl instead of fast food.  It takes 2 minutes...no more time than stopping by a drive in on your way home and far cheaper and better for you.

Actually, $2.25 in my local Kroger/King Soopers store, and it's 140 cals per can of light chicken noodle. :) I buy them for lunch, when they're on sale (~$1.75). I'm not stupid about food, don't worry about that. But I do love cheeseburgers, no matter how bad they are for me, and I'm pretty carb addicted. That's going to be an uphill battle no matter how you frame it.

Regarding being fit enough to bike.  Just do it.  8 miles one way seems daunting but it's not.  I had the same fear when i started my 12 mi each way commute.  And yes i had to stop a couple times to catch my breath for the first week or two.  You get up to speed quickly....now 24 miles round trip breezes by quite easily, i go on recreational rides for 40-50 miles, and i've lost 15 lbs to boot.  All that progress in only 4 months of bike commuting 3 days a week.  The best way is just to start doing it.  Allow yourself another 15 mins in order to take a rest break or ride more slowly if needed.  You can do it.

Not even gonna lie. I'm a fatty and I don't bike well at all. A 2 mile walk takes me 30 minutes, but the same trip on a bike takes me 45min-1hr due to my fitness level. I'm not comfortable with that as a morning commute. It'll come with time, but it's just not as easy as jumping in the bike and doing it. Not for obese little ol' (big ol'?) me.

Accepting my limitations and giving myself space is not an excuse, and never will be. I also spent ~5k on therapy for that answer, too!

Here are some suggestions, I'm 24 making 30k/year right now (not married) so I feel where you are at:
....
Other low hanging fruit: consider donating plasma (for compensation of course). It's an easy process that takes an hour per donation, up to twice a week, which will earn you $200-$250 a month for doing almost nothing. As long as you are relatively healthy you will qualify, and it's super easy. Give it a shot even if it doesn't sound appealing. It's $25 an hour if you look at it like that. I use the hour to read up on personal finance or do research; you can do the same and get paid to learn. Most of my following recommendations were researched and discovered while donating plasma. http://www.donatingplasma.org/donation/find-a-donor-center
...

 

I'm currently still researching this, and am having a hard time fitting it into my current schedule. The closest plasma donation office is ~10-15 miles from where I work. Not sure if the extra income is really that beneficial...

.....
It sounds like you need to look at actual spending over as long a time period as you can.  Car maintenance is a thing, it will not go away, so it needs to be in your budget.  Medical expenses too.  I recommend that you redo your budget accounting for these things.  It will help you figure out what you need to cut out (the car is more expensive than it looks) and give you a realistic idea of how much money you need to save up.  Since you don't actually live on $1000 a month that is going to increase the amount that you need to save up.

Car:
$3000 to purchase
$4700 in repairs and maintenance over 3 years of ownership
Cost per month: 7700/36 = $213/mo so far, which is still cheaper than a car loan...
Divide that by two, between my spouse and I, and my share $106.50. Seems pretty affordable.

Medical expenses = Emergency room visits, not $25 co-pays and $4 prescriptions. When I said unexpected, I really meant unexpected.

It sounds like you are studying computer type stuff.  Do you think that your 15 year outcome for taking Treehouse classes looks better than getting a degree in software engineering, both in terms of $$$ and doing interesting things?  Also, any reply to the military suggestion?

Yes, I do. Also: See military response (way way) above!




Once again, thanks to everybody who answered. I really appreciate all your criticisms and encouragements. They keep me focused on the task and hand, and help me make sure that my own perceptions of myself are balanced. :)

[Gin1984]

Ok, so you can't have a 401k now, so will you open a traditional IRA with index fund this year?

[chicagomeg]

You mentioned you like art & psychology, maybe look into UX (user interface) design once your web dev skills improve. I've heard it's a pretty hot field right now. A couple of the code camps offer it, but you seem self disciplined enough to teach yourself.

[Goldielocks]

A few thoughts:

1) Ages up to 27 and then after 40 yrs old have been my big money saving years.  In between, with kids, upgraded home (from basement suite, apt, etc) and replacement cars,all against modest incomes and health issues for DH, and we did not save nearly as much in our 30's as when we were young.   You are correct to try to save as much as humanly possible now, even when your income is low.

2) GIS was my first thought, too.  Also Executive Administration (goes up to 50k per year), where you can show off your computer skills by helping to analyze and data mine the corporate server for financial information, while producing a kick ass presentation for the CEO.   Great communication skills, "interviews well", combined with your interest in SQL programming and possibly VB and web design with help this A LOT.  you would be a star in this field quickly.  my next thought is IT computer call centre support, like with the local telephone company.  A friend made a lot of money with this, and you can often work from home.  find out what it takes.  your skills are a direct shoo in for this job so far, and it starts low pay, like you have now, but increases pretty quickly.  Other ideas are to look at 6 month to 2 yr part time programs for skills, including PC Network administtraion, etc.   Do not take internships.  You have very valuable skills and should be paid for them.  Only those college kids with no work experience should have  interships, or people looking at book editing, fashion magazine, etc type jobs, where fetching coffee for a chance to network makes sense.  The employers you want put equal value in results, skills and attitude, not networking and coffee service.  (My opinion)

3) I recommend electric bike assist.   If you go with a lead acid battery, the cost comes far cheaper, and you don't need more than 30 min to 1 hr assist anyway.  This was how I started biking 6 miles one way, with hills, when I was 40 lbs overweight.   the others are correct that you build up fast to the effort.  for me, the electric assist helped me to start use the bike for groceries and other errands too, as it was pretty easy / lazy.  More effort to drive and then park a car, really, compared to the bike.   Cycling is about more than just costs, it is about your freedom to get to where you want to go, without depending on others.

4) I would drop the phone, and go pay as you go talk & Text flip (dumb) phone.  this will drop your extra subscription too, and you now save nearly $30 per month.  $30 is still a LOT of money for a phone, at your income level.   

5)  $5k to $15k is too low for downpayment, even if DH contributes half.  you will need 20% downpayment, on a $150k+ home, that means at least $35k for you.  (other wise, it is a large debt trap)   Instead, keep renting, possibly move above ground soon for increased rent costs.   It is OK to realize that home ownership is not your end goal, if your income does not match / make it realistic.

6)  You need to start blending financial goals with DH soon.   Each should contribute in % related to your income, at the very least, if you don't blend all finances, but not each paying for roughly half.   In your example of his buying a game, don't you think it will get old, fast, if he starts to spend a lot of money, because he starts to earn a lot more, and you are still not having much $'s for yourself?   This is especially true when / if you have kids...   you need a combined action plan, not just you taking on all the costs.  By the time another 12 yrs rolls around, if you are retiring, it is likely his career will be paying enough to cover a large share of the expenses. Also, one of you will likely start to do more of the home activities, and one will start to drive more career / money.   (This may not be him, btw).  Think ahead to how you would handle big income differences.  Likewise with Downpayments -- you may choose to contribute to a home in different amounts as a long term goal.

7) $350k for your portion to contribute to retire, if you have an agreement that you will take off at 35 with the kids, is not a problem.  you will likely combine savings and  want to retire with $1 Million together (more or less), but it is OK to figure out how to get there, together, with DH.  Example is that you invest your $350k, while he pays all the bills for 15 years while your children are raised, then you retire together on $1 Million, etc.

8) clothing, medical expenses, eating out, gifts -- ALL should be evaluated and set into a monthly budget.  So if one month you have a medical expense, then mom's gift is a bit smaller... $100 is 5% of your total income, up to 10% of your expenses, after all.

9) NEVER take out another "zero interest for 8 months" (Best Buy) offer again.  Leads to too much over purchasing (like the computer or tv or whatever you bought for I am guessing $2000).  This includes future car loans, too.   I think you figured this one out, already.

10) I don't think you are in a position to start trying to get the bonus points cc offers.  Way too much spend and monthly tracking to make it worth your while, and too risky on modest incomes.   Some do make profit from this, but it is mostly through travel reductions and you are not in a position to travel a lot.   Conversely, you can get a cash back card for no annual fee (maybe 1%) that will trickle through savings to you on your total, normal, monthly spend of about $500.  ($60 per year is nice to go out for dinner).

[juuustin]

In regards to getting into computer science without a degree, my brother (31yrs old) has taken the most "backwards", unconventional path to a full-time cybersecurity position in history.  He barely graduated high school (apathy), dropped out of community college to start his own business, filed for bankruptcy when said business went under, moved back home, took a few classes online, and after all that landed his first full-time job at a MAJOR government contractor for 75K.  Two years later, he makes 99K and will probably end up pushing 150K before he actually needs to finish his degree in order to progress to supervisory positions.

In all aspects of CS, he is a genius.  He is self-taught since about 1995 when we got our first family computer.  He has more certifications than you can shake a stick at and that is really all his employer cares about.  I have no idea about the costs associated, but he has told me that his CISSP and Ethical Hacking certs are by far the most prestigious.  I have to imagine that obtaining these is cheaper than college, but it is certainly not easy.

My overall point is this: at your age, my brother was trolling storage lockers and estate auctions selling random shit to make some money.  A decade later he has a very well-paying job after only being in the work force for a few years.  You have plenty of time to figure out what you want without going to traditional college.  Good luck!!

[chicagomeg]

I just have to post a quick retort to Goldielocks' last point. I just totalled up all my bank & credit card bonuses for the year the other day...over $2k in cash, plus 70,000 hotel points and 110,000 airline miles. There's risk in things like manufactured spending, but credit card bonuses themselves are easy & very low risk. Even something as simple as the Chase Freedom or Amex Bluecash everyday signup bonus would be a nice boost to your income for a month, neither have an annual fee, and both have solid reward categories for ongoing use.

[Seņora Savings]

.....
It sounds like you need to look at actual spending over as long a time period as you can.  Car maintenance is a thing, it will not go away, so it needs to be in your budget.  Medical expenses too.  I recommend that you redo your budget accounting for these things.  It will help you figure out what you need to cut out (the car is more expensive than it looks) and give you a realistic idea of how much money you need to save up.  Since you don't actually live on $1000 a month that is going to increase the amount that you need to save up.

Car:
$3000 to purchase
$4700 in repairs and maintenance over 3 years of ownership
Cost per month: 7700/36 = $213/mo so far, which is still cheaper than a car loan...
Divide that by two, between my spouse and I, and my share $106.50. Seems pretty affordable.

Medical expenses = Emergency room visits, not $25 co-pays and $4 prescriptions. When I said unexpected, I really meant unexpected.

ER visits are unexpected in the sense that I don't expect to go to the ER today.  I do, however, expect that I'll go to the ER sometime in the next 10 years, or fly to my aunts funeral, or a friends wedding, or buy a new computer or whatever.  My advice is to include that average in your budget/expense analysis, so that you'll understand where your money is going and why you don't have that $10,000 saved up.

So the budget would be:

Monthly Necessary Expenses:
$230 Rent
$150 Groceries
$30  Phone
$100 Psych visits
$40 Gas

Monthly Luxury Expenses:
$250 Credit Card
$50 Fast Food
$25 Treehouse
$7 Hulu
$25 Charity
$100 Misc

Reoccurring:
$100: New car and maintenance, amortized
$50?: Medical expenses (1 $2400 ER visit in the last year)
? New electronics
? furniture

$1157 in Total Expenses, or $347,100 + money for kids + money for a house + money for medical insurance needed to retire.

Your current savings rate is then more like 40%, counting in the big expenses.  Your goal is to get a picture of what is actually happening.  Assuming that you've been working since you turned 18, you only have about $100 per month to show for it.  Which is pretty incredible in itself, given that there are articles about how hard it is to live on $100k per year; but you want to do more than beat the average consuma sucka.

One thing that I find encouraging is creating a spreadsheet that averages my last 12 months of spending in various categories.  Every month I look at what happened last year, and if I can beat what happened last year, I get to see my averages go down.

Also, I want to give you some low income/small FI number/separate finances solidarity.  Living on $1000 a month is doable without any extreme sacrifice.  You're even taking care of your mental health and donating to charity.

5)  $5k to $15k is too low for downpayment, even if DH contributes half.  you will need 20% downpayment, on a $150k+ home, that means at least $35k for you.  (other wise, it is a large debt trap)   Instead, keep renting, possibly move above ground soon for increased rent costs.   It is OK to realize that home ownership is not your end goal, if your income does not match / make it realistic.

Why?  a) Why $150k, she pays $460 in rent and thinks buying a house will be a better deal.  I'm thinking it'll be more like a $75k one bedroom house or prefab.  If she lives in a basement studio, I'm doubting she wants a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom in a neighborhood with highly rated schools.  b) 20% of $150k is $30k, her half is $15k.

[Goldielocks]

I just have to post a quick retort to Goldielocks' last point. I just totalled up all my bank & credit card bonuses for the year the other day...over $2k in cash, plus 70,000 hotel points and 110,000 airline miles. There's risk in things like manufactured spending, but credit card bonuses themselves are easy & very low risk. Even something as simple as the Chase Freedom or Amex Bluecash everyday signup bonus would be a nice boost to your income for a month, neither have an annual fee, and both have solid reward categories for ongoing use.

Hmm, 

I make far, far more than the OP, yet even I don't have use for 70,000 hotel  points and 110,000 airline miles.  Cash is always good, though. 

There are only a few no fee cards for a great sign up bonus (convertable to cash) on less than $1500 spend over 3 months, tho.  If you can snag one of those, with no annual fee, terrific.   Do you have a suggestion, mlipps?  Do the cards you mention have this? 

Chase Freedom is a 1% cashback card, with bonuses for spending at department stores (not OP's core spend),
Amex  Bluecase pays a $50 bonus cash back plus 1-3% on food, gas etc. -- approximately $170 for the year in rewards at $500/month spend.  This ia a great cashback card.  Just not $2000 unless you can manufacture spend using relatives or other means.

The suggestion to have 20% down payment to avoid PMI and "house poor' costs is my basic go to, irrespective of rental rates locally.  There are times when rent is so high or simply not available, that this may not make sense.  Few would argue against 20% down payment as a long term MMM move for primary (non investment) residence.

[waltworks]

Let's be honest: part of what you are paying for, when you pay for a college education (of any kind) is the piece of paper that recognizes that you went all the way through a sometimes-annoying, hoop-jumping, time-consuming process that you sometimes didn't want to be doing. You might have learned a lot or you might not have, but it proves that you can start a long, complex task and then FINISH IT. This is a big, big reason why most decent jobs are going to require a college degree - they are going to ask you to do tasks that sometimes you aren't that motivated to do and they want to know that you are the kind of person who will knuckle down and finish. A college degree is evidence of that to some extent.

Yes, you can just kick ass and take names and do it your own way without college. It's been done, it happens every day. But for every Zuckerberg, there are 1,000,000 people who didn't finish living on ramen. The smart move, probably, is to go get a degree. You can start small with a few community college classes after work, and get more ambitious as you go if you want to.

I'm not saying that an art history degree from Brown and $300k of debt is necessary here, of course. But with even a little determination and cleverness you should be able to get a decent BA/BS for <$50k and you can finance it for cheap, too, especially at your income level.

-W

[studentdoc2]

In response to your frustration over trying to save up only to have a big expense (car repair, medical, etc.) come up, I'd want to echo previous posts in saying that you should take that into account in your budget. In my opinion, you're not actually achieving a 50% savings rate if you have to semi-regularly "raid" your savings for one of these "unplanned" expenses. I totally understand the frustration you seem to be expressing because that used to be the way I approached things as well. About six months ago, I changed our budget to reflect all sorts of infrequent expenses -- medical expenses, car repairs/maintenance/eventual purchase, school textbooks, gifts, and computer purchases. We actually opened a savings account for each of these categories and transfer in a set amount each time we get paychecks. Now, on the occasions we have something unexpected come up (e.g., a flat tire to be replaced or a birthday gift), I don't freak out because it's something I've planned and budgeted. We have a goal amount for each of our categories, and should we reach it, then we stop contributing to that account and redirect to investments. Could we accomplish the same thing with a general emergency fund (which, for the record, we also have for the really, really unexpected)? Sure, but this sort of mental approach helps me stay positive and prevents me from feeling derailed when something comes up. As others have noted, none of those expenses are really "unexpected"; they're just "infrequent".

I'd also echo comments that rejecting the idea of college for its expense may be premature. Sure, you can spend hundreds of thousands on a BA in underwater basket weaving that doesn't do anything for your future employment, but it's also possible to go to college for much much less. Maybe a community college associate's degree would suit you?

Best of luck!

[couponvan]

I am going to add a +1 for trying the college route even though you think it is expensive, but not because of only the money you will make later.  I believe college might be cheaper for you than many others. You are "legitimately" MARRIED. (This assumes the hubs doesn't make $100k.) Your parents' income and assets won't count. Fill out the FAFSA....

I would recommend looking at private schools with a degree you might be interested in, as their aid packages are often actually more generous than public schools due to endowments.  The "legitimately" married refers to an old co worker whose parents were quite wealthy and never would have gotten financial aid - she married her HS best friend and got a free ride. Totally NOT legit in my book....

[needmyfi]

You are doing great for your age.  Agree with  checking out financial aid if only for tech school or CC.  Don't think that this was mentioned yet-apologize if it already has been.  At your age and low current income level -ROTH.  You're bright and motivated-I'm betting you won't be in a low tax bracket forever.  Roth now will save lots in the future.

PS-Much respect for charity donations!!!

[expatartist]

+1 to an electric bike, if you can get a cheap one. I live in a flat city, and my commute is around 8 miles. Should be an easy bike commute, right? I never enjoyed riding a regular bike to work. But a friend gave me his electric bike a few months ago, and now every morning ride is like a jolt of caffeine - plus a side benefit of fitness.

[frugal_c]

I think you are near the limits of what you can do with frugality.  I would focus on trying to increase your earnings.   If you don't think college is a good use of time/money then seriously consider some type of trade.   There are many jobs out there that pay 40k+ and don't require years of training.

[nottoolatetostart]

This won't help much, but Treehouse may be available through your Library. I was able to take classes for free by linking in from my local library. Might help save that annual $300 for something else.

[MWM1220]

]

I haven't heard of Aquent and  Lynda.com before, thanks for sharing! I'll add them to my list of resources. Actually, I have a lot of free time at work - like a LOT; I've written this entire post at work. That being said, do you know of any browser based non-video tutorials or follow along learning/projects for code and development? Something non-video that I can do at work would be awesome.

I think Code Academy is the closest. It's not videos - it's more of just an interactive interface. So you're writing code and interacting within the browser. I believe Lynda is all videos. Aquent is a recruiting firm, so you can interact with an agent, and they can do some coaching and point you in other directions. They can also review your portfolio and see if they could get oyu some small side jobs to build it up. Also try Elance.com - another great way to take small side projects to 1. increase your income and 2. build your portfolio.

Good luck!