Hey all: not really ready for a full case study, but I wanted to run this all by you guys. so here are my bills....what d you think we can cut backon easiest?
Mortgage/ins/tax: 1100
Electric: highest was $78 before whole hose exhaust fan was wired and we had an AC running, no more AC now.
Cable: $70 for highest speed internet.
Heat: converting to a super high efficency boiler (nat gas) so expecting $100/month of less over 12 month period.
Life insurances:$60
Cars/Motorcycles (insurance): $300 total (3 cars, motorcycle...its our thing)
Gas: $200/month, both have 30+minute commutes, but will be shorter as work/daycares change.
Food: $200/month. mostly because my wife has Celiac Disease, as does my daughter....gluten free food is expensive!
Daycare: $800/month
STUDENT LOANS:$800/month.
Now, I left those two at the bottom because they're a) our largest non-house expense and b) they're the ones I have the biggest questions on
now we get $14k/year in Gifts from my wife's parents (wealthy folks) and we use that to simply invest in the broader stock market. I'm not too worried about the volatility, especially over and 8 year period (the time it would take to pay off student loans on regular payment schedule) average interest (effective) rate is 5% for them...To us it makes more sense to keep the 14k liquid (more liquid than paying it all into a student loan) and investing it. Should we look to consolidate them as a "joint" student loan perhaps? we've already consolidated under fedloan to lower interest rates just 2 years ago any ideas on consolidation/movement to lower interest rates would be appreciated.
DAYCARE: anyone have creative options for daycare that cost less than this? I live in Massachusetts, one of the most expensive daycare states in the union....
Thanks!