About us: Age 35, Spouse 31, Baby 16 months and another baby on the way
Income Monthly Me - $11,160 Gross
Spouse - $900 Gross
Baby - $0
Mileage Reimbursement - $150
After taxes, 401k max, 100% of spouse income to 403b, fully funding two roth iras,
Total net income is about $ 5,775
Current expenses:Fixed Monthly Spending
- Mortgage - 1,987 (Principal 895, Interest 567, Escrow 525)
- Cell Phone 55
- Internet 45
- Auto Insurance 78
- Crossfit - 120
Variable Monthly Spending Average
- Groceries 395
- Restaurants & Bars 90
- Pets 150
- Electric & Natural Gas 200
- Fuel for vehicles 220
- Entertainment 560
- Home Improvement 460
- Dentist & Pharmacy 88
- Travel 160
- Clothing 69
- Target 40
- Cash - 400
Total: $ 5,117
Expected ER expenses: Dont know yet.
Assets:- House - $ 176,000
- 401k - $ 119,500
- Roth 401k - $ 68,500
- Roth IRA - $ 90,000
- Spouse 403B - $ 7,500
- Spouse Roth IRA - $ 59,000
- Spouse Trad IRA - $ 35,700
- Daughters 529 - $ 3,000
- Brokerage - $ 15,000
- Savings - $ 21,000
- Checking - $ 5,000
Subtotals:
Roth accounts 217,500
Tax Deferred 162,700
Current 41,000
Liquid Asset Total: $ 421,200
Liabilities:- Mortgage - $ 174,700, 3.875%, 13 years remaining
- No other debt
Asset allocation is very simple, all of the retirement accounts are in a target 2045 index, and my brokerage account is an S&P 500 index.
Our spending has risen with our income and it peaked about two years ago. At the time I had five vehicles and an auto racing habit. When we discovered my wife was pregnant, I started making some changes.
Things I have done recently to optimize my finances:
- Refinanced the mortgage from a 30 year to a 15 year
- Got rid of three vehicles and two auto loans. We still have a 2014 Jetta Wagon and 2013 Hyundai Elantra, owned free and clear. Wife does home care nursing with a mileage reimbursement. My commute is only 4 miles, but I occasionally have to drive for work. I thought about trading down, but I'm fairly comfortable with this at the moment.
- Lowered home insurance and had the bank lower my escrow payment
- Lowered auto insurance
- Rolled spouse's old 401k into Vanguard IRA
- Changed 401k contributions from Roth back to Traditional
- Adjusted tax withholding to minimize my refund
- Consolidated my retirement investments into target funds
- Analyzed my electric usage and cut it drastically
- Started automatic contributions to a regular brokerage account
We have about 30% of each paycheck going to tax advantaged accounts and about 9% going to the brokerage account. Im looking to reduce some expenses and bump up my brokerage contribution. Areas that need work are how I blow through cash and what I spend on entertainment. Most of the entertainment category has been shooting sports lately, but I'm cutting back a little. No cable TV. Unfortunately my home improvement category keeps going up. Last month I had to replace my washing machine and yesterday my range had a little electrical meltdown. I'm currently looking for a replacement range. I resisted buying a new lawn mower, found a local guy to fix it and bartered with him, so it wouldn't cost me anything.
Vague Question: What next?