Gross Income:
My income (Project Engineer, 5 miles from home): 55k/yr + 3% 401k match
My income (Fitness Instructor, 4 miles from home, 9 miles from work): 3k/yr
Husband's income (Systems Administrator, 1 mile from home): 55k/yr + 4% 401k match
Current expenses:
Mortgage: $1532.86/mo (1026.82 principal & interest, 506.04 taxes & insurance)
Car Payment: $482/mo
Car insurance: $350/six months (for two cars, full coverage)
Gasoline: $100/mo (almost all visiting friends and family out of town)
Vehicle Maintenance: $100/mo
Registration: $119/yr
Groceries: $300/mo (We're suckers for Oberweis milk, I can get this down to 200 if I seriously coupon, but it is hard to justify the time)
Restaurants: $200/mo (mostly going out when we have guests in from out of town, also some lunches with co-workers)
Alcohol: $75/mo (We're trying to curb this by buying Bota Boxes and winking owl, but we just bought a case of gin which brought the monthly average up significantly)
Electricity/Natural Gas: $150/mo (about $20/mo of this is "fuel" for our LEAF, about 10 times less than we would pay in gasoline)
Water: $40/mo
Internet: $36/mo
Garbage/Recycling: $18/mo
Sewer: $15/mo
(Cell phones through work)
Health Insurance: $145.55/mo (we will switch coverage 1/1/14, probably will pay slightly more for new employer plan)
Prescriptions and Doctor/Dentist Appointments: $50/mo
Veterinarian: $40/mo
Pet Food and Supplies: $10/mo
Newspaper Subscription: $13.12/mo
Amazon Prime: $79/yr
Clothing/Dry Cleaning: $50/mo (we can easily trim this in half or more, I bought some super expensive yoga pants from my friend's kickstarter this year)
Total Monthly Expenses: $3,432.36
We have recently been putting an extra $1500/mo toward extra principal on the mortgage, and what is left after that goes toward other: gifts, travel, home improvement and precious metals.
Assets:
House: Zestimate = $175k, bought in 2008 for $189k
My 401k: $26k (was contributing 12% with no match, will start contributing 30% 4/1/14 with new employer)
Husband's 401k: $25k (currently contributing 20%)
My Roth IRA: $12k (maxing since 2011)
Joint Vanguard Taxable Account: $16k
Savings/Checking: $8k +/-
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X: $20k (bought new in 2009, paid off in 2010)
2011 Nissan LEAF: $20k (bought new in 2012)
Precious Metals: I don't know, but my husband won't sell/trade until the zombie apocolypse, or should that be werewolf apocolypse?
Liabilities:
Mortgage: $90,653 left on loan, we refinanced to a 15 year loan at 3.875% in 2010
Car Loan: $20,185 left on loan, 5 year at 2.75% We could have paid cash for the car, but decided that since the rate was so low, it would make more sense to put that money toward the mortgage
Specific Question(s):
So, I guess I'm looking for advice from emotionally unattached parties. I just took a new job making 3k less than I was making, but I have the potential for a bonus and I will get a 401k match, neither of which my previous job had. I'm hoping I like the work and environment more than my current job, which I don't think will be hard. Still, I don't think I'm making enough money for my qualifications (Masters degree, licensed S.E.), but my options here are limited.
My original plan was to work until about 29 (which would be next year) or 30 and then stay home with a potential child while my husband continued to work. I would continue to teach at the gym and probably use my sewing skills to open an etsy store or something. Maybe if I got bored I would start my own engineering firm. Anyway, since discovering MMM and ERE, my husband has decided he wants to retire early. And by early, he means as soon as possible. He has no plan for what he wants to do in "retirement". I figure that we could both retire if we both continue to work for about 12 more years, but at that point, I'll be 40, and I'm worried I wouldn't be able to have a child anymore, if I even can now. It would be more like 20+ years if just one of us works, which doesn't wind up being so early. Also, by refinancing our mortgage and the constant increase in property taxes, we can't really afford for one of us to stay home right now, unless we pay off the mortgage. I'm ok with continuing to work after having a child, but I'm worried about trying to nurse for several months as an engineer in a cubicle, and I'm a bit concerned that my husband wouldn't be great with an infant. Once the kid is walking, I'm sure he'll be a great dad. My husband and I are both only children and I'm feeling pressure to make grandbabies. His parents live about 3 hours away and my parents live about 7 hours away in the opposite direction, so our parents won't do much babysitting.
We also have a huge house (2000 sq. ft. + basement) and I would like to put our extra bedrooms on AirBNB to maybe make a little extra income, but my husband is worried about strangers in our house (they might steal or damage things!). My husband is often bored, but I feel like there isn't enough time in each day. My questions:
Should I be making more money?
When should we have a child?
Should my husband or I stay home with a child?
Should I put our extra rooms on AirBNB?
Should we move out of Illinois to escape the taxes?
If we move, where should we go?
Are there any savings you think I'm missing?
Do you have any other suggestions for us?
Thank you!