Introduction:Hi there. I'm 27, a trained nurse and I live with my 32 year old bf. He's an engineering-student after years of working in IT. We have no kids, but would like to have some within the next few years. I've been reading the MMM-blog for a few months now and I'm finally jumping into it and let you guys give me a good bashing. English isn't my first language, but I hope you will be able to understand my wall of text anyways.
It all started a few years ago when we decided we needed a car (at this point we were both working, living in a very cheap apartment and had no debt). My bf had a 40 min commute (by car) to his job, I had 15 mins (on my bicycle) to mine. We had NO money saved, so ofc we went out and bought a brand new car on credit (37K$). Not to soon after we moved to one of the most expensive areas of Denmark (I had gotten a new job and my SO wanted to study), but we didn't have the cash saved for the deposit, first few months rent etc. so we went down to the bank and borrowed some money to that (12k$).
We now realize that all the above mentioned actions were not well-thought through (at all..). We have made a few changes (which includes selling the car), but we really need the last kick.
We live in a expensive apartment, but the prices is pretty standard around here and I can walk 5 min to work, my SO have a 10 min walk to his school and there a many shopping (for groceries ofc) options within a 15 min walking distance.
Income:- Paycheck 1: 3100 $ (sometimes more, sometimes less)
- Paycheck 2: 1475 $ (this includes a studentloan)
Combined income is around 4575 $/month
Debt: - Studentloan (this is my old loan and not the one my SO is building up atm): 15,500 $ (1% interest) - min. payment 150 $/month
- Carloan: 4300 $ (7.5% interest) - min. payment 570 $/month
- Other: 8500 $ (9% interest) - min. payment 275 $/month
Minimum payment on debt: 995 $/month
Fixed expenses:- Rent (1 bedroom/1 bathroom 700 sqft): 1450 $ (this includes heating and water)
- Electricity: 86 $
- Insurance: 65 $
- Cable: 40 $ (I know I know - don't punch to hard pls)
- Licens: 40 $ (this is a non-optional payment for everyone who have a radio/tv/internet)
- Renters-union: 12 $
- Internet: 55$
- Phones: 40$ (includes data, free text and a limit on outgoing calls)
- Netflix: 15 $ (I do not live in the U.S)
- Spotify: 18 $
- Groceries: 370 $
- Union: 168$ (non-optional imo)
Fixed expenses: 2359 $/month
My SO fixed expenses every month (This includes groceries, rent, internet and his phone): 977 $ - which leaves him with 498 $ for spending/month
My fixed expenses every month (This includes groceries, rent and everything else mentioned): 2377 $ - which leaves me with 723 $ for spending/month
Asset(s):- Savings (Mine): 1475 $ (with a terrible 0.25% interest)
- Forced public pension pays (Mine): 1100 $ - when you retire and reach the age of 65, you'll get a yearly supplement to the government-payed pension
The mysterious "spending":This is my spending, since I don't know the exact numbers for my SO. This is based on the last few months where I used YNAB to track my spending.
- Public transport (this is stupidly expensive in Denmark): 85$/month
- Going out (Clubs, eating out etc.): 185 $/month
- Clothes, shoes, makeup etc.: 18$/month
- Gifts (birthdays etc.): 45 $/month
- Misc. (this includes cigaretts, junk, stuff to the apartment etc.): 92 $/month
Total spending: 425 $
It's my impression that my SO spends around 2/3 of his "spending money" each month, mainly on transport, books and going out.
This leaves me with a surplus of around 300 $/month. At this point I've been saving those on my low interest savings account each month.
Thank you for your time and please give me/us ideas on how we can improve and get to FI before we reach 50 :)