Aspiring 'stachians here looking for some advice! Here is where we're at. My wife (23) and me (25) have been reading MMM for a few weeks now and are excited to begin our journey towards financial independence. A couple of years back we were given the financial peace university book by Dave Ramsey, it was a great read at the time but since then we've only been "flirting" with the idea of financial independence without really taking it too seriously. But we would really like to change that. Before taxes we have a combined income of about $85k (my wife works mostly on commission averaging around $30k while I'm on salary at $55k)
$3400 - My after tax monthly income.
$1300ish - My wife's after tax monthly income.
These are our current monthly expenses:
Car Insurance: $290 (could potentially go down if I drop collision/comprehensive, just paid off car 2004 Saab this month)
Health Insurance: $250 (independent plan)
Electric: $180 (I know, must get that lowered, I've read the MMM electricity articles!)
Cell Phones: $130 for two phones.
Internet: $60
Gym: $20
Rent: $650
Wife's Student Loan: $230 (at almost 9%!!)
Credit card: $150
Groceries: $300
Gas: $300
Pet food: $75
Dining out: $100
Charity: $150
Total Monthly Expenses = $2,885
Total Monthly Income = $4,700 (assuming an average commission from my wives earnings)
This leaves us with about $1,815 worth of "free" money each month. To add to this I will be finishing a full time degree that I've been working on while employed full time and will have to begin paying on this in 6 months which will add close to another $200 per month in expenses. Given that we are both young and very committed to the idea of financial independence we are looking for any advice you veteran 'stachians can throw our way, including book suggestions on finance, investing, budgeting, etc., or anything else. We have been looking for a reasonably priced home to purchase for a few months but have recently decided against that for a couple of reasons; a.) we would have to get FHA because we don't have the required down payment. b.) we still have student loans hanging over our head accumulating interest. So the way I see it, the first step for us is to stay in our current apartment (grudgingly) and put all of our extra money towards my wife's student loan to pay it off ass aggressively as possible. I'm thinking we can do this in one year, it is currently at $19k. Then we would need to do the same for mine which would take about the same amount of time.
Is this the best plan of attack, or am I missing something? I'm assuming with my current investment knowledge, nothing is going to give me greater than a 9% return (my wife's school loan), so it would be best to get rid of that ASAP. Also, is it best to dedicate all extra funds to this, or should some be placed in an emergency fund? Also, I'm currently not putting any money in my 401k at work (they match 25% for up to 4% of your income). And, with the interest rates as low as they are is it wise to continue paying on the second student loan for an additional year, or would a house be considered an investment with gains larger that that of the student loan debt?
Any help is greatly appreciated!