Hello all, Looking for guidance. My wife and I always say we need to get our spending under control, but then we never end up doing it. I use personal capital and just downloaded budget boss(iphone app). Wow is this sobering.
My wife and I are both 31. She makes ~$110k. I make ~$105k. We both work in healthcare(PA and PT, respectively). We live in Chicago in the city. we don't have a car(we take public transport deducted pre-tax via paycheck, or kids-but we do have a dog and are planning on having kids in the next 2 years.
After taxes, take home yearly is ~131k.
403b/pension/roth/ira: $101k
Checking: ~12000
Savings : ~4000
HSA: $8k($6k invested) and I max out family max each year)
CC debt at 0%: 9400(debt swapped a student loan that was 8%)-we plan on paying this off $1000/month
other CC debt: $5000, but we pay when it's due so as not to incur interest. I use CCs for points (mainly chase) and that has paid for a lot of vacation airfare and hotel over the last few years.
Student loans: 150k(federal-due to be discharged via Public service loan forgiveness in January 2023-I pay $900/month for this); other student loans amount to ~$80k(for which we currently pay $10,300/yr towards-all under 4.5%)
Mortgage: 277k @4%, with another hoa payment of $400/mo, taxes ~$400/mo. Housing equals out to about $33.3k/yr.
It seems like we just can't get our spending under control. We work A LOT, and my in laws are "keeping up with the joneses" kind of people, and the rest of her family is very very wealthy-so she feels tremendous pressure to keep up, especially around the holidays. We both started working at 25 due to grad school, I have paid down private student loans by $30k before I met her(while paying the separate fedloan payment); She paid down ~120k in 3 years before I met her. We have been married for 16 months. We are extremely smart but our downfall is being too impulsive(amazon, retail therapy). What suggestions do you have to help us sober up and stay on track. Ideally we could snowbird to AZ in winter and live in Chicago the rest of the year when we are older-and hopefully retire young.
please no suggestions to work more. I work 50-60 hours/wk(40 ft salary at $85k doing 4/10s, and a 10 on my day off every week for ~$20k). My wife works a very demanding schedule at the hospital. Just need some help staying on track with more practical ideas.
Thanks!
