Life Situation:
Married filing jointly (ages 35 & 31), 4 children (ages 8, 6, 3, 0), living in Utah. I'm a SAHM, husband works in IT.
Gross Salary: $78,700
Pre-tax deductions:
health/dental insurance $1,740 ($145/mo)
FSA $750 ($63/mo)
Taxable Gross Income: $76,000
Post-tax deductions:
Roth 401k: $3,800 ($331/mo) (5% to get 4% match)
Supplemental Life Insurance: $288 ($24/mo)
Taxes: $8,700 ($700/mo)
Take Home Pay: $63,500 ($5300/month)
Current expenses: (monthly averages)
Mortgage $1,241/mo
Property Tax: $165
Home Insurance: $37
Home Maintenance/Improvement: $70
Electricity: $85
Water/Sewer: $60
Trash/Recycling: $20
Gas (heat, dryer, range): $45
Internet: $60
Cell phone: $10
Life Insurance: $87
Car Insurance: $59
Car Registration, Maintenance: $60
Car fuel: $130 (including road trips, non travel month averages $60-100)
Tithing/Charitable contributions: $650
Kid expenses (diapers, allowance, sports): $60
Clothing: $30
Gifts: $100
Groceries (food only): $430
Dining Out: $35
Medical Out of pocket: $30
Pets: $35 (1 dog, 6 hens which provide us plenty of eggs)
Travel: $110
Shopping (household necessities, electronics, other misc): $660 (higher this year because bought a trailer, normally $400-500/month)
Total Expenses: $4,269/mo, $51,228/year
Savings
Extra mortgage principal: $132 $1,584/year
IRA: $605 $5,500/year
Kids College Fund: $150 $1,800/year
Car replacement fund: $200 $2,400/year (will probably need a newer minivan in 6 years)
26% savings rate, 20% towards retirement savings
Assets:
Roth 401k $99,000 (was a preset stock only mix, recently changed to a custom mix to include some bonds and international stocks)
Roth IRA $39,000 (Vanguard total stock market index fund)
Emergency Fund $8,300 (plus $2,000 buffer we keep in checking)
Kids College Fund $5,700
House: $360,000
2006 Odyssey: $5,000
2012 Yaris: $8,000
total assets: $527,000
Liabilities:
Mortgage
original loan $260,000, 30 years, 4%, 1241/mo PITI
current amount $249,000
Specific Questions:
Hoping to reach FI in 20 years, when husband is 55. He may decide to retire, go part time, or start his own business. At the rate we're going, we won't reach paying off the mortgage and having enough in retirement savings until about 22 years from now. Any ideas on where to cut the budget to save more? I think we need to try harder to reign in gifts and shopping/misc. I don't think we'd seriously consider moving. Yes we could survive in a smaller house closer to work, but I don't think it would save us much money. We got a really great deal on this house 3 years ago. There were certain luxuries we weren't really willing to budge on when searching for this house, and it's in a really great neighborhood. Eventually (in 10-20 years?) we would like to move to a house in a more rural area, more land for me to garden and raise animals. Equal or less square footage, more garage space or a shop for husband's hobbies.
Husband is thinking about getting an ebike conversion kit so he can commute to work by bike. He doesn't bike now because it's 11 miles to his work and he's not sure he can commit to biking that far every day. He would still probably keep his Yaris for really snowy days, but it would help cut down gas costs. I have biked in the past to cut down on fuel costs, mainly to the grocery store and library with kids in the bike trailer. Can't do that right now with an infant.
Husband is looking at increasing income. He's applied to a couple positions. It looks like an offer is forthcoming from one company. If he took it he would have a significant pay increase, which would really help accelerate FIRE. But it would almost certainly be inferior benefits, require him to travel more, which is not ideal when the kids are young, but when he's not traveling he would probably be working from home (so we're waiting on the e-bike until we hear about this job offer).
Should we not worry about saving for kids college/post HS expenses? Our original thinking was saving up $10k (in today's money) per kid, enough to mostly cover their first year of college or whatever endeavor they choose post high school. Husband works for a university (not great pay, but very secure job with great benefits) so assuming he's still working there in 18 years kids get half tuition. They will likely get some scholarships, so maybe no real need to save for college? Should we stop saving towards college and put it towards retirement savings instead?