House: 2 Family. Valued at 250k. Owe 197k at 3.625%. $750 for rent in downstairs unit. Currently needs a lot of repairs- upstairs boiler (Steam) has a leaking core and porch is rotting.
I suspect that if you submitted this to MMM himself, he'd encourage you to fix these things on your own. Is it possible to find a non-leaking or refurbished boiler on Craigslist? Can the existing one be repaired? I would think a porch would be a relatively easy thing to DIY. If you have vacation time at work, you could do it then. If you're doing to DIY, though, definitely do it before the baby arrives, as your
time budget will shrink dramatically.
Savings: 5k in a Roth IRA. 11k in 401k. 25k in Savings Account.
Debt: Zero in credit card debt. 92k in student loan debt. Interest varies between 3.375 and 5.125.
What do others think? 3% debt is probably worth paying only the minimum on, but when it creeps up towards 5%, is that
an emergency?Expenses: Cell phones- 115/month. My employer contributes $50. Cable- 110- 40 tenant contribution= 70.
Presumably since your employer partially pays for your cellphone, it's a vital part of your job. So you want top-notch reliability. Still, you might be able to save with a MVNP (mobile virtual network provider) that uses your existing carrier's network.
Again presuming what MMM himself would say, cable is simply not allowed (unless your tenant pays for
all of it).
Maybe if you have zero debts and are quite a ways towards FI. But not any time prior. Not to mention: I just had my second child in May, and we simply don't have time for TV.
Also, we are looking at buying a larger car. We do a lot of road trips to visit family (free vacations) so a dog (lab) and 2 kids and all the gear just isn't working out w/ the Hyundais.
How often do you take these trips? They're not really "free"---you have to pay for the transportation (your car in this case). Have you calculated the per-mile cost of your cars? That will tell you what these vacations really cost. If you have to buy a bigger car, they will cost still more. If these trips are infrequent enough, maybe it's cheaper to rent the larger vehicle as-needed? Are you going to become a three car family? Or replace an existing car with the bigger one? If you replace an existing car, now your second car cost has gone even higher, as the newer/bigger vehicle will cost more to operate and maintain (not to mention the cost to purchase it).
Is it possible to trade one of your cars for a more
space-efficient hatchback? Then use the car for people and dogs, and
use a roof rack or
some other means to haul all your "stuff"?
How long are these trips? My wife and I are from the same hometown, which is about three hours away by car. We also took a lot of "mini" vacations home to see our family... until our second daughter was born. She screams bloody murder (nonstop) whenever she's in the car, so we haven't made that trip since her birth. Every kid is different, but if your second hates riding in the car as much as my second, trust me, you won't want to drive with the whole family unless absolutely necessary.
As for my job, I would rather not commute to Boston. The commute would be an hour plus on the train and I would have to start from zero for commissions.
Why would the train have you "statring from zero for commissions?"
Not to be a smart-ass, you posted that one of the perks of your current house is its proximity to the commuter rail. But if you're not going to use it, then that perk is nullified.
If your wife is going to quit working for two years, you could conceivably become a one car family. Ideally, you'd take the train to work or carpool or similar, leaving the car at home for your wife. But even if you took the car to work, you could plan family trips accordingly around your work schedule.
I think you could benefit from a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of several "what if" scenarios. Two years is a fairly long time. What if your wife decides after two years that spending time with your kids is much more fulfilling than teaching, and she doesn't want to go back at all? If there's a decent chance of that, you should move closer to your job right now.
Let's say she does go back to work. Presumably you'll have child-care expenses for two kids, almost year-round (except summers, I assume). Now what is the cost of paying for that child care plus your long commute? In other words, what if you moved close enough to work to drive the commute cost down significantly (walk, bike, public transit, very short drive)? What is your net income in this case versus paying for all that childcare plus your long commute? What if you moved closer to your work and while your wife
tries to get another teaching job, she either works part time or
does some other no-degree-required job?
How old is your firstborn? Just a personal anecdote: my wife has been, and remains, a SAHM since our firstborn. Despite this, after our second was born, we put the first in part-time day care. This is arguably very anti-Mustachian, but it's for my wife's sanity and by implication, the sanity of everyone in the house. Our first child was an "easy" baby. The second has been a "hard" baby.
Lots of fuss: rarely sleeps during the day while her two-year-old sister screams (non-sleeping is a negative feedback loop for babies), is on meds for acid reflux (spits up often), cries if not held (with
both hands, doesn't like the sling) and bounced all day... in short, she's a tremendous amount of work by herself. Throw in a toddler into the mix and I'm surprised my wife hasn't lost it yet. (If our families were closer, we could probably do without the day care.)