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You're fine. Really. You're fine. You're off to a great start. Some regulars in this forum are bat**** crazy. Seriously. Read some of their past posts. (Got nothing but love for ya, though, crazy folks! Y'all keep it fun around here!)
In addition to your tweaks, I would start putting into a retirement account ASAP.
We're just over a week into our changes and still going strong. We actually found a lot of joy cooking on the weekends together and saving it for lunches all week. So far we've only spent about $10 for lunches since my wife forgot hers one day and I was crazy thirsty driving home one afternoon so I stopped for a gatoraide. Everything else is well below budget so far, minus "house maintenance" as I had to buy fertilizer to get ready for a nice green lawn next spring (darn crabgrass). But if I don't buy anything else for the house the rest of the month that might also be on budget.
CC debt is almost completely gone. I sold a bunch things around the house on craigslist which got us like $300 extra, we got money back from the title company for the house and over paying the taxes, we cashed in some coins and returned some items back to the store that we kept putting on the back burner. This actually went a long way to knock the debt down far enough that we'll be able to pay it off comfortably on our next pay period without having to touch the emergency fund or go over budget.
For anyone reading this thinking about adjusting their budget and tightening the belt a little.. DO IT! We've hardly noticed any difference and even after only like 9-10 days we're already seeing big savings and the $ add up.
For those that think my Gifts/Extras budget of $350 a month is crazy. We're currently only at $50 for the month. I still need a haircut. my wife needs to buy a wedding shower gift. I still have that big wedding I need to plan for that's gonna cost $1000. And I just went to the dentist to find I'm going to need about $700 worth of dental work done this year out of my own pocket. This is why that section sits at $350. If I go under, great! But you never know what little surprises are going to be thrown your way.
Just a followup.. This forum has made me completely Financially paranoid. I'm seriously always nervous and second guessing everything about my finances since finding this site.. maybe thats a good thing in a way, but I really need to get over this!
It looks like in about 6 months my commuter cost will be gone which is great as that's $500 a month. Once I don't have a horribly long commute anymore I'll be getting rid of my car for a cheap dependable one with $0 car payment. This will save me $270 and will likely lower my insurance $40. We've made a few other changes, and it looks like our "All in" expenses, including food and enjoyment should be around $4,900. And still only $5,300 in 3 years even with the addition of a baby (hopefully our incomes will increase by then to offset the difference)
Depending on what happens in the next 6 months our net income will likely be around $8,900-$10,000 (I'm considering going back into nursing, or I may take on more responsibility with our business and move the company closer to home). This means even on the lower side of income after our expenses we'll have $4,000 left over each month. All credit card debt will be gone by then. We'll still have our emergency fund, and we'll just be focusing on paying down my 6% student loans, making larger payments toward our mortgage, and investing.
We'd like to have a baby this year, so I figure I need a solid $1,200 a month just to cover that (wifes a state worker and their daycare program is only $900 a month)
I've decided to meet with a financial planner to be sure I have everything planned out right. I really need to shake this anxiety this forum has put into my life. I think I'm on the right path now. I have no idea how people live paycheck to paycheck. Even with $4,000-$5,000 left over a month I feel I need a financial planner to be sure I'm on the write path. Thanks City-Data, I was totally content with blowing my money on fun and putting 10% away each month.. Now I'm a mess!
Don't forget you're light years beyond over 90% of the population with your savings rates. It's easy to have comparative bias here (like feeling you can't "keep up" with other bodybuilders in a fitness forum). The "average" here is not the average American.
It's good to min/max what you can, but don't forget to enjoy life in there. Don't turn into the artist cliche where your painting is "never done".
at 4K/ month of net savings, he is above average for this forum as well. All he needs is time and consistency.
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