Hello all,

Would you share your discretionary monthly expenses? I have battled for years with my spouse about trying to make and keep a reasonable budget. Not including home, utilities, cars/insurances.

What is you take home pay, family size and location.
What do you budget for ;

1. christmas per kid

2. birthday per kid

3. hair/cosmetics/salons

4. dining out

5. grocery

6. entertainment

7. clothes

My spouse is spending ~80k a year on stuff. I pay every bill,,, Medical, home, insurance, taxes, groceries etc and still get a large bill every month for more stuff. Maybe I am out of touch.

Breakdown:

155k- 401ks

30k- HYSA

10k- Checking

70k- Primary Residence Equity

70k- Rental Property Equity

=335k NW

We both grew up poor in single mom households, so are relatively excited about reaching this mile stone. We don’t have an anyone in real life to share with. We accomplished this on a sub 180k combined income in 6 years. Both homes we purchased in the last 2 years and the equity we have in them are our down payments and not appreciation.

This year we got big raises that brought us up to 245k combined living in a MCOL area. I am now making 130k and my husband is making 115k.

Going forward I would like to be less heavy on the real estate and I want to invest more in our 401ks and open up a taxable brokerage. Right now we are saving 22% of our gross income at 51k a year for retirement. We also continue to save in our HYSA to increase our emergency fund and cash savings. Our ultimate goal is to hit 1M saved in our 401ks in the next 10 years. We plan to increase our savings rate as we get raises. We hope to retire at 55 with this savings rate, so we enjoy living a balanced lifestyle and also spending money on living our lives in the moment. We have not been perfect and had some lifestyle creep in the last few years. I’m trying to continue to combat that.

We found out that we can’t have kids 3 years ago, so no plans for kids. We thought about it a lot and decided that we love our life how it is anyways. We are thinking about foster parenting in the future, but no plans for that in the next 5 years. We are super dedicated to our careers right now and don’t have a ton of time. We have nieces and nephews though that we love to babysit, spend time with and spoil a bunch. Of course we are god parents to our nieces and nephews and would adopt them if anything happened to our siblings.

Does anyone else further along in the journey have any tips for us?

I will take any questions too!

Hey everyone,

I’m a 30M and I’m thrilled to share that I’ve officially crossed the 200K net worth milestone! It feels amazing to reach this point, but I know there’s still a long journey ahead.

I don’t really have anyone in my personal life to celebrate this accomplishment with, so I figured I’d share it here. I’m looking for insights on where to allocate my money moving forward. I want to make smart decisions and continue growing my wealth.

Any advice on investment strategies, savings plans, or resources to check out would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help!

Brokerage account – 28,385.34 Roth IRA – 34,812.16 Brokerage account #2 – 31,719.78 Roth 401K – 88,961.51 HYSA – 16,913.51

Cheers!

We've planned on a 15-year, budgeted for a 15-year, and have an accepted offer on a house with a 15-year mortgage. However, the rate difference isn't as drastic as I had expected between the 15-year and 30-year VA loan rates- 6.25 vs 6.75 as quoted by our lender yesterday. If we paid the 30 as a 15, the PV of the difference between the two is just $8000, or $71 monthly, while protecting us in the event that something happened financially to impact our ability to pay the 15-year amount. I guess- with all the impending turmoil, is $71 per month as "insurance" worth it? As it stands, with the 15-year mortgage, we'd be left with a cushion of $5k/month in our budget after all expenses and retirement contributions. I just don't know what to expect and feel very uneasy about the economy.

I don’t know how housing prices work at all. Why they go up or why they go down etc. I am currently moving in with my folks for 2 years to save for a house in Florida ( incredibly high prices for houses here ). Currently a 3 bed 2 bath house is easily 450,000.

Ignoring political views, do we think the Housing market will get worse or better in the next 2 years under a new president?

I had heard interest rates were on a decline right now which is great but u don’t know what to expect in the coming years. I also heard new policies that new cabinets put in place take years to actually cause an effect in the market so I don’t know what to expect or if the new regime would even make a difference in 2 years in terms of housing prices.

Is 2027 a good year to buy in your opinions?

P.S. I know Florida isn’t really ideal to live or buy property in but my whole family is here so I have to make do.

The Zestimate is very accurate in my area (cookie-cutter HOA neighborhoods) and I live in one of those states and areas many people were flocking to during the remote work boom post-Covid. This is my house. You’ll notice a big spike when the market went crazy then recently things started leveling off. If you take a ruler and follow the edge from the area of least volatility (pre-housing crisis) to the edge (today’s date) you’ll see that home value would normally be around 425k. I’m currently valued at 460k so things are still slightly inflated, but only by 7.6%.

So I have a small 401k with my employer and I'm about to get laid off. It says half is in '401k Deferral' and the other half is 'Roth 401k'.

Is there a way to move everything to just one of those? And if so, which is easier or best to cash in? I don't understand the difference between the two. I am aware of the penalty & tax.

If I'm laid off, I might need to cash it in instead of rolling it over. But I'm hoping I won't have to.

I am very confused about my employer’s medical plans. We have a PPO 80 plan and a Savers plan.

The PPO 80 has a deductible of $750 and total out of pocket of $5,000 with 20% coinsurance.

$25 and $50 copays for office visits, no charge for preventative care. Lab/Xray/inpatient/outpatient/emergency care is 20% after deductible.

The Saver Plan has a deductible of $2,000 and a total out of pocket of $6,000 with 0% coinsurance.

All services are 0% after deductible has been met, except prescriptions.

Prescriptions on both plans are 10% for generic, 30% for preferred, 45% for non-preferred, and $100 copay for specialty.

The PPO 80 is $60 more per month.

The Savers Plan has an HSA option and the PPO has an FSA option.

Am I understanding it correctly that with the savers plan if I hit the $2k out of pocket, all other services are 0%? Where the PPO is a $750 out of pocket and $20% up to $5k?

Is the Savers plan actually better in this instance?

I am self-employed and currently without insurnace, so I need to go on the exchanges for next year. I'd like to do a high deductible plan and use an HSA, but when I search available plans, and check the HSA eligible filter, there are ZERO results. Is there anyway to get a plan that is eligible for HSA on the exchanges? I am looking at the eligibility criteria according to fidelity, and it says - "To contribute to an HSA, you must be enrolled in an HSA-eligible health plan. For 2024, this means: It has an annual deductible of at least $1,600 for self-only coverage and $3,200 for family coverage. Its out-of-pocket maximum including annual deductible does not exceed $8,050 for self-only coverage."

The deductibles on the exchange plans are plenty high enough, but the out-of-pocket maximums all also exceed $9,000....(crappy coverage, all in all, I guess). How do I go about getitng a high deductible plan that qualifies for use with an HSA?

After 20 years of working – going from a gas station clerk to now leading a team at a corporate marketing firm – I took a look the other day and noticed that I’ve put away about 120k in my savings. I wont go into the details of my life, but it is important to note because of how eventful it was, that I just absolutely don’t have the mind, patience, or real desire for being an aggressive financial person. Like, I pretty much hate money. And for the aforementioned past 20 years I’ve been a working adult, I simply played it Basic Mode and would just put cash away because I know this is how the world works. You need enough money to survive and handle your business, and then you build yourself a nest egg for when things go wrong. However, now that I’m approaching the end of my 40s, and my health is turning (pending results for cancer), I now want to shift my focus to making the most of my money and being smart about it. I don’t want to put it into crypto and I dont want to be doing dumb gamestop stock or whatever. I just know now that leaving the 120k in the savings at Bank of America isn’t the best move and if I could transfer and park that 120k into a different service or a different bank, it could grow. Like, interest rates are competitive if I’m trying to just park and let money sit, right? But then people talk about the S&P and how you can really make money there safely but I’ve never invested in my life. As you may begin to conclude, these kinds of moves I find confusing, intimidating, and frustrating. If you were in my shoes, what are some services I should be looking into? Are there certain banks I should considering that have good returns on savings? If I did want to invest for the first time in my life, who is a good beginner exchange or adviser company to talk to? Thanks for your time. 

TLDR: I am not a financially aggressive person but I have ~120k in savings, what do I do with it and who do I talk to?

Now that my wife and I are finally getting on track, what should we focus on next? TL;DR, we were swimming in her student loans and my old CC debt and couldn’t get out of it. About 13 months ago we started tracking our expenses and put a repayment plan into place that seems to have worked. Now we have extra cash and want to be smart about using it. Our financial planning app is recommending a brokerage acct., but we’ve never invested so are looking for tips on how to start or alternatives on what to do with the cash. We’ll have a surplus of $3K by 12/31.

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I used to go to college in New Orleans and I even started nursing school there but I never finished my degree and moved back home. I’m in a different nursing program now set to graduate next summer. While I was in Nola, I signed a scholarship contract with a hospital there that helped pay for part of my nursing school in exchange for employment after graduation. After taxes it was ~4.5k a semester. My options are to either work there for two years after I graduate or pay back the hospital 25k that I would owe.

To some it might be a no brainer to just go back to Nola and not be in more debt but I’m hesitant about it for a variety of reasons. I had a lot of fun in Nola but while I was there my car got stolen, was around gunfire more than once, didn’t always feel safe. Not to mention the city just doesn’t have the best infrastructure and access to lots of different services especially compared to where I’m from (I’m from a much bigger city in the south).

If I could get a nursing job with a sign on bonus here in my home city, then maybe I could use that money to get the hospital off my back but idk if it’ll be worth it because then I’d have to sign a contract to stay at that hospital for at least a year or two otherwise I’d have to pay that money back too.

I have other debt I need to pay back too: ~27k in student loans by the time I graduate and ~10k from my unfinished degree.

Since I’ll be graduating in less than a year, I’m trying to figure what’s my next move and where I’ll be at a year from now so I can plan out my future. I’m 24M and don’t have any kids. I’m in a serious relationship of almost 2 years but we don’t live together. Currently living off loans along with savings and support from family. My parents want me to stay and not go back to Nola but I’m not sure what to do. Any advice? Should I just suck it up and live in Nola again for two years?

Throwaway as partner follows my main.

So things have recently started getting more serious with my partner. We’re both 26 and earn decent incomes - Annually, I make around 220k and she makes around 150k, with both of us living in a VHCOL (SFBay).

My main concern is that she does not really have the same mindset/motivation I do, to save and invest/build wealth. As a result, I have over the last 4 years of working saved around 200k whereas her savings amount to <10k USD. I believe this is largely because I grew up in a white collar, upper middle class family and was taught how to save and invest early, whereas she grew up in a mostly blue collar family and did not have access to said resources. Furthermore, she’s consistently spending money to help out her family. She helps pay for big ticket items for her siblings and her parents (education, car repairs, etc) because her family is just straight up low income.

This leads to some strain in the relationship and makes me quite hesitant about next steps like marriage, as, financially, I feel that I’m bringing all the assets to the relationship whereas she’s bringing mostly liabilities.

To anyone who has dated/married someone of a different financial background/mindset before, how did you manage?

The dice didn't roll in my favor here. I paid off my car $10k and dropped collision last month and this morning I was tboned and very lucky to be here now but my car is gone. It only had 55k miles.

I reported it to Progressive and they're going to talk to the insurance company as of today. Edmunds puts it as a $8200 as per CarMax same company I bought it from.

Forgive me, I've never been in a wreck, filed a claim, or dealt with insurance. Nor rented a car. And I'm learning the best course would be to directly file with their insurance.

I have a $50k emergency fund and go back to work Monday (I have a 4 day vacation starting tomorrow lol).

Should I rent a car for 5 days and just go get myself a new car cash?

I guess that's just what you do in this situation. I don't have rental coverage and I need a car. There's no reason I should be waiting around during the process right?

I'm asking because I'm single and moved this year, so I'm kind of in a bummer spot here I'm on my own.

If you have any advice or questions please let me know. I'm just trying to keep my thoughts straight but that's what I think needs to happen. Thank you I just need to get this off my chest, long day.

I’m 30 and have been working on building a solid financial foundation after a few years of inconsistent saving. Right now, I’ve got about $2,500 in savings, which I know isn’t enough for a real emergency fund, and I’m also paying off a $15,000 car loan with a 4.5% interest rate. Ideally, I’d like to get my emergency savings up to at least $5,000, but the thought of having that car loan hanging over me is stressful too.

Recently, I came into a bit of unexpected money, a lucky win of $10,000 from a big bonus slot on Stake and I’m debating whether to use it to knock down my car loan or build up my emergency fund faster. If I put it toward the car loan, I’d cut down the balance significantly and lower my monthly payments, which would help with cash flow. But if I put it into my savings, I’d feel more secure knowing I have a solid safety net for unexpected expenses.

I’ve read a lot about the importance of having at least three to six months’ worth of expenses saved up, but it feels like getting there is going to take forever while paying down debt. For those who’ve been in a similar position, did you find it better to focus on debt payoff first or boost savings alongside it? Are there strategies you’d recommend for balancing both without feeling stretched too thin?

I want to make sure I’m setting myself up for the long run. Any advice on what’s worked for others in a similar spot would be super helpful. I’d love to hear from people who found a way to pay down debt while building a solid financial cushion—it feels like a balancing act, and it would be reassuring to hear from others who’ve managed it successfully.

I currently feel like this is a comfortable median for the 50/30/20 rule because of my spousal support during divorce. What are your thoughts? Is that a reasonable compromise and a solid attempt to get as close as possible? When spousal Support ends, I intend to put all of that money directly to savings to meet the 20%.

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Hey all.

I make $75k salary, plus 12% bonus & 4 hours~/wk of OT paid straight time so $90k/yr from my current job in a senior buyer role on the manufacturing side. This job is very demanding & stressful. It’s hybrid 3 days in / 2 days at home. Travel 1-3x month average. 401k - I put in 6%, they put in 9% = 15%.

I was a 3PL contractor in healthcare in supply chain before my current role. They reached out to me for a FT position & just extended an offer $64k a year as a Buyer/planner. The pay is less, but should be less stress - as I know their supply chain & vendors well. Role is 3 days at home / 2 in person. Zero travel. Not as demanding or stressful as current role. 401k - I put in 4%, they put in 7% = 11%.

I am debating on if I should take the lower stress job, as I know their supply chain, vendors, department managers & environment. Both have commute times of 45 minutes.

Am I overlooking anything?

Current HHI: 149k. Save: $3.5k/mo Max 2 Roth IRAs + employer 401k matches Baby on the way. I’m in the AF Reserves so medical is covered.

EDIT:

Current job I have 10 days PTO + 2(1) week shut downs for 4 of July & Christmas week. So 20 days total.

Job offer: 24 PTO starting, 29 after 5 years, & after 10 years would be 34 days PTO

Hi all 24f recent graduate. I have worked since 14 and full-time through school while living in dorms, and have been frugal and invested, leaving me with the hysa and a start on retirement. Post graduating I have been working at 51k for 6 months and setting aside 1k a month. Recently I got a new job and am at 71k. I created this new budget, including some increases to be able to have a little bit more fun in my life.

I have seen my parents fail financially due to health needs and parting with large sums feels scary to me (what if I need it mindset). I realize that is shooting me in the foot with the car loan, and now that I have this offer I plan to pay off my car tomorrow.

I have ran the math on the student loans, and I will be paying less making minimum payments on SAVE for the 10 year PSLF period than paying off the loan faster.

(1) Let me know if there are any errors in thinking in this strategy on student loans.

(2) I will take any thoughts/criticisms on my budget and contributions.

(3) The remainder is going into HYSA, for now, as I would like to buy a home eventually. How realistic is home-buying in my future if I stay single? (Medium cost of living area, median home price around 300k, seeing places I would consider as low as 215k).

Hi all,

Looking for feedback / thoughts / advice on my attached budget. Thanks!

38M married to 38F with two kids age 4 & 2 in MCOL area (Raleigh NC) with $135300/yr salary. I max my 401k and after all pre and post tax deductions I net $6600 monthly + spouse brings in $1200/mo on 1099 as a fitness instructor. Trying to get our finances in order going in to the new year and lay out a budget, automate emergency fund savings and build that up as much as possible as quick as possible. Lack of emergency savings is a major stress point for me. I also currently have one car payment at an onerous interest rate so I'm debating wheter to just go all-in paying that off ASAP at sacrifice of bolstering the emergency fund. We have no other debt beyond the mortgage and the one car loan.

I currently automate $500 from my pay directly into HYSA but based on the budget I've outlined below I should be able to increase that to at least $1000. Based on the below I'm $28K short on my emergency fund goal and don't see a clear path to building that up quickly like <1yr. Should I scale back 401k contributions in FY25 to build up the emergency fund faster? Again, I max the 401k and I currently have $425K in my 401K but don't really feel ahead on that given I'm approaching 40 with only ~20yrs of career left and my dad died in 2022 at age 63 which has motivated me to retire as early as possible with as much financial security as possible. Wife is considering going back to work full time but thats a major disruption to our current childcare arrangements though would accelerate our savings and financial security.

Hoping peopel in this community can point out things I'm missing in my process (missing categories to track, overspend in categories I've allocated, etc). How would you look at the below and prioritize where to save vs pay off debt? Happy to answer any question or provide more info.

Edit: Replaced the budget table with a screenshot as the table formatted poorly

https://preview.redd.it/91ls7qpbp5zd1.png?width=698&format=png&auto=webp&s=8cd7053ede795bbe53a4ef82015e7b5b7faad4ae

So when I moved out at 18 I had practically nothing to my name.

I went to a no name state school and paid through school all by myself. I worked 30 hours a week and went to school for 5 years.

My wife did the same.

We’re both 25 now and things are looking really good for us. Here’s a rundown:

I have $40,000 in 401k (wife is on a pension)

We have $145,000 liquid in a 5% interest account. We plan on buying a home in 2025. I might move this to all S&P 500 if rates keep going down, idk yet.

I have $12k in car debt (it’s at 3.8% interest. it’s low interest not really dying to pay it off.)

Wife has $9k in student loan debt that’s been deferred.

We make $9,200 post taxes and retirement monthly. With interest it’s like $9600.

Last year we had $110,000 saved. So we saved $35,000 in a year and we also paid $10,000 for my wife’s grad school (she’s done now). So we really saved almost $50k.

This is with us going to Disneyland and going on a trip to Europe this year.

Essentially what I’m asking is that we’re doing good right? I’m worried because our lease is expiring ($1800 a month) and my wife wants to rent a nicer place at around $2200 a month and all I remember is the years I was dirt poor counting every dollar. I’m still inclined to rent for cheap.

We can afford to rent a really nice place right? I’m worried about lifestyle inflation. Idk.

I’m addicted to saving money and let me tell you I worry whenever I buy anything for myself. If it was up to me and not my wife we’d be living in a shithole and no vacations, lol.

Is a 480-500k home achievable next year?

I'm planning on moving back to my country in Feb 2026, I been contributing some money to my 401k plan from the time I started working. There is no option to rollover since I moving to a different country.

Can someone educate me know when should I stop contributing and takeout the money from there? I know there would be penalty of 10% and ~30% tax.

Just an odd thing/feeling over this past weekend...

When my partner and I started out, the struggle was real. It was pre-Covid and I remember working to feed each of us for a week on $40 some weeks. This is just a bit of context, we both have managed to get lucky/work our way up into better positions, own a house etc. (Insert middle class things here).

However, back in the struggle days Mass Effect Andromeda came out and I remember wanting to get it at release (ending up saving up for it for my birthday months later). At the time I did the math and realized that at $60, the game would cost me one whole day of work or 1.5 weeks of food.

Last week, Dragon Age Veilguard came out and I bought it (took Friday off work to play it too). At some point over the weekend, I thought about it and did the same math, and realized that the game only cost me 2 hours of work and was a mere fraction of our food budget.

That's my I made it moment for middle class. I can't buy any car I want or go on vacation multiple times a year, but I can afford to buy the small things I used to always dream of without a second thought and I have a job now where I can use my PTO to enjoy the things I can afford to buy.

That's all, just a weird realization over the weekend.

I live in a MCOL area where starter homes used to cost 250k five years ago, today the same homes costs 600k.

I am part of a higher earning DINK household. For a very brief minute we entertained me being a stay at home, but quickly dismissed that idea. I must say that the cost of living increases in the last few years definitely influenced our decision. My spouse and I are not struggling to afford to live, but I can see that some of my coworkers who are paying for a wife and 3+ kids on just their income are really having a hard time. This area is transitioning from being a place where you only needed one income to live, to now needing two incomes or one extremely high income. I can see the American Dream being swept out from beneath them, and it honestly makes me feel awful for them.

I am not sure what the point of this post is. I just wanted to say that as a DINK household I am fully aware of the privilege and I feel for single income households.

Does anyone have tips for how you navigate this social privilege?

How have cost of living increases influenced you deciding to be a single or dual income household?