Budget Feedback Please

[lurkeringae]

I think we could be doing better with our budget but I've tweaked it so many times I'm not sure if it looks good and will get us where we want to be.

We're looking to buy a home in about 2.5 to 3 years so we're trying to beef up savings for that.

H and I are both new to our careers so that's why income may seem a little bit low.

Don't hold back, please!

Income: 3300

$750.00 Rent
$115.00 Utilities
$55.00 Internet
$75.00 Cell Phones
$350.00 Gas
$320.00 Groceries
$80.00 Me Work Expenses ($20 per week)
$200.00 H Work Expenses ($50 per week)
$100.00 Eating Out
$50.00 Entertainment
$8.00 Hulu
$9.00 Netflix
$75.00 Me Fun Money
$75.00 H Fun Money
$20.00 Haircuts
$50.00 Gifts
$50.00 Clothing
$70.00 Car Insurance
$20.00 Renter's Insurance
$500.00 House Fund
$300.00 E-Fund

Work expense is for lunches, coffees, snacks at work, etc. I've talked with H about this many times; he refuses to brown bag it or take leftovers.

We don't have cable so that's why we have both Netflix and Hulu.

No student loans or credit card debt. Both cars have no payments.

Current savings is ~$5000. We're comfortable with that right now since we rent and our cars are fairly decent.

[rosiedozie]

How long do you each commute? Do your cars get good gas mileage? Gas seemed high to me.

And if your H refuses to pack a lunch then I say you should combine work expenses and fun money into one category where you both get a similar amount. If you want to save for a house he needs to sacrifice some things.

[Deleted]

I don't think it looks bad but I think the Work Expenses and Fun Money are generally the same thing for me. If you want to eat lunch out or go get an extra snack during the day you need to pay for it out of your own "Fun Money" and not get a special line item because you don't feel like making a sandwich at home.
Also, what are you doing about retirement/health insurance? Is it already taken from your paycheck? Do yu have any co-pays or prescriptions you need to budget for? Do you include cleaning products, paper products, and personal hygiene items in the foo budget?

[rosiedozie]

Also, where are you in regards to retirement savings?

[minniebee]

There's not a lot you can really cut out of the budget to save more without depriving yourselves of anything fun. I do think your H could cut back a bit on his work expenses. Maybe he could bring lunch from home just 1 day a week to start? That shouldn't be too painful and would save $10/week or $40/month.

Good job on not having student loans, car loans or credit card debt!

[lurkeringae]

Cars don't get the best gas mileage but it's decent. H's commute is about ~30miles each way, mine is about 5miles. We drive to have dinner with my parents about 35 miles about a couple times a month. I try to overestimate a little bit because my family is on one side of the metro area and his is on the other and we're in between so we have to drive at least ~30-40 minutes to see them.

If we combine fun money and work expenses should we do an amount in between the two?

Health insurance & retirement are taken our pre-tax. Copays and prescriptions are paid for through a HSA/HRA account.

All the stuff you listed forcuatro is included in the groceries budget.

ETA: I contribute 7% to my 401k and my company matches 5%. H contributes 5% with a 3% match. He just started at his company and we're increasing our contributions every 6 months.

[kwynn]

How about Roth IRA's for each of you? That would be a good thing to have.

You have 5k saved, but you make $3300 a month, so you have less than 2 months of savings. I would beef that up and at more than $300/month. It will take you 6 years at that rate to save just 6 months of expenses.

If you save at your current rate for a house, in 3 years, you will have 18k. How much are homes in your area? Would that be enough for a good downpayment? Too high, too low? If you wanted to stay at 20% down payment (traditional style), the house would be in the 90k range, and for your income, that would seem like a good buy.

Great job being debt-free!

I think you could consolidate the following into one lower budget category:
Entertainment, Fun, Work, Eating Out

Your DH, at $275 with Fun/Work, over 12 months is actually eating (pun intended) a whole month of income. Maybe that would help him compromise.

ETA: Would your DH at least consider bringing his drinks from home? So he can hit up the dollar menu or something and save $2/day on a Coke. So now he's saving $60 or so a month off Work snacks.