Budget - I hope I'm not too late to play!

[sillygoosegirl]

I've been thinking about posting this for a while, since we are buying a house, and probably TTC soon.

Income:
DH - $4000 (after maxing 401k, transit pass, health insurance for the whole family)
Me - $6000 (after maxing 401k, and paying the extra taxes for being a 2 income family; more when I work overtime and more this time of year because payroll taxes are so regressive. But I will probably get laid off in April)
After I get laid off we will reduce DH's 401k contributions to 8% (to get the whole 4% match). His take home pay should then be right around $4500/month.

Debt:
Student Loans - $113 (~$11K at 2.8%, ~9 years remaining)

Housing and utilities:
PITI - $1350 (25% down, $212K mortgage at 3.5%, 30 year fixed)
Maintenance - $250 (savings for future maintenance needs, based on 1% of the home's value annually)
Utilities (gas, electric, water/sewer, garbage) - $280 (average based on calling utility companies for current usage; hopefully ours will be lower for a while as 4 people live there now)
Phone/Internet - $40
Cell phone - $40 (my share of parents plan)

Transportation: (We own both cars outright and don't drive much--I work at home or travel and work reimburses, DH takes the train to work. We mostly just drive to the grocery store and when we go out socially. We shared only 1 car until last October.)
Car insurance - $100
Gas - $25 (This is a guess; 1 car is electric and we haven't bought gas since we bought the electric car 2 months ago. Before the EV we spent $50/month on gas average.)
Bus/train - $25 (for me only, DH gets an annual pass at work)

Food:
Groceries - $350
Restaurants - $100
DH's lunches out - $50

Misc/savings:
Misc - $600 (includes clothes, entertainment, donations, smaller car repairs, smaller gifts, whatever we buy for fun; based on actual past spending on "everything else")
Gifts/big ticket/splurges - $300/month (mainly for Christmas and could certainly be reduced; the account had $7K in it on Dec 1, so clearly it's accumulating)
Travel - $1000/month (plan to reduce to $500/month when I get laid off)

So currently we have about $5400/month leftover (actually, $6300 until we close on the house and it's been going to Roth IRAs, the house fund, and the new car), but that will go to right around $377/month leftover for general savings when I'm not employed. I keep alternating between being fine with that (we are saving an additional $1050/month on save-to-spend items and that could be drastically reduced if needed), and flipping out about having such a small amount leftover. I'm a consultant, so being a few months away from being laid off is totally normal for me, and finding a new job shouldn't take long... but I'm still getting used to that.

Other details:
- We are 30 and 31 years old, no kids yet.
- We have about $260K in retirement (more than half in my name, and more than half in Roth accounts).
- After we close on the house, we'll have around $80K in cash.
- Unless we win the lottery or go broke, this house we are buying is our forever house (or at least our "until the kids move out" house).
- Cars are a 1999 Honda Accord with ~150K miles on it, and 2011 Think City (like a SmartCar) with ~500 miles on it. Hopefully they will both run for a long time.

Financial Goals:
- Retire early (mid to late 50s). This is with the caveat that we won't try to do this unless there are decent health insurance options. If health insurance still costs $5000/month for people that old, that's clearly out of reach and one of us will work for the benefits.
- TTC early next year, planning on about 2 children.
- Be a SAHM or work no more than PT after kids (I'm really hoping to find part time work in my field at a similar hourly wage to what I make now). I plan/hope to never return to work full time.
- Do some major home renovations (plan to spend around $40K when we move in, and there's another $100K we'd love to do someday if we can ever afford it).
- Buy life insurance before getting pregnant. Planning on $700K-$800K for DH. Not sure how much we'll get on me (DH doesn't want to get any on me since I'll be a SAHM, I want to get a similar amount so he can be a SAHD if I died and that changed his priorities, or alternately so he could replace me with a really good nanny--we will probably compromise somewhere in the middle).
- We'd like to pay for college or part of college for the future kids, but it's not our highest priority right now. It is probably what "general savings" is going to start getting earmarked for as DH gets raises, and if I find part time work.

[Deleted]

I think you will be okay if you SAH but there are a few things to think about.
1)Travel- will you keep this same budget after having a baby? If you are cutting it so close it seems like a lot of money to spend on something that is optional.
2) Medical costs- how much will it cost you to have a baby? How much will copays be for prenatal and well-baby appointments?
3) I would get enough life insurance on you to at least cover the mortgage, burial expenses, and to give your DH a little nest egg. If he continues to work and doesn't have a mortgage to pay for he will have added income to cover child care costs.

[giantsgirl]

I agree that you need to life insurance for both of you. Honestly, unless you have some medical issues that will increase premiums, I would look at $1Mm for both of you. Based on what I pay and what I have seen others on this board pay, it should cost in the $50-$60/ month range for 30 year term.

I am also inspired by your current retirement savings!

[saywhatnow]

Great job on your retirement savings so far! I think you'll be ok with you being a SAHM. It sounds like you have plans/options for part time employment. Even if it take a few years off from working at all, you have a good start to your retirement savings so I don't think you'll really put yourself behind. I will also jump on board that you NEED life insurance. His income would not be enough to pay for full time child care and cover your current expenses plus the additional costs of raising children. I think at least 1 million on each of you would be smart.

[gt7301b]

I agree that you need life insurance on you, even if you are a stay at home mom.

If retiring in your 50's is a goal I would start saving outside of retirement vehicles. For example, if you retire at 53 you won't be able to take money from your 401k without penalty (easily) until you are 59 1/2 and you will need $$ to live on. (You could remove your contributions from your Roths at this point)

[ladybrettashley]

You definitely need life insurance, even if you are a SAHM.

Great job on your retirement savings and living below your means.

Also I am totally jealous of how little you spend on transportation (we spend around $500/mo just on gas).

[LoveTrains]

You definitely need life insurance as a SAHM. If you pass away, your H will need the money to pay for childcare!