Budget Review Request

[rosiedozie]

We just bought our first home and our first mortgage payment is due 1/1/13 so we will be able to start with a new budget for 2013. I feel like we are in pretty good shape but any advice is appreciated!

We will do a few larger house projects out of our savings but we will also pay for smaller ones monthly. This year we paid down all high interest student loan and we plan on getting life insurance soon (the amount below is an estimate). Kids are planned on the next 2 years.

Savings: $14k in bank, $28k invested
Retirement (we are both 27): Me $37k, H $16k

Income (after insurance, 401k and I max out my HSA contributions in the anticipation of having kids in a few years).
Me: $4,250
H: $4,180

Mortgage (principle, interest, PMI, taxes and insurance) : $1,634
Utilities: $300
Cable/Internet: $150
Cell phones: $100
Car Insurance: $140
Car Maintenance : $35
Car PMT 1: $455 (balance $8k, 2.9%)
Car PMT 2: $392 (balance $18k, 2.9%)
Gas: $165
Life insurance: $75
Restaurant: $175
Alcohol/bar: $40
Entertainment: $125
Groceries: $450
Pets: $200
Student Loan 1: $63 (balance $3,400, 3%)
Student Loan 2: $50 (balance $4,000, 3%)
My allowance: $150
H allowance: $150
Gym: $40
Toll Tag: $10
Home Improvement: $500
Gifts: $100
Misc.: $100
Roth IRA 1: $420
Roth IRA: $420
Travel: $300

Remaining/savings: $1,691

[CloudBee]

Do you always stay within your $40 alcohol/bar, $450 grocery, $175 restaurant, and $300 total allowance budgets?

That's a good bit spent on food in what I assume is a moderate cost of living area. If you are currently staying with budget in those categories, can you trim it back a bit? Maybe $400 gcoery, $150 restaurant, and $125 allowance for each of you? Then toss that additional extra into savings/invest.

Have you ever tried calling your cable/internet provider and asking them to negotiate rates?

[SJ]

I think you are doing great!

How much do you each put into your 401K?

Your car payments are high, but those interest rates don't concern me very much.

In general, do you stick to your budget pretty well? Do you actually save the $1,600 per month? (I know this is a new budget, but in general do you stick to the plan?)

Do you both plan to continue to work FT once you have kids?

[Deleted]

I think it looks good. I would want to pay off one of the $8k car asap and then combine the payment amounts and add it to the other vehicle. Maybe pay $1k instead of $455 for the next 8 months. That just seems like a lot of money to throw at vehicles each month. Other than that I don't see anything I would be concerned about.

[ladyk]

HAS -Health savings account? Why do you max those out if you don't plan on having kids this next year? If you don't use the $ in the account, you lose it.

[SJ]

Dec 20, 2012 12:25:40 GMT -5 ladyk said:

HAS -Health savings account? Why do you max those out if you don't plan on having kids this next year? If you don't use the $ in the account, you lose it.

This is not true. HSA's accumulate and build up over time.

[ladyk]

I was thinking of FSAs.

Thanks.

[rosiedozie]

I put 4% in my 401k and get a 3% match. I think my H does the same - we both plan to increase that by 1% in January.

We stick to our budget pretty well, some things end up under and some end up over but it all evens out in the end.

We probably could look into getting a lower cable bill. We have lost all of our new account discounts. And yes, we pay a lot for groceries but we buy a lot of organic. We are thinking of getting a chest freezer so we can buy meat in bulk from a local farm to save money.

We have thought of paying off the cars early, but the interest rates are so low that we thought it would be better to save the money instead.

Yes, we will both work FT when we have kids. Day care around here runs about $1k/month for a newborn so hopefully we wont feel too much of a pinch there.

[SJ]

OK I would try to put even more into your 401K's if you can. Definitely prioritize that over paying off your low-interest cars or SL's.

[rosiedozie]

Thanks - we will make sure to raise our contributions in January.