The only thing that stood out to me at first glance is the lack of life insurance (unless I missed it). I would strongly consider taking out policies on both of you, especially with a baby on the way.
The only thing that stood out to me at first glance is the lack of life insurance (unless I missed it). I would strongly consider taking out policies on both of you, especially with a baby on the way.
Ah yes this is a really good point! H has life insurance (taken out of paycheck) and this reminds me we need to put something into place for me. Thanks!
Post by crispnclean on Dec 21, 2012 9:37:20 GMT -5
Looks great overall.
Just a few things I thought of which are not listed on your budget. You may have already thought about these things, and perhaps this money comes out of your savings, but: Vacations Is your mortgage + ins taking into consideration property taxes? Will your new home need any work/updates/changes (new kitchen, fence for the yard, finish the basement, etc.) Life insurance
Just a few things I thought of which are not listed on your budget. You may have already thought about these things, and perhaps this money comes out of your savings, but: Vacations Is your mortgage + ins taking into consideration property taxes? Will your new home need any work/updates/changes (new kitchen, fence for the yard, finish the basement, etc.) Life insurance
Meant to address this. Property taxes will be paid annually from savings and we will stash away a portion of the bonus for this purpose for future years.
Vacations, home improvements, etc will just be saved for as needed. The $2k excess will go to a catch-all savings/efund first and then once that has reached a certain amount we'll start adding more to investments. So basically if we dip into our savings we will temporarily build it back up, and when it's at capacity we will switch to more investing. If that makes sense. We will also use the annual bonus for projects or vacations as required.
The only thing that stood out to me at first glance is the lack of life insurance (unless I missed it). I would strongly consider taking out policies on both of you, especially with a baby on the way.
Ah yes this is a really good point! H has life insurance (taken out of paycheck) and this reminds me we need to put something into place for me. Thanks!
You may want to look into an individual policy for him as well. If he changes employers in the future, he will lose the LI plan he currently has and a new employer may not offer any coverage. You two are young so the cost for an individual policy will be much less expensive for him now than it will be several years from now.
Ah yes this is a really good point! H has life insurance (taken out of paycheck) and this reminds me we need to put something into place for me. Thanks!
You may want to look into an individual policy for him as well. If he changes employers in the future, he will lose the LI plan he currently has and a new employer may not offer any coverage. You two are young so the cost for an individual policy will be much less expensive for him now than it will be several years from now.
Your estimate on take home sounds really high. DH and I only bring home about $6000k with pretty much that exact salary annually. Your DH will get an extra $1-2k a year for how the social security taxes work out.
Do you have no state tax? That might get you closer to that number too--KS has 6% ish which obviously not everyone at that salary level pays.
I would not include the bonus in monthly take home if you are doing that--I would budget if separately.
I just saw you're in Houston, so yeah, no state income tax which will help. I would still estimate your take home to be closer to $6500.
$350 may not be enough for utilities in the summer--we've had electric bills that high alone in a house with a less efficient air conditioner and I know you guys get even hotter.
Agree independent 30 year term insurance is a good idea especially while you are young and healthy.
Your estimate on take home sounds really high. DH and I only bring home about $6000k with pretty much that exact salary annually. Your DH will get an extra $1-2k a year for how the social security taxes work out.
Do you have no state tax? That might get you closer to that number too--KS has 6% ish which obviously not everyone at that salary level pays.
I would not include the bonus in monthly take home if you are doing that--I would budget if separately.
I used www.paycheckcity.com to estimate take home, and knocked off about $1k from that to acct for ins and retirement deductions. You're right though, it could be much less which will definitely cause some of our expenses to go down. We have no state income tax which could have something to do with it. I'm not including our bonus in the monthly budget.
Eta- the utilities budget is something I'm totally clueless on, so that's a complete guess. Last time we lived in Houston we were in a one bedroom apartment so I don't really have anything to compare it to. I assumed around $350 would be average over the year but I could definitely see having to adjust that upwards a bit - thanks for the heads up!
I used www.paycheckcity.com to estimate take home, and knocked off about $1k from that to acct for ins and retirement deductions.
That's too low if you want to contribute 15%.
He actually contributes 9% and has 6% match, but now that I look closer its probably still a bit too low... I'll have to make some adjustments next month once we get an actual take home pay. This is why I'm glad I posted!
So what's your plan on allocating that chunk of money in savings for your upcoming expenses?
It really depends on what kind of house we can find. Our general plan is to set aside around $80k for a downpayment, and up to $25k toward any closing costs, taxes, furniture or small updates. $50k max for both cars, but hopefully that expense will be much less. Ugh, makes me sick to think of all our savings out the door in a few short months.
Yeah that would be my major focus because obviously there is a lot of room in your budget. Our budgets look similar but we spend more on house stuff, like security system/monitoring, weed control, lawn maintenance. ~$100 per month A housekeeper would be another $150-$200.
This is what I would do: $30K for a new compact/mid-size SUV $15K for a slightly used 2nd car, good gas mileage $60-70K for a down payment on house (20% down only, 15 or 30 year mortgage) $20K closing costs (with escrow) $10K without escrow $20K new furniture, house stuff $20K e-fund
Yeah that would be my major focus because obviously there is a lot of room in your budget. Our budgets look similar but we spend more on house stuff, like security system/monitoring, weed control, lawn maintenance. ~$100 per month A housekeeper would be another $150-$200.
This is what I would do: $30K for a new compact/mid-size SUV $15K for a slightly used 2nd car, good gas mileage $60-70K for a down payment on house (20% down only, 15 or 30 year mortgage) $20K closing costs (with escrow) $10K without escrow $20K new furniture, house stuff $20K e-fund
This is a great guideline, thanks missy!
Vicmo- we file taxes jointly, so my husband is able to contribute to a Roth for me. We also fall under the maximum income which I think is around $170k.