@childofgodharrison I know you're not technically living paycheck to paycheck, but you're a great example of living paycheck to paycheck, which doesn't always mean making minimum wage. How do you spend so much on miscellaneous???? And so little on retirement. Wild!
Retirement? Never heard of it
- Thread starter childofgodharrison
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childofgodharrison
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@dbrown2 We don’t always spend all of it. We bought a house a year ago and much of the money each month goes to a home improvement or decoration item. Seems something big happens every month. Things are settling down after a year and we built up an emergency fund so now we feel comfortable shoving money into retirement. We are really good example of lifestyle creep though! Prime example of what not to do when you buy a house and get big people jobs
resjudicata
New member
@childofgodharrison Max your 401k and put rest of savings transfers on autopilot.
Then you can spend whatever you want in your checking knowing youve already met your savings goal for pay period.
Our payroll provider lets me direct % of my check to however many accts i want to split it between. If you cant do that, do it from you bank after deposit.
Misc category is destroying you though.
Then you can spend whatever you want in your checking knowing youve already met your savings goal for pay period.
Our payroll provider lets me direct % of my check to however many accts i want to split it between. If you cant do that, do it from you bank after deposit.
Misc category is destroying you though.
jesusreigns4ever
New member
@childofgodharrison This tells me very little except you have a spending problem. Net worth is what’s important, assets minis liabilities and how much are you keeping over the long term. Misc spending of $4k is just silly. Get your spending in order, stop buying bullshit, up your 401k and roth contributions. My ex wife and I were JUST LIKE YOU. No kids, dual good incomes, LA, trips, nice restaurants and mini vacays all the time, revolving car payments. Then we had a kid, and another, and then got divorced and then Covid. I got serious about personal finance during that shit storm and even after all that, 2 kids, expensive divorce, I’ve got a net worth of $500k, no debt. It’s possible but you’ve gotta buckle down. Kids will literally break your finances. Good luck.
childofgodharrison
New member
@jesusreigns4ever Our spending is out of control yes, agreed. Partner got a vasectomy last year so kids won’t be an issue.
jesusreigns4ever
New member
@childofgodharrison wow, like no kids ever, without having ever had kids. trip out. well, you should be fine then
@childofgodharrison Honestly it still looks like you are doing better than my husband and I was when we first started making better money. So I think you are well on your way to doing retirement. I'm currently trying to pull my shit together and buckle down. Best of luck on your journey!
childofgodharrison
New member
@childofgodharrison Also weird question. Your husband gets VA benefits but y’all pay $200 in healthcare a month? Seems high. We pay $47 for the both of us. Unless that’s like dental and vision?
childofgodharrison
New member
@childofgodharrison Oh okay. 
hisprincess710
New member
@childofgodharrison That's pretty solid monthly income. Unless you're in a VHCOL area, you can definitely boost your savings with some lifestyle changes.
What is "Savings"? Unless that going into an emergency fund, redirect it to retirement accounts.
Figure out how to reduce your misc spending. There are no details, but that prob where you're going to find more to save.
Your mortgage is hefty. Sometimes it is what it is and/or it's worth it. But it does seem to be flirting with "high". Again, no idea if you're in a VHCOL area. Prob not though going by your food budget.
What is "Savings"? Unless that going into an emergency fund, redirect it to retirement accounts.
Figure out how to reduce your misc spending. There are no details, but that prob where you're going to find more to save.
Your mortgage is hefty. Sometimes it is what it is and/or it's worth it. But it does seem to be flirting with "high". Again, no idea if you're in a VHCOL area. Prob not though going by your food budget.
childofgodharrison
New member
@hisprincess710 We are in the Seattle area, so I would say HCOL but not VHCOL. We have about 3 full months of emergency fund to cover all of our expenses if someone were to be without work. We generally buy a lot of stuff and also have quite a lot of home repairs/improvements going on (old 1940s home that was mistreated).
@childofgodharrison Why do you have 3000 going to “savings” but only 670 going to 401k/IRA(s). Is that saving for a short term goal of some kind
resjudicata
New member
@childofgodharrison Hi OP I am a similar age and income.
For you guys, I would save $3500 in your 401ks and then you guys can have the leftover $3500 for fun money. $3500 is still a lot of fun money every month and I is a reasonable limit.
For you guys, I would save $3500 in your 401ks and then you guys can have the leftover $3500 for fun money. $3500 is still a lot of fun money every month and I is a reasonable limit.
childofthealmighty
New member
@childofgodharrison Sorry to be blunt here, but you do not need to HIRE a financial advisor. You earn a lot of money, but you are spending a lot of that money. $3k to savings is good! But you just need to focus on reducing your $4k/mo misc spending, up your retirement contribution, invest that in whatever S&P 500 index tracking fund that your retirement institution lets you do, and then focus on clearing up your debt.
Your shovel is HUGE, the last thing you need to do is pay someone a bunch of money to tell you to get on a budget.
Your shovel is HUGE, the last thing you need to do is pay someone a bunch of money to tell you to get on a budget.
childofgodharrison
New member
@childofthealmighty The bluntness is appreciated and it’s what I asked for - thank you! We are going to sit down and reevaluate our retirement contributions this evening.
childofthealmighty
New member
@childofgodharrison It's tough to come across with more of a "tough love" sentiment on the internet. I just don't want you all wasting money on a financial advisor when you really don't need one yet. I'm in my mid 30's now and in my early 20's I didn't know any of this stuff either. I'm very fortunate my now wife also gave me this kind of "tough love" when we were dating. Just remember that when it comes to finances the boring, unsexy advice is usually the best.
Budget, save more than you spend, invest in retirement and put it in things like tracking the S&P or a target date fund while you work. Get out of debt and try not to borrow unless you have to. A little bit of sacrifice in that regard goes a LONG way in a pretty short time. Take it from someone who's done this exact thing in recent years haha.
In 5 years, you're gonna be able to spend a lot more than you think if you keep it up!
Something that could help you with your spending is to create a couple different bank accounts that get $X/mo put into them. My wife and I do this for "fun money" for each of us, but it really helps put the emphasis on saving, and places like chase bank seems to let you put however many checking accounts in there as you want. But then if you want to go out to eat at the end of the month and there's only $20 left in that checking account, you'll need to go out somewhere cheap! Just a thought, as for me it's easier to set up a system I have to live inside of, rather than just saying "oh, i won't overspend and totally trust myself..." lol
Budget, save more than you spend, invest in retirement and put it in things like tracking the S&P or a target date fund while you work. Get out of debt and try not to borrow unless you have to. A little bit of sacrifice in that regard goes a LONG way in a pretty short time. Take it from someone who's done this exact thing in recent years haha.
In 5 years, you're gonna be able to spend a lot more than you think if you keep it up!
Something that could help you with your spending is to create a couple different bank accounts that get $X/mo put into them. My wife and I do this for "fun money" for each of us, but it really helps put the emphasis on saving, and places like chase bank seems to let you put however many checking accounts in there as you want. But then if you want to go out to eat at the end of the month and there's only $20 left in that checking account, you'll need to go out somewhere cheap! Just a thought, as for me it's easier to set up a system I have to live inside of, rather than just saying "oh, i won't overspend and totally trust myself..." lol
blessedbrian1989
New member
@childofgodharrison ……uh
@childofgodharrison It doesn't make sense for you to save $3k a month. Throw it all in a 401k. What are you saving the $3k a month for? A house? Is it for emergencies? Is it in high yield savings account? Don't let it just sit in a bank without a purpose.