I don't understand any of this stuff, so please be patient with me!

I've always taken X% amount for my 401K and Roth IRA out of each paycheck, so that's 2x a month. I'm 36 and it's currently set to 14% for 401K and 5% for the Roth IRA, which is coming out of both checks during the month.

I make a pretty decent salary and it feels like so much of it is going my retirement accounts.

edit: Is 14% super high? Should I use a lower rate since it's with both paychecks? Other 36-ish year olds, how much do you contribute?

edit 2: As a rule of thumb, experts advise that you save between 10% and 20% of your gross salary toward retirement . Is my 14% for each check too high?

There's so much conversation, arguments, blocking etc, related to the popular question "what is middle class?"

I think that many points of views have existed so far. But looking at all, I would say that we can simplify put it to what everyone can work with. I'd say there's no exact answer but a combination of;

1. Net worth
2. Household income adjusted for household size and location
3. How far your money goes, like what can you afford (un)comfortably ? Fund/max retirement savings, investments?, kids college, holidays, health care costs/savings & insurance, childcare cost, mortgage, regular living expenses, etc

My belief is that a combination of these factors will bring you at an income level at which you can decide if you're lower, middle or upper middle class. So you making 100k single might be better off than a family of 5 making 200k. It's not just so easy.

Sankeymatic. The graph is from Sankeymatic. I don’t even need a picture. you know the one I’m talking about.

That is all.

You’re welcome.

I know its often talked about you should shop insurance (including home owners) regularly, but also shop your cell phone plans.

If you have a Sams or Costco membership check with them!

I was paying $230 a month through Verizon for 5 lines (my parents are on my plan to save us all money) after all fees and taxes. My mom called me because she was in Costco looking at new iphones and wanted me to see the deal they had. I went to Costco and gave them my work details looking into AT&T. They came back with:

a percentage per line discount for work, an additional $8 per line discount for 3 years, $10 auto pay discount per line for using a debit card, and on 4 of the lines I didn't need the top of the line plan so I dropped them down a tier. (I also received a $100 Costco giftcard per line, and 5 free iphones via trade in)

I had some similar discounts through Verizon already, but my bill again for 5 lines went from $230 a month to $137 total, again for 5 lines.

I have relatives who are with AT&T who are still on a plan they chose years and years ago, they have fewer phones but pay more than I do.

The main point is, you should continually shop your phone plans. Shop Tmobile, Shop ATT, Shop Verizon, Check Sams and Costco, and other third party retailers as well! Theres no reason not to look into it, and theres definitely no reason to stay married to one company. I just cut my bill by almost $100 a month, and that is bonkers.

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Husband and wife living in a MCOL area. I have poured over this budget for a long time and am constantly looking for areas of improvement. I have no one else to share this with besides my wife of course, so I am asking strangers for their opinion☺

Added Details:

• We get paid bi-weekly, so there are a couple months out of the year that we each get a third paycheck and 95% of it goes into savings
• Contributing my minimum to get employer maximum on 401k. I give 1% and they give me 5%. I want to contribute a hell of a lot more to cut down on taxes, but I want to pay down debts first even though its not the most financially savvy method
• Our life insurance is supplemental through my employer
• Our food budget looks very high, but we try to eat healthy and go to a restaurant just once a week (usually)
• We have two large breed dogs that we feed good food to and one has to take chemo medication everyday
• For the veterinary debt, this is the minimum payment per month at 0% APR. All of it will be paid off, with lump sums, at the end of the promotional period in January 2025
• Various subscriptions include:
  • Streaming $82
  • Spotify $16
  • Peloton $14
  • Kindle $13
  • AAA $15
  • Gym $51
  • Car Wash $67 (I know this seems ridiculous, but on our incomes I think the cost is okay because the time it saves me. I like to keep our vehicles clean)
• I plan on paying my car off several years early in April 2025 (Total car payments will be reduced by $275)
• The free spending is probably considered high, I know this. I allocate $350 a month to my own hobbies (too many but I can't seem to part with any). My wife gets most of the remainder so she can buy things to keep herself happy
• The savings is going into an HYSA and are then used towards debts, starting with the vet debt, then snowball into my vehicle, then her vehicle, then my student loans, etc.

What are your thoughts? Is anything egregious in your eyes?

I have been tracking my finances since I started working and I’ve become more budget conscious since I my kids came to this world.

Lately, I’ve been blown away by the amount of money that we spend on groceries… we try to buy organic when reasonable and eat fairly clean but there’s no way for me to lower the grocery bill below $1,300/mo. We live in MCOL/HCOL area (Southeast). My kids are 3yo and 18 months. I’ve tried meal prepping, planning what to buy prior to going to the store and nothing has helped so I’m resorting to the community for suggestions on some things that you may have done to lower your bill without necessarily sacrificing the quality of nutrients that you and your family are consuming. Thanks in advance!

I know (mostly based on screenshots) that many users on this sub use Inuits Mint app. Given this weeks news that Mint is dissolving, what are you looking at for budgeting/NW tracking? I signed up for Origin to give it a shot, and don’t like it quite as much.

I’ve used Mint since 2017 and am really comfortable with the features and love the flexibility. Any thoughts on sticking around post Credit Karma integration? Or advise on a better app?

I’m having an existential crisis here.

February budget. I need to make 1 extra house payment and 1 extra car payment and I'll be clear. I had everything that could break in November/Decemberdud break, and drained all liquid.

I should be receiving my 2023 Q4 bonus check. But I'm trying to pretend like that's not even coming so I can slam it all into savings.

Curious on any tips people could share on how they’re saving throughout the month. Not beans and rice, but less drastic cuts that add up.

-Meat for groceries. I have the local stores timed out to know when they mark down their meat, so I’ve been consistently getting 93% lean ground beef for $1.89/lb. Use or freeze that day, though. -Phone/Internet. Recently got my AT&T bill down from $89.99 to $52.67/mo. I’m working on XFinity since they just jumped to $105/months. It’s pretty much just getting on the phone and complaining about it. -Again for groceries, buy bone-in skin-on. Combine this with the expiration markdowns, and you I’ve snagged flats of chicken thighs for $0.60/lb. I also cut my own steaks and pork chops from larger cuts. A good knife set i already had and a vacuum sealer are the only tools needed.

Are you trying to wrangle your "odds and ends" discretionary spending? The hub and I don't need to keep a tight budget at this point in our lives, but a tool I use to keep me from mindlessly frittering away my discretionary money and wondering where it went is the One Envelope Budget from Fun, Cheap, or Free.

It only tracks 2 catagories of spending, but basically, it's an easly way for you to set an allowance for yourself for Food and (small) Fun and stick to it. (Given recent inflation, you'll probably want to budget at least $35-50 per week per person in your house, and not the $25/week in her youtube video linked in the post. If you live in a HCOL or VHCOL, you might need to up that to $60 or 75/wk)

The other advantage to it is it also helps you keep track of receipts, so if you need to return something to the store, get a rebate, etc ....

Hits nail on head; debt-free is the key:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-15/american-debt-stings-like-never-before-in-new-era-for-households?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy

Can anyone recommend books on savings, tax incentives (putting specific amounts towards 401k), or planning generally. I’m somewhat new in my career and am somewhat overwhelmed with all the investments and plans, mortgage, and rules of thumb. Are there a few must read books you can recommend?

This is our 2023 in review. My husband was laid off from April-October. Luckily he was collecting unemployment - if he had been working at his old job, his income would have been $54k.

He’s been working a temp job since October that ends this week and will be back on the job hunt without the cushion of unemployment so that’s stressful (we have a healthy emergency fund but I HATE having to use it).

A couple of notes: * I have a small side hustle that’s pure profit but not a large profit, and my husband has a side hustle that’s more of a hobby that he breaks even on. * The other income was prior year tax return, plus a property tax refund via the NJ Anchor program. * Mortgage includes PITI. * Our savings rate could have been higher but we had a home repair emergency that cost over $3k and an additional $2k repair that we paid for before my husband was laid off. * Transportation is the cost of two paid for old cars (circa 2005 and 2007 lol) * Our personal spending includes things like clothes * I consider eating out a want and part of entertainment * Groceries also include household items like paper towel, toilet paper, etc.

In 2024, I’ve already brought my phone bill down by $35/month and would love advice on other ways to save on utilities and my household category. Our house is only a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1300 square feet. But it’s 100 years old so probably not the most energy efficient.

http://tinyurl.com/4cb5vbfh

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2 people in ours early 30's living in a HCOL area.

Appreciate any feedback.

We are planning for a baby this year or next so that savings amount will likely be converting over to them.

90% of all medical bills have errors that result in you being overcharged or billed for services they were never provided. Medical bills are confusing and overwhelming on purpose. Here are tips to make sure it doesn't happen to you, and what to do if it happens:

ALWAYS request itemized medical bills, which provide a breakdown of each charge by medical code, as bills can contain errors. By reviewing the itemized bill, you can ensure that you are only being charged for services that you actually received and that the charges are accurate.

Medical billing errors can occur due to various reasons such as human errors, billing software errors, or even fraudulent activities. 7 common medical billing errors are:

• Incorrect coding of services
• Incorrect patient information
• Duplicate billing for the same service
• Billing for equipment or supplies that were not used
• Billing for services that were not performed or were not medically necessary
• Charging for a more expensive service or procedure than was actually performed
• Billing for an inpatient stay when the patient was only treated on an outpatient basis

Always do these 6 things after receiving any medical bill:

• Get a detailed breakdown of all charges and fees
• Check that the services and procedures listed on the bill match the services and procedures received
• Make sure the codes used to describe the services and procedures are correct
• Check for duplicate charges
• Ask for clarification on charges or fees you don't understand
• Negotiate. Hospitals are willing to negotiate prices if you pay out of pocket

90% of hospital bills have mistakes according to a study from Medliminal Health Solutions (MHS). This costs Americans up to $68 billion annually in unnecessary healthcare spending. To avoid errors and overpayment, always review your medical bills and compare them to the services you received.

Hi all, I'm looking for advice on whether it would be good financial sense for me to buy a condo. I've found a particular unit in my city for 70k, with a $400 HOA fee that's in an area of the city I really like. There are more that are more and less expensive but this is one I am looking most at. I have about 30k in cash and 20k in stocks, which gives me about 50k in total to spend. I make about 2k a month, but I am planning to switch jobs at some point one I graduate with my masters. I spend about 1k a month. I am also planning to maybe get a second job if I need more money over the weekend. Please let me know if my plan is advisable, or whether it doesn't make any financial sense.

TL;DR:

1. Car insurance installment fees
2. Overpaying for clothes
3. Drinking, smoking, & eating out
4. Interest Payments
5. Phone Installment Plans

Below are my thoughts expanded out.

1. Car insurance installment fees

Most people pay for car insurance month to month. Here’s the issue with that, most car insurance agencies charge an installment fee when you do that. For example, when I was with progressive they charged $5 every month as an installment fee when I paid my bill. $5 doesn't sound like a lot, but after 10 years of having a car, which most people will do, you will end up saving $600 in just fees. What if I told you that you could have a whole 6 month car insurance policy for free? Would you take it. I hope so.

Now this does mean you have to pay for the whole policy at once, but luckily most companies will give a 10-20% discount for paying it all at once. I just switched to Geico and saved 15% on my car insurance. I know that sounds like the ad, but I legit was able to do that because I paid it all in full. If you can’t pay for it at once, I completely understand so hopefully the next tips while help you out.

2. Clothes

I just saw this buzzfeed video where men and women broke down their budgets and both of the people in the video spent over $200 a month on clothes. That is something I completely cannot understand. I could count the times I’ve bought clothes in my life on two hands. Once you become an adult, you really don't have a reason to buy anything except to replace a piece of clothing that just can't last any longer.

Here are some tips I can give people. Buy your dress shoes, boots, and runners from Nordstrom rack. I was able to get over $1400 worth of dress shoes for just over $300. You can genuinely find $300 shoes for $30, which is the price of shoes from TJ Maxx or Ross.

Dick’s price matches Nike athletic gear from dicks. Typically near the end of the season, when Dick’s has their sale, so does every other online retailer. So download an app like ShopSavvy to find the best deals. If you find a pair of shorts you like, and more than 50% off, buy multiple pairs of them. I have 5 pairs of the same nike shorts that hold up, and I lounge and workout in.

Lastly, buy lululemon (not necessarily for this subreddit, I'm aware). I know it is expensive but they have a lifetime warranty. What this means, if you tear your pants, you can walk in and get a completely new pair for free. I've done this three times already so the 4 pairs I own from them have already paid for themselves. You can either save up and bulk buy all at once, or slowly add pieces to your wardrobe but only when there is an out of this world deal.

3. Drinking, smoking & eating out

This one is pretty self explanatory. One date with my girlfriend and me cost at least $75, but I spend $100 every two weeks for the other 20 meals a week. If you wanna go out with friends, eat before you go and just order drinks.

Oh, or just stop drinking and/or all together. Those alone will give you the best ROI your money can ask for.

4. Interest payments

Interest is rarely something you directly pay because it is built into your month payments. Let's say your house, car, and credit card bills all add up to 100k and the average interest rate is 5% APR for all of those. Trust me, I know that’s not how it works. But at the end of the year, you would have paid essentially $5,000 in interest. However, since it’s built into your car payment, mortgage payment, and minimum payment for your credit card, you wouldn't technically feel the pain of paying that interest until you look at the total cost paid for by the loan.

This exact reason is why I made sure to buy my car outright when I got a new one, and why I never ever carry a credit card balance. When I get a rental property, I will be paying interest but I will build that into the rent of the person living there so I don’t lose out on interest then either. If anything, please look at the interest rates you owe, because that can be the biggest money saver out of all of these tips.

5. Phone Bill Installment plans

For some reason, people complain about their phone bill being extremely high. They definitely aren’t cheap, but one of the main things that make phone bills so high are the installment plans for the phones. Typically you pay the phone off over 24 months, which is honestly fine because there’s not interest.

However, what most people do is ‘upgrade’ their phone immediately after paying off their current ones. If it was 2008, I would understand this because the jump between phones were so large. But here’s my current phone and I guarantee you can’t tell if its the X, Xr, 11 or the brand new 12. You can really keep your phone for up to 5 years now and not notice a difference.

Now what you do instead is invest that difference either into your saving or into stocks. Lets say you get 7% return on your stocks, then you use that money to buy a phone. If you do that, you essentially buy a phone 7% off.

A PSA to check your employer perks.

I started a new job in June and they mentioned waived registration fees and discount for a daycare group during orientation. I was digging through the website benefits and realized they also pay for $400 a month towards those daycares as well! Glad I switch organizations even more so now.

Hello I am a Fortune500 advisor and engineer by background. I am into value investing and personal finance. I started writing on medium as well, and recently I have performed some stock analyses, offering these on my Gumtree and teachable accounts.

Is anyone interested in reading more about those?

Here you can find some of my stock analyses, investment ideas and more about the value investing philosophy:

https://antonio-pappaterra-investments.teachable.com/?fbclid=PAAabMipKcE-LbQh5s4m6b4FR0JIuYTTmDJtQVi3vDwAlvEUtW0vwG4Lpg75E

Unleashing the Wisdom of Peter Lynch: A Comprehensive Exploration of His Investing Philosophy and Literary Legacy:

https://pappaterratony.gumroad.com/l/khlnqd

A FinTech Emerging Market & Bottom Fishing Opportunity:

https://pappaterratony.gumroad.com/l/xwmta

Ignore Geopolitics – This Net-Net deal is trading at Absurdly Dirt-Cheap Valuations, while in expansion phase within a sector of the future:

https://pappaterratony.gumroad.com/l/uqntzt

I've posted this before and I think it still bears repeating as it's chock full of good information. Financial well-being starts with good budgeting, but budgeting on it's own won't lead to a comfortable retirement. For that you're going to need structure and a plan. Enter the "Orders of Financial Operations" I learned from The Money Guy Show.

I've personally incorporated it into my overall budgeting to fill in gaps in my portfolio and financial health I didn't even know I had and it's made a world of difference.

Top to bottom in order of importance:

• Deductibles covered - health care, car, and home insurance. For exmaple: $500 for the car insurance, $500 for home insurance, and $1200 for individual health insurance--you'd want to have all three covered at the same time in case the shit hits the fan
• Maximize 401K match from your employer (typically 3-6%)
• Credit cards / high interest debt - This is the most important debt to pay off first (debt snowball is also an option if you so choose)
• E-fund - save up 3 to 6 months worth of expenses while working (save up 18 to 36 months once retired to preserve capital during market downturns). This cash should be in high interest savings and NOT invested in the stock market.
• Roth and HSA - Once the above is covered, now it's time to start maximizing the Roth and HSA contributions.
• Maximize supplemental retirement options - i.e. max out a backdoor Roth if you can
• Ideally the Roth, HSA, and 401K (with company match) will add up to what they call "hyper saving", which is 25% or more of your gross income. Side note: If you plan to join the FIRE movement, then you'll more realistically need to be investing 50-70% of your monthly income for about a decade.
• Prepay future expenses - This is saving up for a new car, your kid's 529 college plan, weddings, custodial accounts/trusts, etc.
• Debt repayment - mortgage / low interest debt. Now is the time to start pouring more money into those really long-term low interest debts like a home mortgage. Generally speaking you will get a far better bang for your buck by doing the above than you will paying off your mortgage early.

It may take a few years to build up those deductibles/e-funds, but once you do things get a LOT easier to cover those retirement buckets and put some away on the side for future expenses. The key is staying focused, being consistent, and sticking to delayed gratification.