Just make sure that your income and investments keep growing faster than the cost of housing in the more expensive markets in the U.S. It sounds like you are living an amazing life right now but if it doesn't work for you (or a future partner) in 5 years you want to make sure that you can afford to rent a decent place or buy a place in one of your favorite cities in the U.S. with decent job prospects.

Yeah you're right. Like both of the small towns near me have apartments for like $600-700/mo but the parking lot and breeze ways smell like weed 24/7, drug deals in the parking lot, etc. I wouldn't want to leave my daughter or my valuables home alone. Jump to the closest real city and apartments start turning into $1500+ real quick. Home rentals are absurd.

And yeah that's why I never mentioned in my post a goal to refi. Sure, it will be great if I can, but nothing I would bank on or build my budget around.

My monthly budget consists of the following line items:

- $250 groceries

- $150 (ish) gasoline

- $104 car insurance

- $19.95 phone bill

- $30 (approximately) subscriptions (Disney+, Apple Music, etc.)

- $50-$100 misc. category

The Misc. category includes things like shampoo, razors, haircuts,

movie rentals, hobbies, and other things. Most of my hobbies

are very inexpensive. I like to hike, camp (tent for free or in state

parks), fish, hunt, and shoot. I do have a considerable amount

tied up in firearms, ammunition, and the like, but my monthly

expenses related to this are minimal as I don't shoot a whole lot.

Hunting and fishing are very seasonal for me, and I do them in a

way that doesn't cost much. Once you buy the gear, your regular

expenses are basically a fishing license ($30-ish), bait, tackle, and gas,

and that's about it. Hunting is similar and only done during very specific

times of the year. Hiking costs me next to nothing other than gas and a

parking pass.

I exercise a lot and see many people spend lots of money here.

You really don't have to drop bills to stay in shape - especially

at a young age. Here are some specifics:

- workout from home - no gym memberships. There's so much

you can do from home to stay in shape. I typically focus around

running/walking, and body weight exercises such as calisthenics,

plyometrics, and isometrics, biking, and swimming. My local HS

has free swim early mornings for $2.

- avoid buying expensive "health" food. What I mean by this is

anything like protein powder/food, workout/health/protein bars,

"fat-loss" type food products, anything like that. You can get the most

of everything you need just by eating healthy food, which really

isn't expensive if you know how to cook. In my area, milk is a couple of dollars,

fresh produce is relatively inexpensive, canned meat (like the

tuna I buy has 46 grams of protein in a little can and costs $2.30 per unit),

and I also harvest meat from my hobbies such as venison (usually

45 - 90 lb per year), fish (varies a lot but usually dozens of meals

per year), and other game animals. So just a few thoughts there.

I see so many people spend a good amount of money on gym

memberships, trainers, "health" food, workout equipment, and

even clothing. Many of those things are not always necessary to achieve the desired result.

Car repairs/maintenance are done from earmarked cash on hand

(about $1,000), anything sudden car issues above that will be

cash-flowed with EF funds. Any amount spent is budgeted and replenished next pay period. I have a well-cared-for 2015 F-150

(paid cash for it) that haven't been any significant issues (knock on wood) so

far. Only replaced O2 sensors and regular maintenance. An oil

change, tire rotation, fluid top-off, and quick inspection run me

$45 from my local auto shop.

Roth IRA contributions are set at $500/month. I try to shoot for

$6,000/year or whatever the maximum limit is that year.

I like to study personal finance and have done a lot of thinking about

ways to save money without feeling deprived of anything. I love

my lifestyle and feel content. Hope this helps answer your question about breaking down my budget.

No, you meant biweekly, at least if you want those numbers to add up. While most months will only have two paychecks, two months will have three.

Biweekly means you get paid once every two weeks, which is 26 times a year. 52 weeks in a year divided by once every two weeks is 26 times. Your gross pay of $3077 times 26 is $80K nearly exactly.

Thanks! Yes, we have a 457 plan that I could opt into, but I didn’t see the point because.. that money doesn’t grow, does it? Isn’t it almost like having a “savings account” with 0 interest, with taxes to be taken out whenever you withdraw?

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Could be differences in withholdings set (will get corrected come tax time), health insurance premiums, etc.

I use Discover for my HYSA

That's where Roth IRA comes in.

Mine is split. A month’s expenses in local credit union savings, with the rest in HYSA and I-bonds. I don’t expect to need all the money at once, so Im okay with waiting a week or so to get money from online bank and Treasury Direct.

This is going to sound like I'm berating but you need to think about why your partner has not been working since August.

I mean more that it feels like this was a situation where she lost her job and you guys just kind of tacitly agreed that you could get by for a while. So she took some time for herself. I'm not here to judge about that particularly, but I am here to say that this is why you need to have a budget and a plan because the day she lost the job you could have said "you not working is going to put us xyz behind." and if that isn't motivation then you have bigger problems. The most alarming thing of this entire post is that your partner didn't even think to get a seasonal job at like Target.

This forum is riddled with posts from people who are in desperate straits because their partners are terrible with money and don't understand consequences. It is natural to want to indulge our partners so easy to ignore little things here or there. It is also natural to want to indulge ourselves once in a while and maybe also keep that from our partners. Then you have an emergency and the little things add up really fast, as you have seen.

That said, your situation is far less dire than you are thinking, if she can go back to work. I mean this to encourage you. I know financial stress really sucks.

The logistics of the advice in the other comments is good.

Per pay bimonthly paycheck - Gross pay - $3076.93

Pre tax deductions - 401k- $307.7 Healthcare FSA-$11.04 Medical - $52

Employee taxes - Federal - $426.97 State -$131.11 (GA) Take home - $2148.11

I've got about 15k that I've saved over the last year (5k of that in the last 2 months). By the time we close I might could be up to 20k. The new build is appealing because of the builder incentives. I can use their money to pay closing costs and maybe buy down some points, and hang on to more of my money to keep in reserve. Maybe I can negotiate even more.

I only plan to buy the absolute basics (beds, fridge, washer, dryer) and fill the rest in over time. I can put my socks and underwear in plastic drawers for a while.

Isn‘t there an inherent concern that the tax brackets may change/increase in the next ~30 years so that I should put at least a little towards a Roth 401k? Or is that where the Roth IRA comes in?

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That’s not my point. My point is if you dca into a bear market an 8% return on average per year in a bull market is certainly attainable.

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Google “monkey dartboard stocks”, read a few articles, then put your money in a low cost index fund.

Do you expect the highest tax rate during retirement to ever exceed 24%? If not, do 100% traditional 401k followed by Roth IRA.

Sadly, my job has never helped me move. I've always quit and moved to a new place. However, I always live super minimally--like to the extent that I can fit all of my stuff in two suitcases. It's reassuring to hear that you've been able to move around a lot and still do okay!

Yes, I think my parents are on the house train lol I really don't see that for myself (at least not for a lonnnng time). It sounds like if I'm thoughtful about my savings/investing and can work with the remaining money that I have outside of that, then it should be fine?

Meant bi-monthly, I’m sorry, my bad.

Other commenters in this thread note that the 12/31 deadline applies to the year of the conversion, not the previous year, so we should be good, provided that our traditional IRA balances on 12/31/2023 are $0.

Oh great! So as long as you (time the market) you’ll be set!

First, you're not a "W9 employee." W9 is just a request for your tax ID and does not imply any kind of employment. You're self-employed and you may receive Forms 1099-NEC from your clients / customers. That is income you will report on Schedule C of your Form 1040 tax return. Schedule C is also where you will deduct legitimate business expenses.

Most likely you will run your business on a cash basis just like your personal taxes are, which means you record the income when you receive it, not when you send the invoice. In your example money received in January is taxed next year.

Estimated taxes are paid in April, June, September, and January. For your first year of self-employment, take the "total tax" from last year's tax return, divide by 4, and make that your estimated payment. Open an account with EFTPS.gov for making Federal payments and look into your state's online systems for making state payments.

You may want to open a separate checking account to keep your books separate, but you should not need multiple accounts. You should learn how to keep basic business books though.

One thing you might not be aware of is the self-employment tax. You now have to pay both the employer and employee halves of Social Security and Medicare tax.

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