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[quote=Anonymous]OP here.  Thanks for the input, especially for pointing out things like charitable giving, which I hadn't specifically considered, but I think I look at that almost as coming out of the $50K bonus.  Mostly, we tend to support charities by donating stuff and donating our time.  It's really only the church that we directly give money to.

I've worked through an alternate budget, which cuts down on gas, childcare, restaurants, activities, and miscellaneous purchases and I feel better about the situation.  We'll have $90K liquid in an emergency fund to help get us through a job loss situation, and I think we'll only be drawing on that for $1-$2k/month if we can cut down on some of the "fun money" in our budget currently.

As far as other savings, we're behind on college funds (only $10K total), but we are OK on retirement, which comes out before the net income line.  We're 30 and have about $200K saved there, mostly in ROTH form.  I'm hoping to keep contributing the same amount, but I guess we could cut that temporarily if needed.

Thanks to the PP who suggested that kid costs will increase as they get older.  Is it appropriate to assume that the increased food, activities, and clothing costs will offset the elimination of daycare?

And home maintenance... that could be a lot, for a SFH.  Is it appropriate to budget $500/month knowing that it will be lumpy?  For a lot of it, my DH and FIL are very handy, but it will be things like new HVAC or roof (both new in this house) that will be expensive when they hit.  [/quote]

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