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[quote=Anonymous]OP is spending more than s/he needs to on something.

We have a HHI that is slightly higher than OP's ($200k), and while we spend about 20% of take home on our mortgage, we put another 25% towards student loans (thanks to professional school, though we're also making substantial extra payments to get rid of them early). That only leaves about 50% of our income, but we manage to cover all of our expenses, contribute generously to 401ks (though we don't max them; fortunately I have a DB pension plan and we've been saving long enough that we're ahead of the game), and still save one paycheck every month. We aren't spendthrifts - our laptops and phones are paid by work, we have one economy car that's paid off and costs $30 to fuel each month, and we spend $0 commuting because we prioritized buying a place close to transit - but we don't deprive ourselves either (we take annual international vacations plus a few domestic trips on long weekends to visit friends/family, and do nice meals out at least once a month with a splurge 1-2x a year).

For us, once the loans are paid off there will be enough money for childcare and a 529 (and HHI should also rise a bit, though that would mean more discretionary $ and we're not taking it for granted). We won't be buying luxury cars and shopping at Neiman Marcus, but we'll be doing just fine.

Budgeting is key - not just month to month, but long term. We plan splurges in advance and space them out so that we do not feel like we're always depriving ourselves. That makes it easy to say "no" to things that we don't really need.

Also, leverage grandparents if you can. We will definitely lobby our parents to come live with us for a bit when we spawn![/quote]

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