Reply to What to do first? Debt vs Savings/Retirement

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Those expenses aren't bad at all, OP. However, they are only $7K/month--[i]and you should be netting $12K-$14K[/i][b] if you aren't saving much for retirement, depending on healthcare costs. I assume you are likely contributing to a Dependent Care FSA, so that child care cost may be reimbursable. Where is the rest of that money? That's what you need to figure out.

Agree that you should get rid of cable till the debt is under control (bonus: if you want to go back to it later, then you can get a nice intro package at that point--and you might find you don't miss it with some good streaming options!) Yes, fuel seems like a lot if you're not commuting for work. Are those actual numbers (what you spent), or what you budgeted?[/quote]

I just started contributing to DFSA. I max it.  I commute to work.  DH just drives to Metro station and takes the train into work.  We are on completely different schedules with him needing to leave the house by 5:30am and I go into work later so I can do school drop offs.  Having one car isn't an option with this schedule.  However, I am willing to let go of the cars for cheaper options without a negative impact on credit. We also visit family in MD and he goes to the barbershop in MD (refuses to change to someone in VA). So this is why our fuel is higher, NOT because of commuting to work. [/quote]

By DFSA, do you mean DCFSA? If so remember that it is use it or lose it, so if you are on a calendar year plan, you need to use it by December (and thus might not want to max it). If you're in education you might be on an academic year plan so that's fine if so. But it's still not the missing money--that's only $400/month.

Check your respective paystubs to see what else you may be paying pre-tax (and also how much tax is being withheld--you could be overwithholding). You need a full budget to begin to understand where and what to cut. I suspect most of what's on this list is not the issue.[/quote]

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