We moved back in the house on the first of November after a complete rebuild (4 ft of water pulled out 8 ft of sheetrock). We didn't have flood insurance, so we got by on our own savings, FEMA, and donations. And we live in a "starter" home with the mortgage + escrow being less than 1k. Only debts were 1 car (to be paid off this year) and the mortgage. We were doing really well up until August. I've got so many bills to track now due to "interest free" this and that and an extra car loan. I've started doing this since I was flooded. I hope to make a $30-$40k lump payment on that. Fund will go straight to the student loan when it becomes a 5yr. Whatever we have saved up in excess of our Emerg. We do about 1/2 of what we should do for IRAs, but we're mainly focused on savings right now. Things I probably know, but I feel like we're saving well and living comfortably. That being said, children aren't too far away either. Is it to tell me that I could put that $109/month for my wife's yoga to better use? Cancel my cycling coach? What exactly? That I could/should start throwing more at our student loans? My wife gets a +/- $100,000 raise in July, so my situation Has a solid end-result. I'm putting $3100 into savings every month. I just don't know how it will help set me up better. I'm going to give it the 34 days, so I'll report back how well this works.
I never float and wait until the end of the month. When I make a charge or get a text (wife), I go to my AMEX app and pay the charge. I have text/email alerts set for $5 spend. If you ladder your policies correctly, you can make it work perfectly. By year 35, you have your million and are self insured. Now if you would have bought a term policy, and invested the $450/month difference and made 8%, you would have nearly $700k in the bank in 30 years. You see the difference is that most of your premium is going to pay commissions. Despite this, You would have a "cash value" of about $50,000 though. Over the 30 year period, you would have paid in $180,000. A premium on a similar policy would cost $500/month, or $6000 a year. While you are covered until you die, no matter the age, you pay the premium for life as well. A whole life policy combines this with a "savings account." that pays about 3% per annum. If you don't die in the 30 years, they make $18,000. In the event that you die, the company pays your beneficiary $1 million. You can get a $1MM 30 year term life policy for $50 a month (or under, I'm just using round numbers.) You are going to pay $600 a year for 30 years ($18,000).