EmptyWallet
Confused about dryer sheets
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 6
I don’t post much, but I thought that I would see what everyone had to say about a question that I’ve been contemplating for a while now. My question is, “Do I need a budget?”
Let me give you some background information.
I’m married. My wife and I are almost 40 years old. We have two small children, ages 4 and 5. We have about $1MM in investments. We have two rental houses. Monthly income on these properties is about $3,000. The combined mortgages are about $3,400. We still owe around $450,000 combined on these houses. I do not expect to keep these as rentals for income generating purposes, and they will be sold most likely in the next 5-10 years.
Over the last two years, our incomes have varied from month to month. I receive a salary, but my wife is an hourly wage contractor. Our monthly income has been fluctuating +/- $10,000 per month depending on several variables. I believe that our monthly expenses are around $10,000 which is covered by my salary and includes our investments of $2,000 per month. We also maxed out our IRAs during this period.
I’m a saver and my wife is a spender, although I have never had any issues with how much she spends since we have been married. With that said… we don’t have a budget. I don’t track our investments very closely.
As I get closer to retiring from my current job (military), and as I research Mint.com and Personal Capital, I am wondering if should start tracking our spending. I know everyone will agree that I should pay more attention to our investments.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions that you provide.
Very Respectfully-
Jeremy
Let me give you some background information.
I’m married. My wife and I are almost 40 years old. We have two small children, ages 4 and 5. We have about $1MM in investments. We have two rental houses. Monthly income on these properties is about $3,000. The combined mortgages are about $3,400. We still owe around $450,000 combined on these houses. I do not expect to keep these as rentals for income generating purposes, and they will be sold most likely in the next 5-10 years.
Over the last two years, our incomes have varied from month to month. I receive a salary, but my wife is an hourly wage contractor. Our monthly income has been fluctuating +/- $10,000 per month depending on several variables. I believe that our monthly expenses are around $10,000 which is covered by my salary and includes our investments of $2,000 per month. We also maxed out our IRAs during this period.
I’m a saver and my wife is a spender, although I have never had any issues with how much she spends since we have been married. With that said… we don’t have a budget. I don’t track our investments very closely.
As I get closer to retiring from my current job (military), and as I research Mint.com and Personal Capital, I am wondering if should start tracking our spending. I know everyone will agree that I should pay more attention to our investments.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions that you provide.
Very Respectfully-
Jeremy