Hi, I am 35yrs old. My husband and I have two children. I am the breadwinner and the one who handles the family finances. I would like to retire within 30years (age 65). My husband works part-time and goes to school, to graduate in 2014. I have no credit cards. I have 60K in student loans (@ 3.25% interest) and a car loan of $300/month. I have 5K in a traditional IRA that I have not been contributing to. Other than my employer sponsored retirement plan, we have no stocks/bonds or investments of any kind. I have 2.5% with employer matching contributions in the plan. I make approximately 89K/yr; after taxes my monthly income is $4,200/month(!?-and still can't save! wow...). I own a property which I have contracted to sell within the next 3 years and am receiving payments from the buyer to cover all the costs associated with it. We are now renting. Our expenses are approximately $2900/month. Our goal is to buy a home within the next 9months. Our goal is to save $1K/month until then. We do not have an emergency fund and cannot seem to budget--we spend what we make. We have thought about starting a business and have thought about flipping homes. (I used to be a real estate agent and have also worked within the legal field.) I want to educate myself so that I can improve the financial health of my family. I am reading "The Millionaire Next Door" and know that I need to decrease my realized income and increase my unrealized income. How do we create a budget we can stick to(cash only)? How much should we be saving? Where should we start?