Year end goals to reduce debt and save for a wedding

[JenniferG]

Lately I've been bad about spending and I need to get back on track before it gets out of hand next year is going to be a very expensive year for me because I'm getting married in October 2014 so I've come up with a plan and would like others input if this is reasonable. My parents will be paying for the wedding but I would like to save up 3,000 for extra expenses as well as for the honeymoon, my fiance is also saving up money.

I own my own home so all bills etc are in my own name when my fiance moved in we decided he would pay a set amount each month which I came up with of 700 dollars. His car is paid off and he pays for his insurance and cellphone etc. Fiance has no debt.

Eventually we will combine accounts but this is what works for us right now.

Savings
Me 2,000 (300 a month to savings) once I get CC debt paid off (and save 3,000 for wedding) I will increase this to 700a month until I reach my goal of 6,000)
Silver 500
Fiance 5,000 (300 a month to savings)

401k
Me 26,000
Fiance 0 (we've discussed this he's an independent contractor who's income varies not sure what type of savings/401k options there are, he's 28 so he really needs to have something in place any suggestions would be greatly appreciated)



My take home after insurance and 401k 3600 - 3800 + 700 (fiance's contribution) = 4400
Fiance take home 2,500 (varies sometimes more)

My Total Income 4400

My Debt

Credit Card 2000 ( I have reduced this from 5,400) 18.99% interest
Student Loan 1770 4.75 % interest
Car 27,000 1.9% interest
Mortgage 119,000 4.25% interest




Expenses

House 1100
Car 530
Electric 150
Gas 50
Water 100
Cable 65
Internet 40
My cell Phone 65
CarInsurance 70
HOA 30
My half of Groceries/household 250
Gas for my car 120


Savings EF 300

Total 2870

Overage 1500 ( This is where I slip up, I need to be better at managing where all the money goes)


Here are my goals in order for 2014.... Do these sound reasonable given my budget?

Payoff BOA credit card by Feb
Build Savings to 6,000 (Current 2,000 + 3000 from income tax (anticipating 4,500)+1,000 after CC is paid off)
Save 3,000 for wedding/honeymoon (Fiance is also saving up money)
My place of work has a pension plan which will go into effect June of 2014 ( -1% from paycheck)
Need to set up some kind of retirement savings for fiance

Goals for 2015
Increase savings to 8,000
Pay extra on my car (possibly pay off car)
Fiance's car is getting older and has alot of miles he'll more than likely need a car in 2015 would like to set up a savings account for him after the wedding for a new car purchase
Max out my 401k contributions

Goals for 2016 (34 y/o)
Extra payments on house
Open Roth for self

[scfr]

Your plan sounds pretty reasonable.

Have you thought about selling your car and buying something used & (quite a bit) less expensive?

As far as retirement plans for the self-employed, here is a good place to start getting information, from the IRS Web Site: http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/...mployed-People

My husband is self-employed and has a SEP. I used to have a SEP when I was self-employed.

[JenniferG]

Thanks for the info about the SEP i've never heard of that. Will deff research that!

As far as the car, I know the payments are alot I purchased the car with the intent to drive the wheels off of it (it's a Honda) so I got all of the premium bells and whistles that I could ever want to be sure I didnt have buyers remorse. The mistake I made was not saving up and putting a large down payment on it. Right now the payments aren't a stretch so I'll keep it, if I were ever in a situation where I was faced with loss job dramatic change in income etc it would be the first to go along with any other non necessary budget items like cable etc.

I'd like to payoff or pay down substantially my car before fiance purchases a car and have a nice sum for a downpayment he's looking in the 15k to 20k range so it would be nice to save 5k get 5k for his current car and finance 10k for 3 yrs.

[snafu]

I suggest you phone the CC requesting a lower interest rate. Look at transfer to a 0% CC, 18.99% is outrageous! Do you know your FICO/ credit score? Each of the 4 main services give one free report a year. There are so many categories not included in your outline is that the leakage your seeking? Do you have sufficient equity in your house to end PMI if that's included with PIT. What are your costs for vehicle operation and maintenance? Do you budget/plan your wardrobe?

While I think a honeymoon/holiday is important, I've been surprised at the sums spent on entertaining wedding guests.

[JenniferG]

I purchased the house 2 yrs ago when the market was still down could probably sale it for 135 to 140 so not enough equity to drop pmi.

I did omit something big in my budget I've been making extra payments on my credit card last month alone I made a 1k payment not sure how I missed that I always pay more than min depending on what's going on each month

Car maintance is a good point right now it's only 3 months old so less than 300 a year 30 dollars a month should be good of course as it gets older ill increase my budget

Home maintance is another biggy

[JenniferG]

Last Time i checked cc score was 760 I haven't called boa about my rate but I definitely will! I have a Wells Fargo cc I got when I was a student 10 yrs ago with a 24 percent interest rate I've called numerous times to have it lowered and Wells Fargo would not do anything needless to say I carry a zero balance on that card! I've thought aboutbcanceling the card but its my longest standing card and I don't want it to have a negative affect on my credit score. It has twice the limit of my boa card so I keep in incase of a catastrophic event but it would be only a last resort