Help with budget/saving?!

Iymnok

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 3:24 pm

I feel the best money saving advice is to record every penny spent.
Use excel if you want to categorize each purchase.
Make a game out of spending the latest each month.

self-actualization

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 5:10 pm

Personally I think that the main goal should be to bring in more income.

I also think that you guys are very well set up to bring in more income within a few years.

You already have big 4 experience and I am not familiar with accounting but in my field (law) the key is to develop a specialty and then be able to move around within that sphere. I know that a friend of ours who is an accountant made a base salary of $100k and around a $25k bonus - he is a CPA for 10 years and specializes in hedge funds (I think).

So imagine if you and your husband both slowly build up to that level. Then you guys will be very solid earners. I would not start dreaming of dropping out of the workforce to stay home with your kids - because then you would be right back to square one all over again.

This is just my personal opinion from a long range perspective (because I am 10 years out of law school and see how much things really cost and see how detrimental it is for most professional women to drop out of the workforce).

amother

Magenta

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 8:23 pm

I actually was in the hedge fund group at my old firm. I could've gone to work at a fund and made a lot more money but I did not want that life for myself or my family. For my own sanity I really wanted to stop working in Manhattan. Further if I went to a hedge fund I would probably be out of the house from 7:45 am to 7:45 pm on a daily basis and later during busy times. Working at the big 4 I would leave at 8 and make sure to be home at 7. During busy season I would not come home until 10-11 pm. I just couldn't do it anymore. I got a job at a Fortune 500 company near my apartment making about the same as before.
My husband will be joining the hege fund group at his new firm as well. Hopefully he will have a lot of exit opportunity.
But just wanted to let you know that making $125k at a hedge fund after 10 years in public accounting is very little. If I had gone to a hedge fund (after 3.5 years) I would probably be making somewhere in that range. I hope I made the right decision.

twogees

Wed, Nov 25 2015, 7:35 pm

Would you try a budget program (we are using ynab) for your expenses? we have been using ynab and have money put away to start off next month till both my husband and I get paid (both get paid at the beginning and middle/end of the month). The program allows you to categorize and track your money. And we have been able to put away a bit over half our rent for next month based on 3 weeks of tracking/categories...PM me if you want more details.