Check my mortgage payment budgeting please!

[FN9]

Agree with Ventalarm, though would add while low on some things, others are very high such as worker comp for nanny at 150.00 unless they are doing extra construction work , you can probably trim alot of the pork spending from that budget if need be.

to be safe, 3500 would be comfortable, at 4500 you can probably wing it though in my opinion you will end up lowering your taxable investment as Murphy will be visiting when you are the owner ( roof, AC, leaks and many other things you didnt know existed), though once you make partner, things should be easy, make sure to have a decent emergency fund till you make partner.

[VentAlarm]

Your budget seems very low on a lot of stuff. You could do it, but that would have to be your number one priority - at the expense of everything else.

Are you comfortable locking yourself into a $30k car every 8 years? Nothing nicer, nothing more frequent. Food budget seems very low. Heck, I think we spend that much just on my three kids’ snacks. Also, kids clothes/etc seems low. Furnishing seems low. Want a $5k couch, takes you a year to get there. Never going on an international trip for $300/mo. Never going to afford Disney on that. $10 doesn’t get a pair of pants dry cleaned. Nothing for kids college.

Lastly, you’re making $500k/y and don’t have a penny allocated to charitable giving. Is that the person you want to be? No charitable donations over the next 30 years. I don’t mean to sound judgey - personal finance is personal; just most people have at least some charitable inclination.

Id consider something more $3500/mo.

[penumbra]

Going to be buying a house in a HCOL area in the next 6 months, and I'm trying to project out how much mortgage I can afford with anticipated changes in expenses with owning and potentially having kid #2. I am in year 1 of a 4-year partnership track, at which point my income will substantially increase. I love the practice, and everyone makes partner if you stay 4 years. Parents are nearby so no chance of us wanting to move out. Therefore, I'm probably going to stretch my house budget, with the anticipation of being able to easily afford the mortgage after I make partner.

Could you check my work on my budget categories and make sure there aren't any big monthly expenses I'm forgetting that would eat up cash flow?

Combined gross monthly W2 income (excluding annual $50-70k bonuses): $38,452
401k max (combined): 3416
Backdoor Roth: 1000
Taxable investments (to get to 20% of gross income towards retirement): $3273
Estimated total monthly income after taxes, retirement investing, and other pre-tax deductions: $22,600

Non-retirement expenses:
Household maintenance (worst case: old home with many needs): $3,000
Furniture (will furnish house over time): $416
Childcare (current nanny cost + projected increase with kid#2): $3830
Kid clothing, toys, random: $269

Life insurance (both of us): $215.98
Combined auto/umbrella liability: $130
Physician long-term disability: $283.85
Nanny worker's comp: $150

Groceries $700
Car maintenance: $133
Gas $190 (1 of us works from home and the other drives a hybrid)
New car fund: $630

Vacation fund: $300
Dining out: $524
Random fun money: $300


Other miscellaneous expenses:
Magazine subscriptions: $44.30
Holiday cards: $25
Credit card annual fee: $8.33
Haircuts: $80
Dry cleaning: $10
Dog yearly checkup: $56
Holiday/birthday gifts: $200
Dog food, meds, grooming, etc: $78
Electric (projected based on likely square footage): $200
Software subscriptions: $25
Cell phones: $116
Internet: $45
Fitness: $41.83
Cash from ATM (catchall): $50

Cash available for mortgage payment (including homeowner's insurance and property tax): $4,503

To free up monthly cash flow, I think I will fully invest our annual bonuses as our taxable retirement contribution and contribute some smaller monthly amount to get up to 20% of gross income in retirement contributions.

Thanks for your help!