I’m a Doctor, He’s a Stay at Home Dad, We Make $215K

Welcome to YNAB Money Snapshots—where you see a real picture of someone else’s budget and finances. They’re all anonymous, because sharing money is still a squirrelly topic for many, but we think airing them out in the open makes you better with your own money story. 

As you read these budgets, keep in mind that some people make lots of money and some people make a little bit of money, but we know it’s what you do with that money and how you feel about that money that means more than any yearly salary. 

See how a family of five in Philadelphia making $215,000 a year spent their money in April.

About

• Names: Doc & Superdad
• Ages: 34 & 35
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Jobs: Physician & Stay-at-Home Dad
• Living situation: Married with three kids

Income: $215,000

Savings: $158,166

• Checking: $8,000
• High yield savings account: $41,806
• 529 accounts: $16,360 combined (not included within YNAB)
• Retirement accounts: around $92,000 combined (not included within YNAB)

Debt: $530,000

• Mortgage: $408,000
• Student loans: $122,000

April Inflows: $18,448

• Take-home pay: $8,927
• Interest from savings account: $45
• Proceeds from sale of stock from Superdad’s former employer: $9,154 (this has been pending for many months and happened to finally hit our account in April)
• Refunds from canceled travel plans: $322

April Spending

On the 1st of the month, I move all the money from my Next Month category into To Be Budgeted and use my budget template to quick-fund all of my non-weekly expenses.

For the Weekly category groups, I fund these every two weeks when I get paid. I do the same with our fun money: $50 each, every 2 weeks. 

At first I funded these categories for the whole month but I found that we would overspend on groceries/fun early in the month and feel short at the end of the month. Dealing with these frequent transactions in shorter chunks of time has just been easier for us.

We have been working hard towards getting one month ahead for all expenses and sinking funds. We weren't quite there for April but we are now!

We also throw every extra dollar to the Extra Loan Payments category once the next month is fully funded. We are holding the money here until COVID forbearance ends and will make a lump sum payment towards Superdad's loans then. In April we paid off one of Superdad's loans!

My Savings Categories

Right now my top savings goals are:

1. Save for next month’s expenses
2. Kids’ expenses (preschool tuition, activities)
3. Upcoming family wedding

My Month

April was definitely not a normal month, as I worked from home about 75% of the time. We decided to order lunch once a week from a local restaurant, so we spent more on restaurants than usual. Gas expenses were at a record low, while groceries were higher than usual.

My student loans are federal and in April they were put into automatic forbearance and aren't due until October. I also got a refund of my automatic payment from March, which I shunted into my Extra Loan Payments category. 

Our Story

Our finances have changed a great deal over time. Years ago when we were both working for much lower salaries and had two kids in full-time daycare, we didn't really have any sort of financial plan. We used to use a different budgeting program but we always seemed to be struggling and couldn't figure out why.

We switched to YNAB (I’m much more YNABy than Superdad), and we discuss the status of our budget several times throughout the month. My husband and I still have a combined six figures of student loans, which have been weighing heavily on us. In summer 2019, we made it our mission to pay off my husband's, which totaled around $40,000 at the time, by the end of 2020. I’m happy to report that we are halfway to that goal, and YNAB made it possible. 

We have been able to save for our true expenses, of which we now realize there are many (mostly kid-related!). We are also putting the real-deal extra money into extra loan payments. I cannot wait to achieve this major financial milestone and continue using this momentum to work towards financial independence.

Our Financial Goals

Pay off our student loans so we can start saving more for retirement and our children's education! Think about saving a down payment for our next home purchase in a few years. 

I would rate my current financial situation: 5/5 

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