I blogged here a couple years ago, but never got more than a handful of entries in before I stopped. Basically I stopped blogging because I felt that some people’s comments were super critical/disrespectful of my choices. I understand that people come here for advice, but I was not looking to be torn down. That being said, I am putting it out there now:

My husband and I do not mix finances and that is the way it is going to stay for the foreseeable future.
We are married but file our taxes separately.
The house is in his name because he bought it before we were married. The mortgage is $2250/mo
I make 42k/yr and he makes 155k/yr
I contribute $1100/mo towards household bill and he covers the rest, which is a lot.
I have no credit card debt, but I do have 90k in student loans.

I am not willing to discuss my relationship with my husband and why we handle the things we do. It is what it is.

Obviously my student loans are a big deal. I just landed this job after finishing my degree and I am optimistic that this starting point will lead to a higher salary. I don’t have any money saved. Not even a retirement account. Now that I am actually earning money I hope to start saving, even though a need to put a lot of my money towards student loan repayment. Ideally I am going to try and put aside $400 month, but that will be hard. My company does not offer a 401k plan so I will need to look into a ROTH and funding that on my own. I don’t know anything about ROTHs so I will need to research that to learn how to get started.

I take home about $2500/mo and these are my financial obligations:

Household $1100
Student Loans $525 (income based)
Phone $68/mo
Gas for car $140-160/mo
Car insurance $75/mo

Those are my bare bones expenses. Of course something always comes up, like needing new tires, or an expensive prescription. I try not to eat out, but I know that a lot of my money goes to grabbing lunch. I need to work on that. My car is paid for, but at 6 years old I worry that I am overdue for some pricey repairs. I need to start a car repair savings.

I really enjoy reading all of your blogs, which is why I wanted to get back into it. I am hoping things go better this time. I learn a lot from you guys. I read them all and am fascinated by the complexities of all your lives. I don’t have “favorites”, but I love reading updates from PatientSaver, ToiletPaper Tracker, Keeping it Frugal, CeeJay, and several others!