Long time lurker, occasional commenter. I figured I could use another few sets of eyes on my budget. I’m not too concerned with everyone knowing how much I make as it’s readily available to everyone on the Defense Finance website. I’m currently an E-4 on active duty and my take home pay post taxes, to include BAS and BAH, is ~$2700/month. My monthly expenses are as follows:

• Rent: $625
• Car loan: $193
• Car insurance (collision and liability required by my lender): $150
• Utilities (Gas & electric): ~$80
• Verizon bill: $85
• Groceries: $150
• Petrol: $100
• Internet: $30
• Discover credit card: $50
• Amazon credit card: $25

That’s pretty much it for my “must pay” expenses. My credit card/loan balances and rates are as follows:

• Car loan: $7200 / 2.9% APR / 48 month loan, 10 months down, 38 to go
• Discover credit card: $2200 / 0% APR until July 2015 (Just opened this one and transferred my two other high interest rate cards)
• Amazon store card: $250 / 0% APR until June 2014 (used it to buy all of my Christmas shopping this year, all with special financing)

In addition to this, I’m engaged and am saving up for a wedding. My parents split my senior year of high school and are still fighting each other in court, so any expenses that they traditionally cover will be out of my pocket. I’m not mad at them or anything, but my wedding fund will be turning into my emergency fund after we get married. We aren’t getting married this year, we know that for sure, we just don’t know when. I currently have $3500 saved towards a wedding, and am saving $500 a month religiously after kind of being financially ignorant for the majority of last year. I am planning to have a 10k wedding fund by this time next year. I know for a fact that’s overshooting our budget for the wedding (which is about $3-5k, super small wedding in the middle of nowhere where we’re both from)

On top of that I’m also saving $100 a month towards an emergency “emergency” fund. I had car problems the beginning of last year that contributed to my relatively high credit card debt. Since then I’ve been putting just a bit back every month just in case.

Finally, I just took a look at my expenses and finances in January and noticed that I was blowing close to $400 a month on stuff that I couldn’t account for. So, after re-establishing my mint.com profile, I now save $300 of that a month towards travelling. My fiancée doesn’t live close so anytime we want to see each other (which is about five to six times a year) we have to fly. This is one area that I know that I could probably cut down, but until we’re married, I don’t really think I could ask my fiancée to just, you know, not visit lol.

An additional source of income that I currently have going for me is I donate plasma 2x a week and that brings in an additional ~$280/month. I use that towards gas and groceries.

After all that, here is my actual monthly budget:

• Rent: ($625)
• Car loan: ($193)
• Car insurance (collision and liability required by my lender): ($150)
• Utilities (Gas & electric): (~$80)
• Verizon bill: ($85)
• Groceries: $150
• Petrol: $100
• Internet: ($30)
• Discover credit card: ($200)
• Amazon credit card: ($100)
• Wedding fund/long term EF: $500
• Short term EF: $100
• Travel fund: $300

Total Incoming: ~$3000 Total outgoing: $2613

Any leftover money I usually put in the wedding fund. I don’t really ever go out; if I do it may be once a month to the movies or something. Also since the beginning of the year I’ve tried to become more health-conscience as well and stopped eating fast food and the like all together. If I’m with my fiancée, we may go out to eat once or twice to a nice restaurant, but since we don’t see each other that often, I don’t really count it as a monthly thing.

Terribly, TERRIBLY sorry that it’s so long winded, but, if you’ve made it this far, thanks! I’m open to any advice! My parents filed bankruptcy a year before they divorced and I’d like to avoid both of those pitfalls as I start a new life with my fiancée/wife! Am I saving too much? Should I be paying down my credit cards sooner? Car loan? Thanks in advance!!!