228: Finance Friday: Is “Random Spending” Ruining Your Budget?

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” This is the topic of today’s episode, where we interview Jenny for a Finance Friday review. Jenny is finishing up her fourth degree and has been working throughout grad school to help her family. Her husband brings in a sizable income, but he wants to retire in 2030 and spend more time with their (future) kids.

Jenny has great control over her fixed expenses, but as for her variable expenses...not so much. Her family is consistently teetering between $1,000 a month and $2,400 a month in variable expenses, many of which can be resolved with some simple shopping tweaks (like leaving your credit card at home when you go to the grocery store). Luckily, they’ve invested a fair amount of their take-home pay, have a stellar 401(k) match, and are about to have dual incomes once Jenny is out of school.

If you’re having trouble keeping a hold on your variable expenses, such as random Amazon shopping, tune in for this episode for advice on exactly what to do.

In This Episode We Cover

How to plan for retirement with two full-time incomes

Paying off your home vs. investing in assets like index funds and real estate

Taking advantage of 401(k) matches and maxing out retirement accounts

Leveraging a future job to pay off student loans

How to curtail your variable expenses and reduce “random spending”

Why someone with “mortgage anxiety” should be wary of real estate investing

And So Much More!

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