Thanks for starting this thread! I always appreciate the transparency. I am 33, married with a stay-at-home spouse, and have 4 kids. One child is disabled and will be dependent on us for his life. My goal is to retire at 54 and have the flexibility to retire at 50 should I be laid off or have a family emergency then. I have a little over $500K in savings/retirement, which includes college funds for kids. My goal is to spend $100K or less for each of my three kids to go to college and have between $4M and $5M to retire at 54. Right now I save a little under $60K total each year, with $10K of it earmarked for college for kids. The big fear for me is the cost of my disabled child. Spouse will not ever be going back to work and will care for him. It could be a boon to our finances as we will receive social security income to offset his costs when he is 18, or it could be a tremendous drain financially to pay for a group home or his own condo, for example.
Having a child with a disability has made me realize that you need to live in the moment. We don’t know when everything might change. So we spend a small fortune on Disney each year, which is his favorite. I include all of our eating out at Disney and we spent about $20K on vacations this year (although that includes paying off an Alaska cruise for next year).
I tend to be very frugal every January and Q1 and loosen up later in the year. We are definitely not MMM - we have a nice home, travel, eat out, etc., but I always make sure we have first. Our only debt is our mortgage (3.25%). I love tracking finances and keep track of every penny we spend. I do, however, value time with kids above all else, which is why I am fine having a housekeeper (only $65 a week is worth it!) and splurge like crazy on their gifts, memories, and travel. However, I have one pair of sneakers and one pair of work shoes and wear them until they have holes. It’s all about prioritization!