https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:19:26 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2305250 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 12:49:26 +0000 Mrs D 2305250@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Herrade: Good point, its not dollar for dollar in my pocket!</p> <p>@ShootingStar: the $1200 is after all known expenses (grocery, gas, utilities, insurance etc...). The only unknown is our monthly country club expenses but we can control those as well...i.e. spending less there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2305231 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 12:36:11 +0000 ShootingStar 2305231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When you say positive cash flow is that all the "extra" money you'll have? Is that money that would go to savings? Or is that money you need for expenses, like groceries, gas, etc? If, after all your bills are paid, you only have $1200 for gas, groceries, clothes, and all the other stuff that you need to pay for, then I would not go with the 15 year mortgage. </p> <p>If that's money on top of what your regular spending is that would alternatively go to savings, then I think you'll be fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2305221 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 12:26:50 +0000 Herrade 2305221@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs D: If you reduce your 401k contribution, just remember to factor the tax you're going to have to pay upfront on that income. </p> <p>FWIW, I would feel comfortable on the cashflow for the 15-yr. if you run into trouble you have plenty of wiggle room on the 401k, or short-term borrowing. Why save less, or pay higher taxes, or pay more interest unless you absolutely have to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304997 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:57:03 +0000 Mrs D 2304997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@raspberries: This is a good point...I could yank down my 401K contribution and we certainly have other "unecessary" expenses we could eliminate to help in a bind. Probably $500-1000 pretty easily per month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304992 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:53:36 +0000 catlady 2304992@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It sounds like you are in a really good position to refinance and benefit from that in the long run. We have a decent positive cashflow, but it's earmarked for daycare expenses once our second LO arrives next year and savings towards a downpayment for a bigger house (we are definitely not in a forever home, unfortunately). If I were in your position, I'd probably refinance! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304981 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:46:51 +0000 Mrs D 2304981@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: I think my current analysis (with $1200 positive cash flow) contemplates all expenses upcoming. We will have new car payments but we have car payments now and will keep them similar. Plus - June 2016-Sept 2017 will be our most expensive time as we will have 2 children in daycare FT...after that children start pre-school, student loans get paid off, etc. Plus - DH and I generally get 2-4% raises annually, so our income will likely only grow.</p> <p>Also - not that we want to bank on it but given our equity position we could always refi back to a 30 year if something drastic changed.</p> <p>@Adira: See, we do not have a ton in savings due to DH being in law school for 3 years, then a wedding, then a house, then a kid, then another house. And on and on! ;) But we are in our forever home we believe so that makes it even more appealing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304978 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:45:40 +0000 raspberries 2304978@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our positive cash-flow is right around $1000/month, which we then split between investment/savings accounts and paying extra on our mortgage. DH maxes his 401K, and his company allows you to change that at any time - so if an emergency came up, we'd be able to have an extra $1500/mo immediately (which is great for peace of mind!)</p> <p>As long as your budget pretty accurately reflects your expenses, I'd definitely refi. The amount you're putting toward student loans/cc debt will switch over to positive cash-flow soon too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304970 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:43:01 +0000 Mrs D 2304970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SleepyMonkey: we currently have a higher rate bc of our cash out refi late last year. We could reset to a 30 yr at 4.35% and drop our current payment by $210 per month. We could reset to a 15 year at 3.27% for $533 more than we are currently at ($743 swing from new 30yr to new 15yr). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304966 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:39:52 +0000 yoursilverlining 2304966@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We refinanced to a 15 year mortgage, and although some months are a little stressful for me, I think it’s totally worth it and I’ve never regretted doing it. Just remember too to keep property taxes in mind as well – ours went up almost $600 last year (unexpectedly), which isn’t that much each month, but should that keep happening, it is something to take into consideration on top of the higher monthly mortgage payment. </p> <p>We are in a similar situation where our student loans will be paid off completely within 5 years, and we contribute healthy amounts to 401(k) and 529, which could be reduced if need be. I sort of think of the refi like I do daycare: it’s a lot for a while, but then it will be easier. I wouldn’t do it if it means you can’t contribute to savings or something like that, but if you can do it and have some known breaks in your budget coming up (like the ending of student loans), then it’s probably worth it.</p> <p>Other things I would take into consideration: would you get a better interest rate switching to 15 years? (You should). Are you likely to need to replace cars or other things that might bring a new monthly payment into your life? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304958 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:35:40 +0000 SleepyMonkey 2304958@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What is the current interest rate of your mortgage and what would the new rate be? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304955 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:32:18 +0000 Adira 2304955@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, not sure you want to listen to my advice, but I say refinance! You'll save sooooooo much money in the long run (assuming you have the same interest rate or smaller with the refinance), AND you'll still have extra money each month!</p> <p>I'm pretty sure we're breaking even or going negative each month. But we have lots of savings to cover it and our projections put us back in the positive in a couple years, so we're not concerned (yet)! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-positive-cashflow-do-you-have-each-month#post-2304938 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:20:38 +0000 Mrs D 2304938@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So...I am working on our 2016 budget and also contemplating refi-ing to a 15 year mortgage. Looking for input on your budget and/or feedback on mine. I'm stressing bc I have always had a super comfortable positive cash flow...DH has been a little tighter due to his student loans. Putting our finances together finally - reduces my wiggle room and is stressing me out!!!</p> <p>Running the budget (adjusted for #2 who is due in March) our positive cash flow each month with a 5 year mortgage is $1200. Some additional factors:<br /> -I max out my 401K - DH contributes a smaller amount but gets a nice employer contribution<br /> -We contribute the necessary amount to 529 savings plans to be able to provide what we want to our 2 children<br /> -We currently have about $100K equity in our house (very conservative value estimate)<br /> -DH's student loans will be paid off in 5 years<br /> -Before refi'ing we will have all cc's paid off or close to off (no more than $2K revolving debt)</p> <p>Outside of our monthly positive cash flow savings - we also have approx $10-15K in additional cash inflow from bonuses and pre-tax savings accounts.</p> <p>Am I stressing for nothing? Would you do the 15 year which is about $700 extra per month (factored into the numbers above already)? </p>