Rate/tweak my savings/debt repayment strategy

[Jordy Train]

Hi all,

In August i purchased my first home, and since then I've caught fire on the REI subject line. Never really thought about it before but now I'm hooked. So this house i just bought is now a live-in rehab and I'm mildly house hacking by bringing in a roommate. This is all beside the point, as I'm trying to allocate some more money toward buying my first actual investment property but not sure what I can or should change. Here's a breakdown of my income/expenditures:

Income: $3500 from two jobs wages, plus rent brought in from the roommate.

Expenditures:

Roughly $900/mo (25%) in fixed costs (utilities, internet, gas, phone, car insurance)

$1750/mo (50%) going toward debt repayment (77k in student loans, 82k mortgage, 3k credit card) - note: if i paid just the min on everything it would be about $1170/mo but im trying to pay down the higher interest stuff

$500/mo (15%) going toward retirement/general savings, which i currently have as $100 purchasing a combo of whole life and term life insurance, $100 going into a roth ira, and $300 going into a mutual fund account which gives me a little bit of liquidity.

Then the remaining $350/mo (10%) is my discretionary budget.

Any comments or advice is appreciated. Also, first post on BP! Love this community and glad i found it

[Mark S.]

Priority #1 is that credit card.  I would eat Ramen until it is paid off.