I think you need to take a few weeks vacation and leave the cell phone at home.

The majority of the Americans live in a jail without realizing it: they cannot go to see a movie because they cannot afford it.they cannot go on a vacation because their bosses would not let them, cannot afford it, are afraid someone will take their job or all of the above.they live in tiny cells they call apartment because they cannot afford a bigger onethey get robed/raped/killed because they cannot afford to move to a better onethey rely on the taxpayer to provide for them because they cannot do it themselvesthey watch whatever their uberlords tell them to watch because they have been trained as kids to follow the crowdthey don't think for themselves because they are told that the rules are stacked against them and there is nothing they can do to change their own circumstances.

Building passive income while learning the RE ropes and earning a fat paycheck as an EE is an awesome plan for financial success.    

I am planning to just have a very basic plan just incase we got hit by a bus...And a big fat bank account will help with your confidence.

This way your cell phone bill, credit card bill, cable bill, etc are all due on the 28th (changing the due date is different than simply deciding to pay the bill on the 28)   Then you would instead put that initial 5k directly towards paying your mortgage so that you have $0 in the bank. 

If there is no lath-n-plaster wind screen in the wall cavities, the cheapest way to insulate would be to blow in packed cellulose or (a little more expensive) closed cell foam.  

We're seeing pricing vary drastically even just going 20 miles south of the city just because everyone is so "fat and happy" with work.

Cell phone.

Box and a cell phone.

Especially with Intel coming to Columbus as well as Hyperion, which is a company that makes hydrogen fuel cells.