A Week In Des Moines, IA On A $71,000 Salary

Occupation: Marketing manager
Industry: Manufacturing
Age: 27
Location: Des Moines, IA
Salary: $71,000
Assets: House: $124,000; Roth IRA: $38,000; 401(k): $36,000; traditional IRA: $6,000; HYSA: $16,000; checking: $2,000
Debt: Mortgage: $112,000; student loans: $10,000
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $1,870 (after taxes, 401(k), FSA contributions, and insurance are taken out)
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses
Monthly Housing Costs: Mortgage: $771 (I own a small house and live there alone. This includes principal, interest, insurance, and taxes.)
Monthly Loan Payments: $86 (student loans)
All Other Monthly Expenses:
Savings: $650 (I split this into various sinking funds for car and home maintenance, Christmas, travel, various insurance deductibles, veterinarian bills, et cetera. These are non-negotiable savings for me so I treat them like recurring bills.)
401(k): I contribute 11% and work contributes 4% (but this is taken out of my paycheck).
Roth IRA: $583.33 (To meet the $7,000 max for the year.)
Utilities: $225 (gas, electric, water, sewer, trash, internet)
Car Insurance: $235 for six months.
Phone: $50 (My part of a family plan.)
Subscriptions: $35 (Dropout, Costco, YNAB, security software, Hulu. I bum HBO, Netflix, and YouTube Premium from a few friends and my parents. In return I share my Hulu with them.)

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes and no. Neither of my parents graduated from university, but they both went to trade school. There was certainly an expectation that I would do some further learning, but as a big academic nerd, I always knew I’d do four-year college. I went to a small private college. I got a large scholarship, my parents gave me $6,000 per year each year, I worked at jobs and internships prior to and during college, and used federal student loans for the rest. I graduated with $18,000 in debt, which I’ve paid down to $10,000. (I’m still holding out for possible forgiveness and currently only pay the minimum. Ha.)