<prompt> Human: Im 31 and Im struggling to figure out how other people in my income bracket can manage to afford to live without roommates and still be able to save money for retirementemergenciesdown payment. I can save some money now but I only have myself and a cactus to keep alive. But that means I have to live with roommates for the rest of my life and not increase the money going towards retirement. I wonder how I could possibly afford say...a cat or a kid maybe some day. I make just over 90,000 a year with take home pay of approximately 4,000 a month after taxes, SS, health insurance, life insurance, medicare, and TSP contributions of 5 with agency matching contributions currently have about 24,000 in account. I give 450 a month to a Roth IRA account but only started that 12 months ago. I have about 60K in vet school loans that Im paying off about 450 a month and my car payment is 240. I pay off my credit card balance every month and thats about 1300 give or take a few hundred. This is obviously where I can make changes but I dont spend a whole lot on things like eating out once a week, clothes hardly ever, or cell phone prepaid so its not like Im throwing money around...at least I dont think I am. Heres the breakdown of my monthly cc expenses:Gas: 110,Parking at work: 100 no metro option,Groceries: 300,Work lunch: 20,Dinner out: 130,Cell phone: 50,Internet provider: 42,Streaming servicesAudible:44,Household purchases: 170,Travel: 300 non-reimbursable Army Reserves travel that could become reimbursable soon I hopeI currently live with a roommate in Northern Virginia and pay 1000 rent. If I wanted to pay any less Id have to live further away and spend more time and money on a horrible DC commute. Id like to some day live without roommates, but around here that would add around 300 to 500 to my monthly expenses on the cheap end of things. Financial adviser says I should put more money towards retirement but how the heck?! This wasnt a personalized FA service, just a kind of in passing thing from my bank. I guess I could live with roommates for the rest of my life, but Ive heard of people who dont...how do they do it?!  <response>: You have an amazing salary but that doesnt matter if you are not in control of your money.To gain control, you first need to know where it is going. Since you seem to use credit cards to pay, then go through the last three statements and categorize every single transaction. All of them. Figure out where your money is really going. This is the only way you will be able to plug the leaks in your budget or evaluate what it is you would like to cut. Try to make the categories as specific as possible, tailored to your own situation. So if you grab lunch at work often, that can be its own category. If you have both car and public transportation expenses, put them in separate categories. Dont lump in clothing with toothpaste for now. You want as full of a picture as possible to start with.As this information starts informing your new budget you will create, dont forget to list out all of your debt. You will want to list out the total amount owed, the minimum monthly payment, and the interest rate. Depending on how high the interest on your debt is, you may want to put more money towards paying that off instead of towards the Roth IRA.Do this now and you will soon be on the path to controlling your money and your future! 