What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

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Lon
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What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Lon »

Include utilities, rent,insurance, property taxes, mortgage payments in your housing costs. Include insurance, registration, gasoline, auto payments in your auto costs.
I'm a retiree with no mortgages so my 15% of gross income is of course low.
livesoft
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by livesoft »

Housing cost (utilities, prop taxes, mortgage, insurance) is about 5% of our gross income.
Cars are even less.
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Hot Pepper
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Hot Pepper »

43% for housing and auto.
Wolkenspiel
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Wolkenspiel »

30%. Hm, thought it might be worse.
travellight
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by travellight »

about 50%
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NightOwl
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by NightOwl »

8% of gross income for rent and utilities. No car, and no large transportation expenses (I walk to work).

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phoebus
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by phoebus »

Less than 15% last year, including utilities and maintenance, but my car will be paid off soon and my income will be higher this year. It will be less than 10% this year.
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Sheepdog
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Sheepdog »

Housing and auto expenses were 20% of gross income last year.

edit. This includes maintenance for house and auto....and I had some house remodeling...I do something almost every year, after all.
Last edited by Sheepdog on Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mhc
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by mhc »

Last year was a good year. ~3% for the items in your list. One advantage of no debt.
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southerndoc
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by southerndoc »

13.7%
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BHCadet
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by BHCadet »

No mortgage and no car payment...
Housing 5%
Auto 4%
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baa_10
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by baa_10 »

About 7%.... utilities, property taxes, home insurance, and auto expense. No mortgage or auto loan.
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dgm
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by dgm »

about 15% :|
JULIE
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by JULIE »

18.7% if we don't count the extra payments I make to the principal.

31.1% with the extra payments.
rr2
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by rr2 »

Housing 16% (own home with mortgage)
Auto <2% (no car payments)
NAD83
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by NAD83 »

11%. Just refinanced and no car payments and little fuel costs mostly due to bicycle commuting.
Mudpuppy
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Mudpuppy »

Way too much. I rushed into buying the house in my pre-Boglehead days and now live with the consequences on my expenses and net worth (underwater due to timing of buying the house).
TheEternalVortex
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by TheEternalVortex »

Housing is about 8% of my gross income (based on last year). I don't really have good numbers for auto, but I would estimate 3-5%.
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by TheEternalVortex »

BTW, if you own a house you should actually consider the foregone rental income as an "expense".
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xystici
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by xystici »

Total House and Cars Expenses as % Gross Income: 7.4%

House (1): 4.2%
Mortage: 0%
Utilities: 1.6%
Insurance: 0.7%
Property taxes: 1.9%

Cars (2): 3.2%
Loans: 0%
Insurance: 1.3%
Registration: 0.1%
Gasoline: 1.7%

In my opinion, maintenance costs for house and cars should be factored as well.
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madbrain
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by madbrain »

Counting home and car maintenance costs, 43% of gross salary which is where most of my income still comes from.
Carl53
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Carl53 »

Housing cost (utilities, prop taxes, insurance) is about 6% of our gross income. No mortgage since 1997. Maintenance was not included but would have been another 8% as we had a new roof put on this past year.

Auto cost (no payments as cars are now 11 and 16) for gas and insurance about 4%. Little maintenance this year, not even tires.
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C319
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by C319 »

Two homes, two cars, no debt. Expenses were about 6% last year.
Last edited by C319 on Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
carolinaman
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by carolinaman »

Less than 15% but we own our home and only have one car payment.

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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by gofigure »

my guess is that with the steep decline in house values here in the US the numbers will be much improved from say three or four years ago and will provide fuel to a turn around.

we don't have a mrtg but real estate taxes in NJ are relatively high.
gkaplan
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by gkaplan »

Number one: This should be a poll.

Number two: The denominator is as much an influence in the result as the numerator; therefore, the results at best are inconclusive.
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Boglenaut
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Boglenaut »

We buy houses and cars with cash, so it is normally very low, but some years (maybe a few times in a lifetime) could be 250%.
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Toons
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Toons »

About 4 %, no mortage or car payments :D
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sscritic
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by sscritic »

Renter: 24%.
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Bulldawg
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Bulldawg »

14 % but mortgage will be retired soon...
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SteveB3005
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by SteveB3005 »

Slightly less than 10%.

Home is paid for and car is a cash deal about every 5 years so I just took a rough car value of 25k and figured a simple yearly prorate of 5k.
pomomojo
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by pomomojo »

Renter:
~10% between the car and housing. Sadly, the cost of ownership on my car is about 2/3 my housing cost (unavoidable tolls >$160/month).
skylar
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by skylar »

Rent - ~10%
Transportation - No car, bus passes for my wife and me come to ~1%, bike maintenance is around 0.1%

Total of ~11%, although it varies due to freelancing income.

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lexota
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by lexota »

5.5% for both utilities and automobile. No mortgage or car payments.
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norookie
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by norookie »

:oops:
Last edited by norookie on Thu May 17, 2012 12:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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kontango
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by kontango »

15% (about 13% house + expenses, 2% car + expenses).
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market timer
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by market timer »

norookie wrote::D Curious, how do you allocate the rest? Activities? Cable bill?(or is that in your utilites?) Entertaining? U Say, this is your monthly income right? Using round numbers 8333.3333333333333333333 income stream a month, 100k net income annually , pensions, ss, annuities(banish the thought), income interest, other monthly income. 100k annually, what do you do with other 85%/85k annually, it being your annual income. Numbers have been used as an analogy. If Im not being nosey, eat out a lot?
401K, IRA/Roth, 529, taxable investments -- many here save 50% of after-tax income. Housing is around 15% of my net income, 0% car, 15% food/drinks, 4% travel, 1% clothes, the rest is saved.
ClaireTN
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by ClaireTN »

14.6%
manuvns
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by manuvns »

housing 5-6% auto 2-3%
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norookie
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by norookie »

market timer wrote:
norookie wrote::D Curious, how do you allocate the rest? Activities? Cable bill?(or is that in your utilites?) Entertaining? U Say, this is your monthly income right? Using round numbers 8333.3333333333333333333 income stream a month, 100k net income annually , pensions, ss, annuities(banish the thought), income interest, other monthly income. 100k annually, what do you do with other 85%/85k annually, it being your annual income. Numbers have been used as an analogy. If Im not being nosey, eat out a lot?
401K, IRA/Roth, 529, taxable investments -- many here save 50% of after-tax income. Housing is around 15% of my net income, 0% car, 15% food/drinks, 4% travel, 1% clothes, the rest is saved.
:D Yes, but he's retired, as posted. Roth would be for earned income, maybe HSA, too. I'd think these type positions 401k/403b/tIRA, etc. payouts, not accumulation. Your assessment, and suggestion is certainly what I'd too would be doing with it in a similar fashion MT.
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monkey_business
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by monkey_business »

About ~24% of gross for home and auto expenses. The auto part includes the price of the car in cash amortized over 10 years.
Sidney
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Sidney »

TheEternalVortex wrote:BTW, if you own a house you should actually consider the foregone rental income as an "expense".
Yes, but make sure you include the imputed income for doing your own maintenance in the income line. :)
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livesoft
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by livesoft »

Yep, eat out a lot. Hmmm, lunch time!
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natureexplorer
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by natureexplorer »

4%. I rent, but I am thinking of buying.
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by natureexplorer »

If one owns a place without a mortgage, should one still consider the cost of capital tied up in it? (There has to be some opportunity cost.)

So I question those stating "no mortgage" and "no car note", whether their costs are really that low. And a car also has a depreciation cost - are you considering that?
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Bungo »

Rent is about 24% of my gross salary, or 15% of gross total income. Haven't calculated auto but it's a fairly small component as I keep my cars for 10+ years and pay cash. Gas and maintenance combined are less than 2% of gross salary. Housing will go up a bit this year as I'm planning to buy a house.
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C319
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by C319 »

natureexplorer wrote:If one owns a place without a mortgage, should one still consider the cost of capital tied up in it? (There has to be some opportunity cost.) So I question those stating "no mortgage" and "no car note", whether their costs are really that low. And a car also has a depreciation cost - are you considering that?
Interesting idea about opportunity cost and depreciation. I've never thought of it that way and don't count cars as part of my net worth. I just know my expenses are low enough that I can survive just fine without an income. On this issue the peace of mind outweighs the math for me and my family. I'd be interested to know the views of others.
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Midpack
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by Midpack »

22% of total annual expenses in 2011. Like the OP, I'm retired, so "income" is a nebulous term...
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market timer
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by market timer »

C319 wrote:
natureexplorer wrote:If one owns a place without a mortgage, should one still consider the cost of capital tied up in it? (There has to be some opportunity cost.) So I question those stating "no mortgage" and "no car note", whether their costs are really that low. And a car also has a depreciation cost - are you considering that?
Interesting idea about opportunity cost and depreciation. I've never thought of it that way and don't count cars as part of my net worth. I just know my expenses are low enough that I can survive just fine without an income. On this issue the peace of mind outweighs the math for me and my family. I'd be interested to know the views of others.
The opportunity cost of living in a home is the rent that could have been received. From an economic perspective, I'd consider housing expense as this opportunity cost, regardless of whether you have a mortgage or own the home free and clear.
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Re: What Percentage of your Gross Income for Housing & Auto?

Post by tludwig23 »

19.5% total, including 2.6% in property taxes. Our property taxes are especially high in Washington State, mostly because we pay no state income tax.
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