Anyone want to share their monthly budget? Here's ours

[jehovasfitness]

Hi,
New to the forums, been lurking a few weeks. Did a quick search on this topic and didn't see anything like it, at least within past 6 months.

I'm curious what your monthly budget is, and how ours compares. Pretty sure we've cut things down but I'm sure there's ways to improve without going crazy. We tend to be frugal at times, then splurge way over the top like we're dieters around chocolate cake. This month/year we've gotten serious after buying a new house (likely forever home).

Stats: 2 adults, 0 kids, 2 large dogs
Gross Income 160k
Live in DC metro area, so HCOL

Total Mortgage: $2,200
Student loan: $320
Groceries + personal items/cleaning supplies: $600
Car loan: $730 (will be paid off this April) before anyone asks it's high b/c it was a 3 yr loan not b/c it was a $50k car.
Car insurance: $250 (4 cars, I like my cars)
Gas: $250
Cellphones: $90
TV/internet/netflix: $160
Utilities: $150-$250 (time of year dependent)
Dog food/vet bills: $150
Water delivery: $20 (we are on a well, when moved in there was bacteria, after treatment, sticking with water delivery for drinking)
Charity: $30 (for 2018 this was drastically cut due to tackling our money problems) previous years was $150
Restaurants/alcohol: $100
Clothes: $50
Wife flex spending: $100
My flex: $50
Car repair/maintenance: $100

Total: $5400 though for this month and going forward I'm adding $300 due to random things that pop up, whether it's a higher car repair bill, or extra cost at the vet, or whatever life throws at us

I realize the car payment is super high so once that's paid off in a few months that will be a huge reduction.

After I looked at cutting cable for just internet + another streaming service other than netflix, not really much savings there.
Our utilities are generally quite low but with a heat pump in this frigid weather past month it's shot up to the upper range.

[unclescrooge]

It might be more useful to see what percentage of your income is fixed expenses, discretionary expenses and savings.

So long as you're mostly 50%,25%,25% in each category, you're fine.

No need to sweat the small stuff.

[ten2go]

Two items you may wish to consider:
1. vacations/travel

2. Car depreciation/setting aside money for your next car purchase. (Even if you only purchase a car every 10 years, you may wish to include $200/month in your budget instead of financing.) Of course, you may be better off using that cash to pay down your other loans for now.


Good job on keeping your restaurant spending low. I know it adds up quick.

[MortgageOnBlack]

33-years old
Salary: $63,000/year
~Take-Home: $45,500/year ($3791.66 a month)

$3791.66 a month
-1100.00 for Shared Expenses w/ Girlfriend (we each contribute $1100 each a month)
--$592.50 (half of mortgage, escrow)
--$32.50-$52.50 (half of Xcel depending on year)
--$25-$50 (half of water depending on year)
--$19.98 (half of Internet)
--$50 (half of dog expenses: food, greenies, vet insurance)
--$100-$125 (half of food expenses)
--we save $400-600 a month for shared expenses (home repairs)
-$50.00 Cellphone service
-$458.33 ROTH IRA Contribution
-$225 for auto insurance/maintenance/repairs (2 older vehicles; paid for)
-$100-150 Gas
-$500 Taxable Investing (Total Stock Market)
-20 Donation
-5.xx Pandora Plus
-500 Fun Money (fast food, restaurants, Travel, bars, experiences, etc...)

I usually end with an extra $800 a month that is going to Savings to pad my emergency fund. After I get enough saved, I'll probably add more to Taxable. I could probably cut back on $500 fun money, but it helps keep me sane.

[jehovasfitness]

Two items you may wish to consider:
1. vacations/travel

2. Car depreciation/setting aside money for your next car purchase. (Even if you only purchase a car every 10 years, you may wish to include $200/month in your budget instead of financing.) Of course, you may be better off using that cash to pay down your other loans for now.


Good job on keeping your restaurant spending low. I know it adds up quick.

Yeah, this year our travel is way cut back, we've taken big trips within past 5 yrs. This year is the year of financial gains, so next year the travel budget will get a healthy 300-400/month as travel is among our top priorities in life.

As for cars, while we have 4, 2 of them are basically brand new (low miles, but older 2004) and the 3rd vehicle has about another 5 yrs/100k miles realistically, so we're set for cars. That said, yes, next year the car fund will be bumped to start a few years out for replacement.

Restaurants has always been low, just seems like a waste of money to spend $60 for 2 people on one meal that usually isn't all that great.

[runner3081]

Family of 3:

HOUSING/UTILITIES
Natural Gas - $37.00
Water/Sewer/Garbage - $57.00
Internet - $42.99
Cell Phones - $0 (FreedomPop)
Electric - $175.00
Mortgage+Prop Tax+Homeowners Insurance - $1,119.50
HOA Dues - $67
Housing/Utilities - Total - $1,498.49

Insurance (Non-Auto)
Me Life Insurance - $36.25
Spouse Life Insurance - $17.92
Umbrella Insurance - $13.33
Insurance Total $67.50

Services/Memberships
Professional Cert $4.17
Web Hosting - $0.50
AAA - $12.33
Amazon Prime - $8.91
Services/Memberships Total - $25.90

Automotive
Gasoline - $175.00
Auto Insurance - $61.67
Vehicle Licensing/Emissions - $10.70
Auto Maintenance - $100
Automotive Total - $347.37

Miscellaneous
Gifts - $60.00
Clothes - $35.00
*All Other - $592.00
Food - $270.00
Miscellaneous Total - $957.00

*All other includes travel, medical expenses and everything else

GRAND TOTAL: $2,896.27

We save right around 48% of our income, max out HSA, ROTHx2, 403B

Also make Post-Tax Contributions and 529 Contributions.

We usually under spend on the MISC and FOOD categories each month. Usually at $250 food, but provide a buffer keeping at $270.

[Tyrobi]

2 adults (Wife SAH), 2 kids
Gross Income 182k
MCOL
$0 Debt

Home Maintenance: $500
Home Insurance: $83
Property Tax: $417
HOA Fee: $39
Car Replacement: $300
Car Insurance: $90
Hobby: $46
Internet: $55
Cell Phone: $100
Electricity: $160
Garbage: $20
Water: $60
Lawn Service: $108
Gasoline: $100
Grocery: $600
Clothing: $100
Travel: $250
Gift/Charity: $500
Health Spending: $222
Dental Spending: $54
Misc: $100

Total: $3,904

Saving Rate: 58%

[annielouise]

53 and 53
Excluding taxes.

$6,100 Savings
$400 Car: Fund
$30 Car: Gas
$130 Car: Service & Fees
$80 Entertainment: Activities
$135 Entertainment: Eating Out
$20 Entertainment: Media
$500 Entertainment: Travel
$175 Entertainment: TV/Internet
$400 Gifts: Charity
$160 Gifts: Family/Friends
$120 House: HOA
$800 House: Property Tax
$40 Household: Cell Phone
$250 Household: Durable Goods
$20 Household: Incidentals
$55 Household: Services
$85 Household: Upkeep & Projects
$180 Household: Utilities
$50 Household: Wares
$75 Insurance: Car
$85 Insurance: House
$325 Insurance: Life
$265 Insurance: LTC
$177 Insurance: Medical
$22 Insurance: Umbrella
$340 Medical: Out of Pocket
$30 Personal: Care
$100 Personal: Clothing
$20 Personal: Exercise/Hobby
$600 Personal: Groceries
$20 Personal: Work

[mega317]

A few weeks ago
viewtopic.php?t=236475

[delamer]

Hi,
New to the forums, been lurking a few weeks. Did a quick search on this topic and didn't see anything like it, at least within past 6 months.

I'm curious what your monthly budget is, and how ours compares. Pretty sure we've cut things down but I'm sure there's ways to improve without going crazy. We tend to be frugal at times, then splurge way over the top like we're dieters around chocolate cake. This month/year we've gotten serious after buying a new house (likely forever home).

Stats: 2 adults, 0 kids, 2 large dogs
Gross Income 160k
Live in DC metro area, so HCOL

Total Mortgage: $2,200
Student loan: $320
Groceries + personal items/cleaning supplies: $600
Car loan: $730 (will be paid off this April) before anyone asks it's high b/c it was a 3 yr loan not b/c it was a $50k car.
Car insurance: $250 (4 cars, I like my cars)
Gas: $250
Cellphones: $90
TV/internet/netflix: $160
Utilities: $150-$250 (time of year dependent)
Dog food/vet bills: $150
Water delivery: $20 (we are on a well, when moved in there was bacteria, after treatment, sticking with water delivery for drinking)
Charity: $30 (for 2018 this was drastically cut due to tackling our money problems) previous years was $150
Restaurants/alcohol: $100
Clothes: $50
Wife flex spending: $100
My flex: $50
Car repair/maintenance: $100

Total: $5400 though for this month and going forward I'm adding $300 due to random things that pop up, whether it's a higher car repair bill, or extra cost at the vet, or whatever life throws at us

I realize the car payment is super high so once that's paid off in a few months that will be a huge reduction.

After I looked at cutting cable for just internet + another streaming service other than netflix, not really much savings there.
Our utilities are generally quite low but with a heat pump in this frigid weather past month it's shot up to the upper range.

You don’t have health insurance or other medical expenses?


Our annual numbers for three adults — one retired, one working full-time, one new college graduate looking for work:

Payroll and income taxes are 28% of gross income.

Regular expenses with minimum debt payments are 46% of gross income.

The 46% includes house (PITI plus utilities plus HELOC minimum) costs at 12.8%, medical (including health and LTC insurance) at 5.4%, and 7.5% for groceries and eating out. That leaves about 20% of gross covering expenses other than shelter, medical, and food.

The remaining 26% will go to savings (including 401(k)), paying down HELOC, some home maintenance, and any vacations.

[randomizer]

I am not disciplined enough to track this with actual numbers, but I can tell you that we save a lot, spend a lot, and have pretty much have nothing left over (outside the emergency fund).

[Sarah Saverdink]

We're 30-something DINKs. Our savings are >50%. Travel and Hobbies (photography, skiing, scuba diving, kayaking, etc) are our biggest splurges.

2017 Actual Spending:

[Ruger]

63,single, retired.

Housing
Insurance 33.67
Taxes 184.07
Total 257.74

Auto
Registration 3.5
Insurance 76
Gas 92.28
Total 171.78

Health
Insurance 355
Meds 23.36
Gym 15
Total 393.36

Utilities
Direct TV 85.36
Phone 57.76
Internet 77.82
Heat 88
Electric 79.78
Garbage 26.77
Sirius XM 5
Total 447.61

Eat Out & Groceries
240.21

Hobbies
268.83

Misc
Laundry, cat food, clothes,
anything not in above categories 190.88

Monthly Total: 1970.41 Which leaves me about $900 extra per month for travel or unexpected expenses. I don't pay taxes so it's not figured in.

[jehovasfitness]

Hi,
New to the forums, been lurking a few weeks. Did a quick search on this topic and didn't see anything like it, at least within past 6 months.

I'm curious what your monthly budget is, and how ours compares. Pretty sure we've cut things down but I'm sure there's ways to improve without going crazy. We tend to be frugal at times, then splurge way over the top like we're dieters around chocolate cake. This month/year we've gotten serious after buying a new house (likely forever home).

Stats: 2 adults, 0 kids, 2 large dogs
Gross Income 160k
Live in DC metro area, so HCOL

Total Mortgage: $2,200
Student loan: $320
Groceries + personal items/cleaning supplies: $600
Car loan: $730 (will be paid off this April) before anyone asks it's high b/c it was a 3 yr loan not b/c it was a $50k car.
Car insurance: $250 (4 cars, I like my cars)
Gas: $250
Cellphones: $90
TV/internet/netflix: $160
Utilities: $150-$250 (time of year dependent)
Dog food/vet bills: $150
Water delivery: $20 (we are on a well, when moved in there was bacteria, after treatment, sticking with water delivery for drinking)
Charity: $30 (for 2018 this was drastically cut due to tackling our money problems) previous years was $150
Restaurants/alcohol: $100
Clothes: $50
Wife flex spending: $100
My flex: $50
Car repair/maintenance: $100

Total: $5400 though for this month and going forward I'm adding $300 due to random things that pop up, whether it's a higher car repair bill, or extra cost at the vet, or whatever life throws at us

I realize the car payment is super high so once that's paid off in a few months that will be a huge reduction.

After I looked at cutting cable for just internet + another streaming service other than netflix, not really much savings there.
Our utilities are generally quite low but with a heat pump in this frigid weather past month it's shot up to the upper range.

You don’t have health insurance or other medical expenses?


Our annual numbers for three adults — one retired, one working full-time, one new college graduate looking for work:

Payroll and income taxes are 28% of gross income.

Regular expenses with minimum debt payments are 46% of gross income.

The 46% includes house (PITI plus utilities plus HELOC minimum) costs at 12.8%, medical (including health and LTC insurance) at 5.4%, and 7.5% for groceries and eating out. That leaves about 20% of gross covering expenses other than shelter, medical, and food.

The remaining 26% will go to savings (including 401(k)), paying down HELOC, some home maintenance, and any vacations.

Health insurance is taken out of my paycheck, so I don't count that towards the monthly since I only focus on take home pay. That said, it runs us $250/month. I'm in a high deductible plan, but my job covers the entire amount.

[nimo956]

Single adult
Gross Income $94k
Boston area

Annual Budget
Savings- $44k (47%)
Taxes- $20k (21%)
Rent + Util- $13k (13%)
Restaurants/Shopping/Vacation/Hobbies- $11k (12%)
Insurance- $3k (4%)
Groceries + Gas- $3k (3%)

Any anomalies are due to rounding.

[RDHlooking4FIRE]

Don't forget to pay yourself 1st. Monthly saveings should be part of your budget.

Monthly Budget

Income
Income after tax 3750
Income other 150
Total Income 3900

Expenses
Rent $0
Health Insurance $150
Horse $450
Car Insurance $45
Horse Shoes $110
Phone $50
Gas $125
Food $400
Misc $200

Savings
HYS $1,000
Retirement $1,000
Total Expenses $3,530

Net $370

[Cincyguy63]

Family 5 (2 college 1 HS)
Me: 54
DW: 49
Gross Annual: $475-600k
Post Tax Investments: 2M
Pre-Tax 980k
Home -Valued at 550k
Outstanding mortgage: 87k


2 Car Leases: 1,490
Insurance 396
Gas 229
Registration 50
Service 50
Cable 161
Phone/Cell 225
Electric 284
Garbage 1,580
Water 130
Movies 50
Newspaper/ Mag 75
Streaming Services 30
Groceries 2,017
Restaurants 397
Gifts 100
Charity 200
Gym 150
Health Insurance 750
Pharma 100
Mortgage 1,689
Property Tax 733
HOA 40
Insurance 234
Services 150
Lawn & Garden 196
Supplies 83
Hair 200
Clothes 500
Electronics 100
Hobbies 100
Vacations 1,500
Education: Room & Board (2 kids): 650
529 deposits 1,250
401-k 2,000
Stock ESOP 2,800
After Tax Investing 1,400
Extra Mortgage Home Payments 400

Total Monthly Expenses 19,099
Total Income (Net) 25,300

[delamer]

Hi,
New to the forums, been lurking a few weeks. Did a quick search on this topic and didn't see anything like it, at least within past 6 months.

I'm curious what your monthly budget is, and how ours compares. Pretty sure we've cut things down but I'm sure there's ways to improve without going crazy. We tend to be frugal at times, then splurge way over the top like we're dieters around chocolate cake. This month/year we've gotten serious after buying a new house (likely forever home).

Stats: 2 adults, 0 kids, 2 large dogs
Gross Income 160k
Live in DC metro area, so HCOL

Total Mortgage: $2,200
Student loan: $320
Groceries + personal items/cleaning supplies: $600
Car loan: $730 (will be paid off this April) before anyone asks it's high b/c it was a 3 yr loan not b/c it was a $50k car.
Car insurance: $250 (4 cars, I like my cars)
Gas: $250
Cellphones: $90
TV/internet/netflix: $160
Utilities: $150-$250 (time of year dependent)
Dog food/vet bills: $150
Water delivery: $20 (we are on a well, when moved in there was bacteria, after treatment, sticking with water delivery for drinking)
Charity: $30 (for 2018 this was drastically cut due to tackling our money problems) previous years was $150
Restaurants/alcohol: $100
Clothes: $50
Wife flex spending: $100
My flex: $50
Car repair/maintenance: $100

Total: $5400 though for this month and going forward I'm adding $300 due to random things that pop up, whether it's a higher car repair bill, or extra cost at the vet, or whatever life throws at us

I realize the car payment is super high so once that's paid off in a few months that will be a huge reduction.

After I looked at cutting cable for just internet + another streaming service other than netflix, not really much savings there.
Our utilities are generally quite low but with a heat pump in this frigid weather past month it's shot up to the upper range.

You don’t have health insurance or other medical expenses?


Our annual numbers for three adults — one retired, one working full-time, one new college graduate looking for work:

Payroll and income taxes are 28% of gross income.

Regular expenses with minimum debt payments are 46% of gross income.

The 46% includes house (PITI plus utilities plus HELOC minimum) costs at 12.8%, medical (including health and LTC insurance) at 5.4%, and 7.5% for groceries and eating out. That leaves about 20% of gross covering expenses other than shelter, medical, and food.

The remaining 26% will go to savings (including 401(k)), paying down HELOC, some home maintenance, and any vacations.

Health insurance is taken out of my paycheck, so I don't count that towards the monthly since I only focus on take home pay. That said, it runs us $250/month. I'm in a high deductible plan, but my job covers the entire amount.

It seems that that understates your expenses when you look at take-home only and you have an important expense (health insurance) missing. After tax would make more sense.

[Cuzz35]

Family 5 (2 college 1 HS)
Me: 54
DW: 49
Gross Annual: $475-600k
Post Tax Investments: 2M
Pre-Tax 980k
Home -Valued at 550k
Outstanding mortgage: 87k


2 Car Leases: 1,490
Insurance 396
Gas 229
Registration 50
Service 50
Cable 161
Phone/Cell 225
Electric 284
Garbage 1,580
Water 130
Movies 50
Newspaper/ Mag 75
Streaming Services 30
Groceries 2,017
Restaurants 397
Gifts 100
Charity 200
Gym 150
Health Insurance 750
Pharma 100
Mortgage 1,689
Property Tax 733
HOA 40
Insurance 234
Services 150
Lawn & Garden 196
Supplies 83
Hair 200
Clothes 500
Electronics 100
Hobbies 100
Vacations 1,500
Education: Room & Board (2 kids): 650
529 deposits 1,250
401-k 2,000
Stock ESOP 2,800
After Tax Investing 1,400
Extra Mortgage Home Payments 400

Total Monthly Expenses 19,099
Total Income (Net) 25,300

Can I ask out of curiosity what $1,580 for "garbage" encompasses? That's some expensive garbage. Not sure I would call it such if it costs that much .

[Cincyguy63]

Family 5 (2 college 1 HS)
Me: 54
DW: 49
Gross Annual: $475-600k
Post Tax Investments: 2M
Pre-Tax 980k
Home -Valued at 550k
Outstanding mortgage: 87k


2 Car Leases: 1,490
Insurance 396
Gas 229
Registration 50
Service 50
Cable 161
Phone/Cell 225
Electric 284
Garbage 1,580
Water 130
Movies 50
Newspaper/ Mag 75
Streaming Services 30
Groceries 2,017
Restaurants 397
Gifts 100
Charity 200
Gym 150
Health Insurance 750
Pharma 100
Mortgage 1,689
Property Tax 733
HOA 40
Insurance 234
Services 150
Lawn & Garden 196
Supplies 83
Hair 200
Clothes 500
Electronics 100
Hobbies 100
Vacations 1,500
Education: Room & Board (2 kids): 650
529 deposits 1,250
401-k 2,000
Stock ESOP 2,800
After Tax Investing 1,400
Extra Mortgage Home Payments 400

Total Monthly Expenses 19,099
Total Income (Net) 25,300

Can I ask out of curiosity what $1,580 for "garbage" encompasses? That's some expensive garbage. Not sure I would call it such if it costs that much .

Lots of garbage Kidding fat finger typo...should of been $30 per month...

[Meg77]

Just because I'm killing time, here's our 2017 actual figures:

Mortgage - $2,436 (15 yr fixed)
Property tax - $1,000
Home insurance - $133
HOA - $100
House cleaner - $175
Utilities - $578 (includes cable/internet, cells)
Car payment - $585 (at 1% so DH won't pay it off)
Auto/umbrella insurance - $166
Auto maintenance/gas - $300
Health/dental/vision insurance - $100 (through employer - heavily subsidized)
Home improvement - $1,850 (needed new HVAC to the tune of $14k last year)
Pets - $320 (dog tore his ACL this year - ugh)
Groceries - $745 (includes stuff for a couple of parties, 3 wine clubs)
Relatively Fixed Costs - $8,488

Dining/Bars - $1221
Personal Care - $889 (gyms, spa, golf, salon, copays, etc)
Shopping - $1940 (more than double our usual - DH got a new entertainment system for his bday/Christmas)
Giving - $500 (way too low for the year, goal to increase big in 2018)
Travel - $657 (used points for several trips in addition)
Entertainment - $402
Other - $300
Discretionary Spending - $5909

401ks - $3000
Roth IRAs - $916
HSA - $562
Brokerage - $10,083
Savings/Investments - $14,561

Federal income taxes/FICA - $8750

Total - $37,708

[smashleyjones]

I've found that seeing other people's monthly budgets is really helpful, so here's mine.

33 yr old living with sig other in downtown Chicago

800 sq ft condo - paid off
electricity = $60/2 = $30
gas = $50/2 = $25
HOA/internet/water/sewer (offset by renting out our parking spot) = $280-230/2 = $25
property taxes paid twice a year = $200/mo
insurance paid once a year = $40mo
groceries for me = $125
gym (subsidized by employer) = $10
cell phone (part of family plan) = $30
charity = $15
eating out budget = $100
fun money budget = $100
shopping budget = $100
vacation budget set aside each month = $300
TOTAL: $1,100

PS: I use Mint to track categories

[smitcat]

Just because I'm killing time, here's our 2017 actual figures:

Mortgage - $2,436 (15 yr fixed)
Property tax - $1,000
Home insurance - $133
HOA - $100
House cleaner - $175
Utilities - $578 (includes cable/internet, cells)
Car payment - $585 (at 1% so DH won't pay it off)
Auto/umbrella insurance - $166
Auto maintenance/gas - $300
Health/dental/vision insurance - $100 (through employer - heavily subsidized)
Home improvement - $1,850 (needed new HVAC to the tune of $14k last year)
Pets - $320 (dog tore his ACL this year - ugh)
Groceries - $745 (includes stuff for a couple of parties, 3 wine clubs)
Relatively Fixed Costs - $8,488

Dining/Bars - $1221
Personal Care - $889 (gyms, spa, golf, salon, copays, etc)
Shopping - $1940 (more than double our usual - DH got a new entertainment system for his bday/Christmas)
Giving - $500 (way too low for the year, goal to increase big in 2018)
Travel - $657 (used points for several trips in addition)
Entertainment - $402
Other - $300
Discretionary Spending - $5909

401ks - $3000
Roth IRAs - $916
HSA - $562
Brokerage - $10,083
Savings/Investments - $14,561

Federal income taxes/FICA - $8750

Total - $37,708

"Federal income taxes/FICA - $8750"
If that is the pryroll taxes plus federal taxes the % does not look correct.

[BanquetBeer]

Wow, some of you really track stuff in detail.

Spending Budget ~$120k annually.

Monthly:
$2100 house
$3300 child care
$150-450/mo utilities
$50 Internet
$1500 estimated tax (beyond withholdings)
$175 auto/supp life insurance/umbrella
Rest goes to credit cards for groceries, travel (minimal as you can guess based on child care = small children), hard to give a number because any bill from above I can put on a credit card and get points, I do.

Will be rich if/when we can get kids in a decent public school. We don’t count savings/pretax items (like health insurance in our spending budget). Also ignore withholding or other tax.

We set savings rate first and spend the rest. Don’t track spending so much because if we didn’t spend it on something I’m sure it would get spent on something else. We live “paycheck to paycheck” on what goes in the spending account.

[jehovasfitness]

Wow, some of you really track stuff in detail.

Spending Budget ~$120k annually.

Monthly:
$2100 house
$3300 child care
$150-450/mo utilities
$50 Internet
$1500 estimated tax (beyond withholdings)
$175 auto/supp life insurance/umbrella
Rest goes to credit cards for groceries, travel (minimal as you can guess based on child care = small children), hard to give a number because any bill from above I can put on a credit card and get points, I do.

Will be rich if/when we can get kids in a decent public school. We don’t count savings/pretax items (like health insurance in our spending budget). Also ignore withholding or other tax.

We set savings rate first and spend the rest. Don’t track spending so much because if we didn’t spend it on something I’m sure it would get spent on something else. We live “paycheck to paycheck” on what goes in the spending account.

Wow at that child care cost

[stoptothink]

Wow, some of you really track stuff in detail.

Spending Budget ~$120k annually.

Monthly:
$2100 house
$3300 child care
$150-450/mo utilities
$50 Internet
$1500 estimated tax (beyond withholdings)
$175 auto/supp life insurance/umbrella
Rest goes to credit cards for groceries, travel (minimal as you can guess based on child care = small children), hard to give a number because any bill from above I can put on a credit card and get points, I do.

Will be rich if/when we can get kids in a decent public school. We don’t count savings/pretax items (like health insurance in our spending budget). Also ignore withholding or other tax.

We set savings rate first and spend the rest. Don’t track spending so much because if we didn’t spend it on something I’m sure it would get spent on something else. We live “paycheck to paycheck” on what goes in the spending account.

Wow at that child care cost

For most of my peers, childcare is their single largest expense. $3300/month isn't abnormal. We are finally to the point where our's is less than our 15yr mortgage, and this is only because I now work from home every Wednesday and we pay MIL to do it in our home and pay for everything (it has more than doubled our utility costs and increased our grocery spending by ~1/3) the other 4 days to watch our potty-trained 3.5yr old. Still, we gladly cut her a check for $650/month.

[jehovasfitness]

Wow, some of you really track stuff in detail.

Spending Budget ~$120k annually.

Monthly:
$2100 house
$3300 child care
$150-450/mo utilities
$50 Internet
$1500 estimated tax (beyond withholdings)
$175 auto/supp life insurance/umbrella
Rest goes to credit cards for groceries, travel (minimal as you can guess based on child care = small children), hard to give a number because any bill from above I can put on a credit card and get points, I do.

Will be rich if/when we can get kids in a decent public school. We don’t count savings/pretax items (like health insurance in our spending budget). Also ignore withholding or other tax.

We set savings rate first and spend the rest. Don’t track spending so much because if we didn’t spend it on something I’m sure it would get spent on something else. We live “paycheck to paycheck” on what goes in the spending account.

Wow at that child care cost

For most of my peers, childcare is their single largest expense. $3300/month isn't abnormal. We are finally to the point where our's is less than our 15yr mortgage, and this is only because I now work from home every Wednesday and we pay MIL to do it in our home and pay for everything (it has more than doubled our utility costs and increased our grocery spending by ~1/3) the other 4 days to watch our potty-trained 3.5yr old. Still, we gladly cut her a check for $650/month.

yeah, I have a cousin that was a teacher, along with the politics of teaching, when they had their 3rd kid and a planned 4th, she quit because it didn't make financial sense... she then opened up a daycare

[delamer]

Wow, some of you really track stuff in detail.

Spending Budget ~$120k annually.

Monthly:
$2100 house
$3300 child care
$150-450/mo utilities
$50 Internet
$1500 estimated tax (beyond withholdings)
$175 auto/supp life insurance/umbrella
Rest goes to credit cards for groceries, travel (minimal as you can guess based on child care = small children), hard to give a number because any bill from above I can put on a credit card and get points, I do.

Will be rich if/when we can get kids in a decent public school. We don’t count savings/pretax items (like health insurance in our spending budget). Also ignore withholding or other tax.

We set savings rate first and spend the rest. Don’t track spending so much because if we didn’t spend it on something I’m sure it would get spent on something else. We live “paycheck to paycheck” on what goes in the spending account.

Wow at that child care cost

For most of my peers, childcare is their single largest expense. $3300/month isn't abnormal. We are finally to the point where our's is less than our 15yr mortgage, and this is only because I now work from home every Wednesday and we pay MIL to do it in our home and pay for everything (it has more than doubled our utility costs and increased our grocery spending by ~1/3) the other 4 days to watch our potty-trained 3.5yr old. Still, we gladly cut her a check for $650/month.

How do you work from home without childcare?

[BanquetBeer]

We could probably save like $500 to move them to a place that just provides supervision as opposed to lesson plan/learning. By the time the second kid is school age, will have to evaluate private school tuition vs moving nearby with higher house cost plus taxes vs moving to suburbs with the long commute/possible Work hour reduction.

I do wonder what is a better option: send them to cheapest place and giving them an investment account with the savings? I suppose it’s all a gamble. It does stay on my mind that the kids probably cost more than the adults but we can afford it... I think if we had time to travel we might have more opinions about how our spending is allocated. But since we’re more or less stuck at home if we spent more money of things, wouldn’t appreciably add value to our lives.

[stoptothink]

Wow, some of you really track stuff in detail.

Spending Budget ~$120k annually.

Monthly:
$2100 house
$3300 child care
$150-450/mo utilities
$50 Internet
$1500 estimated tax (beyond withholdings)
$175 auto/supp life insurance/umbrella
Rest goes to credit cards for groceries, travel (minimal as you can guess based on child care = small children), hard to give a number because any bill from above I can put on a credit card and get points, I do.

Will be rich if/when we can get kids in a decent public school. We don’t count savings/pretax items (like health insurance in our spending budget). Also ignore withholding or other tax.

We set savings rate first and spend the rest. Don’t track spending so much because if we didn’t spend it on something I’m sure it would get spent on something else. We live “paycheck to paycheck” on what goes in the spending account.

Wow at that child care cost

For most of my peers, childcare is their single largest expense. $3300/month isn't abnormal. We are finally to the point where our's is less than our 15yr mortgage, and this is only because I now work from home every Wednesday and we pay MIL to do it in our home and pay for everything (it has more than doubled our utility costs and increased our grocery spending by ~1/3) the other 4 days to watch our potty-trained 3.5yr old. Still, we gladly cut her a check for $650/month.

How do you work from home without childcare?

I'm a magician Not to toot my own horn, but I tend to be on the far right-side of the bell curve when it comes to productivity. I am more productive (writing content for various company mediums, preparing presentations, managing my team and various projects) than the majority of my colleagues, while simultaneously taking care of my son at home. And no, this doesn't mean plopping him in front of a TV all day. As it is, I handle most of the household responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, getting both our kids ready each morning - including my 6yr old daughter's hair) because my wife, who has a full-time sales job in tech, is a 4.0 full-time student, and is a semi-serious competitive athlete (cycling and triathlons) is maybe even more of a type-A than I am and has a pretty busy daily schedule. We have a system for everything.

[djpeteski]

Gift/Charity: $500

Thank you for being one of the few budgets that includes significant charitable giving. IMHO, this is a key part of wealth building.

[ge1]

20k per month (excluding taxes).

I know it is very high, but we also save 20k per month, so that works for us...

[Momus]

Mint sim $15/mo cell phone
Water 0/mo included in rent, laundry once/mo, shower like 2 times/week - dry my skin badly
Garbage 0/mo
Car insurance $45/mo liability only
Car registration $11.25/mo
Food $150/mo - Potato/rice, chicken on sale <$1/lb (dark meat) or $1.70/lb (white meat), a bunch of frozen vegetables
Car Gas $125/mo
TV Cable $0, who the hell watch TV anymore...
Netflix $0, friend account

Income = 150k base, OT can push it to 175-200k

Bring my total to ~$346.25/mo as my total fixed expenses, not including housing... I call myself the cheapest person in the building at work

Rent pays gas, electric, water, internet and all for $750.

[kaudrey]

I don't keep that level of detail, but if I use your categories (i.e. leave out health insurance, taxes and savings), we spend about $6,800 a month, in the DC area. That's without a mortgage, but we travel a lot. For reference, we save about 25% of pay (it used to be more, but we don't need to save more than that now - we are getting near retiring...).

[Loik098]

Our monthly budget totals about $16,500.

Because the margin for error for us is slim, we keep a detailed sheet for expenses that is updated using Mint. Monthly totals are then transferred to the next year, with a small extra buffer amount granted to each non-fixed expense.

All purchases that can be put on a rewards credit card are done so.

I would encourage folks like OP to not only maintain a monthly budget sheet, but also project spending and retirement/investment accounts growth on the same sheet for the next 10-15 years. Doing so can bring more focus to long-term goals such as retirement, reduction in work hours, and spending priorities, and allow you to better plan for bigger expenses such as home repairs, new cars, etc.

[latesaver]

Mint sim $15/mo cell phone
Water 0/mo included in rent, laundry once/mo, shower like 2 times/week - dry my skin badly
Garbage 0/mo
Car insurance $45/mo liability only
Car registration $11.25/mo
Food $150/mo - Potato/rice, chicken on sale <$1/lb (dark meat) or $1.70/lb (white meat), a bunch of frozen vegetables
Car Gas $125/mo
TV Cable $0, who the hell watch TV anymore...
Netflix $0, friend account

Income = 150k base, OT can push it to 175-200k

Bring my total to ~$346.25/mo as my total fixed expenses, not including housing... I call myself the cheapest person in the building at work

Rent pays gas, electric, water, internet and all for $750.

That may not be what your co-workers call you...

[taurabora]

2018

Gross Pay 11,083
Pre-Tax Deductions 455
FSA 100
Roth 401(K) 1,552
Income Tax 971
SS Tax 631
Medicare Tax 148
GESPP 582
Life Insurance 20

Net Pay 6,625
Mortgage PITI 2,100
Water 90
Electricity/Gas 250
Netflix/Amazon 20
Comcast 115
Verizon 164
Auto Insurance 143
Groceries 800
Fuel 250
D's Fun Money 250
K's Fun Money 250
Mom Gift 50
Gifts 275
Auto Payments 866
Gym 0
Kid 250
Life Insurance 142
Lawn Service 76
Tuition 738
Pool Supplies 50

Leftover -254
Savings 2,134

[cap396]

Ages 46 and 44. Quit our jobs and are traveling the world (currently in South America), staying in each location for about one month.

Housing: $700 (could do much cheaper, includes internet, electric, gas, etc.)
Food, Misc Supplies, Clothing: $500 (varies depending on location)
Sightseeing and Travel: $800 (but only spending about half that)
Health Insurance: $145 (global policy)
Donations/Tithe: $100 (varies)
Taxes: $0 (no earned income)

Total budget: $2,250
Actual Spending: Between $1,800 and $2,200

[dn160]

Mint sim $15/mo cell phone
Water 0/mo included in rent, laundry once/mo, shower like 2 times/week - dry my skin badly
Garbage 0/mo
Car insurance $45/mo liability only
Car registration $11.25/mo
Food $150/mo - Potato/rice, chicken on sale <$1/lb (dark meat) or $1.70/lb (white meat), a bunch of frozen vegetables
Car Gas $125/mo
TV Cable $0, who the hell watch TV anymore...
Netflix $0, friend account

Income = 150k base, OT can push it to 175-200k

Bring my total to ~$346.25/mo as my total fixed expenses, not including housing... I call myself the cheapest person in the building at work

Rent pays gas, electric, water, internet and all for $750.

You won this thread.

[rich126]

Interesting to see what people splurge on.

I spend at least $450 a month eating out and probably more like $600 (I'm including food and drinks). And that is for one person.

Now I don't spend much on cars, currently had to get a new (well, it didn't have to be new but my other car was totaled due to someone rear ending me quite hard) and ended up with another Hyundai Elantra and usually keep the cars a good 8-10 yrs.

I don't have expensive hobbies, except at times getting computer equipment but since I make my living dealing with computers it is more of investing in technology since I'm not doing it for gaming and some computers I keep 5-10 years.

I probably spend around 40% of my gross salary which is about what I'm targeting for my retirement income.

[jjunk]

I'm now super depressed at what we spend for rent after seeing this thread.

We're a married couple, single earner making 185K gross in Seattle. Our avg monthly expenses right now are $5,250/mo all in, $3,000/mo of that is rent. Remainder covers all necessities as well as any discretionary. Rent increases have averaged 10-12%/year but hopefully those will slow a bit in coming years as inventory increases and the market cools off.

[majiaknight]

Mint sim $15/mo cell phone
Water 0/mo included in rent, laundry once/mo, shower like 2 times/week - dry my skin badly
Garbage 0/mo
Car insurance $45/mo liability only
Car registration $11.25/mo
Food $150/mo - Potato/rice, chicken on sale <$1/lb (dark meat) or $1.70/lb (white meat), a bunch of frozen vegetables
Car Gas $125/mo
TV Cable $0, who the hell watch TV anymore...
Netflix $0, friend account

Income = 150k base, OT can push it to 175-200k

Bring my total to ~$346.25/mo as my total fixed expenses, not including housing... I call myself the cheapest person in the building at work

Rent pays gas, electric, water, internet and all for $750.

This reminds me the days in graduate school several years back when I felt "rich" with ~$1,700/M graduate assistantship. Now with a family of three (1 kid in preschool) we spent in average $8.8K/M including mortgage and everything.

[hmw]

We don't budget and I don't keep track spending based on categories.

We are a family of 3, and spent about 180k per year, or 15k per month after tax.

Some the fixed monthly expenses are:

Mortgage: $2400
Property tax: $750
auto insurance: $120
umbrella insurance: $25
home owner insurance: $200
water and sewage: $55
gas and electricity: $200 to $250
kid's tuition: $750
Kid's activity: ? $300-400
house cleaning: $200
internet: $60
cell phone: $80
gas: $400 to $500
spotify/HBO/hulu/netflix: $50

Total: $5840

15000-5840=9160 which are spent on grocery/eating out/travel/cars upkeep/medical/dental/random stuff.

[coachf]

Age: 34
Single

Take Home: $2560 (will decrease a little, I am going to save half of a raise I just got)

Expenses
Rent: $525 (20.5%)
Medication $35 (1.3%)
Water Bill $60.10 (2.3%)
Food $200 (7.8%)
Internet/TV $103.37 (4%)
Cell Phone $49 (1.9%)
Car Insurance $74.40 (2.9%)
Electric Bill $63.75 (2.5%)
Renters Insurance $32.50 (1.3%)
Website Subscription $9.95 (.38%)
Credit Card $300 (11.7%)

Total Expenses 56.76% of take home pay, I try to keep it under 60% at all times.

Savings
Roth IRA Contribution $458 (17.89%)
General Savings $100 (3.9%)
Emergency Fund $125 (4.8%)

Spending $423 (16.56%)

[dorothyday]

Social Security net of Medicare is 963.

100 on first of month donation to a progressive non profit, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, etc. Secular tithing.
300 monthly housing, small condo, includes mortgage, HOA fee, all utilities. Split everything 50.50 with my wife
200 month food, veganish, mostly organic
50 supplies
50 medical, have Medicare Advantage
150 car, 1993 Honda Accord, 280k miles
100 fun, but use library for books, DVD's, tickets to plays, music, etc
100 travel, try to take at least four trips per year

So, spend about 1000 per month, live a very nice rich life. Going on 68, no medicines yet, lots of exercise through local YMCA, hiking, etc.

[Rhadamanthus]

I'm open to thoughts on mine. I just recently did some category reorg in YNAB Classic (not having that nYNAB dren) resulting in 3 master categories:

Monthly includes monthly bills and expenses, yearly bills and predicted expense totals divided by 12 (i.e. the envelope method), and my monthly transfer to savings. Sorted in descending order of current budgeted/predicted amounts.

Travel & Events, a slightly redundant title (Events would suffice) means trips/vacations and other one-off events, e.g. a recent day trip to SFO for my new job's first day onboarding and another day at the recent Google Cloud Summit (used Uber that I couldn't expense).

Irregular means all other categories that I end up with thanks to fairly granular expense tracking categories.

Here's what I have under Monthly. I don't budget other categories. The total below leaves me with about $600/month in my "slush fund" (i.e. YNAB's "Available to Budget").

Age: 44
Status: Single and like it that way
Monthly Net Pay: ~$8000 (after maxing out 401k at $18.5k/year)

Savings: $2500
Rent: $2060
Investment Account: $1000
Groceries: $600
Patreon Contribution: $500
Car Insurance: $110
Car Maintenance: $100
Parking Garage: $85
Water: $85
Electricity: $80
Cell Phone Plan: $62
Haircuts: $60
Giving: $50
Internet Service: $35
Car Tabs: $25
Personal Umbrella Insurance: $15
Renter's Insurance: $15
Trash: $11
Amazon Prime: $11
Tax Filing: $6
Medicine: $5
1Password: $3

Total: $7418

[triceratop]

Income (net of tax): $2500

Rent: 660
Utilities: 40
Food: 200
Car (incl. gas): 100
Phone: 25 (15/mo Mintsim plus 10 amortized phone costs over used iPhone lifetime)
Subscriptions (headspace, spotify): 12

Discretionary dining, entertainment, hobbies, travel: pretty variable, often substantial.

I still save ~40% of net income. I think I come in 2nd in this thread so far. But I probably spend more on discretionary items.

Interesting thread.

[Regattamom]

Family of 3:

HOUSING/UTILITIES
Natural Gas - $37.00
Water/Sewer/Garbage - $57.00
Internet - $42.99
Cell Phones - $0 (FreedomPop)
Electric - $175.00
Mortgage+Prop Tax+Homeowners Insurance - $1,119.50
HOA Dues - $67
Housing/Utilities - Total - $1,498.49

Insurance (Non-Auto)
Me Life Insurance - $36.25
Spouse Life Insurance - $17.92
Umbrella Insurance - $13.33
Insurance Total $67.50

Services/Memberships
Professional Cert $4.17
Web Hosting - $0.50
AAA - $12.33
Amazon Prime - $8.91
Services/Memberships Total - $25.90

Automotive
Gasoline - $175.00
Auto Insurance - $61.67
Vehicle Licensing/Emissions - $10.70
Auto Maintenance - $100
Automotive Total - $347.37

Miscellaneous
Gifts - $60.00
Clothes - $35.00
*All Other - $592.00
Food - $270.00
Miscellaneous Total - $957.00

*All other includes travel, medical expenses and everything else

GRAND TOTAL: $2,896.27

We save right around 48% of our income, max out HSA, ROTHx2, 403B

Also make Post-Tax Contributions and 529 Contributions.

We usually under spend on the MISC and FOOD categories each month. Usually at $250 food, but provide a buffer keeping at $270.

I am really interested in how a family of three spends only $250 per month on food. That averages out to about $8.50 per day for three meals and snacks for three people. There is no way I could possibly get my grocery bill down that low. Where do you shop? What do you eat? Does that include eating out and/or school lunches? My family of three (one is a teenage boy who eats a lot) spends on average $850 per month just on groceries and I cook almost all of our food. I will say, I like good food and try to buy organic when I can.

[BanditKing]

All below numbers are monthly USD for one person, one dog, and one cat:

Housing: 1993 / 23.75%
Mortgage: 1000 / 11.92%
Condo Fee: 250 / 2.98%
Property Taxes: 488 / 5.81%
Gas/Elec: 225 / 2.68%
Water: 30 / 0.36%

Taxes: 325 / 3.87% (Company tends to under-withhold commissions, so this is to cover this plus Misc 1099 income)

Insurance: 208 / 2.48%
Condo Insurance: 33 / 0.40%
Vehicle Insurance : 50 / 0.50%
Umbrella Insurance: 12 / 0.14%
Life Insurance (Term): 13 / 0.16%
Pet Insurance: 40 / 0.47%
Pet Wellness: 60 / 0.72%

Vehicle: 433 / 5.17%
Vehicle Payment: 0 / 0%
Vehicle Fund: 433 / 5.17%

Savings: 4111 / 49.01%
529 (Niece): 249 / 2.97%
529 (Nephew): 249 / 2.97%
Taxable Investment: 379 / 4.52%
Series I Bonds: 433 / 5.17%
Cash Savings: 350 / 4.17%
Pre-Tax 401k: 1542 / 18.38%
Taxable 401k: 450 / 5.36% (In-Service Rollover 2x/yr to Roth)
Roth IRA: 458 / 5.46 %

Medical / Daycare: 220 / 2.62%
Pet Daycare: 120 / 1.43%
Misc Medical: 100 / 1.19% (anything needed beyond flex-spending)

Variables: 1098 / 13.09%
Groceries: 217 / 2.58% (includes pet supplies)
Gas / Vehicle Upkeep: 433 / 5.17%
Entertainment: 75 / 0.89%
Restaurants: 173 / 2.07%
Misc: 200 / 2.39%

Total $100,655

Obviously a huge amount is savings (almost 50%), which I can easily trim back on if need be.
Except for 401k, I did not account for any payroll deductions.
My emergency fund is fully funded, as is my travel fund for anything beyond Entertainment/Misc. I also have a "Large Purchase" fund for any planned large purchases (say, a new computer or non-emergency repair).
I was recently divorced, so still getting a feel for my new cash-flow, and may be able to trim back or shuffle some things around.

[majiaknight]

Family of three (1 kid attending pre-school) living in the Bay area, CA.

Utility
Electricity/Gas $107.00
Internet Cable $92.45
Cell Phones $91.63
Water/Sewage $79.00
Housing
Mortgage $2,740
Home Insurance $35.92
House Property Tax $916.40
Car x2 CA Reg Fee $32.42
HOA $275.00
Education
Pre-school Tuition $1,802.00
Insurance
Car x2 Insurance $83.50
Umbrella Insurance $1M $25.48
TermLife 20Y $1M-1 $29.87
TermLife 20Y $1M-2 $26.67
Food/Dining
Restaurant $300.00
Grocery $700.00
Other Expense
Shopping/Travel/Gift (+Misc) $1200.00
Gas $140.00

SUM: $8,678/month