2013 expenses

[audreyh1]

I'll find out what they were around 10 Jan when all my credit card statements finally come in.

I don't break down by percent in category though.

 

[F4mandolin]

Now you've got me curious. What are your bad habits then?

I'm afraid my bad habits are with consumption. I drink WAY too much beer and diet Cokes (cheapie Walmart brand). I'm talking a case of beer every week or a bit longer. Probably 2-3 cases of Coke a week. Been drinking a LOT of soda since about 1987. So $40 a week on these two habits. I've also always been a junk food eater. Even at 56 I probably go through a couple packs of licorice a week and a quart of ice cream.....at least. I was fairly good when I was still running competitively since it was the only way I could get my weight down. I still exercise 1-2 times a day which is why I don't weigh as much as one of my brothers (400lbs). Just over 170lbs and that should slide right back into the 160's once I have gotten over this toe operation.

I don't keep track of individual categories (although I think we will give it a try this year again), just our total expenditures. Our retirement goal (actually a requirement) was to stay under $48k a year.....preferably under $40K.

Bad habits...
- Beer- estimate of $1500+ a year.
- Diet Coke (or some substitute) $800 a year. $5 a case at Walmart.
- Candy/ice cream/chocolate almond cluster (Winco) at LEAST $800-1000 a year (just for me)....not including my wife. She hates American chocolate so she doesn't indulge as often as she would like.

I think these 3 categories are actually more expensive than this.....I think I am likely being nice to myself. But.....getting down to $20K like some people I would have to give up just about ALL bad habits......or.....my legs would let me run again in which case I would give these up to get my weight back down again......but that ain't likely gonna happen.

We were discussing last night which way we would keep track of our category expenses for this next year.....at least for the first few months until it really gets to be a pain. We figured we would lump things into 5-7 categories. The only real question is how much do we REALLY (well, how much do I spend) on crap food.
1. Food-real food, not crap
2. Crap food- beer, soda, candy, ice cream, etc
3. Car
4. Household- property taxes, utilities, insurance etc. Will be the biggest area since it will cover so many things.
5. Medical
6. Golf
7. Clothes- not sure of this one....might get lumped under household. Neither of us spends a ton on this.

 

[NW-Bound]

How you manage to stay at 170 lbs with your food consumption is beyond me. But if you are in good health, then what the heck? You can't take it with you, right? We are all allowed to spend money on what we like.

People in my family and my wife's side love to travel like we do. Some people do not think travel is worthwhile, and they should not do what brings them no pleasure. It's a free country.

 

[F4mandolin]

How you manage to stay at 170 lbs with your food consumption is beyond me. But if you are in good health, then what the heck? You can't take it with you, right? We are all allowed to spend money on what we like.

People in my family and my wife's side love to travel like we do. Some people do not think travel is worthwhile, and they should not do what brings them no pleasure. It's a free country.

My good running weight was about 137lbs. I'm about 5' 8 1/2" To get to 137 I didn't eat very much.

My wife and I are both homebodies.....spending lots of money on travel isn't going to happen. I got my traveling in before I got married finally (at 49). Lived in UK for 14 years, Germany for 10 and Okinawa for 5. I am NOT a very good tourist. Museums, etc kind of bore me to death. Think it only took me an hour or so to go through the Louvre in Paris. I'm an outdoor person. I wouldn't mind going back to Australia though if we could afford it. My wife hasn't been to Yellowstone.....think we might try that this next Fall since it is only about an 8 hr drive.

 

[NW-Bound]

Darn! I am impressed that somebody can be skinnier than I am.

I love domestic travel for the outdoors. That's RV'ing is for. I love foreign travel for the different cultures, the food, and the museums. It's nice to see some paintings in person which I had seen only in books and magazines, and I do not mean the well-worn Mona Lisa.

We never discuss what each other spends in my family, but I think my sister must have spent around $30-40K this year on domestic and foreign travel, just as an estimate from the trips that they took. Yep, they do not plan to take it with them either, and they are also planning to leave plenty for their kids. Big fat 401K + husband pension + wife's part-time university teaching job + no debts allow them to do that, and I am happy for them. They are not interested in German luxury cars either. However, they have 3 homes, two in nearly abandoned state, yet they do not want to sell.

 

[F4mandolin]

Darn! I am impressed that somebody can be skinnier than I am.

WAS skinny. Although all I have to do is give up junk food/beer and I can drop 20 pounds in 3 months or so. At 170+.......as my wife says "The triplets are back".....her version of saying the gut is back.

 

[aaronc879]

My good running weight was about 137lbs. I'm about 5' 8 1/2" To get to 137 I didn't eat very much.

My wife and I are both homebodies.....spending lots of money on travel isn't going to happen. I got my traveling in before I got married finally (at 49). Lived in UK for 14 years, Germany for 10 and Okinawa for 5. I am NOT a very good tourist. Museums, etc kind of bore me to death. Think it only took me an hour or so to go through the Louvre in Paris. I'm an outdoor person. I wouldn't mind going back to Australia though if we could afford it. My wife hasn't been to Yellowstone.....think we might try that this next Fall since it is only about an 8 hr drive.

I wouldn't go to Yellowstone in the fall. They start getting snow in August or September.

 

[Danmar]

High spending year for us. About 2% over plan. New car, new roof and generator for lake house. Eating out, gifts, well over plan. I won't give actual figures as it would open me up to significant ridicule even though we can well afford it. I am quite impressed with the discipline displayed by people on this site.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We are at about $40k all in. I do not track to such a granular level as others. But here are a few items split out.

Insurance ALL: $2500
Property Tax: $7,000
Utilities, HOA, TV, Phone etc.: $8500
Car Lease(s): $10k

 

[F4mandolin]

I wouldn't go to Yellowstone in the fall. They start getting snow in August or September.

Not too worried.....probably after the first week in Sept when the kids go back to school. Snow is fine with me anyway.....makes the place look really nice. Spent a couple of days cross country skiing there on Spring break in college. Others go to the sun......I went with a buddy in college (he was a Minnesotan going to my college here in Wash) for a week of CC skiing in Colorado and then Yellowstone on the way back.

 

[bradaz2488]

Wow.. I'm amazed at both the people who can live on <$20K and impressed by those who were able to accumulate enough $ to retire with >$80 expenses. I fall right in the middle. This year came in at $40,534.15. Yes I track every penny ... I would say $25K is for essential and $15K is discretionary. This year was <3% SWR. Given the nice bump in the markets my SWR could be less for 2014. I'll still give myself a 2.5% raise for inflation, but I'll try hard not to spend it ....

Big ticket items or 2013 were: New tires on 2 vehicles, replaced 3 tube TV with flat screens and a car lift. The only big ticket item for next year will be to paint the house (~$3500), but I'm sure their will be others unexpected expenses.

 

[aaronc879]

High spending year for us. About 2% over plan. New car, new roof and generator for lake house. Eating out, gifts, well over plan. I won't give actual figures as it would open me up to significant ridicule even though we can well afford it. I am quite impressed with the discipline displayed by people on this site.

Not much discipline required for me. Can't spend a lot of money if you don't have a lot of money. On the other hand, if someone has a lot of money then there's no reason to ridicule them for spending a lot of money.

 

[Danmar]

Not much discipline required for me. Can't spend a lot of money if you don't have a lot of money. On the other hand, if someone has a lot of money then there's no reason to ridicule them for spending a lot of money.

You might be surprised about how many people spend more than they have. Anyway, sounds like you have a good handle on your spending.

Where an individual spends their money is so personal that it is challenging to compare both overall levels and their components. In the end knowing where you spend it and not spending more than you can afford are probably the most important things.

 

[aaronc879]

Not too worried.....probably after the first week in Sept when the kids go back to school. Snow is fine with me anyway.....makes the place look really nice. Spent a couple of days cross country skiing there on Spring break in college. Others go to the sun......I went with a buddy in college (he was a Minnesotan going to my college here in Wash) for a week of CC skiing in Colorado and then Yellowstone on the way back.

If you're sleeping in a cabin then Sept. may be fine but I wouldn't tent camp at that time.

 

[F4mandolin]

If you're sleeping in a cabin then Sept. may be fine but I wouldn't tent camp at that time.

My wife's first husband was an avid hiker in the UK. Drug her around on a lot of early marriage time hikes up a lot of the peaks in N England. She eventually started wishing he would just take a small step off a big cliff (she says she actually mentioned it to him once). She hated it then......and [-]would[/-] might shoot me if I even mentioned it now. Best part she says was the pub afterwards. We would be in it more for the wildlife as much as anything. Probably stay in a motel somewhere if possible.....although last time I checked online, the prices in that area were more than I like to spend. My wife doesn't mind snow as long as she is dressed right. She takes the dogs for an hour walk every morning and a couple of weeks ago it was right around 0 degrees and it didn't bother her much (except she said her snot started to freeze).

 

[sengsational]

The best thing in this thread to me were to see that spending category split names and definitions. Some were by store type (easy to do, but what about super walmart?) But that wasn't the point...

Best separate category: Video Games.
Second best category: Girly stuff.

 

[NanoSour]

I..and I cut down on the golfing this last year and only went 20-30 times.

20-30 times…that would break my budget for sure. I only golfed once this year and shot a legitimate 78. I like to stop while I'm ahead, so that may have been my last round of golf…ever!

 

[F4mandolin]

20-30 times…that would break my budget for sure. I only golfed once this year and shot a legitimate 78. I like to stop while I'm ahead, so that may have been my last round of golf…ever!

Ya got me then.....I usually sit around a 10 handicap unless I play more than twice a week......or heavens forbid.....practice.

 

[Ready]

Does anyone include reserve funds in their annual expenses for eventual replacement of big ticket items? For example, if you drive a car approximately 10 years before replacing it, and your car typically costs around $30K, do you include $3K in reserves each year? Or do you just have an extraordinarily high year of expenses in the year you buy the car?

I would think without these types of reserves we might underestimate our true long term expenses?

 

[Amethyst]

Poor Mrs. Mandolin! I wouldn't eat American chocolate, either, if I'd grown up on the Euro stuff. I assume you are both familiar with this site for British goodies:

www.britishdelights.com

Exchange rates and shipping costs make these items pricey, but the site often holds sales on food items which are getting close to their sell-by date.

Amethyst

my wife. She hates American chocolate so she doesn't indulge as often as she would like.

.

 

[NW-Bound]

Sorry for another sidetrack, but there was some snow on the ground in Yellowstone in July during our visit. Some roads are usually closed until late May, or June. Campgrounds for RVs or tent camping are usually booked way in advance. Same with the lodges.

 

[NW-Bound]

Does anyone include reserve funds in their annual expenses for eventual replacement of big ticket items? For example, if you drive a car approximately 10 years before replacing it, and your car typically costs around $30K, do you include $3K in reserves each year? Or do you just have an extraordinarily high year of expenses in the year you buy the car?

I would think without these types of reserves we might underestimate our true long term expenses?

I myself don't, but then I am less than 2 years into true retirement, so I do not know if my opinion is worthwhile.

I will just take a bump on WR that year. I figure that if my average WR is only 3.5% and I still have SS coming, I should be OK. I do not think I will live till my 90s either.

 

[jon-nyc]

High spending year for us. About 2% over plan. New car, new roof and generator for lake house.

Even with an economy car, you're still looking at over 20k for those three items. And that only put you 2% over plan Either you did a good job cutting elsewhere or you have wickedly expensive plan!

 

[NW-Bound]

Not for a decamillionaire...

 

[F4mandolin]

Poor Mrs. Mandolin! I wouldn't eat American chocolate, either, if I'd grown up on the Euro stuff. I assume you are both familiar with this site for British goodies:

www.britishdelights.com

Exchange rates and shipping costs make these items pricey, but the site often holds sales on food items which are getting close to their sell-by date.

Amethyst

There is a store here in Spokane called World Market. You can pick up some things there....but like you pointed out....pricey. I really like plain McVities digestives......but NO way am I paying $$ for it. We go in so my wife can buy cans of baked beans. You CAN'T seem to find a plain can of baked beans with nothing else put in with them here. Baked beans are an important food in the UK.