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.