2017 Spending Summary and Analysis

[ExFlyBoy5]

Costs for two adults and 4 furry critters...

Category|Total for 2017|Comments
Groceries|$7438.00|Includes toiletries, detergent, etc.
Restaurants|$2512.00|
Transportation|$2542.00|Maintenance, gas, registration.
Insurance|$2560.00|Home, auto, umbrella.
House|$3700.00|Taxes and maintenance.
Utilities|$4346.00|Internet, nat. gas, electricity, water, trash, cell, alarm.
Clothes|$120.00|Retirement uniforms are still in good shape!
Travel|$1210.00|
Cash|$500.00|Haircuts, etc.
Medical|$1800.00|Have Tricare, hence the low cost.
Pets|$4783.00|Majority was for older dog that is no longer with us.
Miscellaneous|$4788.00|New bed/mattress and other unclassified expenses.
Total|$36299.00| plus income tax

We saved a good chuck of change on travel through the Chase Sapphire Reserve card....in the neighborhood of $2600.00
"Above and Beyond" expenses this year was a new bed and mattress ($3000) and gutter replacement on the house ($1500).

 

[gayl]

Yeah ... money in 76,107.87 / out 77,413 / deficit 1304.55

Transfers 27,660 (35%)
Travel 15,478 (20%)
Credit card 8257 (11%)
Dining out Inc Starbucks 3606
Utilities 3456
Home maintenance 1257
+ gardener 1560
Insurance 2200
Groceries 2070
Misc 18,935 (18%)

Part of the transfers is 3092 property tax + 1800 estimated taxes .... rest is just sitting there. I'm chalking the 29% (credit card + misc) to life happens

edited: with this morning's 4.5 tremor, I just lowered my earthquake insurance deductible to 5% -- peace of mind only raises my monthly payment by $25

 

[Scuba]

I am truly amazed how quickly so many folks had this data available. Obviously I need to automate my approach!

Our spend in 2017 not including income taxes was as follows:
Home (mortgage, HELOC, prop taxes, HOA, insurance, housekeeper) - $56K (35%)
Travel, entertainment & wine/liquor (excluding dining out) - $40K
Food (at home & dining out) - $13K
Gifting (charity & gifts to each other & others) - $13K
Healthcare (insurance plus OOP) - $11K
Clothing - $6K
Utilities - $6K
Cars (insurance, maintenance, gas, but no depreciation) - $4K
Pet - $4K
Other (personal care, home office costs, uncategorized cash expenses) - $6K
TOTAL - $159K

The above excludes income taxes because we had to pay a huge and unusual amount in 2017 as a result of intentionally paying in the minimum we could to be in the safe harbor in 2016, and because we still don't have a good feel for what our "ongoing" tax exposure will be in retirement. In 2017 I had sizable W-2 payouts for which the withholding completely covered our 2017 tax liability.

I also excluded one large ($23K) one-time purchase as it's not reflective of our ongoing spend.

We spent about $13-$14K/month excluding taxes pre-ER, and are spending about the same now, but we are spending a lot more on travel and healthcare (no employer plans for us); however we have dramatically reduced our commuting/car costs. We also found that traveling so much reduced our expenses at home by a lot more than we anticipated.

I just finished a rough budget for 2018 and even with allowing for generous increases in several categories, anticipated spending is still in the $13K-$14K/month range. That seems to be a comfortable level for us. If we needed to cut back, about 45% of our 2017 spending excluding the big one-time purchase was discretionary. I wouldn't want to cut it all out, but it's good to know we could get by on much less if need be.

Unlike many on this board, I could easily ramp up our spending dramatically if I had a big windfall - a second and maybe even a third home, a boat, even more travel, and upgraded air travel would all be ways I could envision spending if we had the funds. Being such new retirees and still in our 50's, even though the market was very good to us in 2017, we aren't ramping up spending anytime soon. If our net worth continues to increase for the next 5-10 years despite living mostly from our portfolio, we'll have to reevaluate. We don't have a goal of leaving a large legacy.

 

[Spanky]

2017 expenses for three adults: $56,843 not including window replacements of the entire house for $32K.

 

[Mulligan]

Already fessed up that my spend rate was >5.5%, new car was a big part of that.



Was was interesting to see how the spending was tied to specific things, like a girlfriend. I dropped $1,000 to refresh my wardrobe after several years of getting by with fishing shirts and nylon shorts. She was right to push me on that. Should be good for another 5 years, especially since.....



That GF is no longer in the picture. Had a great time with the $5K+ I spent with her. A few local trips, and lots of days at beach bars, dinner and cocktails. Great memories and no regrets.



Taking a break to regroup, so that category won't be nearly as high in 2018.

I love using spent rate on assets. I have a 0% spend rate. Not homeless or super rich tightwad...Just a pensioner.

 

[Bir48die]

I had a spreadsheet. Stopped after a year. We are within budget but healthcare went up $300/month. I am aware of what we spend versus budget but I'm not going to beat it to death with what I spent in comparison to my figures. Had a son get married and he's buying a house. Once in a lifetime spend.

It causes me less anxiety if I do not track it. I would know if we went overboard. Plus investments up 5x over what I spent.

 

[aja8888]

I love using spent rate on assets. I have a 0% spend rate. Not homeless or super rich tightwad...Just a pensioner.

Did you forget to mention the gambling habit results?

 

[athena53]

Mid-50’s single male. Some random tidbits from my 2017 QuickBooks P&L report:

• $4,300 for food (eat out once per week on average; whole-foods plant-based diet; not much organic; lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, etc.; no alcohol, no soda)

Well, now I don't feel so bad. I spent that much on groceries as well- it includes toiletries and cleaning products but excludes alcohol. I rarely eat out and, although I do buy meat and fish, it's a small part of my diet. Most of my groceries are from Costco.

 

[Midpack]

Spend	Category
$8322	Dining Out, Theatre, Concerts, Internet, TV
$7747	Boating
$7518	Groceries, Wine/Liquor
$4771	Home - Insur, TruGreen, Prop Tax, HOA
$4490	Util - Elec, Gas, Trash, Water, Sewer, Phone
$4070	Allowance ($40/week each)
$3750	Driveway Repl
$3576	Vacation
$2837	Auto - Gas, Insur, Maint, Licensing
$2758	DH Personal, Golf ($1816)
$2483	Medical Out of Pocket
$1826	DW Personal
$1629	Gifts
$455	Misc
$56,232	Total

 

[ABQ2015]

Utilities/Prop Tax/Insurance $15,200 (Includes pre-paid 2018 property tax)
Home Maint & Repairs 25,000 (Includes house cleaning & lawn service)
Household items 3500 (Appliances, electronics, etc.)
Groceries & Misc. 4600
Car Insurance/Gas/Maint 4200
Medical & Health Insurance 5200
Personal Care 1300
Clothing 1900
Pet 1200
Entertainment 1400
Travel 3200
Gifts & Donations 3500
Total $71,460

2017 expenses were $10-15K more than previous years primarily due to unexpected home repairs (e.g., major water line leak) but also due to planned repairs as I prepare my home for sale. And in preparing financially for retirement the last five years, I've only replaced household items that were essential and broken. Now I'm finding that everything seems to be breaking all at once.

My goal is to downsize to a smaller house by 2019 and to apply any utility and home maintenance cost savings to travel and entertainment. 2018, my first year of full retirement, will be expensive as I replace my old car and continue home repairs but I've saved up extra money to pay for it.

 

[Mulligan]

Did you forget to mention the gambling habit results?

Yes, Aja, and it is still 0%... Im not that crazy with the betting, lol.. Though if Cardinals hadnt have beat Seattle up in Seattle week 17 to cover my win season total bet I might have had to pull a few bucks out of the investment account to replenish the betting kitty, lol.... Thank God that Seattles FG kicker is a choker!

 

[SecondCor521]

One 48 year old, two teenagers attending private school (listed on the report under "College"), child support (most of the "Kids" category), one house ("House"), one 25-year-old car ("Auto"), and one cat ("Pets").

"Bank Charge" is mostly due to the $450 fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which I have more than made up for through three $300 travel credits, $100 for Global Entry, Priority Pass Lounge access for me and my kids on at least three trips, and 100,000 points (redeemable for $1,000 in cash or $1,500 in travel). This is the well known deal that many people took advantage of. There are some offsetting credits in here that make the total less than $450.

"Cash" is for miscellaneous cash adjustments when I reconcile cash on hand with cash in Quicken.

"Food" includes eating out and groceries, which includes everything bought at the grocery store. I have hungry teenagers and we eat more prepared foods than we should.

"Misc" was eclipse glasses (totality for just over two minutes! ) and some untracked spending in November. The actual total was $91.33; I had some miscategorized stuff in here that I fixed after running the attached report.

 

[bobandsherry]

One 48 year old, two teenagers attending private school (listed on the report under "College"), child support (most of the "Kids" category),

Expenses for Kids and College $48K, 65% of total expenses - Ouch! Just shows how much 5 minutes of indiscretion can cost

 

[rayinpenn]

Expenses for Kids and College $48K, 65% of total expenses - Ouch! Just shows how much 5 minutes of indiscretion can cost

I got a chuckle out of thanks....

 

[SecondCor521]

Expenses for Kids and College $48K, 65% of total expenses - Ouch! Just shows how much 5 minutes of indiscretion can cost

Yeah, I know. They're worth it though. (I mean, it was an expensive five minutes, but I amortize the cost over the subsequent 16 and 18 years thus far.)

Plus, I'm still in the naive stage where I am imagining the schooling costs ending at some point in the not-to-distant future.

Plus, I lead a boringly simple but satisfying life on the rest of what I spend.

Plus, I really should spend more; my WR last year was too low.

 

[bobandsherry]

Yeah, I know. They're worth it though. (I mean, it was an expensive five minutes, but I amortize the cost over the subsequent 16 and 18 years thus far.)

Plus, I'm still in the naive stage where I am imagining the schooling costs ending at some point in the not-to-distant future.

Plus, I lead a boringly simple but satisfying life on the rest of what I spend.

Plus, I really should spend more; my WR last year was too low.

Been there myself. Though if at 16 and 18 the schooling costs are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[SecondCor521]

Been there myself. Though if at 16 and 18 the schooling costs are just the tip of the iceberg.

I view a college education as obligatory to provide. There are other things but I view them as optional; I may or may not provide those things.

 

[NW-Bound]

... not including window replacements of the entire house for $32K.

About 2 years ago, I replaced 12 windows out of 21 (the other 9 were already dual-pane). It cost around $12K for fancy argon-filled dual-pane windows.

I guess either you have more windows than I do, or the cost is a lot higher where you are.

 

[NW-Bound]

I view a college education as obligatory to provide. There are other things but I view them as optional; I may or may not provide those things.

It was money well spent for me, as my children (32 and 28) are now doing well and employed in the field of their college education. I did not have to pay for their graduate school, as their employers picked up the tab.

After they launched, I found myself with so much more money.

 

[socca]

2017 SPENDING BREAKDOWN - BUDGETED
54% necessities: taxes, housing, food, medical, auto, reserves
25% savings
21% discretionary
----
100%

2017 SPENDING BREAKDOWN - ACTUAL
38% necessities: taxes, housing, food, medical, auto, reserves
62% savings + discretionary
----
100%

Summary: 2017 was a good year.

 

[audreyh1]

OK - I finally got all my credit card statements and transactions uploaded.

We came in well under budget in 2017. I raised our budget substantially because we had finally met our budget - exceeded it slightly - in 2016. It was time.

But we somehow underspent compared to both 2016 and 2015! So we underspent even compared to our old budget.

Not to worry - DH has a list of expensive electronics he is buying in short order, and it will eat up a chunk of the unspent funds from last year! Last week he asked me to check on the credit limit on our Fidelity VISA LOL!

 

[dixonge]

Not tracking our spending quite as finely as most of you, but still hovering around $2000/mo. We've only been officially retired for less than six months, so things are still settling down, but we're in our expected range for 'regular' expenditures, after subtracting irregular expenses like travel or getting our kitchen set up. Given that almost all transactions here are in cash, it makes the details quite the pain to track. So the main categories are ATM withdrawals and rent. I'll have a much better picture at the end of *this* year...