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View Poll Results: My annual household expenses excluding taxes is:
$24,000 or less 29 10.70%
$24,001 to $36,000 35 12.92%
$36,001 to $48,000 47 17.34%
$48,001 to $60,000 50 18.45%
$60,001 to $72,000 34 12.55%
$72,001 to $84,000 23 8.49%
$84,001 to $96,001 18 6.64%
$96,001 or more 35 12.92%
Voters: 271. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-01-2008, 03:09 PM   #21
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16k for the two of us with no debt.
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Old 11-01-2008, 03:26 PM   #22
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22k for two of us and two dogs/1cat.

Living expenses to take home pay(after 401k's)=22000/130000=17%

Now, if i include hobbies, well, it goes to 50%

If the economy starts to affect me directly, the hobbies go out the window.
Hobbies are snowmobiling/biking in the winter, and boating/biking in the summer. Biking may end up being the hobby of choice for the future.
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Old 11-01-2008, 03:47 PM   #23
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This year is basically the same as last year . I calculate my yearly spending allowance on Jan.1 and since I do a straight 4% next year may need a little tweaking of the budget but no terrible cut backs .
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Old 11-01-2008, 03:50 PM   #24
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I'd guess around $50,000 right now, but we could easily get it to under $40,000 if we needed to do so without unacceptable sacrifices.
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Old 11-01-2008, 04:40 PM   #25
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Divided our total expenses for 2007 by 2 and entered that. Seems like it was appropriate to account for the difference between a couple and a single. Obviously a couple requires at least double the dollars a single needs!
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Old 11-01-2008, 04:51 PM   #26
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I voted 24-36 because my mortgage is 1,531 but over 600 is principal no not really an expense. After retirement I will have medical expense but not while working but think I could live on 24K plus medical expense easily after the house is paid off or I move to a cheaper one.
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Old 11-01-2008, 05:40 PM   #27
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$20K a year to mortgage, $7500 to property taxes--more than 1/3 of our total expenses.
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Old 11-01-2008, 05:44 PM   #28
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Still w*rking, so no medical insurance cost to me.

Should come right in at 24,000 including maintenance fee on the paid-off apartment, a vacation in West VIrginia this summer, some books, some sushi ...

ta,
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who wishes the sushi budget was larger.
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Old 11-01-2008, 05:59 PM   #29
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I just figured this yesterday. Our biggest expense by far is:
Housing (Mortgage, HELOC, HOA Fees, Insurance) - $27,000/year.

It's likely our expenses will go UP next year due to additional preschool tuition, raised HOA fees (unpleasant but necessary) and increased charitable donations. But we're socking away as much as we can for an uncertain future.

Married, mid-thirties, two kids, 2-bedroom condo, one of us working, one of us stay-at-home.
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Old 11-01-2008, 06:53 PM   #30
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Just over $36,000 for a family of 4. One of the kids is in college (commuting from home) and that excludes his college tuition but includes books, transportation and meals while on campus. No mortgage, no car payments. This is plenty for us, I'm careful and frugal but not trying to drastically cut back.

I have been monitoring expenses all year, trying to learn what we will need as DH is looking at retiring in 5 years. By that time there will be no more college costs and both kids will be out. We should be able to get by with $28,000-$30,000 then.
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Old 11-01-2008, 07:05 PM   #31
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We're in the fifth bracket mainly due to the mortgage, it currently takes up 50% of the household expenses (not counting RE taxes and insurance). If it wasn't for the mortgage, we'd be comfortable in the second bracket. 27 yrs left on the mortgage

Married, mid-20s, 2 kids, single family home on LI, one of us working, one of us stay-at-home.
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Old 11-01-2008, 08:43 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet View Post
Obviously a couple requires at least double the dollars a single needs!
Not true. A couple requires less than double the dollars of one person because of economies of scale.
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Old 11-01-2008, 11:17 PM   #33
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Took a wild stab at it and said next to the highest. Mine includes prop tax & insurance on two homes that I have stateside but not the rent on company paid apartment in asia. Also includes non-interest costs of two cars in the US and one in asia (cars are saved for, then bought with cash), includes the shopping costs we incur while on vacation since most of that is to acquire things we need that are cheaper in the vacation venue than in our asian city. Looking for about 96k for retirement expense (more travel, health ins will go up, house is paid for).

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Old 11-01-2008, 11:21 PM   #34
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Without the self-imposed mortgage (and, as Rich requested, without the taxes & other one-time expenses) we're right around $4K/month.
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Old 11-02-2008, 01:38 AM   #35
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We were border line... put us into a higher category.
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Old 11-02-2008, 04:16 AM   #36
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Want to Amend my Estimate: With RE Taxes, Income Taxes, One Time Purchases: $40K.
Without RE Taxes, HELOC Interest, Income Taxes, One Time Expenses: $16K.

I can see, like always, IT DEPENDS!
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Old 11-02-2008, 04:47 AM   #37
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I budget myself $1200/mo but always seem to stay under that and that includes a mortgage. If mortgage was gone, i'd be under $10,000/yr although if I didn't have health insurance thru work then it would equal the cost of the mortgage and i'd be back up to almost $15,000/yr.
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Old 11-02-2008, 07:42 AM   #38
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I am at $3,000 a month without taxes . The extras such as travel and my new AC unit come out of my extra stash . I usually end the year somewhere aroung $50,000.
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Old 11-02-2008, 10:15 AM   #39
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Single, house paid off.
Excluding taxes I'm at the lower end of 24k - 36k
If I add in property taxes (~8k) I'm at the upper end of that range.

Since I started tracking my expenses in detail, I surprised at how much I spend on beer each year!
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Old 11-02-2008, 10:22 AM   #40
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Quote:
I surprised at how much I spend on beer each year!
Yes, but that's a necessity, a staple, is it not?
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