Average Spending - Singles

[Independent]

According the the BLS, average spending for single people, ages 60-79, in 2013.

CATEGORY	Owner__	Renter_	Both___
Food at home	2,794	1,852	2,302
Food away from home	1,350	1,020	1,138
Mortgage interest	1,930	12	1,321
Mortgage principal	1,657	12	1,133
Property taxes	2,274	6	1,553
Homeowners insurance	516	6	355
House maint, repairs, flooring	1,296	30	893
Rent	24	6,818	2,138
Electricity	1,264	685	1,077
Heating fuels	557	159	432
Water, sewer, trash, …	489	165	386
Major appliances	192	27	139
Housekeeping services	599	129	447
Cleaning Supplies	214	133	172
Other housekeeping supplies	328	198	267
Furniture	218	106	180
Smal appl, misc HH eq & textiles _	808	279	600
Other lodging	230	23	164
Telephone services	861	597	779
Computer information services	263	145	225
Clothing	670	588	602
Cars, net purchase + lease	1,525	727	1,265
Vehicle finance charges	66	52	62
Car insurance	1,259	675	976
Gasoline	1,413	775	1,214
Car maint & repairs	711	268	559
Car rental, parking, tolls	124	50	100
Public transportation	28	84	45
Other vehicles	-	-	-
Health insurance	2,362	1,326	2,030
LTC insurance	155	52	122
Dental, Eyecare, Hearing Aids	470	159	370
Other medical	894	661	804
Personal services	25	5	18
Fees and admissions	224	81	178
Cable/Satellite services	717	524	654
Other AV equip & services	129	80	111
Pets, toys, hobbies, …	788	345	601
Other Ent supp, eqp, services	126	46	98
Personal care products	231	132	187
Personal care services	228	110	190
Reading	109	52	90
Education	90	30	68
Alcohol	257	209	222
Tobacco	183	289	215
Miscellaneous	674	431	584
Alimony and child support	260	241	252
Gifts to f & f, educational	164	23	130
Other gifts to family & friends	1,767	487	1,333
Tax deductible contributions	1,002	283	776
Life and other pers insurance	333	111	263
Travel food and alcohol	250	85	196
Travel lodging	269	77	207
Travel gasoline	88	40	72
Travel public transportation	364	103	280
Travel other	67	34	56
TOTAL	35,887	21,636	30,632

Yes, this is just like my earlier thread on average spending by couples.
I thought I should put singles in a new thread with a more descriptive title.

The Renters represent about 30% of the total interviewees.
About 1/3 of the owners are paying on mortgages, so the mortgage numbers above would be $5,800 and $5,000 for those people (and, of course, zero for the other 2/3).
These numbers exclude income tax.

The "How much do you need to retire?" thread has an entry from a single poster who spends $15k + rent. Note that's about the same as the average renter in this survey.

 

[rbmrtn]

Seems odd, why would the "food" category be different from an owner to a renter. The same person renting consumes less food ?

I don't spend anywhere close to what the owner table lists.

 

[Meadbh]

This does not include income tax. I am not in the US and I am not in that age group, but even accounting for the exchange rate, I spend significantly more on lifestyle expenses (CDN$50-55k) and the spending patterns are different from mine. I spend more on travel for sure.

 

[haha]

Seems odd, why would the "food" category be different from an owner to a renter. The same person renting consumes less food ?

I don't spend anywhere close to what the owner table lists.

More likely cheaper food, not less food. It is changing, but up to now renters are mostly younger and/or poorer than homeowners. This whole owner/renter breakout is also likely a richer/poorer breakout. Notice the class tell in that the renters spend more on tobacco. In America, smoking pretty much points to poverty. That or hipsters, but I think they are too small a group to affect national figures much.

Ha

 

[Independent]

Seems odd, why would the "food" category be different from an owner to a renter. The same person renting consumes less food ?

I don't spend anywhere close to what the owner table lists.

I agree with Ha. It seems that renters, on average, are simply working with less money. They spend less in every category except tobacco.

I broke them out because the "Both" column shows that the "average" single pays $1,553 in property tax and $2,138 in rent. Showing the two columns helps people understand how these averages develop.

Another example would be "computer information services" at $225/year. That probably doesn't mean there are a lot of people getting internet service for $19/month, but there are a bunch of people who don't have internet at all mixed in with those that do.

 

[meierlde]

More likely cheaper food, not less food. It is changing, but up to now renters are mostly younger and/or poorer than homeowners. This whole owner/renter breakout is also likely a richer/poorer breakout. Notice the class tell in that the renters spend more on tobacco. In America, smoking pretty much points to poverty. That or hipsters, but I think they are too small a group to affect national figures much.

Ha

Note that the numbers are for folks 60 to 79 so the age issue has been removed.

 

[Totoro]

I'm the single poster spending $15k. My spend pattern is completely different though from the average listed there.

Basically, I spend less on nearly everything (food at home, healthcare), and 0 on many items (no tobacco, no car, no alimony, no cable, no pets).

.. and then the drama happens: travel. I spend alot on travel. My 'bare bone' budget is just $9k, which basically excludes travel.

A few other items stand out for me:

• I'm 34. The stats shown are for older people. They tend to travel less.
• Older people who rent are by far poor. So the average older renter is actually not an average person. Like Ha pointed out.

Not that I consider myself super-frugal by any means. I'm probably somewhere between the median and the bottom quartile.


For my education level and job experience though I am definitely an outlier. Not that it matters, except for the impact on my savings rate (>70% in the good years).

 

[Senator]

Interesting note. According to this list, it is cheaper to rent.

Adding these categories
Mortgage interest
Mortgage principal
Property taxes
Homeowners insurance
House maint, repairs, flooring
Rent

Ownership is $7,697, Renting is $6,884.

 

[Totoro]

You shouldn't include mortgage principal. Also, not sure if tax deductions or rent subsidies are somewhere in there.

Still, it is interesting though to see that the numbers are relatively close to each other.

Big question of course is what kind of house are these people living in Heating, cleaning supplies and electricity 2x - 3x as much for owners seems to point to a big difference in square footage.

 

[scrabbler1]

You shouldn't include mortgage principal. Also, not sure if tax deductions or rent subsidies are somewhere in there.

Still, it is interesting though to see that the numbers are relatively close to each other.

Big question of course is what kind of house are these people living in Heating, cleaning supplies and electricity 2x - 3x as much for owners seems to point to a big difference in square footage.

I was thinking the same thing. I remember when I bought my co-op apartment 25 years ago and moved out my similarly sized rental apartment in the same neighborhood. I compared the costs of renting versus the costs of owning my apartment and netted it out after income taxes and they came out about the same. And that was despite having a mortgage with an interest rate of nearly 11%! I was able to reduce the interest rate through refinancing in the early 1990s and that knocked down a good amount of money I had to pay out every month. I did not count mortgage principal because I was simply paying myself by paying down debt.

When I paid off the mortgage a few years later, I was left with only my monthly maintenance which by itself was a lot less than any rent, and I still kept some of the tax deduction for property taxes and the co-op's own mortgage interest. And I have an asset versus nothing if I were still renting.

 

[eytonxav]

That health insurance looks pretty darn cheap

 

[Independent]

Interesting note. According to this list, it is cheaper to rent.

Adding these categories
Mortgage interest
Mortgage principal
Property taxes
Homeowners insurance
House maint, repairs, flooring
Rent

Ownership is $7,697, Renting is $6,884.

Note that only 1/3 of the owners have mortgages.
So I'd say that the owners pay $4,085 for taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs.
2/3 of them have no mortgage.
1/3 of them also pay $5,800 in interest and $5,000 in principal.

 

[Independent]

.
Big question of course is what kind of house are these people living in Heating, cleaning supplies and electricity 2x - 3x as much for owners seems to point to a big difference in square footage.

I was going to speculate on this. But, then I realized I have the data and I should be able to look it up.

Unfortunately, the BLS does not give square feet.
However, they do have "type of building".
52% of the owners live in "single family detached".
10% of renters live in that type of building.

They also show "number of rooms".
5.4 rooms for owners.
3.6 rooms for renters.

 

[Amethyst]

When I lived in rental apartments, heat was always included in rent. Other electricity use, including a/c, was on me.

I just found a note in a diary I kept in the early 1980's, when I lived with roommates in rented apartments. Although I didn't keep an expense spreadsheet like I do now, I watched my grocery spending like a hawk. In 1983, I spent $630 on food. With inflation, that would be ~ $1451 today. So I think those other renters must be eating a bit more than I did way back when. (I did not eat out at all).

Y

Big question of course is what kind of house are these people living in Heating, cleaning supplies and electricity 2x - 3x as much for owners seems to point to a big difference in square footage.