How much do you live on?

[Bestwifeever]

There's a difference between 'living' and 'living it up'.....

Right now, by budget is in dah middle of dah road.

(...oh...and this is under FIRE Related Political Topics? )

Good point--moved to FIRE and Money board.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

We live on 14k but it is tight at that level.

 

[lets-retire]

I would say that for $60K, most people would not feel deprived, except for the big spenders.

At 60k per year I'd feel like I'm living high on the hog. Even with extra money going to the mortgage I don't spend that much per year.

 

[obgyn65]

Agree. I guess $40-60k for a single person with zero debt, or $60-80k for a couple with zero debt also is perfect.

$60-80K a year for the two of us seems to be the norm.

 

[Rambler]

My parents live on about $22k. They have only dipped into savings twice since dad retired 8 years ago at 67, once to buy a new car when their car was totaled, and once for mom's hearing aids. They are now mid 70s and don't travel much. Their house is mortgage free.

I am not FIREd yet, and the company pays some of our expat expenses (housing in JP, plane fares for home leave, etc) and we maintain our home in the states, so it's not an apples to apples comparison. Adjusted for these anomalies, I think we could do fine (cover the necessities, healthcare, capex accruals, and a reasonable amount of hobby and travel money) if we had 80-90 after taxes and tithes. Hoping to be able to have more though...

R

 

[Sam]

I am getting criticized and disbelieved when I say that for my family - 2 people, with no mortgage on house and health care by my employer (~400$ mo excluded) we spend ~30-35K.

You will be "criticized and disbelieved" regardless of your actual annual budget, be it 30-35K, 12-29K or 36-100K. There are too many involved factors. Here are the few critical ones I can think of:

1) Lifestyle
2) Location
3) Lifestyle
4) Location
5) Lifestyle

Did I mention location and lifestyle?

 

[haha]

I would say that for $60K, most people would not feel deprived, except for the big spenders.

Actually, in almost any large west coast city it might be hard to qualify for a mortgage on a single family home with that income, even at today's BernankeRates (And by west coast I do not mean Fresno. )

I went to a Redfin seminar a few nights ago for people interested in buying a home. Most of us were 1st time home buyers, and as one guy in the group said, most of us seem to be "just off the boat". The buy points most discussed were $650,000 to $1,000,000. I am not saying that there are not cheaper places because there are. But many of them are old houses that would sell for <$100k in other cities, and are not near high paid employment, or not safe, or not otherwise suitable for the usual high earning couples, even if said couples might be just off the boat.

Many of the "what it costs to live" pronouncements on this board are straight out of fantasyland for many of us, especially the ones who do not want to put down their roots in a trailer park.

Ha

 

[jayc]

I take this to mean the absolute basics for the region you live in. The rest is a function of the options you chose for your lifestyle. My big ticket basics are 1/2 mortgage, car/home insurance, propane, gasoline, 1/2 r.e taxes, and water/garbage. DW and I split all basic expenses. It currently costs me $1580/month to live where I do. I assume about the same for DW. The mortgage goes away in 5 years, but I expect r.e taxes to replace most of that.

I have $300/week additional in the budget for travel/entertainment. Since March, I have hung close to the homestead for 1-2 months and then take 2 week roadtrips.

 

[Danmar]

Boy am I an outlier on this one.

 

[donheff]

Many of the "what it costs to live" pronouncements on this board are straight out of fantasyland for many of us, especially the ones who do not want to put down their roots in a trailer park.

Ha

+1 If you don't already own your home outright in my neck of the woods, mortgage payments alone will add up to the low end of the spending reports we see here.

I take this to mean the absolute basics for the region you live in. The rest is a function of the options you chose for your lifestyle.

Maybe, but I think focusing on absolute basics may encourage people to aim short of their needs. I would not wish to ER with an income stream that was anywhere near "absolute basics." I think that is something that happens to you if you don't/can't plan, not something to aim for.

 

[youbet]

Agree. I guess $40-60k for a single person with zero debt, or $60-80k for a couple with zero debt also is perfect.

Can't agree. DW and I definitely spend double what either would spend alone. How are you getting by on less than 2X your single budget as a couple?

 

[HFWR]

My recurring bills add up to around $24k, including PITI on my POS house. Not very good at tracking the "incidentals" though...

 

[NW-Bound]

Actually, in almost any large west coast city it might be hard to qualify for a mortgage on a single family home with that income, even at today's BernankeRates (And by west coast I do not mean Fresno. )

Ah, I forgot to put qualifiers on the $60K that I thought would be OK for most people.

With most people here already ER'ed or close to it, I meant for that $60K to not include the mortgage on the house, which should be paid for already.

Come to think of it, by the time we consider taxes of various kinds, and medicare costs, there may be so many different scenarios that the comparison between people's spending levels becomes impossible.

For me, the $60K will be OK, I think. It should be enough for a comfortable but not luxurious life, and also includes some travel expenses. I said "think" because it fluctuated wildly in years past. However, I cannot yet afford that $60K on a 2.1% SWR and without SS. I also do not know my expenses will stay there as my medical insurance premium keeps creeping up alarmingly.

 

[rescueme]

For me, the $60K will be OK...

Me also - but I don't know what DW would live on ...

 

[yakers]

Someone mentioned taxes, is the the after tax amount? Virtually all our income is taxable from a pension, IRA, some capital gains, not raiding the cash & Roth. After taxes we spent $85K over $100K gross but that includes younger son in college. House is paid off, no other debt and live really modestly except for travel.

 

[Silver]

I could live on $3k per month ($36k/year) given paid housing, health care, and taxes.

But take that $36k you need, add in close to $20k/year for health care and maybe another $10k for taxes and were up to $66k.

So, for your modest lifestyle one might really need $66k year gross plus a paid off house. Note that's approximately double what you spend.

+1

The house is paid for, and everything, including taxes, runs under $36k per year easily. I'm currently still on COBRA for 6 more months, but when that ends our expenses will skyrocket. I am really questioning the value of health care insurance.....the end product (health services) is pretty shaky at times and HI may not be worth the investment.

 

[NW-Bound]

Me also - but I don't know what DW would live on ...

That's why she's still working, isn't she? Smart woman.

 

[LOL!]

Is there any virtue in living on less than $100K a year? I don't think so.

 

[ksr]

However, I cannot yet afford that $60K on a 2.1% SWR and without SS.

If you don't mind my asking, how did you arrive at the desired 2.1% SWR? Is this an approximation of dividends and interest, or some other calculation?

 

[Automatika]

I voted 60-80K, without travel expenses that would have been significantly lower

 

[REWahoo]

I am really questioning the value of health care insurance.....the end product (health services) is pretty shaky at times and HI may not be worth the investment.

That can be a very valid argument as long as you know you will be healthy until your "sell by" date. I suspect you'd be shocked to learn how valuable even a high-deductible policy can be in the unfortunate event you don't die a sudden death. Even more so if you develop some sort of chronic illness.

BTW, premiums for our high-deductible individual health policies are currently running us slightly north of $10,000 per year...

 

[ziggy29]

Is there any virtue in living on less than $100K a year? I don't think so.

It's a virtue to not live *above* your means, IMO. If you bring $300K a year, there's not much virtue in being an extreme cheapskate -- but it's not a problem unless it affects your enjoyment of life, becomes an obsession or starts damaging personal relationships.

As for us, we're in the $40-60K camp now, but we could easily live on $30-40K if we wanted to ratchet our lifestyles down that much (paid off house, no debt, Megacorp health insurance). Of course, if I didn't have Megacorp health insurance we'd probably be back up in the $40-60K range again.

 

[Alan]

Can't agree. DW and I definitely spend double what either would spend alone. How are you getting by on less than 2X your single budget as a couple?

In our case we live on less than double what it costs to live as a single in the following areas:

1) We now only have 1 car
2) The gym membership is only 50% extra for husband & wife than single
3) Cooking for 2 is cheaper
4) when we eat out we nearly always by a single entree and split it
5) My retiree health insurance is only 50% extra monthly premiums to add DW and the $500 deductible is the same as for a single person.
6) Vacations - hotel rooms cost the same for a single person as for 2

 

[HFWR]

Is there any virtue in living on less than $100K a year? I don't think so.

Well, if you're only making $50k, then, yes...

 

[DblDoc]

Is there any virtue in living on less than $100K a year? I don't think so.

Other than retiring early no. Not much point in being miserable by scrimping by and not able to do those things you wish to in retirement.

DD