How much do you need a month to life and enjoy?

[Sheryl]

I suggest anyone who posts their numbers include the housing payment and say so.  Or if you don't include your housing payment tell us what the rent would be on a place like you live in.

The numbers I posted back in reply #6 did not include house payment because it will be paid off before I ER. And I was trying to give comparable numbers to the OP who said he would have a paid off house.

My payment right now is $428 FYI.

 

[accountingsucks]

I'm very surprised at some of the numbers being thrown around (2500 - 4000 a month).

I have carefully tracked my expenses for 6 months and excluding my mortgage - which is only 310 anyways - I am spending $1400 a month. Now I have no car payment and this does not include any vacation, however I am the kind of person who would not spend more than 20K on a car and a $2000 vacation would be extravagant, so it would easily be under $2000 a month if I factor those in.

 

[REWahoo]

I have carefully tracked my expenses for 6 months and excluding my mortgage - which is only 310 anyways - I am spending $1400 a month.

Not married, are you?

 

[haha]

I'm very surprised at some of the numbers being thrown around (2500 - 4000 a month).

I have carefully tracked my expenses for 6 months and excluding my mortgage - which is only 310 anyways - I am spending $1400 a month.  Now I have no car payment and this does not include any vacation...

This baffles me. I have been posting here for about 3 years. In that time I have only managed to be below $2000 a month a few times, and I am frequently over that. My car is paid, my house is paid for, my health and other insurance is moderate, I haven't taken any trips other than very short local ones. No cable, no cell phone. One person only.

I do eat, and occasionally crawl out of bed and go somewhere or do something.

It's not that I am indifferent to what I spend either- I shop with an eye for value, and I don't buy much stuff or clothes. I do refuse to drive around all day looking for some slight price advantage on a purchase. I would rather work at a real job than do that.

Ha

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

This baffles me. I have been posting here for about 3 years. In that time I have only managed to be below $2000 a month a few times....

Man, me too. We have expensive housing costs, but even when I take these out or cut them down it is really tough to get things anywhere close to the numbers being tossed around here. Add back almost a grand or so per month for couple's health insurance and it looks like a real change in lifestyle will be needed if we plan for FIRE.

I guess it is the price we pay (literally!) for having lived a bit large before now. Never thought of ourselves as exorbitant but... Oh well, we certainly have had fun in the process.

 

[accountingsucks]

Man, me too. We have expensive housing costs, but even when I take these out or cut them down it is really tough to get things anywhere close to the numbers being tossed around here. Add back almost a grand or so per month for couple's health insurance and it looks like a real change in lifestyle will be needed if we plan for FIRE.

I guess it is the price we pay (literally!) for having lived a bit large before now. Never thought of ourselves as exorbitant but... Oh well, we certainly have had fun in the process.

Since a couple of you have asked - I am single and for sure being married would add to these costs.....that is something that keeps me up at night actually in that I want to be FIRE at 45 and getting married could make that impossible...oh well,. don't you worry about me...LOL

Anyways here is my breakdown

Property taxes 170
Eating out/Groceries 400
Entertainment 100
Cat 15
Gym 30
Phone 45
Cable/net 100
Car and House Insur 120
Utilities 220
Gas/Car mtce 125
Toiletries 25
Presents/clothes 60

Total 1410

I live in Canada so maybe that is why the costs are lower? I do not pay any health insurance as it is the land of free health care here...hehe....also like I said, no vacation is factored into these numbers but I normally only take one every 2 years at about $2000 a trip.

I don't feel like I scrape or scrimp at all with these figures and I still see room to cut in my budget. I believe I could get it down to 1200 by packing more lunches and eating out less.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

One vacation every two years??

 

[accountingsucks]

One vacation every two years??

Yes and that is just hypothetical as the last one I had was 5 years ago. Unfortunately or fortunately I have changed jobs every 1 - 1.5 years or so, and many employers want you to be in a spot for a year before taking any time off. Because of that I have not been able to get anywhere in that amount of time. I guess the good news in that is that every job change has been a nice increase in pay.

I don't see a problem in staying home on my patio and pounding back beers during my vacation time. I live in Edmonton and I can drive out to Jasper/Banff for the day and MTN bike or ski and all it costs is a tank of gas.

 

[accountingsucks]

This baffles me. I have been posting here for about 3 years. In that time I have only managed to be below $2000 a month a few times, and I am frequently over that. My car is paid, my house is paid for, my health and other insurance is moderate, I haven't taken any trips other than very short local ones. No cable, no cell phone. One person only.

I do eat, and occasionally crawl out of bed and go somewhere or do something.

It's not that I am indifferent to what I spend either- I shop with an eye for value, and I don't buy much stuff or clothes. I do refuse to drive around all day looking for some slight price advantage on a purchase. I would rather work at a real job than do that.

Ha

I am curious as well as to how you are spending at least 600 more a month than me when we seem to be in similar situations (single, no car payment, etc). Do you have a breakdown of your monthly expenses? I'd be interested in comparing to my list.

Where do you live?

 

[ESRBob]

NewGuy,
The fact that you're counting the days now to end-of-school in June says to me you should try pretty hard to avoid having to go back in Sept. Plus, don't they make you sign a contract to finish off the school year? Did you figure out if your accumulated sick/vacation leave (200 days!?) would help out? Do you need to go until 12/31 to get the early retirement pension amount you described?

Anyway, good luck and stay sane until the day comes, but looks like your time has come to pull the plug.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

One vacation every two years??
Yes and that is just hypothetical as the last one I had was 5 years ago.
I don't see a problem in staying home on my patio and pounding back beers during my vacation time.

Hey - no problem at all, man. More power to ya. Of course that explains a sizable portion of the discrepancy in expenses.

I do have to laugh, though (not at you, but at ourselves), just imagining the conversation in my house:

"Darling, whatever shall we do for our next once-in-five-years vacation?"

"Not to worry, my dear. I have it all planned out: we are going for a week to the patio to pound back beers."

Meanwhile, you're the one who's all but retired, while I'm working 12 hour days just thinking about it. Cheers!

 

[astromeria]

One vacation every two years??

hee. Growing up, the only "vacation" we ever had was a one weekend a year at the cottage of family friends near a lake in Westchester County. Frankly, I was simply delighted to not be in school over the summer. We did go to the beach every Saturday or Sunday all summer long. I've been on a lot of vacations since childhood, but while they've been beautiful and educational and fun and exciting, not many have captured the pure joy of those carefree days with my brothers on the beach.

 

[haha]

hee. Growing up, the only "vacation" we ever had was a one weekend a year at the cottage of family friends near a lake in Westchester County. Frankly, I was simply delighted to not be in school over the summer. We did go to the beach every Saturday or Sunday all summer long. I've been on a lot of vacations since childhood, but while they've been beautiful and educational and fun and exciting, not many have captured the pure joy of those carefree days with my brothers on the beach.

I agree completely. For vacation my family stayed in a stone and log CCC cabin in a state park in KY. We swam, fished, rowed boats around, stayed up all night playing War with the other kids, and generally had a perfect time. At least once my Dad would take me into the old Southern town and we'd talk through the bars to whatever convict was in the stone jailhouse on the square. This was part of my moral education. "See Son, it all started to go wrong for that poor fella when he got in trouble and left high school."

Later when I lived at Venice Beach, you couldn't make me go on vacation. Why leave Venice? We had sun, sea, surf, practically naked women of the finest appearance in North America, tabouli, fruit drinks, and the German's to have breakfasts of 6 eggs, knackwurst, and coffee for $2.35. I could even fish off the pier and chat with guys who were interned in WW2 about what that was like. 

Ha

 

[dumpster56]

NewGuy,
The fact that you're counting the days now to end-of-school in June says to me you should try pretty hard to avoid having to go back in Sept. Plus, don't they make you sign a contract to finish off the school year? Did you figure out if your accumulated sick/vacation leave (200 days!?) would help out? Do you need to go until 12/31 to get the early retirement pension amount you described?

Anyway, good luck and stay sane until the day comes, but looks like your time has come to pull the plug.

I can take my early retirement anytime now, my health insurance is paid for I will get around 33,000 a year with a COLA after 24 months then every 12 months.

I will only be 50, which means I have lost 12.75% of the pension since I am not 55. But that adds up to only a bit over 5,000 a year. I am always gonna do something but out of NJ makes more sense these days. I will have no mortgage, no car payments, low real estate taxes, heck I could paint houses I could sell kayaks, running shoes, heck stoves part time at sears!

I am done with the rat race.

We will be taking a trip down to the NC wake county area next month and looking at all the areas and make a good decision, come back and call the realtor, or look in another area in south carolina or georgia. The nj days are now numbered.

 

[dm]

I think if I was in your shoes I would look at downsizing the house a little and bank the difference. I would think that you could by a pretty nice house in some areas for much less than $300,000.

A little extra in the bank may make things a little easier.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I stopped needing pressure release vacations when I turned off the pressure valve!

Living in a warm climate eliminated the "I need to get the hell out of this snow for 2 weeks!!!" vacations.

Being a couple of hours drive from 50-60 places people fly to for vacation satisfies the "Go to interesting places and see stuff" needs.

But some people like travel. Its going to be expensive. Unless you're a backpacker and hostel type, you're going to need a few extra million a year in your heap o' cash to ER.

We also get our medical covered through the wifes part time job, thats another huge expense we can shrug off for now.

 

[Nords]

But some people like travel.  Its going to be expensive.  Unless you're a backpacker and hostel type, you're going to need a few extra million a year in your heap o' cash to ER.

Well, if you spend ER traveling like you did when you were working, sure that's going to be expensive. Airplanes & resorts get top dollar for that.

Or you could live in a Chiang Mai apartment like the Kaderlis for six-ten months, use it as a base to travel the rest of Asia by bus or driver or train, live local on your dining, wardrobe, & housekeeping/laundry expenses, and probably spend less money than you'd be spending at your own U.S. home. No hostels or backpacks but plenty of friendships, photos, & memories...

 

[madeit!]

Better skip Wake County, NC - it looks like New Jersey now. $ 300K will not get you a lot of house here. Try farther east towards the coast. Don't go too far east - you'll run into all of the retirement communities full of New Jerseyites.

Good luck.

Bill from Raleigh.

 

[dumpster56]

Better skip Wake County, NC - it looks like New Jersey now. $ 300K will not get you a lot of house here. Try farther east towards the coast. Don't go too far east - you'll run into all of the retirement communities full of New Jerseyites.

Good luck.

Bill from Raleigh.

Oh I have seen the numbers.

We are looking in Johnston and Harnett counties.

Areas away from cary are also on the list in wake.

By the way I can sub teach everyday if I want I was told today. 80 dollars a day, yes a short 6 hour day , Lookin good.

 

[FlowGirl]

Well, if you spend ER traveling like you did when you were working, sure that's going to be expensive.  Airplanes & resorts get top dollar for that.

Or you could live in a Chiang Mai apartment like the Kaderlis for six-ten months, use it as a base to travel the rest of Asia by bus or driver or train, live local on your dining, wardrobe, & housekeeping/laundry expenses, and probably spend less money than you'd be spending at your own U.S. home.  No hostels or backpacks but plenty of friendships, photos, & memories...

Yup, we do hostels and backpacks and its damn cheap, but would be damn cheaper if we had the time to extend our 2-4 week vacations to 3-4 months. When you are trying to hit 3 attractions a day(and paying for taxis between them), buying a train ticket every 3rd day, lack the time to research the best deals, eating out for every meal because you want to experience as much local cuisine as possible, and then flying home at the end of the month, your daily average is naturally going to be high.

Don't get me wrong, I've loved all of our trips - they're loads of fun and quite inexpensive but each time we travel the spouse and I inevitably look at each other and say "We could do 3 months on the same amount of money if we just had the time."

 

[madeit!]

My wife just retired from teaching in Wake County, NC. You are correct, they are desparate for teachers and you will have no trouble subbing. My wife quit for probably the same reasons that you will - poor classroom discipline, poor parent support and an abominable school administration.
Johnston County is now the fastest growing county in the country, with Clayton exploding in growth. People are finding the RE cheaper than the Raleigh - Cary area and the commute not too bad (especially if you are from the NE), but it's really booming. Highway 64 is a parking lot at rush hour. Now Harnett County is like going back in time fifty years - very rural, lots of mexicans, red necks, barbecue dinners at the vol. fire dept. I.E. retirement paradise.

 

[brewer12345]

Now Harnett County is like going back in time fifty years - very rural, lots of mexicans, red necks, barbecue dinners at the vol. fire dept. I.E. retirement paradise.

<shudder>

 

[audreyh1]

You can do a whole lotta traveling on an extra 15K to 20K a year, and that doesn't require extra millions in the retirement fund. It would require an extra 500K or so - just not a million or more. You can also travel for a lot cheaper than that.

Flowgirl is right! When you have the TIME you can get a LOT more travel bang for the buck. Slower travel is far more enjoyable than fast travel too.

Travel is one of those things where you can easily spend an enormous amount of money if you wish, or you can spend a whole lot less and still get all of the enjoyment. Kind of like owning a house - you can go with clever/resourceful, or you can go with fancy where someone else does all the planning/arranging for you and you pay for it.

Audrey

 

[ESRBob]

NewGuy,
Sounds like you're getting closer -- does that mean you might not have to go back in Sept? You're pretty well off if you're only coming up 12.5% short by not going 5 more years.

2 other tidbits: Think about renting a house your first year while you get the lay of the land. Then spend your time that first year driving all over finding out the local knowledge about Real Estate, what you like etc and where the real values are. Trying to bounce from where you are to a new house in one hop doesn't make any sense -- but maybe whenyou said 'talk to realtors' you meant to get a rental from them anyway.

also, consider tutoring -- not sure if the market is as developed there but you might find an few hours of tutoring could give you the same $ as a whole day of subbing, which I am seeing gives you $13/hour and puts you back in that same environment of a school, teacher conference rooms, complaints and administration. Its nice to know you have a backup, but I'd say don't rush back into that if you're feeling this frustrated about it now. The teaching itself, one-on-one with students in your home or in their homes might be more lucrative and more fun.

 

[ESRBob]

Don't get me wrong, I've loved all of our trips - they're loads of fun and quite inexpensive but each time we travel the spouse and I inevitably look at each other and say "We could do 3 months on the same amount of money if we just had the time."

Flowgirl -- this is a great quote! Its the sort of idea that works on people until they finally get the ER mindset -- sounds like you guys are there. How long until you do 'have the time?" Good luck