Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-01-2016, 06:45 PM   #21
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,474
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
My Quicken screen says $68,606 YTD, and we still have one month to go. At least, it looks like it will not be 6 figures this year, like the last 3 years. Having 2 homes costs money to maintain, plus travel.
Wow, you really cut back this year! Congratulations on that.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is online now   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 12-01-2016, 06:50 PM   #22
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Well, my daughter is already married. The expenses on the homes tapered off, and should be minimal next year (fingers crossed).

Next year, I can travel more, if I can manage MAGI to avoid sticking my head up and getting it lopped off by ACA insurance premium of $24K/year.

PS. FIRECalc says I can sustain spending deep into the 6 figures with SS, but what do I spend money on?
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 06:54 PM   #23
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 148
I'm amazed at how low some folk's monthly expenses are? DW retired last year and collects $4K+ per month in SS and Pension. I'm still working with a decent salary, but pretty sure I will pull the plug in less than 6 months. If I decide to draw SS and several pensions our monthly guaranteed income will be $8K, plus I can take my health insurance at cost from the VA -- and I'm scared to pull the trigger. No mortgage, our biggest expense is food/dining /wine [25%], housing/utilities [16%], Taxes [16%], Autos [12%], healthcare [8%] -- I know there is a lot of discretionary spending. I think the ERCI data list the average expenses for a retired couple to be $46K/yr or $3.8K/month. Plus, I could take 3% from our investments and add another $2K+ per month. We've planned, have a good margin of safety -- need to take a leap of faith. Great job everyone.
wyecrabber1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 07:02 PM   #24
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Quote:
Originally Posted by wyecrabber1 View Post
... I think the ERCI data list the average expenses for a retired couple to be $46K/yr or $3.8K/month...
ERCI: Emergency Response Centre International ??

Just eyeballing my Quicken screen, I can see that we can easily live on the above amount if we cut back on the non-essentials like the 2nd home, and if the health care cost does not balloon out of hand. Travel will be cut back, but that's not the end of the world. I would not be so generous with gifts and donations. It would still be a comfortable life, and I would not complain.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 07:10 PM   #25
Moderator
rodi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,178
We're between $6500-7000/month, all in. That's with two teenagers under roof and hitting max OOP for the second year.
__________________
Retired June 2014. No longer an enginerd - now I'm just a nerd.
micro pensions 6%, rental income 20%
rodi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 07:13 PM   #26
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,474
Quote:
Originally Posted by rodi View Post
We're between $6500-7000/month, all in. That's with two teenagers under roof and hitting max OOP for the second year.
That's a huge hit to the budget! You are doing wonderfully, especially considering the medical costs and the fact that this is for a whole family.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 07:42 PM   #27
Moderator Emeritus
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 12,896
$3,500 a month ... plus rent, which is quite hefty in San Francisco. Moving to a lower cost of living next year, targeting $4,500 a month, all in.
FIREd is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 07:46 PM   #28
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,390
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ready View Post
We need $7K per month for the two of us. I guess it's a Southern California thing.
Yes, California is very expensive. To me its not worth it. I got out as soon as I could. People who live in California , a lot of them would live no place else.
__________________
Understanding both the power of compound interest and the difficulty of getting it is the heart and soul of understanding a lot of things. Charlie Munger

The first rule of compounding: Never interupt it unnecessarily. Charlie Munger
UnrealizedPotential is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 07:57 PM   #29
Moderator
braumeister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,206
Basic expenses a little over $3K a month. That covers a comfortable lifestyle without any travel or luxuries in the southern Ohio/northern Kentucky area.

Any expenditures above that are purely discretionary and dependent on your desires.
braumeister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 08:53 PM   #30
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
2017ish's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Nashville
Posts: 2,504
We plan to spend a good deal more than anyone else on this thread so far (and more than we presently spend after taxes/savings while working after kids gone). But, that is with HUGE discretionary expenses planned to make up for many years of deferred travel plans (more than 1/2 our planned spending). Like DrRoy, we certainly will be able to live well on considerably less--which is why we are comfortable with planning variable spending rate.

Everyone's expenses will differ; what W2R, Danmar (who prudently hasn't responded!), Braumeister, or I spend is irrelevant to anyone else. The key is having sufficient portfolio (or, if you are in that position, other cash flow) to cover your own spending with sufficient safety.

P.S.--OP, congrats on $3300. With our health insurance/cost cost projected/guestimated at 2000 per month, there ain't no way we'd hit that!
__________________
OMY * 3 2ish Done 7.28.17
2017ish is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 08:53 PM   #31
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
CaliKid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Ex-Cali
Posts: 1,236
I am impressed with everybody's reasonable lifestyles. It staggers my mind to think how much we spend.
__________________
______________________
The plan was September 1, 2022 and I am 95% there. Still working a few hours a week at the real job.
CaliKid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 09:08 PM   #32
Moderator Emeritus
laurence's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
We're targeting 10k a month in 12 years when we retire, so these numbers make me happy that we can live on that. We will have housing costs minimized so that helps a lot in San Diego.
laurence is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 09:35 PM   #33
Recycles dryer sheets
BreathFree's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Navarre
Posts: 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
There's just one of me, living in a 1500 sf house in New Orleans.
Here's my average monthly spending by category for the past five years. I prefer not to reveal my spending on income tax or on medical, so those are not included.

Miscellaneous $318
Video games $55
Groceries $248
Restaurants $266
Gasoline $67
Car $161
House $554
Utilities $335
Fitness $98
Clothes $29
Income Tax not telling
Medical not telling
TOTAL $2131 plus income tax and medical
.
Notice there is no "entertainment" category but if you prefer, you could call the restaurant category "entertainment". It's kind of like that. We eat lunch together every day at a cheap mom-n-pop type neighborhood restaurant with reasonably healthy food, and have delightful conversations and fun.
It sure would be difficult to keep my resteraunt bill that low living in New Orleans. Y'all got some fine eating over there.
BreathFree is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 09:39 PM   #34
Recycles dryer sheets
BreathFree's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Navarre
Posts: 141
I'm not retired but I currently spend $3018.00 a month in Florida. That is everything but Fed income and pay roll tax
BreathFree is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 09:41 PM   #35
Moderator Emeritus
Ronstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 16,543
Don't know exactly what household numbers are since DW and I have separate finances and I only keep track of mine. But after guessing her number, I'd say we are normally $8000-$8500.
Ronstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 09:54 PM   #36
Moderator
rodi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,178
Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
That's a huge hit to the budget! You are doing wonderfully, especially considering the medical costs and the fact that this is for a whole family.
Thanks. It helps that we cook most meals at home and my main fun activities are free (walking the dog on the beach and doing my free senior water fitness classes). And it helps we have older, paid for, cars.

Quote:
Originally Posted by laurence View Post
We're targeting 10k a month in 12 years when we retire, so these numbers make me happy that we can live on that. We will have housing costs minimized so that helps a lot in San Diego.
Housing is a huge expense in SoCal... We get by with the lower spending numbers because the house is paid for and we've got prop-13 locked in low property taxes and none of the dreadful mello roos taxes/bonds. I couldn't afford to stay retired if we still had a mortgage payment.
__________________
Retired June 2014. No longer an enginerd - now I'm just a nerd.
micro pensions 6%, rental income 20%
rodi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 10:23 PM   #37
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 289
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ready View Post
We need $7K per month for the two of us. I guess it's a Southern California thing.
$7K.....I guess it's a NORTHERN California thing as well
__________________
"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable"
- J.K. Galbraith
FireBug is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 11:42 PM   #38
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
I never tracked expenses until 6 years ago, when I realized that I needed to know what they were. Prior to that, as long as we had plenty of money left over after maxing out our retirement savings, we were happy. This cavalier attitude obviously would not work in retirement, when our income dropped.

Quicken makes it easy to see where our money goes. And in the few years since I tracked, I saw that our highest expense year was 1.5X the lowest year. It's very lumpy. And it did not even go back to the year we bought our 2nd home.

It surprised me to see how we spent so much money, despite patting ourselves on the back for being so frugal. When I told my wife, she was taken aback.

FIRECalc says we can keep on spending even higher than our most profligate year. And there's no way I am going to live another 30 years. But what more do I spend money on? I already have enough, and need no more toys or expensive cars. The market can just crash, or health care cost might rocket up even more than it already has, taking out all of the safety margin I think I have.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2016, 06:24 AM   #39
Full time employment: Posting here.
racy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 881
For 2 (3 counting my medicated dog), living on the Great Plains, the average over the last 4 years was $6530 per month which includes everything: vacations, taxes, medical...

However, no year was average: our highest year was $7088, our lowest year was $6036.

If just starting to plan retirement expenses, recognize some years could be significantly higher.
__________________
"It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating". Oscar Wilde
racy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2016, 06:27 AM   #40
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Punta Gorda, FL
Posts: 828
We are coming up on year 10 of ER. I quit keeping track of expenses this year. I just keep an eye on our net worth. All in we go thru about 10k per month. At least that's what we were spending the previous 5 years or so.

Health insurance, country club, and a airplane run the cost up.
And grandkids.

Our net worth is higher now than ever, so I guess we are doing OK.
dm is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Schedule E... what are your numbers? SAtoUS FIRE and Money 17 03-17-2016 12:26 PM
10 numbers that can change your life UtahSkier Young Dreamers 0 12-05-2012 08:44 PM
Post your picture... Or numbers... Or whatever mickj Other topics 45 05-27-2006 12:04 PM
Rent or buy: run the numbers. Nords FIRE and Money 23 09-27-2005 07:20 PM
Don't get burned chasing hot numbers FunGoals FIRE and Money 5 01-26-2005 05:24 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:58 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.