Budgeting/Expense Tracking - Practicalities

[W2R]

$31 electric bill this time of year? My last 4 have averaged over $200/mo. Looking forward to May-Oct where I average $40-something/mo. I may have a couple months where my total expenses go below $1000 even with my mortgage.

My heat is natural gas, which was $78 in February. I have had a persistent cough so the thermostat was at 75 degrees whenever I was home. Even though we had a cold winter, winters just aren't that cold down here. This time of year the electric just covers lights, refrigerator, computer, TV, and so on.

Now last July my electric bill was $127 due to the air conditioning during many consecutive days over 100 degrees or at least very hot. All 11 other months in the last 12 were under $100 so my average electric bill for the whole year is $63/month.

Your expenses are wonderfully low, Aaron!! You spend much less than I do overall. I think you should be crowned the King of LBYM.

 

[REWahoo]

My average expenses during the four months since retirement are $1,563.

Good grief.

The first year of retirement is typically a period where a new retiree is very cautious with expenses. In a year or so you'll get comfortable and loosen up your spending. Bet you'll up your average monthly spend to maybe $2,000, blowing money on all sorts of frivolous expenditures.

 

[aaronc879]

Your expenses are wonderfully low, Aaron!! You spend much less than I do overall. I think you should be crowned the King of LBYM.

Thanks, but I think I big part of why I spend so little compared to many here is because I make so little($48K in 2009) compared to most here and also because i'm in the early accumulation phase and have more of a NEED to spend little.

 

[Moemg]

For retirees, the time to LBYM is already past.

If one does not live AT her means in retirement, then when does she?

The economy always needs lots of stimulation. Party on!

I really try to do my best but I also spend way less than Firecalc says and I usually have a surplus of $10,000 in my budget at the end of the year . Any suggestions on how I should spend it ?

 

[W2R]

I really try to do my best but I also spend way less than Firecalc says and I usually have a surplus of $10,000 in my budget at the end of the year . Any suggestions on how I should spend it ?

Eat out more?

 

[bbbamI]

I am amazed at $1k and $2k expenditures for one month. Each month of my spreadsheet has an $830 balance before I spend a dime.

(Yearly expenses of med/dental/vision ins, homeowner/car insurance, real estate tax divided by 12)

 

[Moemg]

Eat out more?

I'd be afraid if I did that I 'd have to live on the treadmill so I'll pass but thanks for the suggestion !

 

[W2R]

I am amazed at $1k and $2k expenditures for one month. Each month of my spreadsheet has an $830 balance before I spend a dime.

(Yearly expenses of med/dental/vision ins, homeowner/car insurance, real estate tax divided by 12)

Well, insurance and property taxes in December are why my four month average is so much more than my one month average. My medical insurance is $170/month and not counted. This really isn't THAT low - - I think the reason yours is higher is that you have two people instead of one.

 

[Leonidas]

I really try to do my best but I also spend way less than Firecalc says and I usually have a surplus of $10,000 in my budget at the end of the year . Any suggestions on how I should spend it ?

That ought to buy some nice travel. Or I could just send you a stamped, self-addressed envelope - whichever works for you!

Eat out more?

I'm starting to have a hard time seeing you moving to Missouri. You living someplace other than NOLA, where you can just pop in for something blackened, or etoufee'ed or whatnot, doesn't seem quite right. My secretary when I was with the big G got married to another fed employee who was from Missouri and they moved there for a few years. I would talk to her every few weeks and every phone call included, "Oh Dave, I miss the food. They just can't cook up here!"

 

[W2R]

I'd be afraid if I did that I 'd have to live on the treadmill so I'll pass but thanks for the suggestion !

Well that's another reason and I can sympathize! Tonight for dinner we each just ordered a cup of gumbo and a house salad, with fork-dipped dressing in my case. No pizza or lasagna though it is tempting. The gumbo was delicious though and a cup of gumbo is only about 200 calories. Yesterday we shared a grilled chicken sandwich on French bread and it was fabulous though even half was more calories than that.

 

[NW-Bound]

I really try to do my best but I also spend way less than Firecalc says and I usually have a surplus of $10,000 in my budget at the end of the year . Any suggestions on how I should spend it ?

I'm trying!! Too busy enjoying a wonderful, idyllic retirement to get enough shopping in, I guess.

To "lighten up the load", I would think buying experiences like travel is better than purchasing "stuff". No storage needed. It simply stays in one's head, or at most a corner of the hard drive for digital photos.

Last night, I was pondering whether we should drive the Alaska Highway only one way, and take the ferry the other way. I priced out the cost for this 3-day ferry trip. It would take a few $K for 2 persons+RV to go from Bellingham to Haines! Driving is not cheap either; Canadian gas price is already at US$4/gal, the RV gas mileage is in the single digit, and the trip is more than 8000 mi total. Man, oh man! Perhaps it's cheaper to take a cruise!

Good grief.

The first year of retirement is typically a period where a new retiree is very cautious with expenses. In a year or so you'll get comfortable and loosen up your spending. Bet you'll up your average monthly spend to maybe $2,000, blowing money on all sorts of frivolous expenditures.

Frivolous? You like to keep some to take with you?

 

[W2R]

I'm starting to have a hard time seeing you moving to Missouri. You living someplace other than NOLA, where you can just pop in for something blackened, or etoufee'ed or whatnot, doesn't seem quite right. My secretary when I was with the big G got married to another fed employee who was from Missouri and they moved there for a few years. I would talk to her every few weeks and every phone call included, "Oh Dave, I miss the food. They just can't cook up here!"

They really can't! We went to the only Sicilian restaurant up there and it was awful. We even went again to give it a chance and it was so bad. There will be some adjustment, that's for sure.

Also some adjustment to not seeing gutted, boarded up, moldy houses everywhere with four feet of weeds around them. Though that situation does seem to be improving, finally.

 

[W2R]

Good grief.

The first year of retirement is typically a period where a new retiree is very cautious with expenses. In a year or so you'll get comfortable and loosen up your spending. Bet you'll up your average monthly spend to maybe $2,000, blowing money on all sorts of frivolous expenditures.

Maybe so. I am so happy right now that it is beyond me what I could/should want that could make me any happier than I already am.

To "lighten up the load", I would think buying experiences like travel is better than purchasing "stuff". No storage needed. It simply stays in one's head, or at most a corner of the hard drive for digital photos.

I really don't want to travel further outside the continental U.S. Been there, done that for years and years and it doesn't appeal to me these days. I do like the vacations that Frank and I take. We drive to some other state and then don't really decide on an itinerary but go where we want to go and do what we want to do, spontaneously. Then when we miss being at home we come home.

 

[aaronc879]

Maybe so. I am so happy right now that it is beyond me what I could/should want that could make me any happier than I already am.

You still have family in Hawaii, right? Take a several week trip with top-notch accomodations. Ask your daughter where she would like to go on vacation. Go with her and pick up the tab. Just a couple thoughts.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I do like the vacations that Frank and I take. We drive to some other state and then don't really decide on an itinerary but go where we want to go and do what we want to do, spontaneously...

Well, how about driving further, like to Alaska or Newfoundland.

Then, how about boondocking along the way? Hint, hint...

 

[W2R]

Well, how about driving further, like to Alaska or Newfoundland.

Maybe someday.

We haven't yet decided where to go on this next trip. We thought of Texas, Missouri, or maybe even Pennsylvania and Connecticut since I have never been up there. The nice thing about a spontaneous vacation by car is that we don't really have to decide until we find ourselves there.

I would love to go to the Smithsonian someday, too. Now THAT would be worth spending money on. I have wanted to go there ever since I was a little girl.

 

[NW-Bound]

Smithsonian in DC? I remember us wandering through several of them, and at the end of the day had museums out of our ears. Too much of a good thing in too short a time.

 

[Alan]

I am probably a little (a lot?) odd, but every month when I receive my bank statement I am really excited. Why? Because I am just dying to type in the stuff and see how much I spent in the previous month.

For some reason I get a huge charge out of this. Perhaps my Scottish heritage?

Yep, you're weird

Now that you've mentioned Scottish, and since next year is census year in the UK, have you heard how they save money doing the census in Scotland?

They simply roll a coin down the middle of each street in the towns, and count the residents as they come out to investigate.

 

[W2R]

Alan, I think that would work!

 

[Moemg]

To "lighten up the load", I would think buying experiences like travel is better than purchasing "stuff". No storage needed. It simply stays in one's head, or at most a corner of the hard drive for digital photos.

/QUOTE]


I totally agree with you and travel several times a year . In April I am going to visit my daughter ,SIL and grandson . We are going to the museum of fun in Raleigh ,NY and the zoo in Erie ,Pa.. Two weeks later my SO & I are cruising to Mexico ,Costa Rico & Panama and in November we usually meet up with my daughter & family in DC for Thanksgiving and of course a quick visit to Savannah ,Ga. in the early fall .

 

[Alan]

Alan, I think that would work!

You think I'm joking? We plan on living in the UK next year, and can arrange to be with DW's family in Scotland on census day, so we will be rushing out with the rest them when that coin rolls - it's a bit like Mardi Gras in New Orleans

To "lighten up the load", I would think buying experiences like travel is better than purchasing "stuff". No storage needed. It simply stays in one's head, or at most a corner of the hard drive for digital photos.

/QUOTE]


I totally agree with you and travel several times a year . In April I am going to visit my daughter ,SIL and grandson . We are going to the museum of fun in Raleigh ,NY and the zoo in Erie ,Pa.. Two weeks later my SO & I are cruising to Mexico ,Costa Rico & Panama and in November we usually meet up with my daughter & family in DC for Thanksgiving and of course a quick visit to Savannah ,Ga. in the early fall .

Travel is a big expense in our budget also. In a few weeks we will be driving to Colorado to spend a month there.

July is England for 6 weeks and then in September we're off to Canada to meet up with a load of relatives. We'll be driving there and back and have a 3 location stay planned. Should take 5 or 6 weeks in total.

Next year, live in England for 6 months, and take advantage of cheap flights to European destinations for a few short trips.

While I track what we spend, I no longer spend a load of time categorizing everything. Now that we are ER'ed I just don't have the time.

 

[NW-Bound]

Now, after hearing Alan's joke, I have to tell this joke that I read a few years ago. No offense intended, though!

An American, a Scot, and a Canadian were traveling together in a car when they were involved in a fatal accident.

They went up to the pearly gate. St. Peter looked up his roster, then frowned. He said, "There must have been a mistake. None of you are due at this time. If each of you pay for the expense to undo this, you will be reinstated in life like nothing ever happened."

The American said "Deal!"

As he came to, he saw that the medics were still working on reviving the Scot and the Canadian. A medic asked him: "What happened?"

The American answered, "Well, last I know, the Scot was still haggling with St. Peter about the price, and the Canadian was arguing that his government should pay."​

 

[Alan]

The American answered, "Well, last I know, the Scot was still haggling with St. Peter about the price, and the Canadian was arguing that his government should pay."[/INDENT]

SIL married a Campbell and they live in Scotland - I can relate loads of REAL stories that are similar !!

 

[audreyh1]

You have a category for "financial support"? Like sending money home to family overseas? I'm thinking about putting this type of expense under "gift" or "charity".

We have categories
Gift
Gift:cash

And the latter (sub-category) is where financial support and/or cash gifts to family go. Non-cash gifts go in the former!

For a couple of years we were paying some of my MILs bills. I created a separate medical category for this as there were potential tax itemizations from it.

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

I really try to do my best but I also spend way less than Firecalc says and I usually have a surplus of $10,000 in my budget at the end of the year . Any suggestions on how I should spend it ?

Send it to MEEEEEE?

Audrey