Final 2022 Cost of Living - Total Household Expenses (Not Including Travel)

[CincyDave]

Came in around $110K excluding travel.

 

[RobbieB]

Never had Korean BBQ. My kids always get a night out at any restaurant for their birthday.

My daughter wants to go to a Korean BBQ restaurant. I was like a what? Never heard of it.

Yes, I live in a cave.

Needless to say, next week I'll be experiencing my first Korean BBQ.

It will be a treat.

There are 2 kinds; the buffet "cook it at your table on the gas hibachi" style and the regular order off the menu style. Maybe not as I think I remember a sort of combo style.

But the thing I like most of all are the "pickles"; various little bowls of kim-chee, sprouts, bokchoy, fish cakw, potatoes and other stuff you ain't never seen before. With spicing you never tasted before.

Yeah, Korean BBQ Rocks!

 

[kgtest]

^ I hear that!
My older brother lives in Seattle proper, and they can walk to about 20 different places to eat within 5~8 blocks. They can also walk to 3 different grocers in the same or less.
She is a great cook and loves to do it, but they are getting meals out a whole lot more than they used to.

I had to check...we have at least 20 within walking distance here near the lake we live by. There are nice tables by the pier as well if we want to grab n go sit by the lake, and then we have probably 7 or so restaurants on the lake or with lake views. All of varying quality. We were REALLY good about not eating out until the last year or so. I usually grill chicken, salmon, filet mignon, cabobs, or we eat tuna salads etc. But this last year or so its been lots of salty high calorie food eating out. I much prefer cooking where we can control the ingredients and healthiness, along with portions. Some restaurants give enough food for 2 dinners and a lunch around here. With kids its been tough to avoid going out to eat here and there...especially the drudged fast food. It's just an excuse though as we can easily plan and make meals if we put our minds to it.


Burgers, seafood, Japanese, American burgers, Sandwich shops, Thai, Mexican. We have a pretty good selection for just being a quaint little downtown. If we want more, we can drive to the river 10 minutes away and get 5 star dining there as well.

 

[slowsaver]

Excluding travel and dining out, we spent $51,600. Including those, we spent $73,773 in 2022. That's 7.48% more than last year. I was a little unhappy with that increase, but it's strangely similar to the current inflation rate.

 

[socca]

2022 Spending Breakdown (as % of gross income):

21% - necessities (taxes, housing, food, medical, auto, reserves)
25% - savings, nominal
1% - discretionary, spent
53% - discretionary, unspent
----
100%

78% - effective savings rate (savings + unspent discretionary)

I need to learn how to have fun while spending tons of money.

 

[Dtail]

Many comments about spending more dough, but quite a few folks got to ER with practicing LBYM and probably won't change all that much. Just my observation, neither good nor bad.

 

[Toast]

Two adults with an adorable dog. No mortgage.

Excluding travel: $42,000.

The number seems really low considering we live very well. Large new construction house in a great neighborhood, relatively HCOL state, nice cars, we eat organic, DH had a dental implant, and generally speaking, we buy what we want on a small day to day basis.

I think this highlights the reason being debt free is so important. We could easily get our annual spend below $40,000 without our lifestyle really changing.

 

[Koolau]

Two adults with an adorable dog. No mortgage.

Excluding travel: $42,000.

The number seems really low considering we live very well. Large new construction house in a great neighborhood, relatively HCOL state, nice cars, we eat organic, DH had a dental implant, and generally speaking, we buy what we want on a small day to day basis.

I think this highlights the reason being debt free is so important. We could easily get our annual spend below $40,000 without our lifestyle really changing.

Very impressive. I can't imagine ever getting our spend to that level, even deleting charities, gifts to kids and deleting travel. It's true we live in a HCOL area, but just our HOA dues and other housing costs (for our paid for condo) plus cost of health care probably add to half what you spend in total. YMMV

 

[Toast]

We attribute it to having a paid off mortgage. That is the biggest difference from our situation a of couple years ago. Back then we still had a mortgage, lived in a state with higher property taxes, and paid HOA fees. Together those three factors added almost $18,000/year to our annual expenses.

 

[Koolau]

We attribute it to having a paid off mortgage. That is the biggest difference from our situation a of couple years ago. Back then we still had a mortgage, lived in a state with higher property taxes, and paid HOA fees. Together those three factors added almost $18,000/year to our annual expenses.

Do you "account" for future repairs/replacements in your final figure? I have heard that home maintenance (including repairs/maintenance) can average 1% per year of the house value. Heh, heh, I WISH that were true for us, though most maintenance is handled by the HOA, we do pay for it and we do pay for it every month - not just when something needs to be fixed/replaced.

Our HOA dues run about 2%/year of condo value - and they use most of it (with a little added every year to reserves for big stuff (like a new elevator or roof, etc.) If one has a $500K house, in theory, they should set aside something like $5K/year even if they don't actually spend a dime that year on maintenance. Obviously, that doesn't have to reside in a separate account, but probably should be considered part of yearly spend.

Very much a YMMV sort of accounting practice.

 

[Toast]

Do you "account" for future repairs/replacements in your final figure? I have heard that home maintenance (including repairs/maintenance) can average 1% per year of the house value.



If one has a $500K house, in theory, they should set aside something like $5K/year even if they don't actually spend a dime that year on maintenance.

Good point. We have always lived in new construction homes so we have been spoiled by not having large home repairs. We do have funds to cover replacement vehicles, appliances, etc.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Very impressive. I can't imagine ever getting our spend to that level, even deleting charities, gifts to kids and deleting travel. It's true we live in a HCOL area, but just our HOA dues and other housing costs (for our paid for condo) plus cost of health care probably add to half what you spend in total. YMMV

One of the costs of living in paradise I suspect. Otherwise we would be there, not is a 3500sqft house but.

 

[Koolau]

One of the costs of living in paradise I suspect. Otherwise we would be there, not is a 3500sqft house but.

Yeah, everything in Paradise is expensive, but there are lots of ways to make it w*rk - except housing. Short of including 3 or 4 generations in a household, housing will, by far, be the stumbling block for most folks. Oh, there is always a blue tarp on the beach. A number of w*rking poor live that way. I'm sure they prefer that to moving to the frozen mainland. When I first visited in '75, I considered that life style but soon thought better of it. YMMV

 

[Music Lover]

Yeah, everything in Paradise is expensive, but there are lots of ways to make it w*rk - except housing. Short of including 3 or 4 generations in a household, housing will, by far, be the stumbling block for most folks. Oh, there is always a blue tarp on the beach. A number of w*rking poor live that way. I'm sure they prefer that to moving to the frozen mainland. When I first visited in '75, I considered that life style but soon thought better of it. YMMV

Hawaii isn't the only place with nice weather. Even most frozen wastelands have a warm season. And of course, there is a lot more to life than weather.

On what I earned I never would have been able to retire in Hawaii. But I was able to retire at 53 in a frozen wasteland and can afford to spend all winter (if I choose) somewhere warm.

My version of paradise doesn't include working.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Hawaii isn't the only place with nice weather. Even most frozen wastelands have a warm season. And of course, there is a lot more to life than weather.

My version of paradise doesn't include working.

Ours does not include working either, and definitely not living in a frozen wasteland ....... at any time of year. It does include living by the ocean though.

We could afford to live in Hawaii, but do not want to invest OTT in a home. Sooooo NW Florida fits the bill.

 

[Dtail]

Ours does not include working either, and definitely not living in a frozen wasteland ....... at any time of year. It does include living by the ocean though.

We could afford to live in Hawaii, but do not want to invest OTT in a home. Sooooo NW Florida fits the bill.

Same here except in Tampa.

 

[Koolau]

Hawaii isn't the only place with nice weather. Even most frozen wastelands have a warm season. And of course, there is a lot more to life than weather.

On what I earned I never would have been able to retire in Hawaii. But I was able to retire at 53 in a frozen wasteland and can afford to spend all winter (if I choose) somewhere warm.

My version of paradise doesn't include working.

All true. We just decided that Hawaii had the best mix of things we wanted in retirement (not just weather - but that was a major factor.) It IS expensive, but we planned for that, so it w*rks for us. I could be happily retired just about any place in the USA but more happy where we are. YMMV

 

[Montecfo]

All true. We just decided that Hawaii had the best mix of things we wanted in retirement (not just weather - but that was a major factor.) It IS expensive, but we planned for that, so it w*rks for us. I could be happily retired just about any place in the USA but more happy where we are. YMMV

Koolau,

Are you in a rainy area? Just noticing the amount of rain on Kauai where we are visiting.

 

[Koolau]

Koolau,

Are you in a rainy area? Just noticing the amount of rain on Kauai where we are visiting.

Heh, heh, we used to be. When we first moved to the Islands, we barely knew that there was a "rainy side" and a "dry side" to the Islands. I really liked the first place we settled, but during the rainy season (can start in Oct., and one year it did) we got rain every day. We had all the windows open and it was still hot even as the rain poured down. One day, we looked at the rain band map. We were right in the heart of the rain band. So that year was unusually rainy but every year was somewhat rainy.

So we moved from windward to leeward. Now, we certainly get rain, but I don't consider it "rainy" here. It's just right (most of the time) and, if anything, it's too dry and the hills can begin to look like Southern California or Arizona in the summer.

But Kaua'i is probably the rainiest Island most years. One of the rainiest places on Earth is Mount Waialeale. Oh, and NOW IS rainy season in Hawaii!

Weather gets drier (usually) as you go toward Big Island. In fact, most of Big Island has been under significant drought for several years now. Oahu has some drought, but only moderate. This year, we're pretty much making up for dry winters of late.

I love the rain as long as it doesn't last more than 3 or 4 days (unusual on Oahu) or if it's accompanied by high winds.

Funny story on rain bands. As we were moving from our old (rainy) place, a leeward friend helped me load up a bunch of stuff in his pick up. We didn't cover anything. Just as we left our townhouse complex, it started to rain. I said to my friend "Turn left here!" He hesitated and I said it again. He turned and the rain stopped. He looked at me like I was demon possessed or something. But I knew about the rain bands and they are THAT predictable under many circumstances. YMMV

 

[kgtest]

Heh, heh, we used to be. When we first moved to the Islands, we barely knew that there was a "rainy side" and a "dry side" to the Islands. I really liked the first place we settled, but during the rainy season (can start in Oct., and one year it did) we got rain every day. We had all the windows open and it was still hot even as the rain poured down. One day, we looked at the rain band map. We were right in the heart of the rain band. So that year was unusually rainy but every year was somewhat rainy.

So we moved from windward to leeward. Now, we certainly get rain, but I don't consider it "rainy" here. It's just right (most of the time) and, if anything, it's too dry and the hills can begin to look like Southern California or Arizona in the summer.

But Kaua'i is probably the rainiest Island most years. One of the rainiest places on Earth is Mount Waialeale. Oh, and NOW IS rainy season in Hawaii!

Weather gets drier (usually) as you go toward Big Island. In fact, most of Big Island has been under significant drought for several years now. Oahu has some drought, but only moderate. This year, we're pretty much making up for dry winters of late.

I love the rain as long as it doesn't last more than 3 or 4 days (unusual on Oahu) or if it's accompanied by high winds.

Funny story on rain bands. As we were moving from our old (rainy) place, a leeward friend helped me load up a bunch of stuff in his pick up. We didn't cover anything. Just as we left our townhouse complex, it started to rain. I said to my friend "Turn left here!" He hesitated and I said it again. He turned and the rain stopped. He looked at me like I was demon possessed or something. But I knew about the rain bands and they are THAT predictable under many circumstances. YMMV

When I lived on Maui it was very similar. When I lived on Waiehu Beach, it definitely had its hot, humid and rainy season. Really glad I had a pool. It's crazy I would drive down to Kihei for work, and it was sunny and dry all day, come back home to the beach up north and my roommate would be like...it rained all day here.

I moved down to Maui Meadows/Wailea where I can hardly recall it raining. I guess it would some mornings or evenings, but most of the time it did not rain when the sun was out. We would get what people coined the Wailea cloud every day from about 1ish to almost 3pm every, single, day. It was a nice reprieve from the sun, and if I didn't want shade, I would just drive like 5 minutes down to the N Kihei beaches and it would be sunny. I heard Maui Meadows had a massive mud slide due to unrelenting rain a year or two ago. I saw full sized vans being swept down the road by the rain and mud. So I guess the year I lived there I was lucky not to experience that.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Finally finalized after filing taxes and time for missed items to show. I expanded a few categories that are common fodder here. The snip is actual cash flow rather than accrued expenses (I "count" auto depreciation but there was no cash outflow). Health Insurance was zero as the PTC covered my full premium costs. Adding in the subsidized cost of my HI plan and auto depreciation brings my expenses to $41.3K. I always plan to pay the full cost of HI but cashflow is probably more inline with the way most people track "expenses." Groceries is only food and basic hygene/HH consumables typically purchased at grocery stores and includes no alcohol which falls under entertainment. Dining out is eating out when not traveling/socializing (lazy/craving) which fall under entertainment.


Single guy, FL, paid off home and loving FIREd life!


* $629 was paid in sales taxes but is included in the category costs. Taxes was SE taxes on my little bit of earned income.

 

[Surewhitey]

Do you "account" for future repairs/replacements in your final figure? I have heard that home maintenance (including repairs/maintenance) can average 1% per year of the house value. Heh, heh, I WISH that were true for us, though most maintenance is handled by the HOA, we do pay for it and we do pay for it every month - not just when something needs to be fixed/replaced.

We have actual spending vs budgeted. Our budget fluctuates from $65-100k depending on maintenance / health events / "new" car. We have been spending $60k or less for 4 of 5 years. The 5th was a remodel year... The sell of the last house afforded us the extra for remodel as we sold it for $65k more than I had in the asset list.

Bottom line, we budget for, but rarely use it... So far

 

[Koolau]

We have actual spending vs budgeted. Our budget fluctuates from $65-100k depending on maintenance / health events / "new" car. We have been spending $60k or less for 4 of 5 years. The 5th was a remodel year... The sell of the last house afforded us the extra for remodel as we sold it for $65k more than I had in the asset list.

Bottom line, we budget for, but rarely use it... So far

Heh, heh, our building is getting old. I need to budget MORE for maintenance. I have been having bad thoughts about the people who designed our building without easy access to all pipes.

There are two kinds of pipes. Those that leak and those that will. YMMV

 

[Surewhitey]

Heh, heh, our building is getting old. I need to budget MORE for maintenance. I have been having bad thoughts about the people who designed our building without easy access to all pipes.

There are two kinds of pipes. Those that leak and those that will. YMMV

Yeah, we gladly reworked lots of pipes 5 years ago when we purchased the 52 model. The crawl space was so tight, we just blew some holes through the subfloor. Probably need to dig out a bit more dirt...

 

[Koolau]

Yeah, we gladly reworked lots of pipes 5 years ago when we purchased the 52 model. The crawl space was so tight, we just blew some holes through the subfloor. Probably need to dig out a bit more dirt...

What I would give for a crawl space! Our condo building is a concrete egg crate. To get to the pipes in most places, you have to tear out the drywall of the folks underneath you or tear open the hallway walls outside your unit. Either way is messy and expensive. We just had one set of pipes fixed (preemptively) and then another set began to leak. BTD in the last 4 moths - about $10K including the repairs required due to leaks. HOA rules make it impossible to collect on insurance (required by the HOA, by the way.) I'm hoping to raise a stink at our annual meeting - but don't expect much sympathy. The board's feeling is that a leaking pipe is YOUR fault - even though you would have to tear out your neighbor's wall to preemptively fix it (before it decides to leak.) Condo life has its ups and downs.

Returning you now...