2013 expenses

[bradaz2488]

Hello, below were my expenses (%) for 2013. Just curious how this compares to others that have ER'ed...

Monthly Bills 16.73% House Up-Keep 5.92% Cars (gas, maintenance) 13.27% Groceries 8.37% Insurance (car, health) 8.37% Taxes (property, fed, state) 12.24% Household (electronics, furniture) 5.51% Clothing 0.82% Entertainment 10.20% Vacations 12.24% Miscellaneous 6.12%

 

[aaronc879]

I haven't ER'd yet but my total spending for 2013 is $14349. Shouldn't go up past $14400 by the end of the year. That is consistant with the last several years expenses. Next year my budget goes up to $18000 because my new work requires travel that I have to pay for on my own. 2014 will likely be my highest expense year ever.

 

[M Paquette]

I haven't ER'd yet but my total spending for 2013 is $14349. Shouldn't go up past $14400 by the end of the year. That is consistant with the last several years expenses. Next year my budget goes up to $18000 because my new work requires travel that I have to pay for on my own. 2014 will likely be my highest expense year ever.

Your total budget for the year is about the same as the medical insurance line item on my budget, as a retiree who buys individual high deductible/HSA eligible coverage for his family.

Folks looking at their spending while working should be aware that their working budget may be substantially different from their E-R budget. Just thought I'd mention that...

 

[aaronc879]

Your total budget for the year is about the same as the medical insurance line item on my budget, as a retiree who buys individual high deductible/HSA eligible coverage for his family.

Folks looking at their spending while working should be aware that their working budget may be substantially different from their E-R budget. Just thought I'd mention that...

I understand your point. I'm 34 and single so my HI will be MUCH lower than someone in their 50's or older with a family. $15000 was my budget for 2013. $18000 is my budget for 2014. I'm not saying that i'll retire with that as my budget.

 

[NW-Bound]

I haven't ER'd yet but my total spending for 2013 is $14349. Shouldn't go up past $14400 by the end of the year.

Your total budget for the year is about the same as the medical insurance line item on my budget, as a retiree who buys individual high deductible/HSA eligible coverage for his family...

I was about to say that my total medical and dental cost was lower at $11,300 when I realized that it did not include the $10K deductible I paid this year, but out of the HSA that's not shown in my Quicken. And I had only a crown replaced this year, and my wife had just a simple dental checkup. Also, my children are already independent

 

[aaronc879]

I was about to say that my total medical and dental cost was lower at $11,300 when I realized that it did not include the $10K deductible I paid this year, but out of the HSA that's not shown in my Quicken. And I have only a crown replaced this year, and my wife has just a simple dental checkup.

Knock on wood, i've been fortunate to have nearly zero medical expenses in my adult life thus far. I realize a lot changes from age 34 to 50+.

The job i'm doing now requires that I stay in good shape and I get a full(free) lab work-up plus vital signs and ECG several times a year.

 

[NW-Bound]

Great for you. As far as becoming high-maintenance as one gets older, I went from having an "annual exam" once every 2 years to costing my insurer $100K this year in addition to my $10K deductible. Hopefully, that's it for a while, for my health's sake more than for my money. The $10K deductible I can stand, but the surgeries and hospitalization are dreadful.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I have not got it down to the penny but for the two of us it is around 16k.

 

[W2R]

Edited to add: updated with final numbers. Didn't need gas.

[-]Obviously I don't have my FINAL spending totals for 2013 since the year is not over. I might need gas for my car this week, and plan to add about $30 to the restaurant total, for example. But anyway, here are my preliminary spending totals for 2013. [/-]

Income taxes are not included but everything else is..
.

Groceries	$2,488.66	Includes toiletries, detergent, etc.
Restaurants	$2,665.23	lunch every day plus some dinners
Gasoline	$965.24	I live in an inner suburb, and everything is close by.
Car	$1,443.91	insurance, maintenance, registration, safety inspection, driver's license renewal
House	$4,904.48	insurance (homeowners' and flood), property tax, lawn care (no other maintenance/upgrades)
Utilities	$4,947.11	Cable TV,internet, nat. gas, electricity, water, trash, sewage, cell, landline
Fitness	$1,140.43	gym fees, weight watchers
Clothes	$527.37	casual "retiree wear" and shoes
Miscellaneous	$4,039.32	Gifts, books, new 55" TV & stand, router, laptop, financial software, furniture, etc.
Video Games, apps	$904.19	also includes yet another two video game consoles
Medical	$4,968.25	dentist, implant & crown, optometrist, prescription sunglasses & eyeglasses, prescriptions
Health insurance	$2,967.26	federal retiree health insurance + 7 months of Medicare Part B
Total	$31,961.45	plus income tax

.
.
This is about $5,105 more than last year's spending. Medical + health insurance accounts for $4014 of that increase, but I also spent $1181 more on miscellaneous (on the "fun stuff" part of miscellaneous). It looks like I can afford to spend more than this, so I am loosening the pursestrings and next year, look out! Time to stop being such a tightwad as I was earlier in retirement.

 

[aaronc879]

Obviously I don't have my FINAL spending totals for 2013 since the year is not over. I might need gas for my car this week, and plan to add about $30 to the restaurant total, for example. But anyway, here are my preliminary spending totals for 2013. Income taxes are not included but everything else is.
.
.

Groceries	$2,488.66	Includes toiletries, detergent, etc.
Restaurants	$2630.79	lunch every day plus some dinners
Gasoline	$965.24	I live in an inner suburb, and everything is close by.
Car	$1443.91	insurance, maintenance, registration, safety inspection, driver's license renewal
House	$4904.48	insurance (homeowners' and flood), property tax, lawn care (no other maintenance/upgrades)
Utilities	$4947.11	Cable TV,internet, nat. gas, electricity, water, trash, sewage, cell, landline
Fitness	$1140.43	gym fees, weight watchers
Clothes	$527.37	casual "retiree wear" and shoes
Miscellaneous	$4009.33	Gifts, books, new 55" TV & stand, router, laptop, financial software, furniture, etc.
Video Games, apps	$904.19	also includes yet another two video game consoles
Medical	$4968.25	dentist, implant & crown, optometrist, prescription sunglasses & eyeglasses, prescriptions
Health insurance	$2,967.26	federal retiree health insurance + 7 months of Medicare Part B
Total	$31897.02	plus income tax

.
.
This is about $5,041 more than last year's spending. Medical + health insurance accounts for $4014 of that increase, but I also spent $1151 more on miscellaneous (on the "fun stuff" part of miscellaneous). It looks like I can afford to spend more than this, so I am loosening the pursestrings and next year, look out! Time to stop being such a tightwad as I was earlier in retirement.

Those are some cheap lunches. Or you're a bad tipper
$2630.79/365=$7.21/meal

 

[W2R]

Those are some cheap lunches. Or you're a bad tipper
$2630.79/365=$7.21/meal

$12 for the two of us, +$2 tip. Sometimes less but never a lower tip than that.

Aaron, a lot of this low price is because we are older, and older people don't eat as much. Also I am trying not to eat much for weight loss reasons. You would probably need to pay a lot more for lunch than we do.

 

[rbmrtn]

I should be coming in at a little over $17K. Sad thing is 50% of that is property tax, auto,home, health insurance...

 

[aaronc879]

$5, +$2 tip Sometimes less but never a lower tip than that.

$5 at a sit-down restaurant? Wisconsin has low cost of living but that deal is nowhere to be seen outside of an occasional breakfast special. Maybe I should move to New Orleans

 

[Amethyst]

Yay, new work! I know you had been looking.

Amethyst

I haven't ER'd yet but my total spending for 2013 is $14349. Shouldn't go up past $14400 by the end of the year. That is consistant with the last several years expenses. Next year my budget goes up to $18000 because my new work requires travel that I have to pay for on my own. 2014 will likely be my highest expense year ever.

 

[Ready]

Hmmm...after looking at W2R's expenses, I'm not feeling so frugal. For a family of two:

Groceries $6662
Utilities $3256
Dining $1998
Property Tax $11,400
Home Improve $31,130 (did some remodeling)
Medical $6415
Vacation $2371
Home Insurance $2600


The home improvement was a big splurge for us, and I had a big dental bill, but otherwise this was pretty much routine expenses for us. And I didn't think we were living all that luxuriously...

 

[photoguy]

Our expenses have been coming in at about 24k/year for two not including housing, healthcare (premiums), non-family travel, taxes, and amortization for big housing expenses (e.g. new roof).

 

[aaronc879]

Hmmm...after looking at W2R's expenses, I'm not feeling so frugal. For a family of two:

Groceries $6662
Utilities $3256
Dining $1998
Property Tax $11,400
Home Improve $31,130 (did some remodeling)
Medical $6415
Vacation $2371
Home Insurance $2600


The home improvement was a big splurge for us, and I had a big dental bill, but otherwise this was pretty much routine expenses for us. And I didn't think we were living all that luxuriously...

As long as you can afford it, go for it. From another perspective: your property taxes are more per month than mine are for a year. Your remodeling cost almost as much as my condo is worth. I think I live a pretty good lifestyle. Just shows there are many paths to a happy life.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I should be coming in at a little over $17K. Sad thing is 50% of that is property tax, auto,home, health insurance...

There is a reason most of the skyscrapers in NYC belong to insurance companies and banks.

 

[jetpack]

I am annoyed at myself that I don't know what my 2013 expenses were, and I certainly can't get a full tally (paid w/ cash a lot).. Something to think about for next year. I did end the year with a lot more than I started though!

 

[NW-Bound]

Hmmm...after looking at W2R's expenses, I'm not feeling so frugal. For a family of two:

Groceries $6662
Utilities $3256
Dining $1998
Property Tax $11,400
Home Improve $31,130 (did some remodeling)
Medical $6415
Vacation $2371
Home Insurance $2600


The home improvement was a big splurge for us, and I had a big dental bill, but otherwise this was pretty much routine expenses for us. And I didn't think we were living all that luxuriously...

True.

I already told about our health expenses this year. And then, after taking out the housing costs like insurance and maintenance items for 2 homes (exterior paint and pool maintenance cost for main house but not much for the 2nd home this year), the vehicle costs like insurance and maintenance (4 vehicles) and gas for the RV (no vehicle purchase this year), the charity donations (which takes up 0.5%WR of the 3.2%WR total), food costs (no foie gras, caviar, truffle, or jamon iberico here), travel (much less this year because of health issues), utilities, taxes, etc... etc... I ended up with $831 that we spent on ourselves after all the essentials.

Of that $831, Quicken said $380 was for shopping (clothes and hobbies?), and $449 is for "Uncategorized". I can't explain the latter without a bit more digging, but that $831 was all that we spent!

PS. Uh oh! As of 1 or 2 months ago, my expenses for the previous 12 months were running at 3.2%. Due to some last minute expenses, it is back to 3.5%, the same as last year. What makes this even worse is that all WR % numbers are computed at the contemporaneous portfolio value, which is of course higher this year than last. My expenses are going up! This is not a good trend.

 

[W2R]

$5 at a sit-down restaurant? Wisconsin has low cost of living but that deal is nowhere to be seen outside of an occasional breakfast special. Maybe I should move to New Orleans

Sorry! I was in a huge rush because we were headed off to the gym and lunch. So, I made a mistake (and corrected my post as follows):

$12 for the two of us, +$2 tip. Sometimes less but never a lower tip than that.

Aaron, a lot of this low price is because we are older, and older people don't eat as much. Also I am trying not to eat much for weight loss reasons. You would probably need to pay a lot more for lunch than we do.

Often we split a small $7.99 wrap between the two of us, and I only drink water at lunch which means my share is $4. But then we have tax, and tip, so my contribution is $6. Other times, like today, I ordered my own Caesar salad which was $7.99 all by itself. So, with tax, and tip, my contribution was $10. It all averages out.

But you are right - - - restaurant competition here is absolutely brutal and because of that, we do pretty well in the local mom'n'pop restaurants.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

My food/alcohol, not dining out was almost $15k. Time to cut back...

 

[aaronc879]

Aaron, a lot of this low price is because we are older, and older people don't eat as much.

Tell that to my dad. He's only 1 year younger than you and eats for 3.

 

[F4mandolin]

I thought we did pretty good this last year. I only keep track of the money we SPEND.....I don't include Health insurance since that comes off my pension before I ever see it. We will be just under $36,000 for the year. I do NOT know how some of you are coming in well under $20k. I might have to itemize this year to see where it is going. Beer+Walmart Diet Coke is costing me about $1600 a year. Couple thousand on fixing the septic and having some trees cut down (although I get a fair amount of that back with reduced heating bills from wood)....and I cut down on the golfing this last year and only went 20-30 times. But......for less than $20k I would be living off pine cones and rice.......

 

[W2R]

Tell that to my dad. He's only 1 year younger than you and eats for 3.

Well see? With heredity like that, it would probably cost you a lot more. But at least you wouldn't have to pay for Weight Watchers!