2019 Spending Summary and Analysis

[W2R]

What, nobody's started a spending thread for 2019? OK, here goes. I'll copy some of the verbiage from last year's thread.

My guess is that many of us are adding up our spending for 2019 right now and want to tell someone about it. How was your spending compared with last year? Are you happy with the amount you spent? This is a thread for saying as much as you WANT to say and feel comfortable sharing. If you do not feel comfortable even reading this type of thread, please stop now! There are lots of other threads to read.

The purpose of this thread is.... fun.

We have a wide range of income and spending on the board, so I'd suggest you don't compare yourself to others on the forum; no matter how much or how little you spent, there are others just like you. It's more productive to compare your spending to that of your 2018 self, or to your goals. Do you want to report it as all inclusive, or in categories? Either way, here's your thread so have at it.

These are my totals for every category except estimated income tax payments. I am 71 years old, and live alone in a 1500 sf paid off house in an inner/urban suburb of New Orleans.

Category | Total for 2019 | Comments
Groceries |

$3,416.98​

| Includes toiletries, detergent, paper towels, etc.
Restaurants |

$3,177.00​

| lunch every day plus some dinners
Gasoline |

$377.79​

| Everything is close by.
Car |

$1,807.26​

| insurance, maintenance, registration, safety sticker
House |

$6,206.10​

| insurance (homeowners', wind-and-hail, and flood), property tax, mowing, maintenance, upgrades
Utilities |

$2,938.96​

| internet, natural gas, electricity, water, trash, sewage, cell (I don't have landline or cable TV)
Fitness |

$513.49​

| gym fees, pedometer
Clothes |

$232.93​

| casual retiree wear, non-skid "hospital" socks
Miscellaneous |

$1,092.03​

| gifts, haircuts, external hard drives, mouse, turbo-tax, car seat cushion, etc.
Video Gaming, apps, computer software |

$301.55​

| games, accessories, Paint Shop Pro
Medical |

$6,231.47​

| insurance, Medicare, prescriptions, OTC meds, various assist devices and equipment to ease recovery from knee surgery, etc.
Dental |

$345.00​

| cleanings, xrays, replaced filling that fell out
TOTAL |

$26,640.56​

| plus a boatload of income tax

(BTW, here's the forum explanation of how to set up a table like this one for those who might want to).

COMPARISON WITH 2018: My 2018 numbers are available here. This year I had knee replacement surgery and (mostly because it helped to reduce my stress about the surgery) I bought $1,160.83 worth of optional things to help with my recovery. Yes I went a little overboard. OK, a lot. Other than that my spending was about the same. Overall, including everything but income tax for both years, I spent $989.76 more this year than I spent in 2018.

AM I HAPPY WITH HOW IT ALL WORKED OUT? I guess...? I don't like spending more than usual but I can afford it, and the market is up. At least I didn't permanently upgrade my standard of living, and as long as I don't do that, then it is probably OK.

AM I SOMEHOW TO BE REGARDED AS ADMIRABLE OR VIRTUOUS FOR SPENDING THIS MUCH OR THIS LITTLE? I don't think that I spent a lot more than, or a lot less than, the rest of our members. And if I did, I don't really give a hoot because that is not where I get my feelings of self worth (and I imagine the same is true for you, too). The point of the thread is to have fun.

 

[HI Bill]

W2R...that's an admirable budget!

This year, we (wife and I) loosened up the spending (year before FIRE) to do some travel. I don't track the details anywhere like you do (down to the penny), but here's a high-level view:

Housing...$10K (property taxes, association fees, utilities)
Auto....$1.2K (gas, registration, safety)
Health Insurance/Copays...$6K
Groceries/eating out: $12K
Travel, Travel Clothing, Travel Accessories, etc. $32K (includes pre-spending for a 2020 trip)

TOTAL: ~$61K

 

[athena53]

I spent about $120K in total but my average WR rate since retirement in mid-2014 is still under 3.4% and trending downwards. SS and two non-COLA pensions of $900 each help.

22% of that was travel- about double the dollar amount from last year because I was funding a trip to Hawaii this past November as well as a budget-buster trip with Overseas Adventure Travel in March- Bolivia, Peru, the Galapagos and Ecuador. The tour, the flights, travel insurance and all but one hotel night all paid for.

19% was charitable donations, 20% taxes. Mortgage 7%, Medicare premiums including IRMAA adjustments 6%, home maintenance including replacing 2 major appliances 5%. Clothing a laughable $555 and over half of that is a single pair of boots. The rest is pretty routine stuff.

 

[aja8888]

I think we spent about $80k all in including taxes and buying an inexpensive car ($4K) for one of the needy grandkids. I'll have to go thru Quicken this weekend to sort it all out but right now, the Alamo Bowl has priority. Good thing the market went up in 2019.

We also spent $13,500 for Medicare premiums, supplemental policy premiums, Part D plan premiums, and OOP drugs (Drugs mostly for DW). This was for two of us and was included in the $80K estimate. OOP drugs for DW were $4K alone. My drug costs this year were $24.00.

 

[BeachOrCity]

Spent way too much! But it’s all good and a reasonable 3.5% withdrawal rate so I don’t really mind.

 

[Badger]

It was a bigger than usual year for us but we had it covered. Due to RMD for each of us it is going to get a little bigger with higher taxes. The coming year will be a lot less though. That is the plan.


Cheers!

 

[Midpack]

I’ve shared in prior years, but we moved and sold/bought a house in 2019 so our spending is just now reverting to a new mean after a 6 month “correction”

 

[PatrickA5]

We spent a LOT this year! Mainly, large one-time gifts to kids and college expenses. Only another year or so before DS is off the payroll, at which time our expenses should stabilize. Hopefully, we'll get down to a respectable number of less than $100K.

 

[braumeister]

Bought a new car in 2018, so 2019 spending was down considerably. It worked out to almost precisely a 2% WR, so it's good.

 

[Rianne]

I keep monthly expenditures but don’t break categories down anymore. I might save in some categories and spend more in others and that changes monthly. Included in 2019 year end spending:
Total: $57896
Includes 3 week vacation in Eastern Europe
1 week vacation in Florida
Several weekend mini vacation
Food, insurance including life insurance, utilities, property taxes...all day to day spending... gifts, charity (monthly deductions) and all health expenses.
I did not include the new car as that is an unusual one time large expenditure that goes into a separate category.
We did get a new roof that insurance paid the full amount. )))

 

[aaronc879]

I lost my job due to permanent restrictions and disability from my hip replacement. As a result I don't know how much money I will be making in the future so I spent nothing more than needed so the money I have can last as long as possible. I'm single, 40, and live in low COL area but have a mortgage. Total spending was just under $15K for 2019. I'm usually under $20K so this isn't much less than normal. Even at $15K/yr I am not FI so I need to make some money somehow even though I have too much pain for any full time job.

 

[grasshopper]

Grasshoppers Big Ten Spending 2019

Travel $21,031.04
Medical $19,829.28
Groceries $7,871.70
Pets $4,970.10
Dining $2,109.18
Tax $1,915.02
Auto Service $1,769.38
Electric $1,254.85
Household $1,187.13
Recreation $942.21
All other spending categories under 1%

Total +/-$70,000 paid cash for new auto not included in spending

 

[mckittri2000]

A little over

We spent approx. 34K this year. This is 4K over our budget but 3K of the overage was due to having to have a well pump and holding tank changed out. House and all vehicles paid for so we don't need very much except the necessities and a couple of vacations a year.

 

[rothlev]

It would help if posters let us know how many people their spending is for : ie married, single, family.

We are spending around 75k a year for two of us. ( not counting federal tax of another 10k that is withheld from pension income )

 

[Carol1862]

$60K. No debt. Medical was $24K! Dental implant, minor surgery and ACA. Medicare goes into effect by end of 2020 so that should help. Hopefully stay healthy too!! But looks like 2020 or 2021 will see youngest daughter getting married

 

[JustCurious]

Total +/-$70,000 paid cash for new auto not included in spending

That's funny. Your total spending numbers are not "total".

 

[pb4uski]

Putting aside the payoff of our mortgage on Dec 30, we spent about $95k (for two), which is close to our target.

Big items:

• $18k on mortgage payments
• $6k on car loan payments
• $16k on recreation and entertainment (golf, travel and dining out)
• $6k on food and groceries
• $6.5k on property taxes
• $6k on health insurance
• $4k on ATM withdrawals/cash spending
• $8k on winter condo expenses

2019 should be lower as mortgage payments, our largest item, is done with.

 

[pb4uski]

That's funny. Your total spending numbers are not "total".

grasshopper has it right.... you're confusing spending with withdrawals.

While a car is money out the door, it isn't living expenses which is what we are typically referring to when we use the term "spending". And technically, the car is the purchase of an asset that will be used and enjoyed for many years, not living expense.

I don't include my mortgage payoff in my 2019 spending, just like I didn't include the purchase of a winter condo in 2016 in my spending for that year... however in both cases the amounts were included in withdrawals.

ETA: Oops, I see now that I may have misinterpreted JustCurious post... I thought that he was questioning grasshopper not including the amount spent on the car but I see now that he may have just been questioning grasshopper's math. Mea culpa.

 

[street]

I run some numbers this morning and by the looks of spending/WR we show a 0 WR for the year. In fact the numbers show a positive 3.25% more in the one account we live from. That did surprise me because we did spend on incidental expenses that just happened.

We did have a huge decrease in HI premium in 2019 and also we have started SS. I don't keep track of expenses all I want to know is bottom line where we were and where we are now numbers. We spend what ever we need and when and have no budget.

 

[Fermion]

So how do you account for a purchase of a new vehicle for cash in your spending? We purchased a Ford Transit van for about $33,000 including sales tax in 2019. It obviously has value and we could have financed it but we took the entire lump sum out of taxable.

Without that purchase our spending was about $58,000 but with that, it is over $90,000.

I figure you could calculate how long you are going to keep it (6 years for us), then figure the price it will sell for in 6 years (maybe $12,000 with 60,000 miles on it), then it would add 21,000/6 = $3,500 a year to our spending.

 

[pb4uski]

So how do you account for a purchase of a new vehicle for cash in your spending? We purchased a Ford Transit van for about $33,000 including sales tax in 2019. It obviously has value and we could have financed it but we took the entire lump sum out of taxable.

Without that purchase our spending was about $58,000 but with that, it is over $90,000.

I figure you could calculate how long you are going to keep it (6 years for us), then figure the price it will sell for in 6 years (maybe $12,000 with 60,000 miles on it), then it would add 21,000/6 = $3,500 a year to our spending.

See post 18. IMO it is included in withdrawals but excluded from spending... given an interperetation that "spending" is living costs (food, shelter, entertainment, etc.).

 

[FIREd]

Single guy, 45 y/o, living in France.

2019 was a transition year for me involving an international move. I sold my house, my car, and a bunch of personal possessions at the end of 2018 and I used the proceeds to repurchase a condo, a car, and some furniture at my new location in 2019. So I won't include those expenses here.

Living expenses came right under $35K for the year. I spent roughly:

$5,400 on food
$2,700 on financial assistance to family members
$2,400 on gas (about $6.5 a gallon here)
$2,200 on HOA fees (includes heating and hot water)
$1,100 on car & umbrella insurance
$875 on medical (including HI premiums)
$560 on internet and streaming services (Netflix, etc...)
$520 on property taxes
$375 on electricity
$300 on home insurance
$270 on cell phone
$200 on cold water

I don't have a precise break down for the rest, but it included a substantial amount of furnishings for my new place.

 

[Nemo2]

No travel in 2019, and we spent just under $36K Canadian (approx $27,500 US).....including townhouse condo fees/property tax/insurance (including car), utilities, groceries, misc, etc.

2020, Inshallah, we'll do some more travel and bring up the numbers, but our outlays will still be less than what we bring in.

 

[RetireAge50]

We spent $80,862 overall, some detail:

Travel: $22k
Mortgage: 12k
Health: 5k
Taxes: 7k
Scooter: 4K
Insurance, Utilities, Phone, Fitness: 10k
Food and Misc: 12k
Auto and Home: 2k
Giving and Other: 6k

 

[HFWR]

Spreadsheet isn’t fully complete (hey, I’m FIREd!), but I’d guesstimate around $40k, including mortgage.