Housing Cost Revisit- What's your expense to keep your house afloat?

[Live And Learn]

2,800 Real Estate Tax
3,000 Insurance
2,700 Electric
1,400 Water and Garbage collection
1,000 Alarm service and pest control
1,000 HOA (includes use of 2 community pools, 8 tennis courts, bocci, shuffleboard)
11,900 (990 / month)

I also have an annual average budget of $3,800 for repairs and maintenance (includes allowance for new roof, hot water heater, new HVAC)

1500 sq ft house near Clearwater fl (no where near the beach !)

[bbbamI]

Ok..I'll play...

Utilities...$4100
Home Improvement....$3500 (budget for maintenance, furniture, misc.)
Insurance....$1000
Property Tax...$3200

Total for year....$11,800.



<------Location...1800 sq ft house...mortgage free.

I didn't include phone, internet and cable as they don't hold my house up.

[Mulligan]

$1700 real estate taxes
$850 home owners insurance
$2000 elec/gas/trash/water/sewer
$700 water heater replacement
$6500 new roof

$11,750 this year. It better darn well be back under $4k again next year.
1500 sq. ft home in a small town

[Tandemlovers]

Our expenses for 2012:

Home improvement, repairs, exterminator services $6300 (new kitchen floor, tile repair, stairway carpet)
Property Taxes $3700
Home Owners Insurance $1100 (I believe this is a replacement cost policy)
Utilities Electric, Gas $2550
Sewage, Water, Garbage $760

Total spent $14410

House built in 1892, 2600 sq ft, walls and attic insulated late 2011, otherwise our
gas/electric bill would have been around $3200 for the year.

[LakeTravis]

Property Taxes: $6500
Insurance: $800
Utilities: $3600
HOA: $450

3350sf, Austin area.

[Major Tom]

Given the title of the thread, I'm waiting for the first boat-dweller to chime in

[NW-Bound]

This boat?

[Major Tom]

That's a level of minimalism I wouldn't even expect from the most ardent frugal types here

[NW-Bound]

More than minimalism, this guy exhibited heroism coupled with unabated optimism!

[FANOFJESUS]

1300 SF House
Taxes: $2000
Ins: $850
Utilities: $3000 (with phone and internet also)
Yard work: $80
Upkeep: $150

Total $6080

[bld999]

"unabated optimism!"

Not sure he's doing much dwelling, but he sure is trying hard!

[HappyOutsourced]

House is rural/suburban in Tennessee on 5 acres
insurance for house, 30x40 detached garage $1368
taxes $1560
electricity $3288
water $144
trash $180
deck sealers/exterior paint/wood filler $40
cable/internet/phone $1500
---------
$8080

***additional cost for mowing 4 acres -gas and equipment maintenance $$$$$$$!!!

[stepford]

Small 1200 sqft house in Southern California:

Per month.

Property Tax: $270

Insurance: $110

Basic Utilities (Gas, Electric, Water, Sewer, Trash): ~$220
(a bit more in summer, bit less in winter, but seasonal variation in heating cost roughly cancels variation in water and electricity)

Telecom (Cable TV, Internet, Family Cell plan): $160

Yard Guys + Housekeeper: $300
(This cost will go away in retirement. We did without these services for years, but they're awfully convenient when both spouses work)

Maintenance + Home Improvement: ~$200
(highly variable, but this figure is about the average over the last 20 years)

Total: $1250/mo = $15k/yr the price of suburban splendor.

[Tom52]

Chicago suburb, 2770 sq. ft. half acre lot with well/septic
.....................2012..YTD 2013
Property taxes $6184 $6644
utilities gas, elec $2104 $1785
garbage $328 $353
house ins $485 $556
yard maint/landscaping $1108 $1058
house maint/repairs $2446 $6145

2012 total = $12,655
2013 YTD total = $16,541

I have not included cable, phone, internet as I believe this is discretionary spending

[aaronc879]

860 sqft condo in small city(25,000 pop) Wisconsin

Taxes:870/yr
Insurance:180/yr
condo fees:1980/yr
utilities:1080/yr
maint.:140/yr(could use updating but this is average over 6 years)

Total:4250/yr

[seraphim]

Two story four bedroom, about 2700 sq ft, not including full finished basement in Ohio suburb



Property taxes: $2400
Insurance: $1200
Utilities: $2400 average
Yard work: $650

So about $6500 - $7000 a year

No mortgage.

[Katsmeow]

House about 2900 SF, Texas, suburban county.

Taxes - $5075
Insurance - $1836
Utilities - $4785 (about 3/4 of this is electricity)
Repairs/Maintenance - $2600
HOA - $650

$14946 a year


Things that I didn't include - major built in appliance replaced this year (dishwasher), and work that I see as basically one time (we have been in this house a little under 2 years so still doing some stuff that we will only do one time - example was clearing out some trash trees and making some landscaping changes). I also didn't include accruals for things that we don't spend routinely such as new roof, etc.

While the above is a big number it is about half of what we paid for the same things at the house we downsized from.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 Utilities $25/month? Our fuel cost adjustments on power use are more that that per month. How do you do this? Is cable/TV/Internet included?

I live in a newish condo building with a sophisticated central heating and cooling system, the operation, maintenance and fueling of which is included in my condo fees. The only part of it in my suite is a heat exchanger with no moving parts. I do have to put a new filter in it every 3 months (sorry, I forgot that, so add $50/year). Therefore, my electricity bill (called "hydro" here) reflects my use of lights, appliances and computers.

I did also forget the municipal water and waste charges, which are $72 per quarter ($288/year)/ With those corrections, my revised total is $6230+$50+$288 = $6568.

TV, cable and internet is not included in this. I currently pay ~$70 including taxes for high speed internet and phone. No cable.

[Singletrack]

Hmm...looking at some of the property tax numbers, it is perhaps relevant to disclose whether there is a state income tax (i.e., in some states, the lack of a state income tax is compensated for by higher real property taxes).

In Colorado, we have a state income tax of 4.63%.

Our home: 3,200 SF finished; 1,600 SF unfinished basement; $380K assessed value.

Taxes................................$1,900 per annum
Insurance..........................$2,800
Utilities (water, elec, gas)....$3,600
Garbage..............................$250
Cable, internet...................$2,200
Maint reserve.....................$3,000
Lawn / landscaping care........$750

Total.................................$14,500

[project2501]

Our budget for 2012, but 2013 is looking very similar.

House in western NC
2688 sq ft
3.27 Acres

No mortgage
No cable tv; OTA HD and Internet streaming
No car payments on 5 cars(2DD, 3toys) we maintain ourselves from oil changes to engine rebuilds (the wife works on her own too). DIY is just how we both grew up.
House maintenance is done ourselves except the AC heat pump cause it's under warranty, and the gas is maintained by the gas company for home insurance purposes.

About 15min from town. House is modern, energy efficient, has a well, and sewer. CFL/LED lighting; majority of appliances runs off propane gas like the AC heat pump, on demand water heater, stove, gas log fireplace (backup), and clothes dryer. In the near future we're putting in solar panels to cut even further and run the refrigerators, lighting, and ceiling fans.
Cell phone is pay as you go(burner) through Verizon. We keep 100/6mo on it to keep it active and don't use it very much.

monthly debts 2012
phone + DSL internet 70
power 78
gas, propane 58
gas vehicles 100
food, and supplies 450
health ins 114
cell phone 16
trash pickup 10


sub totals = 896/mo

Annual home ins = 800
Annual land tax = 585
Annual vehicle tax = 180

Total $12,317/yr