How much did you spend in 2010?

I spent ~$36,000 in 2010, below my "budget." I amortize big-ticket items (cars, overseas travel, house repairs, etc.)
 
Our expenses were about $52K in 2010. It will be more in 2011 as the youngest daughter will be attending college.
 
W2R, you should make that Smithsonian trip. Same as my planned Alaskan RV trip, it's just something to do for a change in scenery. I don't really have to do it; I have said if I should die before it, it would be no big deal. But if one has some extra money, might as well get a bit of pleasure from it.
 
NW-Bound said:
W2R, you should make that Smithsonian trip. Same as my planned Alaskan RV trip, it's just something to do for a change in scenery. I don't really have to do it; I have said if I should die before it, it would be no big deal. But if one has some extra money, might as well get a bit of pleasure from it.
Click to expand...

I agree! Right now it is too cold for either of our northern adventures but we should keep them in mind for later on.

Meanwhile, on Monday I am renewing my gym membership and I am looking forward to that. I am happy that I have the extra money for things like that. After my holiday excesses, some time on the rowing machine and elliptical will feel wonderful.
 
I think there is a lot of creative figuring going on . I only spent this amount but it doesn't include this or that . That is fudging the facts . You total up all your expenditures and the number you get is reality . Anything else is a fantasy !
 
Of course not now! One has to wait until the Cherry Blossom on the National Mall. :smitten:

But it may be time to watch for airfares. Best wishes. :flowers:
 
NW-Bound said:
Of course not now! One has to wait until the Cherry Blossom on the National Mall. :smitten:

But it may be time to watch for airfares. Best wishes. :flowers:
Click to expand...

Maybe you can get to Alaska early once it warms up a little. From what I am hearing, gas prices are rising so the sooner the better. :flowers:
 
About the fantasy, I have not posted what we spent, because I have not added it up yet. And maybe I do not want to know. The balance of the portfolio is real. Quicken tells me up to the last dollar. Why do I need to know more than that? Why can't I wait until I really need to know? :angel:

About the gas cost, I am seriously thinking about upping my energy stock portion to mitigate the potentially higher gas prices. Party on!
 
NW-Bound said:
Of course not now! One has to wait until the Cherry Blossom on the National Mall. :smitten:

But it may be time to watch for airfares. Best wishes. :flowers:
Click to expand...

Cherry Blossom in DC in incredible.
 
Moemg said:
I think there is a lot of creative figuring going on . I only spent this amount but it doesn't include this or that . That is fudging the facts . You total up all your expenditures and the number you get is reality . Anything else is a fantasy !
Click to expand...

Seems to me that if one is attempting to glean any useful information from these reports, it would be helpful to know all the different permutations in people's accounting. For example, I would be interested in knowing where the young wife and I stand on the spendthrift scale for day to day living in retirement, when I expect to have a paid off house and not need to save anymore, as well as substantially lower taxes. Thus, I would like to know if the reported spending numbers are with or without mortgage payments, with or without taxes, and with or without savings, since all these things are very large numbers for us. A simple "cash out the door" number is not that helpful.
 
But Gumby, should you not estimate from your existing expenses? I read about other people's expenses as a financial porn to satisfy my curiosity to see how other people live, but that's all. For example, I remember that you have to pay a very high RE tax (more than both of my 2 homes combined), yet you do not want to move. And you like nice wine bottles (one a day too!). :)

So, each of our situation is unique, and I personally do not really expect to get much info by comparing with other people.
 
NW-Bound said:
But Gumby, should you not estimate from your existing expenses? I read about other people's expenses as a financial porn to satisfy my curiosity to see how other people live, but that's all. For example, I remember that you have to pay a very high RE tax (more than both of my 2 homes combined), yet you do not want to move. And you like nice wine bottles (one a day too!). :)

So, each of our situation is unique, and I personally do not really expect to get much info by comparing with other people.
Click to expand...
I track our spending very carefully on a spreadsheet of my own construction and I think I know fairly well what will change, and by how much, once we retire. But that assumes we continue to do things the way we have always done them. Quite a number of our daily living expenses are discretionary and I am interested in some comparison data primarily to know whether we should think about changing the way we operate.
 
But will that make you unhappy to scale down? I myself have been fairly frugal (hah!) so I should be catching up on spending I think. But scaling down is tougher. Will you be happy with 2-buck chuck? :ROFLMAO: OK, OK, I indulge with wine a bit better, but not much. :) I was not at all kidding when saying I could go live in the NM mountain with a 25' RV. Of course, to get the missus to join me is something else.

PS. I remember that you like to eat out (darn, my memory is good). We don't. So, we are all different.
 
Nords if it makes you feel any better we are paying ~$3.21/g for 89 Oct here in WA.

For example we buy gasoline at about $3.25/gallon
Click to expand...
We haven't run the numbers yet. Hopefully will do it this weekend and see where we come out compared to our budget.

DD
 
Just got my spreadsheets built for tracking 2011 expenditures, so when this comes around next time, I'll be ready!
 
Heck, I have not done Nov yet...

But, knowing where I was then and knowing a bit of what we spent... I would say close to $100K... that includes all taxes, medical insurance and out of pocket (which is over $10K).. etc. etc... so it is everything...

Man, a wife and two kids extra costs a LOT of money....


PS... this does not include $6K that my wife threw in for more vacations :mad: To me, money spent is money spent even if it is hers...
 
Without a spreadsheet for 2010, knowing what our net pay is, and what was left over (nothing)...I feel pretty confident in reporting that we spent somewhere close to $42,300 after taxes & retirement savings.
 
In the two years since DH retired to join my RE status, we have spent around $40K over budgeted expenses on things like a new car, "elective" home improvement (not required maintenance things), and over-the-top once-in-a-lifetime-travel opportunities; yet we've been living off the nest-egg which remains at the same level.

Just like W2R describes, I back these expenses out. For DH and me, this is the same kind of lala-land accounting that I use to not include our home in our net worth--yeah, I know it's not kosher but I really don't care, as I know what it means. And we spend less than the rest of the budget anyway.
 
I'd give anything if I could go to lala-land...just 24 hours worth would help me a lot.
 
Khan said:
Haven't worked all the numbers.
Spent ~$22k
Gave away: ~$10K
Portfolio: larger than a year ago
Need to figure out how to tap TSP
Click to expand...

To tap the TSP, chances are you will want the TSP-70 form or the military equivalent TSP-U-70 form) here .
 
Reading all the porn here got me excited :blush: to try (again) to track expenses for the coming year. Just a quick gander through the check book makes me think we "spent" something upwards of 100K this year, but that's misleading. So many "expenses" are tax related in one way or another. These are non-recurring or discretionary. They really aren't related to daily living.

How, for instance, does one account for the non-recurring "expenses" such as realtor fees for the sale of a property? That didn't even come out of the check book. How, too, do folks account for their tax payments? Do you count 2010 taxes in 2010 or when they are actually paid (some in 2009 - carry overs, some in 2010, estimated payments, some in 2011 catch-up for e.g., extra Roth conversion in the final quarter of 2010)?

How do you account for taxes paid on e.g., Roth conversions, in general. Realistically, you could look at the taxes as "owed" because you own a TIRA. If you pay the taxes, aren't you really just exchanging one asset for another? A $100k TIRA is the same as a $70k Roth (100 minus 23k Fed taxes and 7k state taxes roughly)?

Basically, I've given up in the past. I think we'll try it again and see how 2011 works out. I've been depending upon looking at the difference in the "stash" and if it doesn't go down (or doesn't go down much) I've felt pretty good about our situation, knowing that many of our expenses are discretionary.

Hoping this time 2012, I'll be able to "show you mine" when you "show me yours".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
2024 Investment Performance Thread
3 4 5
Replies
124
Views
5K
Born2Fish
B
C
Guaranteed Investment Advice in a Roth IRA
Replies
2
Views
605
pb4uski
pb4uski
audreyh1
Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds Discussion 2024+
6 7 8
Replies
182
Views
21K
audreyh1
audreyh1
D
Planning my last 20 years, how much to spend. (Part 2)
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
llolly
L
D
How to factor future SS into pre-SS spending
Replies
16
Views
778
Koolau
Koolau

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom