Retired Folk... what are you spending a month?

[TimSF]

$7300 a month so far (through first 11 months of ER).

[brett]

$6K month after tax-over the past 30 months. But it will be going up because of upcoming travel plans.

Our lifestyle and spending habits have changed. Our diet is more Med now. Less meat, nothing fried, no processed foods/bread, much more salad and fruit. We feel much better for it. One car given away, more travel. No fast food. If we eat out it tends to be upscale dining that we cannot/do not prepare at home. Less clothing. Lots of travel.

Some expenses have increased, others have decreased. On balance it has been a wash.

[scrabbler1]

I spend about $1,800 a month. I generate around $2,300 a month from monthly and quarterly dividends from my mutual funds, not counting cap gain distributions. Therefore, I can reinvest excess dividends if I do not spend them.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ticker I have tracked my expenses to date and realize that many will reduce, but expect that some will increase. Anyone run into the unexpected? Pls tell us about it...

Other posters have mentioned previous threads on this subject.

As for me, I am too lazy to make a spreadsheet of all that, so I just try to shoot for a low WR for essential expenses, and with future SS as reserve. That should leave enough room for surprises. I also try to balance discretionary expenses like travel and other splurges against unexpected expenses like healthcare and home repairs.

I have always lived LBYM when working and never needed a precise budget, and am not going to do that now in retirement.

[dmdunca44]

Our monthly income (from pensions &SS) is $7001. That is what we spend. If we had to, we could live on about half that amount (no mortgage or other debt).
Annual international trips are funded by withdrawals from the IRA accounts. Usually $15K to $20K

[Options]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ticker I would be interested in any advise about budgetary surprises after ER. I have a budget set, and will ER in September. I have tracked my expenses to date and realize that many will reduce, but expect that some will increase. Anyone run into the unexpected? Pls tell us about it. We will be working off of a $3200/month budget with no debt and one vehicle.

Kitces on retiree spending patterns research. Contains some useful links:

Estimating Changes In Retirement Expenditures And The Retirement Spending Smile | Kitces.com

[23Red]

We budget around $8-10k a month ($2,500 of it is mortgage). We've been running under that though, typically around $6-7k a month. We travel fairly often...

[martyb]

Pre-retirement we were spending around $3250 per month. I retired last week, and I think going forward, we'll be spending $3850-$4000. That's without any withdrawals, strictly my pension & wife's paycheck (2-3 more yrs). When she retires, my other pension will replace her income, and we may begin some withdrawals.....or not. While she's working, she'll continue 401k contributions. Any money we have left over at the end of the month, will likely go into Roth IRA.

[Walt34]

Currently it's $3,000 to $3,300 a month but often significantly less in the winter when we're more inclined to stay home. When $2,300/month SS kicks in two years from now I'm not sure what we'll do with it.

But I'm sure we'll think of something....

[Cassie]

$3707 monthly expenses (mortgage, insurance, food, utilities, etc) $2280 (savings, emergency fund, vacation etc)
$120 monthly for hobbies and $500 monthly for vacation/travel...the money I'm saving in 2014 is for 2015 vaca.

My pension covers all expenses and saving.

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

Right at 60k per year, that's after tax and healthcare as I'm still working part time. I underestimated food, wine, lots of wine, and surprisingly, clothes and shoes. I'm thinking when I fully retire we will cut back on food. The wine cost will probably stay static.

[doneat54]

Interesting thread. I am not retired yet (2 years and 6 months, but who is counting) but have been doing a LOT Of planning, and spreadsheets trying to come up with realistic monthly budgets post-retire.

I took 2 approaches, one was the typical "budget" spreadsheet, what we spend on what, trying to enter all the discretionary stuff.... and I know no mater how much we work on it, we are missing stuff. I consider that the low end of the range, for us that is about $5500/mo.

The other end of the spectrum was just to take what my wife and I make, subtract the 33% that we save today (yep, we really do put that much away every month in various accounts) and subtract what we pay in income taxes... and that number (around $8300/mo) funds our lifestyle today, and we live pretty well, don't deny ourselves much.....

But my question to the retirees (not trying to hiijack the thread), is what expenses once you retired did you not foresee? Specifically, were there things that COST MONEY that because you had more time you got into?

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doneat58 But my question to the retirees (not trying to hiijack the thread), is what expenses once you retired did you not foresee? Specifically, were there things that COST MONEY that because you had more time you got into?

Answers for me: None and no.

[Teacher Terry]

No additional expenses for us. Expenses went down with no clothes, gas for commuting etc. WE still work p.t. from home and our hobbies are free. We joined a gym for 10/month each which offers tons of classes, pool, etc. We do same amount of traveling as when working.

[NanoSour]

One year into ER and according to mint we have spent an average of $5,010/month. We have a budget of $6,375 so we're well under budget for the first year. $1,473 goes to mortgage and prop tax and we're a family of 5 with kids of 11, 12, and 15.

ESPlanner has us being able to "cautiously" spend $9,450/month, so I guess we're still LWBOM

[WannabeRetired]

Impressive, NanoSour. Very nice.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doneat58 But my question to the retirees (not trying to hiijack the thread), is what expenses once you retired did you not foresee? Specifically, were there things that COST MONEY that because you had more time you got into?

Well, we were traveling quite a bit before full retirement because I was working part-time and my wife already retired, so travel was not it.

So, it is the medical deductible of $10K that I managed to hit three years in a row, one for my son, and the last two for myself. It was not because I had time now to be seriously sick, you know? I really did not want to, but it just happened. Well, maybe it was time to be sick, because being that sick while still working would suck a lot more. I knew we all get sick at some point, but I did not foresee it being so soon.

Ah, the $30K is still cheap, compared to the 6-figure bill my insurance had to pay.

[Cobra9777]

We spend anywhere from $4-12K per month. It varies depending on travel, home improvement projects, and the timing of things like property tax and insurance that we pay once per year. We are on track to spend roughly $90K per year, plus or minus $5K. We have no mortgage and no other debt, but that does include all taxes, healthcare, everything.

Even with no mortgage, our housing is about 30% of spending (property tax, insurance, maintenance, and utilities). The house is way too big for 2 people, so when we eventually downsize, we estimate those expenses will go down about $15K per year. We also budget $25K per year for travel and home improvement projects, which are 100% discretionary, and will certainly slow down at some point. But for the next 10 years or so, that's what we are planning to spend.

There were no significant expenses in retirement which we did not foresee.