What are your monthly expenses?

[accountingsucks]

I thought it would be interesting to list out monthy budget amounts to see if there is somewhere I can cut

Mortgage : 310
Property taxes: 170
Utilities:210
Insurance: 140 for home and car
Gas and car mtce: 100
Eating out and lunches: 150
Groceries: 300
Entertainment: 100
Phone: 50
Cable/Net: 100
Gym: 30

Total: 1560

 

[brewer12345]

Hahahahahahahaah! My mortgage payment is more than your entire budget! I'm gonna have to get out of Jersey when I FIRE...

 

[LOL!]

OK, I'm game for this.

Income taxes : $2650
Mortgage : $1050
Property taxes :  $541
Insurance: $200
Gas and car mtce: $60
Eating out and lunches : $400
Groceries : $600
Entertainment : $8,000
Cable/Net: $25
Miscellaneous : $3,500

Total: $17,006

Well, at least my mortgage payment is less than accsux's entire budget. And he pays way too much for cable/net. Get rid of cable, use DSL internet and get rid of some of the phones (keep one line for DSL).

 

[rmark]

Car 254
Car Ins. 160
Home Ins. 28
Life Ins. k 44
Life Ins. m 22
Life Ins. m 20
Phone 23
Cell 96
Electric 96
Water 45
Internet 13
DTV, Tivo 55
Netflix 20
Misc. 290

Groceries 430
Gas 86
Haircuts 40
Investing 310
Else 2150

misc. - a separate list of monthly taxes, propane, football tickets, etc.
else - with a kid in college, else tends to go elsewhere with her.

 

[Dawg52]

OK, I'm game for this.

Income taxes : $2650
Mortgage : $1050
Property taxes :  $541
Insurance: $200
Gas and car mtce: $60
Eating out and lunches : $400
Groceries : $600
Entertainment : $8,000
Cable/Net: $25
Miscellaneous : $3,500

Total: $17,006

Well, at least my mortgage payment is less than accsux's entire budget.  And he pays way too much for cable/net.  Get rid of cable, use DSL internet and get rid of some of the phones (keep one line for DSL).

Ok, I've got to ask. What are you spending $8,000 a month on as entertainment? My curiosity got the best of me. 

 

[brewer12345]

Ok, I've got to ask. What are you spending $8,000 a month on as entertainment? My curiosity got the best of me. 

Porn?

 

[LOL!]

Ok, I've got to ask. What are you spending $8,000 a month on as entertainment? My curiosity got the best of me. 

I am addicted to investing, so the money goes into my brokerage account, 401(k), etc.

Anybody who pays for porn ..., well, let's just say they got a problem.

 

[astromeria]

Gee, I thought we were bad at $300/month for entertainment. But my entertainment category includes books, DVDs, CDs, Internet access, cable TV, Netflix, season tix to symphony, 15-20 events at SpoletoUSA Festival, other cultural events, memberships other than those related to DH's work (ACM, IEEE) such as museums and state parks. If I add Travel to Entertainment (I think of it as "educational entertainment"), that brings Entertainment up to ~$1200/month. If I included my daughter's wedding expenses (surely that's entertainment!), we can double that!

Income taxes of ~$30k/year seems awfully low on an income of $200k (like 15%)--or are my mental approximations way off?

 

[Andre1969]

I think I've done this before, but here goes...

HELOC: $700 (actually only have to pay the interest at this point, but I round up to the nearest $100)
Property taxes: $213 (~$2550 for the year)
Electric: $100 per month (average)
Oil: $75 per month (averaged out over the year)
Phone: $60 per month
Directv: $76 per month
Cell Phone: $110 per month average (That's for 3 phones though; I have my two roommates on my account)
Gasoline: $150 per month average
Car insurance: ~132 per month (that's 7 cars, though)
Car repairs/maintenance/registration: $100 per month budget? wild guess here
Food/Drink: Probably less than $100 per month. My roommates pay for most of that, which is why I don't make them pay for their cellphones.
Internet access: Dunno, roommate pays it.
Homeowner's insurance: $67 per month.

So I figure $1883 per month right now, at the bare minimum.

I'm also investing $1300 per month into various mutual funds, and I'd say $1250 per month comes out of my paycheck for my 401k. Whatever money is left over either goes into the checking account or gets spent. And if there's a rough month, then I just defer the mutual fund investing if I have to.

 

[SteveR]

Income taxes : $4300
Mortgage-House: $1150
Mortgage-Cabin: $1100
Property taxes (both):  $750
Insurance cars, house, etc: $400
Gas and car mtce: $160
Eating out and lunches : $400
Groceries : $400
Entertainment : $500
Sat./DSL: $120
Utilities: $300
Savings: $3500
Clothes ( :): $550
College:  $1300
Vacations: $200
Miscellaneous: $3000

Total: $18,130

This is not the whole list; just what I pay on a regular basis.  Other stuff like home improvements etc are not in this and would add a few $ thousand more to the annual pile.  

 

[LOL!]

Income taxes of ~$30k/year seems awfully low on an income of $200k (like 15%)--or are my mental approximations way off?

Your mentality is sane.  You have to remember that income is not equal to AGI.  In 2006 a two-earner family can put away $30K to $40K into 401(k)s depending on their ages.  That reduces AGI.  Schedule A deductions reduce taxable income.  Judicious (i.e. hands-off) investing eliminates capital gains taxes.  Living in a state with no income tax also helps.  And look ma!  No AMT!

 

[astromeria]

No wonder you're laughing out loud!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Porn?

You can have porn made in your home with you as a participant for less than 8k a month...

 

[thefed]

860 MORT
125 PROP TAX
90 NET/TV
100 PHONES
250 GAS/ELEC
20 TRASH
150 FOOD
40 HOMEOWNERS INS
200 ROTH CONTRIBUTIONS
70 GASOLINE
100 AUTO INSURANCE
50 SON'S SAVINGS
50 BACARDI RUM