What are you spending on?

[Nemo2]

My worry is that there will come a time when we can no longer travel as conveniently.

Don't worry about it...it's coming.

 

[Music Lover]

I only made a modest income so my spending reflects that. The vast majority of it has been home renos and projects that I have done entirely myself to save money...plus it's a "hobby" that I enjoy.

In my current house I did all the following on my own:
- built 3 decks
- built a sunroom
- took the basement from bare cement walls to finished living space
- gutted and redid the kitchen (did everything except build the cabinets)
- replaced all the doors and windows
- built a large double garage
- replaced much of the wiring
- installed hardwood floors

My other hobby is music, but in 35+ years of playing music my total outlay in musical equipment is probably less than $6,000.

 

[Lsbcal]

I was thinking about the spending some more. I get a lot of fun out of buying and installing small items in our house. Particularly outside like:

Solar lights - found some nice ones at Home Depot and a few on Amazon. They are easy to install and set off the new walkway improvements we had done. Put some of the lights on rebar stakes to keep them from getting knocked sideways by deer. One guy wanted $6800 to install low voltage lighting. These cost around $80 total for premium solar lights. I got a kick out of beating the competition.

Landscape plantings - I found a good nursery where I can get $6 or so one gallon plants. We have a big front yard and the deer love to eat plants so it's a challenge. The deer have a freeway right into our yard from the state park. I like the exercise of digging holes as long as my back and hips can take such a workout. Physical therapy helps a bit.

Discovering new outdoor work tools - Like a good drill on Amazon or a rechargeable lightweight blower for light cleanups and blowing out the gutters.

I could go on but you hopefully get the picture.

 

[retiredtuna1]

I / we are semi-retired. We traded in long office hours for a couple of part-time flexible-hour businesses. Would you count children as 'discretionary'? We married later (1st time, each) than the usual couple and our last child will be old enough to transition out of the house by the time I'm in my early 70s.
Due to health needs and extensive research about the 'American diet', we have higher than average grocery bills because of the 'organic' nature of the food we eat. At first, it took me awhile to adjust to new foods & flavors, but now I find they are much better tasting than what we used to eat. And, we are healthier / have fewer doctor visits which we attribute in part to what we eat.
I can foresee that our travel spending will increase as/when another child leaves the nest ....

 

[JonnyM]

In order of Extravagance:

Guitars, Irish Wolfhounds, 2 Cars (Sports Car/Crate to Haul Guitars)

 

[knucklehead 61]

since retiring last december i have:
moved to Oregon.
bought & remodeled 8 more rental houses.
built a 36' x 48' 2 story addition to my hobby workshop.
bought two more antique harley davidsons.

 

[NW-Bound]

So here is my question - there seem to be quite a few people on here who expect to spend $100k + in retirement. Assuming we all have different "base" expenses (utilities, taxes, etc) lets ignore those for now. What I am interested in is understanding the discretionary expenses e.g.

- Cars and motorbikes
- Holidays
- Expensive hobbies
- Eating out

So for the spendthrifts out there - what's your money weakness?

I never thought of myself as a spendthift, but ever since I retired from part-time work which was only 4 years ago, my expenses were alarmingly high.

Yes, it runs in the $100K, and I thought there's no way I would exceed that once there was no more college cost. But Quicken does not lie.

So, where did my money go? I would not know if it weren't for Quicken that allows me to pull up past expenses with just a few mouse clicks. I only started to track expenses with Quicken in the last 6 years, and that was a very good thing.

You asked about "base" expenses, but the truth is I am still trying to define that. I keep having large non-recurring expenses that took turn popping up. If it's not one thing, it's 'nother. They should subside in the next few years, as many should be a one-time event. There are things such as the gift to my daughter for a 20% down payment on her townhome, her wedding, various expensive home upgrade projects, unexpected health problems that caused me to exceed the $10K annual deductible 3 years in a row, etc... These better not repeat.

Here's the Quicken screen that tells me where my money went for the last 60 months (averaged over 5 years).

1) Housing cost (2 homes) including utilities: 37%
2) Gift & donations: 16%
3) Healthcare: 14% (some expenses paid out of HSA which was not included in Quicken)
4) Travel: 11%
5) Food & dining: 9%

The above big categories add up to 87%. The rest are miscellaneous stuff.

Due to the health issue, I did not travel as much as I would have. But now that it is behind me, I may spend more on travel, now that there's no more wedding to pay for, no hospital bills, no big home repair/upgrade projects, etc...

So, I don't think that I am a spendthrift. Another good thing is that FIRECalc tells me that with future SS taken into consideration, I can spend 30% more than my most profligate year. But on what? I already have everything I need, or care to have.

The other day, looking at humongous TVs at Costco, I was surprised to see that they were so cheap. Do I want to upgrade? Nah. The existing ones in my homes have not been turned on for quite a while. And I look at fancy cars with indifferent eyes.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
You asked about "base" expenses, but the truth is I am still trying to define that. I keep having large non-recurring expenses that took turn popping up. If it's not one thing, it's 'nother. They should subside in the next few years, as many should be a one-time event. There are things such as the gift to my daughter for a 20% down payment on her townhome, her wedding, various expensive home upgrade projects, unexpected health problems that caused me to exceed the $10K annual deductible 3 years in a row, etc... These better not repeat.

I think of base expenses as ones that allow one can to lead a normal spending life with only modest frills. So gifts to relatives or second homes are not in that category. Fixing a car or a basic house repair/replacement would be basic.

So for us I'm thinking the categories might be:
1) basic: a normal spending lifestyle; not the Depression squeeze spending but not plush either; includes once or twice a week modest meal out
2) discretionary house improvements like a redesigned landscaping
3) pure fun like vacations
4) gifts and such

 

[NW-Bound]

I think of base expenses as ones that allow one can to lead a normal spending life with only modest frills. So gifts to relatives or second homes are not in that category. Fixing a car or a basic house repair/replacement would be basic.

So for us I'm thinking the categories might be:
1) basic: a normal spending lifestyle; not the Depression squeeze spending but not plush either; includes once or twice a week modest meal out
2) discretionary house improvements like a redesigned landscaping
3) pure fun like vacations
4) gifts and such

Even so, the definition of "basic living" is highly elastic. I certainly do not need the 2nd home and can downsize to a smaller home, though my current home is not extravagant. Even more, I often joke that in hard times I can go to live on New Mexico state land with my 25' class C (though my wife may beg one of the kids to have a room with them).

Once or twice a week modest meal out? I do not need any meal out. When we go out to eat, most often it's because it feels weird not to do the same as the normal people, but I am fine staying home cooking for myself.

So, to me, one's basic living can be really low. Perhaps $1K/month, with free government healthcare? It can be even lower. I do not eat much, and can drink cheaper booze (and I do not drink much either). I have no vice. No smoke, no illicit drugs, nor the one that's becoming more legal. No gambling.

 

[jabbahop]

Snowbirding (two homes)
Kids - three in college next year
Travel - international biz class if possible
Home maintenance - we are proactive vs reactive
High quality foods - meats, veggies, and fruits

 

[brett]

No real estate any more.

We travel, twice a year, for 2-3 months at a time.

No desire to own real estate where we live but we are leaning strongly to buying something in the south. DW says it's time.

Not really interested in cars, gadgets, etc. But we could drop a few bucks on art.

 

[kcowan]

Yes we have a rental but we succumbed to snowbird ownership in 2007. Yes it provides walls for art and a need for a vehicle. But we could not find anything comparable in the rental market.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I think before too long my new big expenses will be for health insurance, if we can even still get it.