Budget list

[Harrald]

Hello all,
My bride and I are now fully retired and getting ready for our move to warmer climates. I've gone over our last 2 years spending and think I have a handle on things. I just wanted to see of anyone has a line item that I may have missed.

Here is our budget list. Things like automobile gas, holidays, entertainment, hobbies are going to come from our discretionary funds. I think I've listed the things that *must* be payed for. I know things like Amazon, Netflix etc aren't "must" items but I added them anyway. Our medical insurance is paid for us.

Does anyone see a missing item I may have forgotten to add?

Lawn care
Water
Electric
Gas (heating)
Groceries
Cable
internet
Auto insurance
Cell phones
Doctor co-pays
Prescription co-pays
Travel (to visit family. Not for holiday trips)
Amazon prime subscription
Netflix subscription
Personal (hair, nails, etc)
Pet healthcare
Property tax
HOA fees
Home insurance


Cheers all,
Harrald

*Mods* If this is the wrong forum let me know and I can delete it and re-post in the correct place.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Home Maintenance costs?

 

[bbbamI]

I include Federal taxes in my spreadsheet. I also budget for max out-of-pocket medical expenses and have a dental catagory.

 

[rdy4er]

Income Tax?

 

[Harrald]

Good point. We're keeping a healthy emergency fund (14-16 months) for this. Since it's tough to budget an unknown all we can do is keep money available.

Home Maintenance costs?

 

[Harrald]

Another good point. Our budgets are figured post tax coming in (we are deducting taxes from our various retirement incomes) and no state tax.
Our max co-pays for medical & dental (I lumped them together) are already included.

I include Federal taxes in my spreadsheet. I also budget for max out-of-pocket medical expenses and have a dental catagory.

 

[Sunset]

If you have a record of the past 2 years spending (not just a box of receipts). Don't you know everything you spend money on already ?
Maybe you don't and are just guessing what you spent money upon ?

I don't have a budget, I just keep a record monthly of spending on about 30 categories (easy with phone app, later summary transferred in 5 minutes to spreadsheet each month). I don't spend a penny without putting it in the record.

 

[Harrald]

We have banking records that go back years. All of our spending is traceable via credit card and banking websites. We kinda stopped using cash years ago.



Also yes...we have boxes of receipts. We've been shredding documents for 3 days straight.

This may just be nerves getting to me. I hate missing even the smallest detail.

If you have a record of the past 2 years spending (not just a box of receipts). Don't you know everything you spend money on already ?
<<SNIP>>

 

[Winter]

Dental care?
Vision? (Eyeglasses)

I'm not sure if you were including those items in your medical.

edited to add:
((***never mind, while I was typing this you were posting that you had included those already.))

 

[Jerry1]

Does anyone see a missing item I may have forgotten to add?

Lawn care
Water
Electric
Gas (heating)
Groceries
Cable
internet
Auto insurance
Cell phones
Doctor co-pays
Prescription co-pays
Travel (to visit family. Not for holiday trips)
Amazon prime subscription
Netflix subscription
Personal (hair, nails, etc)
Pet healthcare
Property tax
HOA fees
Home insurance

I hate missing even the smallest detail.

You didn't capitalize the "i" in internet in your list. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as the smallest detail.

Seriously, relax, I think you have this. There's no way to be certain. You just have to have a plan and then be flexible as needed.

 

[CRLLS]

Based on our "budget" and the above posts, the following are still missing from yours.


Vehicle Operating cost (Fuel, registration, repairs, etc)
Periodic vehicle replacement
Recreation (movies, dinner, hobby, Club membership, etc)
Gifts to family( Birthdays, Christmas etc)
Garbage collection
Umbrella Insurance

You may have them embedded in your other listed items.

 

[finnski1]

If you have a record of the past 2 years spending (not just a box of receipts). Don't you know everything you spend money on already ?
Maybe you don't and are just guessing what you spent money upon ?

I don't have a budget, I just keep a record monthly of spending on about 30 categories (easy with phone app, later summary transferred in 5 minutes to spreadsheet each month). I don't spend a penny without putting it in the record.

This is exactly how I operate as well.
I guess I have a "mental budget" in that if I appear to be significantly going over my rough yearly "budget" I might pare back a little on something

 

[SumDay]

Clothing?
Shoes?

You may consider new underwear 'discretionary' but I consider it a necessity. And the older I get, the more important a comfortable pair of shoes becomes, and that may change ever six months.

 

[W2R]

I didn't immediately notice anything missing, but here is our 2019 annual spending thread. Some of those posting listed their spending by category, so I thought it might be helpful to you to read what expenses they are seeing in retirement.

 

[bobandsherry]

Missing the important one, Other. [emoji39] .

 

[Harrald]

That was fantastic. RonBoyd is my hero.

I also see a huge gap in my budget..LIQUOR! Actually it's in my discretionary budget. But I like how a lot of folks add that to their items.

Thank you W2R. Everyone will have different numbers depending on lifestyle and location but almost everyone has the same list of expenses. I'm feeling a bit more relaxed now. I just have that nagging itch that I can't seem to scratch. After a full year or so of living off our retirement income, I'll be even better.

As a short explanation. Early on in our life my bride and I ran into serious debt (serious for 23 year olds with kids) because of a chronically ill child. Each of us thought the other was watching the money so no one was watching. Bills didn't get paid, insurance lapsed and we needed a loan from my credit union to get things back on track. Since then we've both been more than a bit paranoid about money. Now we both watch out for problems individually as a redundant fail-safe.

Thank you all for the help.

Cheers,
Harrald

I didn't immediately notice anything missing, but here is our 2019 annual spending thread. Some of those posting listed their spending by category, so I thought it might be helpful to you to read what expenses they are seeing in retirement.

 

[gamboolman]

Harrald,

ms gamboolgal and I are planning to retire this year....anytime from now until the end of the year.

Here is our categories we use for our retired budget planning as best we can. We have been living oversea's together since 2008 and for me since 2003

As we all know, the trick is being honest with yourself as to the the amounts you put in the boxes

 

[Rustic23]

I budget a sinking fund for replacement of big stuff. I take the expected replacement cost of the item by the expected use time. ie for an A/C unit it cost $15,000 to replace, and last 15 years. $1,000 a year. I put the car in at $35,000 and 5 years, for $7,000 a year. When As you can see not everything comes due at the same time. I added every thing up it came to an extra 10 to 11 thousand a year. Now you could just say your contingency fund is for that, but then you will need to replace it.

 

[Harrald]

I like this idea. I'm going to add this to my budget.



Thanks

I budget a sinking fund for replacement of big stuff. I take the expected replacement cost of the item by the expected use time. ie for an A/C unit it cost $15,000 to replace, and last 15 years. $1,000 a year. I put the car in at $35,000 and 5 years, for $7,000 a year.<<SNIP>>

 

[LRDave]

Any pets?

 

[GenXguy]

I budget a sinking fund for replacement of big stuff. I take the expected replacement cost of the item by the expected use time. ie for an A/C unit it cost $15,000 to replace, and last 15 years. $1,000 a year. I put the car in at $35,000 and 5 years, for $7,000 a year. When As you can see not everything comes due at the same time. I added every thing up it came to an extra 10 to 11 thousand a year. Now you could just say your contingency fund is for that, but then you will need to replace it.

I do something similar, but instead of breaking down more than a dozen long term home maintenance related items such as HVAC and roof into separate sinking funds, I have a single sinking fund budget amount for all home maintenance (indoor/outdoor/appliances, etc). I do have a separate vehicle replacement sinking fund, but it's only $2400 per year, which would be enough to at least account for the cost of a used car over time, and if I "choose" to spend more than I absolutely need to that's not covered by the sinking fund, the additional will have to come out of the discretionary spending component of my budget.

 

[sakowitzm]

Here's my list.

HOME EXPENSES
Real Estate Tax
Electric
Gas
Water
Cell Phones-Verizon
Cox Cable
HOA
Furnishings/Appliances
Lawn
Home Supplies, Repair, Maintenance
Other
Total HOME EXPENSES

DAILY LIVING
ATM
Wegmans+Groceries
Costco-Target-WalMart
Personal Supplies / CVS
Clothing
Restaurants
Dry Cleaning
Salon/Barber
Massage/Pedicure
Other
Total DAILY LIVING

TRANSPORTATION
Fuel
Repairs/Maintenance
Registration/License
Personal Property Tax
Other
Total TRANSPORTATION

HEALTH
Doctor
Prescriptions-all
Dentist
Labwork
Exercise, Yoga
Other
Total HEALTH

INSURANCE
Auto
Health
Homeowner's
Umbrella
Life
Other / LTC
Total INSURANCE

RELIGION/CHARITY/GIFTS
Church Dues
Other Church Expenses
Charitable Donations
Other
Total RELIGION/CHARITY/GIFTS

ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix
Movies
Concerts
Theater
Books
iTunes
Other
Total ENTERTAINMENT

PETS
Pets
Other
Total PETS

SUBSCRIPTIONS
Newspaper
Magazines
Club Memberships
Total SUBSCRIPTIONS

VACATION
Travel
Lodging
Food
Rental Car
Entertainment
Europe Trip
Gifts
Pets at Vet
Other
Total VACATION

MISCELLANEOUS
Postage
Other
Total MISCELLANEOUS
Total:

 

[COcheesehead]

There is a very good/comprehensive list in the Fidelity Retirement Planner that even non customers can access. Just google it.
Overlooked items often include hobbies, dues, medigap insurance, gifts, taxes, water/sewer, personal or pet care, vision, LTC, future auto replacement and club memberships if these apply.

 

[jpeter1093]

Here's my list.

HOME EXPENSES
Real Estate Tax
Electric
Gas
Water
Cell Phones-Verizon
Cox Cable
HOA
Furnishings/Appliances
Lawn
Home Supplies, Repair, Maintenance
Other
Total HOME EXPENSES

DAILY LIVING
ATM
Wegmans+Groceries
Costco-Target-WalMart
Personal Supplies / CVS
Clothing
Restaurants
Dry Cleaning
Salon/Barber
Massage/Pedicure
Other
Total DAILY LIVING

TRANSPORTATION
Fuel
Repairs/Maintenance
Registration/License
Personal Property Tax
Other
Total TRANSPORTATION

HEALTH
Doctor
Prescriptions-all
Dentist
Labwork
Exercise, Yoga
Other
Total HEALTH

INSURANCE
Auto
Health
Homeowner's
Umbrella
Life
Other / LTC
Total INSURANCE

RELIGION/CHARITY/GIFTS
Church Dues
Other Church Expenses
Charitable Donations
Other
Total RELIGION/CHARITY/GIFTS

ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix
Movies
Concerts
Theater
Books
iTunes
Other
Total ENTERTAINMENT

PETS
Pets
Other
Total PETS

SUBSCRIPTIONS
Newspaper
Magazines
Club Memberships
Total SUBSCRIPTIONS

VACATION
Travel
Lodging
Food
Rental Car
Entertainment
Europe Trip
Gifts
Pets at Vet
Other
Total VACATION

MISCELLANEOUS
Postage
Other
Total MISCELLANEOUS
Total:

Curious about that 'ATM' category. Is that where you hide 'expenses' from snoopy eyes?

 

[Dtail]

Curious about that 'ATM' category. Is that where you hide 'expenses' from snoopy eyes?

We have a cash budget category of 25 monthly for the cash expenses we forget to record.