Budget. WDYT?

[Deleted]

We are building a house right now that should be ready in Jan/Feb. I am working on the budget to the best of my abilities. Some amounts are guesses because I don't really know what the cost will be. For these amounts I am using the amount from our old house and adjusting a little for a slightly larger home.

Income after taxes, retirement, health insurance- $5282.00
Mortgage- $1612
Gas/Electric- $175 on balanced payment plan
Insurance- $233 (2 cars, 2x life insurance, wedding ring)
Cell phones/cable/internet- $220
Truck payment- $368 (4.5 yrs left at 2.9%)
Water- $50
Student Loan- $86
Gardener- $80
Netflix-$8
Groceries- $300 (DH, myself, and 3 kids)
Misc. (kids clothes, co-pays, diapers, cleaning products)- $300
Date night- $200 (every other Friday, usually dinner and maybe a movie plus babysitting)
Fun money/Clothes/Lunches our for DH- $400 ($50/week each)
Gas for cars- $300
Savings for Christmas/semi-annual vacation/car registration-$200
Savings-$750 (balance-$12,000)

Also, for reference, I am a sahm so there are no day care or work costs for me. DH gets paid 26 times each year and the budget is only based off of 24 checks. I use the extra two pay checks to pad the savings account and pay down the truck balance. We have no CC debt.

So, does this look right? Am I forgetting anything?

[AAM2012]

What about homeowner's insurance, flood insurance and property taxes?

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2012 18:03:17 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

What line items are changing between now and the new house - just the mortgage/gas/electric? Will your H be commuting further, and spending more on gas? Does the mortgage amount include insurance on the house?

How much are you contributing to retirement?

Mortgage is going up.
Gas/electric should go up a little I think. Old house was $151/month but is 250 sq. ft. smaller. It is also older and not energy efficient at all so I figure the efficient home will make up for the increased sq. footage.
Water- I have always paid a flat rate for water since our old house did not have a meter. New house has meter so I am guessing. Flat rate was $72 but is the flat rate is notoriously expensive so I am guessing $50 for the new house.
Gas for cars should go down- DH is going from a 25 minute commute to a 10-15 minute commute. Also, DS will ride the bus to/from school since we will live in the district and I won't have to drive him anymore. We spend $300/month for gas now and I just kept that to be on the safe side.
Mortgage is Principal/interest/taxes/insurance.
DH has a pension to which he contributes 7%. He also has a seperate account that is 5%. So 12% total. I want to increase this a little each year for the next few years until we are at 15%. Oh, and dh is 32 is that makes any difference.

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2012 18:10:02 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

What about homeowner's insurance, flood insurance and property taxes?

Homeowner's insurance is included in the mortgage. We don't have flood insurance here because we aren't in a flood zone. They do offer earthquake insurance but it is really expensive and sort of impractical. It is and additional $114/month (my homeowners in only $42.33/month because I get a new build discount for 7 years) and has a $25,000 deductible. Our agent told us that people rarely get this coverage because it is so rare to have an earthquake and especially one that will cause more than $25,000 in damage.

[Deleted]

Your water estimate seems low to me but it's so area-dependent I guess you could just have a really low rate. We pay $45/mo for 2 people and we don't water our yard/flowers which I assume you'll have to do since it's new.

Also, how much is going to each section of Misc and Fun$ budgets?

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2012 18:16:54 GMT -5 aswartzw said:

Your water estimate seems low to me but it's so area-dependent I guess you could just have a really low rate. We pay $45/mo for 2 people and we don't water our yard/flowers which I assume you'll have to do since it's new.

Also, how much is going to each section of Misc and Fun$ budgets?

Water is a total guess but flat rate, use-as-much-as-you-want water was $72 and people around here thought that was high. I think it will be more at first because we have to water the sod more often the first few weeks. After that we only water 2x week and not at all in the winter. Yeah for drought resistant grass!

Misc. is $300 and is $40 for diapers every 6 weeks, kids clothes as they need them, bug spray, $15 co-pays for dr. appointments that my kids usually only have once a year. This has been the amount that I have been using and has worked fine so far.

Fun money is $400 so in theory it is $50 each per week. I don't go out much and don't buy much for myself so I never spend all or mine unless it is my semi-annual clothes shopping in which case I spend way too much. DH goes out to lunch at least once a week but usually twice and contributes to co-workers birthdays and whatnot so he often spends more. We make up the difference by taking what I don't spend and crediting him.

[SJ]

Overall I think it looks good.

What is your savings goal? At some point soon I would redirect $430 of that savings into a Roth IRA for yourself and try to max it out each year.

Car loan rate is low enough that I wouldn't pay it off early.

$100 per date night seems a little low for dinner, activity and sitter for 3 kids but if that's what you've been using it must work!

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2012 18:27:36 GMT -5 SJ said:

Overall I think it looks good.

What is your savings goal? I would like to get to 6-months of bare bones expenses. Around $25000. I know it will take a while but I am happy with the amount for now and it will cover 3 months if DH loses his job if we make some cut backs. At some point soon I would redirect $430 of that savings into a Roth IRA for yourself and try to max it out each year. I will look into this. Once dh gets to 15% retirement contribution (3 more years) I can use his annual salalry increases to fund something for myself. I should also be at or close to my savings goal then so that will free up more money.

Car loan rate is low enough that I wouldn't pay it off early. Good point. I may pay ahead a few months so that I won't have to worry about the payments if an emergency strikes. Toyota financial will let you pay ahead three months so that would be a nice cushion.

$100 per date night seems a little low for dinner, activity and sitter for 3 kids but if that's what you've been using it must work! So far it works. We don't always do a lot. Some weeks it is just dinner at a local restaurant ($40 ish) and babysitting for 2-3 hours ($30). Last week we had Baja Fresh ($15) and went to look at refrigerators for the new house while dh's grandparents watched the old two kids for free and we took the baby with us. Nothing fancy but it is nice to be out with dh for a couple of uninterupted hours.[/quote]

[zacksbride]

$300 for groceries for 5 people? I'm impressed! We spend about 2.5 times that god 3 of us! Is this accurate for you guys?

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2012 18:50:58 GMT -5 zacksbride said:

$300 for groceries for 5 people? I'm impressed! We spend about 2.5 times that god 3 of us! Is this accurate for you guys?

Unless I go crazy at the Costco, yes. The kids are 6, 3, and 5 months so they don't eat too much. The baby gets rice cereal at this point and that is cheap. We buy formula at Costco at $40 per month and I usually take most of that amount out of the misc. budget. We don't eat much meat and meat is pricey. I usually buy a 10-lb bag of chicken breast 2-3 times a year at $20 each and a pound of ground beef will last 2 to 3 meals when I buy it. I most often take one chicken breast and chop it up so I can split it between the four of us that eat real food. Tonight's dinner is cheese ravioli ($10 for a big bag from Costco) with marinara sauce and steamed broccoli and carrots. It should have a total cost of about $5. Oh, and we eat dinner every Sunday at the in-laws and I just bring dessert.
This amount includes breakfast which is usually cold cereal or oatmeal during the week and I make a bigger breakfast of home made pancakes or waffles or something each Sunday and I will often make extra to reheat during the week.
Lunches for DS (1st grade) and DD1 (preschool two mornings a week) are pb&j because that is the only thing DD1 wants and DS doesn't like meat sandwiches when they have sat in his back pack for hours. I include a juice box, two other items that I switch up (crackers, apples, fruit snacks, banana, baked chips, granola bar, etc.) H brings his lunch 3-4 days a week and will either take a sandwich and bag of chips or will grab a cup-o-noodles or left overs. He will have lunch provided with meetings sometimes but it is never regular so I can't plan on it.
It isn't glamorous food but I try to keep things nutritionally balanced and provide things my family likes.
And yes, I shop sales.

[soysauz123]

Super impressed with the groceries!

[thegooser]

Your groceries are very impressive! We are at about $450/mo for 2 ppl. Siiigh.