Post by sherbanator on Apr 2, 2017 10:56:56 GMT -5
Denver, CO
Apartment rent- $2100 Renter/car Insurance- $150 Health ins- $320 Car- $600 Cell phone- $150 Tv/Internet- $150 FT childcare- $1100 TSP/retirement fund- $2100 Food- too much, I need to scale back on this. Too much whole foods and eating out...going to try and get down to $1200 a month. Utilities (gas,elec,water, trash) $120
I feel like I'm missing something but I think that's everything. I spend a lot of money on entertainment for both me and my daughter. Movies, Dave and busters/ gameworks, bowling, etc. I couple of fun things a week.
I want to move to palos verdes or redondo beach, ca later this year and the places I am looking at are about $5000 a month in rent.
Basically, I want to move to a tiny tiny but lovely house/apartment with a small yard or patio. I'd like this close to a university medical center and walking distance from a couple of shops/restaurants. preferably temperate weather and MCOL-MHCOL. Does this exist?
Yes, St. Louis. The Central West End used to fit this bill (I haven't been there in a decade, but it looks like it is still thriving). Weather would be better than Chicago.
I always find weather discussions funny because it's so subjective. While St. Louis definitely has milder winters, the summers are brutal. I spent two weeks there in July once and legit thought I might wind up hospitalized from heat exhaustion. I had never seen a heat index of 129, and I grew up in Texas. I couldn't wear my glasses outside because of the humidity. It was awful. So so awful. I would take a thousand Chicago winters before I ever spent another summer day in St. Louis.
Post by dragon's breath on Apr 2, 2017 12:18:52 GMT -5
PDQ numbers
I just reduced my 17% tsp contribution to 6%, so I'm not sure yet what my new monthly budget will look like, so I'll go off my old one. (I reduced the contribution in order to put more money away now to build a house. I haven't received a non-overtime paycheck for many months, so it's hard to figure out for sure what the new paycheck is until I get one without OT).
PITI-- $1010 (I pay $1050. ~2400 sq foot house, including basement, on a normal lot. Would be paid off if I hadn't bought property.)
Cell phone-- $119 (I pay $69, my son pays $50)
Car insurance-- $110 (two older vehicles with liability, but have a teenage driver. I pay $60, he pays $50. Paid every 6 months to save money)
Internet-- $45
Water/sewer-- $105 (cannot be reduced, it's expensive here)
Garbage-- $19 (regular sized can, 1/week)
Groceries-- $275 (I increase this if I have overtime. We process a lot of food ourselves, so save a lot of money this way. Have not bought salsa, relish, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, canned chicken in years. Parents have a huge garden and I buy stuff in season/in bulk. Does not include most meat I buy because I do that separately. Most meals cooked from scratch.)
Bulk meat-- $60 (this is a separate line item from groceries because I buy 1/4 to 1/2 cow from my brother or my niece, so need to make sure I have enough set aside for that. Also buy chicken and bacon from Zaycon foods.)
Eating out-- $30. (we don't eat out often, so unused months add up. We might do a really nice restaurant a few times a year. I try to eat very little fast food so it doesn't chip away at this budget.)
Gas-- $100 (I pay $50, DS pays $50. I will need to increase this once the house is built, since I will drive to the property more often. I really miss my old honda and its gas mileage! My escape and pickup were never intended to be commuters.)
Household goods-- $50 (this includes tp, paper towels, new items for the kitchen, etc. I did just use some OT to splurge on a portable dishwasher though. I am so ready to quit hand washing dishes! Hand washing kills my back. New house will have higher counters.)
Natural gas-- $50 (only use gas heat, so this makes sure I have plenty to cover the winter months. Largest bill this winter was $161, last month was $110.)
Electricity-- $75 (bill at home is about $45 in winter/spring/fall, up to $120 in summer when AC runs all the time. In the PNW, but we get hot. Days/weeks over 100, not cooling down at night. Also includes power to property.)
Property taxes-- $60 (on 9 acres that has an old trailer--unlivable, had been an office--and a large pole barn, no house yet)
Insurance premiums for self + DS-- $650 (including vision and dental policies)
"Fun money"-- $100 (I add to this a little when I work OT. This is the money I can just spend on myself for whatever I want.)
Quilting/sewing-- $75 (I need a larger sewing machine eventually. A lot of what I buy also goes to charity, making blankets/quilts for NICU patients and others. If there is a good sale, and I work OT, I'll completely blow this and go way over.)
Vacation-- $40 (this will go up again once I'm done helping DS with college, and even more once I build the house. I love to travel and prioritize vacations over most wants.)
House build-- $160- $500? (Was $160 + what I could save from OT. With the reduced retirement contribution, I'm hoping to up this to at least $500/month)
Property-- $975 (the guy I bought it from is financing it. I really need to get a house on there as the mortgage payment will likely end up about the same as I'm paying for the property alone. I got royally screwed by my original contractor and am out tens of thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it. I try to not think about it and just focus on getting myself set up to make it happen for real. I could give up the property and new house if I needed, but it's been my dream since I was little, and will save me thousands a year on income taxes (different state). I can afford it and it will be a good move in the long run. However, I'd feel rich if I didn't have this payment!)
Amazon Prime/Costco/photography club memberships-- $16
Charity-- $20 (most of my charity contributions this year will come from my quilting fund and donating handmade quilts/blankets, rather than straight cash.)
Gifts--$55 (Presents are small things in my family, usually a homemade consumable. Niece/Nephew usually get a small gift and a little cash. My son is where I spend most the gift money.)
Car maintenance/tires-- $100 (hopefully won't need tires again for a long time, but truck may need an AC leak repaired this year. Both have over 200k miles, a 2002 Ford Escape and a 1994 Dodge 1500 pickup.)
Home maintenance-- $50 (this will need increased over time. Fortunately I can do a lot of things myself. I've repaired/replaced parts in my furnace, replaced my water heater, replaced faucets and disposals, etc. Hopefully big items hold off until son's college is done and I get some COLAs. If not, I have savings to pull from.)
There are some other little things, but this is most of it.
Yes, St. Louis. The Central West End used to fit this bill (I haven't been there in a decade, but it looks like it is still thriving). Weather would be better than Chicago.
I always find weather discussions funny because it's so subjective. While St. Louis definitely has milder winters, the summers are brutal. I spent two weeks there in July once and legit thought I might wind up hospitalized from heat exhaustion. I had never seen a heat index of 129, and I grew up in Texas. I couldn't wear my glasses outside because of the humidity. It was awful. So so awful. I would take a thousand Chicago winters before I ever spent another summer day in St. Louis.
Well I am from California. Pretty much everywhere has brutal summers to me!
kicks ATL is on my list, but I say that as someone who has never spent actual time in the city
konapoppy I never thought of St. Louis to be honest. But I mentioned it to H today and he likes the idea!
fryjack2, yes finance. but he could also transition out of finance and perhaps into corporate America... particularly any pharma companies. we have not ruled out Boston and actually have a couple friends who live there. as a Midwesterner, I tend to think of the whole east coast as expensive but I know I need to open my mind there!
magpie H brought up Nashville on his own today. it seems to be at the higher end of his list. I can deal with hot summers (I think) lol
kadams767 moving back to Chicago is not off the list, but I think we both found the winters pretty miserable (and public schools are awful) so if we had equal employment opportunities I don't know we'd make it a priority. proximity to my family is both a pro and a con, lol.
@ellipses Charlotte is another good rec, though I've never been! my BFF just moved to Raleigh
I always find weather discussions funny because it's so subjective. While St. Louis definitely has milder winters, the summers are brutal. I spent two weeks there in July once and legit thought I might wind up hospitalized from heat exhaustion. I had never seen a heat index of 129, and I grew up in Texas. I couldn't wear my glasses outside because of the humidity. It was awful. So so awful. I would take a thousand Chicago winters before I ever spent another summer day in St. Louis.
Well I am from California. Pretty much everywhere has brutal summers to me!
Me too! Growing up in Southern California has made me a total wimp about weather, hot or cold! I do appreciate living in seasons now though.
Yes, St. Louis. The Central West End used to fit this bill (I haven't been there in a decade, but it looks like it is still thriving). Weather would be better than Chicago.
I always find weather discussions funny because it's so subjective. While St. Louis definitely has milder winters, the summers are brutal. I spent two weeks there in July once and legit thought I might wind up hospitalized from heat exhaustion. I had never seen a heat index of 129, and I grew up in Texas. I couldn't wear my glasses outside because of the humidity. It was awful. So so awful. I would take a thousand Chicago winters before I ever spent another summer day in St. Louis.
Post by daisypaloma on Apr 2, 2017 23:03:50 GMT -5
I agree with Minneapolis being one city that pays well and the QOL is still good. But summer also sucks.
tacom I would toss Long Beach, CA into the ring. There's a ton of great hospitals and medical centers, and it has nice neighborhoods for young professionals who enjoy great restaurants, activities, etc. Real estate is also high but not as high as its West LA counterparts. For your DH, downtown LA is 45 minutes away.
You guys rock. Thank you for all of the suggestions. daisypaloma, I'll add Long Beach and Minneapolis to look into. farmvillelover, west coast is certainly an option though H is concerned about needing to wake at 4:30 to time the east coast markets. (Though this would be a moot point if he changes careers.) His boss is actually planning to relocate to CA so I'm interested to see how he and his family adapt.
I'd also love to hear of anyone here (or anyone who has a spouse in the same situation) who lives on pacific time but has to stay on top of the markets
Minneapolis & St. Paul are great. I love it here, except the winters can be hard for people who are new transplants from the Southwest or West Coast. NYC, you'd be fine. We have a lot of folks at my job who have transferred from our corporate office in NYC and they seem to adjust very well.
Also, a surprising amount of culture and arts and theater and whatnot. I get a fantastic quality of life here...very good education, lots of outdoor activities, good housing costs, James Beard nominated chefs all throught Minneapolis. Summers aren't THAT bad, it's mostly the humidity. And an easy flight to Chicago if you want a weekend away.
This all sounds lovely.
I lived in Chicago for 5 years - is the weather very different?
Denver is actually very nice weather wise most of the time. Way better than IL where I grew up.
Our budget generally is: $2500-expenses for rental properties $2300-Mortgage (primary house-Urban SFH 5bd, 3ba 3K SF bought in economic downturn) $1900-tuition 4 kids in Catholic school $1200-Groceries $500-Utilities (gas/elec/water/alarm) $250-internet/phone/cable/Netflix $240-2 iPhones unlimited data (DD1 & I, DH has work paid iPhone) $200-Gas $100-Auto insurance $100-Life insurance $100-Roth for me $275-student loans $170-gym (family at JCC--mainly for pool/tennis) $1000-kids lessons $275-HELOC
The rest we spend is more varying & optional (dining out/fun money/vacation saving/charity/maintenance/gifts/clothes/etc).
COL in Austin is going the way of Seattle. You can still find affordable housing further out, but traffic is a nightmare because the infrastructure hasn't been able to keep with the rapid population growth.
This is so true! I'm thankful we bought a house 5 years ago although it's not in the city. We would love to move into something bigger and in a different suburb, but for what we really would want in a "new" house and make a move worth while, we're looking at doubling our mortgage, even with a sizable downpayment. While we could technically afford it, we're somewhat begrudgingly choosing other priorities instead.
We are VHCOL I think. Los Angeles Beach Cities area. Gross annual income is between $300K and $320K. The variable is because it depends on how many classes I teach on top of my regular job. This year, I am teaching 3 - one per semester including summer.
Mortgage: $3500 Insurance (car, homeowners): $230 Utilities (gas, water, electric): $150 Gym: $40 Cell: $160 Cars: $0 - both are paid off Daycare for preschooler: $1150 After School Care for older DS: $380 Kid activities: $300 ish Internet: $100 Direct TV: $175 Groceries: $1200 Eating out: $1000
The rest goes into a combo of savings - general household (we pay our annual property tax out of this account), vacation, college for the boys, retirement.
A very different perspective on a VHCOL (Manhattan, NY) location. The below income/tax breakdown is from 2016. It'll be different this year (increase in salary) so I'm not sure how it will change just yet. The expenses are based off of March 2017 expenses for myself and my elementary aged child. I don't see the expenses changing too much. Tuition is only paid 8 months out of the year, but that money is used for camps and babysitters in the off months. I live in a neighborhood that is not desirable by New Yorker standards (Inwood- northern Manhattan) in a 1000 sq ft apartment. I am extremely lucky. I have a great landlord, the apartment itself is amazing, and great neighbors. Based off of my rough budget I should have 686 left over each month- but depending on the month this ranges. I use that to cover any clothing costs, miscellaneous expenses, doctors visits, beauty products etc. Any bonus money I receive is thrown into savings generally. Any travel or any major expense is pulled out of savings. My transportation is covered by work, and in addition to what I put into my 401K work puts in 9%.
monthly yearly Income 11250 135000 taxes 2667 32000 401K 1500 18000 FSA 217 2600 Ins 175 2100 Total: 6691 82900
I'll play. I'm also in OC with farmvillelover, but different area.
Fixed expenses:
PITI (townhouse) - 1960 HOA (includes trash) - 265 Electric - 30 Water - 25 Natural Gas - 30 Auto Ins - 121 Car - 272 Cell (including my mom's) - 160 Cable/Internet - 140
I haven't kept track of these in a long time, so these are rough guesses: Gas - 200 Groceries - 400 Eating out - 700 Vet/Grooming - 20
Basically, I want to move to a tiny tiny but lovely house/apartment with a small yard or patio. I'd like this close to a university medical center and walking distance from a couple of shops/restaurants. preferably temperate weather and MCOL-MHCOL. Does this exist?
Post by CheeringCharm on Apr 4, 2017 8:45:17 GMT -5
These are fascinating. I've been tracking how much we spend on food in a month and it is embarrassing. $775 in groceries (not including alcohol which we have to buy at a liqueur store or the wine we have delivered) and close to $600 in eating out. DH and I only went out for once nice meal last month by ourselves so that is mostly eating out at "kid friendly" restaurants on the weekends or food we grab for lunch on the fly, etc. We really need to cut back on that.
I like the day in the life of threads. What is missing from these is what they eat/drink which (for me atleast) accounts for most of the money I spend that I don't realize I'm spending. Like, the one girl in Brooklyn didn't eat anything until 4pm... does that mean breakfast and lunch at home?
Today is Tuesday, but so far I've eaten out twice when I wasn't expecting to.
Monday - bfast & coffee at home. I packed PB&J and a diet coke for lunch, but then a co-worker asked if I wanted to go to chipotle... so duh, I went to chipotle for lunch. I could have drank my diet coke that I packed, but fountain diet coke is so much better. So, thats $10. Dinner was at home and wine at home also, so no other spending
Tuesday - I am so mad about this, I actually got up and made myself a bfast sandwich, but I didn't realize my toaster oven was not actually toasting the english muffin (the circuit tripped, but I didn't realize). So I went to attempt to eat my egg & cheese on just a cold muffin, it was too gross, so into the trash it went. I didn't have time to fix the circuit issue, and my coffee maker is on the same circuit so no coffee either. Stopped at dunkin on the way into work, got the same exact breakfast sandwich and coffee I intended to have at home $6.00. Lunch was yesterdays PB&J. Dinner & wine should be at home. I'll check back in for the rest of the week
olivesyou , @notquiteblushing , I got inspired to track my daily spending for the month of April bc of this post!! So far in 2 days I am up to $82.08 ($55 gas, $19 in allergy creams/ointments for kid2, $7.15 on snacks for the week from the grocery store).
Lets do it!! I'll try to check in each day with what I spent yesterday. This will be interesting I think =)
I'm tracking this month too. I actually stuck to tracking last month for the first time maybe EVER - usually once I get halfway through the month I realize I have spent most of my money already and give up lol. Somehow the bills always get paid and I don't have CC debt, so it works out, but I don't like to have evidence that I'm not doing what I planned.
Anyway, this week so far:
Monday: $3.90 on a snack at work, $6.50 on a drink while waiting for H to get done with stuff so we could drive home together, and around $25 at the grocery store for dinner stuff. We were also charged for our Prime membership at $104.94
Tuesday: $2.35 for a coffee this morning. $1 to ride the bus to work (H takes the car on Tuesdays, otherwise I drive). $25.45 on a baby shower gift. $20 on a donation to the Alzheimer's association for a race my friend is doing. $38.82 for our monthly donation to offset our carbon footprint. $77 on the water bill.
This might be depressing lol. The last 2 days have had a bunch of unusual spending! Most weekdays I don't spend much, if anything at all.
Um, yea. I mentioned that I felt like a miser compared to those diaries but would be in for a rude awakening? Ha. I started Saturday and have already spent $623. Coffee and groceries for the week on Saturday, $101, new bed pillows on Sunday, $84, dog medication $135 and two birthday presents on Monday for $305. Bah!
Saturday 6:45am: I'm up for a weekend shift at the hospital. I pour myself home brewed iced coffee and make a goat cheese and jam cracker. My husband walks me to the train with the dogs and also makes something for himself at home. $0.
9:30am my husband texts me he purchased movie tickets for Beauty and the Beast. $34.70 value -- free with gift cards we had from Christmas.
12:30pm: I'm done with my morning treatments and evaluations so I head upstairs to the hospital cafeteria. I select the mahi mahi, green beans, and a medium coffee. $7.80 with my employee discount. My husband heads to the local market and gets chicken wings for $8.00. He also stops at CVS for beer and junk food: $26.
4:47: done with my day! Head home, change, eat a quick dinner of leftovers, and enjoy a glass of wine at home before we walk to our movie with to go cups in hand. $0.
6:15pm. Showtime! My husband gets us popcorn, nachos, and a large Diet Coke while I stay to watch the previews. We are both impressed that the prices are no higher than Chicago. $20
9:00pm. Movie is over and we loved it. I obnoxiously sing the soundtrack to my husband on our walk home. Once back, we cuddle the dogs and play a game of Settlers of Catan (which I win!) before turning in like the grannies we are. $0
Day 1 Total: $61.80
Sunday: 7am: I wake and nudge my husband. Sundays are our only mutual day off together and I don't want to sleep the morning away. We pour our iced coffees and play with the dogs before going to the gym for leg day. We're done by 9:30am and prep a quick breakfast at home. Veggie omelet with siracha for me, protein shake, banana, and apple for my husband.
10:00am we take the dogs to the dog park and spend some time chilling by the east river. We are both ready for another coffee so we stop at Starbucks. I try the new nitro cold brew (grande) and my husband opts for a venti iced coffee with caramel. We sip our drinks in the park with the dogs and chat about our goals. $3.45 after a star reward.
11:30 we make it home and the dogs are exhausted. I place a grocery order on FoodKick and select the 2:30 delivery slot. We get our staples - cheeses, veggies, a few breads, PB, jam, coffee, hummus, sparkling water, and chicken. $99.20 plus $5 cash tip
12:00. We prep a quick lunch at home (leftover spaghetti squash with lemon/garlic and a dollop of goat cheese, Greek yogurt, and a handful of almonds for me). My H had pretzels and hummus because he apparently never gets hangry.
1pm: we analyze our first quarter spending and realize we've cut $1k/m since last year (yay!). Biggest savings noted in food and clothing, but my husband warns me he'll need a work wardrobe refresh in the near future. We realize T-Mobile has been overcharging us for the past three months, so I send my husband to take care of it; I avoid customer service calls at any expense. My husband also funds his 2016 IRA at this time at my prompting, but I run into an error message on my account. Will have to call tomorrow. No money spent since we're just moving assets between accounts.
2:30pm: my sister is on break next month and wants to visit. She's a broke college student (who I miss dearly!), so I buy tickets for her and her bff. $527.76, though I expect to be reimbursed for half.
3:00pm we text a friend we had casual plans with to reschedule. The day has gotten away from us and I need to finalize an inservice I'll be presenting on Wednesday.
7:00pm I'm done working for the day. My husband makes us burgers and sweet potato fries and we sit down to binge watch Billions. For dessert, I make another goat cheese and jam topped cracker. I'm pretty sure all this dairy is triggering a breakout but I am addicted.
Day 2 Total: $371.53 (plus additional $263.88 to be reimbursed)
Monday 5:15am I am up for the day and start my week in the gym. I take the dogs out before jotting down a quick list for our dog walker/housekeeper/marital glue. Afterwards, I prep my coffee for the morning (iced cold brew) and heat up a breakfast quesadilla to go.
7:15-8:30am I pass the time commuting listening to the lady gang podcast. Other current favorites include weird medicine, modern love, and anything neuro-related. I have quite the hike for my second job, but luckily I'm only there 2-3 times per week. Our CC app also alerts me my husband spent $26.75 on transport for his weekly trip to an out-of-state office.
12:26pm. I finish seeing patients for the morning and head to the hospital cafeteria for lunch. I select the daily special (stuffed peppers) with steamed squash and a bottle of water. I typically drink from the tap but the charge of a drink is included. $5.99.
3:51pm I'm starving and scarf down a graham cracker from the nurse's station and finish my water while I document. Is it time for dinner yet?
4:30pm I'm done seeing patients but have 30 minutes before it's time to leave. I call vanguard and they inform me that my IRA contributions are restricted until my husband's work can provide a letter stating my eligibility. I'm snippier than I want to be with the customer service rep because I'm nervous I won't make the 4/15 deadline for 2016 contributions.
6:20pm: after 80 minutes, 4 weird smells, 9 people invading my personal space, and 1 train transfer, I'm finally home. I already have an exit plan, but I'm still not sure how long I can handle this commute. The dogs are going nuts (Mondays suck for everyone!) but at least I come home to cleaner place than I left. We used to pay the local dog walkers $28 for a 20 minute relief visit. At $56/hr, it was insane. I signed up for care.com ($85 one time fee) and found THE best household employee for $16/hr plus taxes. She takes the dogs out and spends the rest of her time helping around the house. Today she spent her two hours on a load of laundry, wiping down the kitchen counters, walking the dogs and bathing them. I love love love her.
Starving, I make a bunless burger with veggies and chipotle sauce and treat myself to a Lil Sumpin ale. The dogs eat with me. My husband will be home later and have a snack based dinner or make a peanut butter and jelly. He often has a light breakfast (provided by work), a hefty lunch (work meetings) and a lighter dinner at home during the week.
7:45pm: I've taken the dogs out and am face masking on the couch with a homemade cleanse (ice water, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar). One benefit of 8pm bedtime? Less time to spend money.
Day 3 total: $32.74
Tuesday 5:20: I'm up for the day and complete a at-home workout while catching up on YouTube. My husband assures me he'll get the letter for Vanguard. I prep three days worth of breakfast tacos (a new habit I'm trying to establish) and make tea with a scoop of collagen protein. After taking the dogs out, I leave today's task list and pour an iced coffee to go before leaving for my train. $0
9:38am: I snack on an apple at my desk and make a mental note to stop at the bodega on my way home. $0
11:30am: I brew my second cup of coffee at my desk using a pour over method and get a splash of creamer from my coworker, since I'm out. Two more things to add to the list! $0
12:35pm: I had to the cafeteria and again go with the $5.99 daily special - white fish, whole wheat pasta, and mixed vegetables with a bottle of water. I'm still hungry 30 minutes later so I snack on a protein bar. $0