Ok I'll jump on the budget bandwagon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want a nanny. What are her dutties for $3000/month?

Some drywall patching. Running the crematorium. Mowing the lawn..... Just kidding. Standard duties. Take care of the kids. Make their meals, do their laundry (not ours). Take them to do shit. Clean up after them in general. I'm dense: Are you saying we overpay or underpay?

Not at all!!

Your kids are 3-4 years old, shouldn't they be in pre-K already or soon to be? I have an infant but my neices/nephews are.

Almost there. Pre-k for one this year, for the other another year.

[Anonymous]

Car insurance and life insurance seem high. We're in our 30s and pay less than that in car insurance, and we have two cars, one of which is a two-seater sports car.

Do you have medical conditions? I pay < $500/year for a $1mln term life policy, as a healthy male.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Car insurance and life insurance seem high. We're in our 30s and pay less than that in car insurance, and we have two cars, one of which is a two-seater sports car.

Do you have medical conditions? I pay < $500/year for a $1mln term life policy, as a healthy male.

Three policies. Each $1M. We are at our peak need right now given kids age.

Can I ask who you use for car insurance? I should shop.

[Anonymous]

You eat a lot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Car insurance and life insurance seem high. We're in our 30s and pay less than that in car insurance, and we have two cars, one of which is a two-seater sports car.

Do you have medical conditions? I pay < $500/year for a $1mln term life policy, as a healthy male.

Three policies. Each $1M. We are at our peak need right now given kids age.

Can I ask who you use for car insurance? I should shop.

We use Geico, though it's pretty easy to get a quote with some others relatively quickly also. We have a $1k deductible, and the sports car is on the < 3k miles/year plan since it's not driven much, but still pretty good rates we get.

[Anonymous]

Electricity $100
Heating $200
Internet $50 (fios)
Cell $100
TV $25 (netflix+hulu)

This looks really low. But then, we have 2 teenagers. We have 4 iphones total to tune of about $250/month and fios internet, TV and land line bundle plus 2 DVR boxes for about $250 as well.

[Anonymous]

That is a nice small mortgage given your income. That is great for your overall budget!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Electricity $100
Heating $200
Internet $50 (fios)
Cell $100
TV $25 (netflix+hulu)

This looks really low. But then, we have 2 teenagers. We have 4 iphones total to tune of about $250/month and fios internet, TV and land line bundle plus 2 DVR boxes for about $250 as well.

I'll trade you my nanny costs instead

[Anonymous]

Your take home and spending is pretty similar to mine. I spend my money differently (spend more on housing, less on childcare, etc.) but I feel pretty comfortable at that budget and income level. Doesn't seem like you need to change anything unless you want to save more for a specific reason.

[Anonymous]

I don't see anybody's budgets accommodating things like car or home maintenance and repairs. For me these only crop up once or twice a year but add up to thousands, so I add a few hundred to my monthly budget to cover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see anybody's budgets accommodating things like car or home maintenance and repairs. For me these only crop up once or twice a year but add up to thousands, so I add a few hundred to my monthly budget to cover.

Good point. I don't see healthcare costs in here, either. I have pretty good insurance and my family is in good health but it seems we average at least $50 each month on co-pays, deductibles, and uncovered expenses.

[Anonymous]

Get your kids out of diapers.

Your total food bill seems super high, $1100+. Why are you spending so much eating out at work and then on groceries at home? does your nanny shop for the food and just buy whatever? Seems like you could brown bag it some, if you're buying $800 of food a month in lieu of $320. Can some of that lunch $320 be expensed and reimbursed or is that $320 of chipotle and potbellys with coworkers?

Can you metro to work? If either of you are driving into DC, how are you paying for parking?

Why do you need $200 of kid shit every month?

Where is your health insurance amount?

What exactly is misc? Can you cut there?

Are you saving any money towards retirement, college or emergency fund?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see anybody's budgets accommodating things like car or home maintenance and repairs. For me these only crop up once or twice a year but add up to thousands, so I add a few hundred to my monthly budget to cover.

Good point. I don't see healthcare costs in here, either. I have pretty good insurance and my family is in good health but it seems we average at least $50 each month on co-pays, deductibles, and uncovered expenses.

Not the OP, but our budget also has a misc category which covers things like copays and minor maintenance issues (new toilet flapper, oil changes). For major maintenance costs (like plumbing work or a new roof) it comes out of our savings--we always keep a good chunk of savings readily available to cover things like this and then gets replenished. So I don't think of it as a line item in my savings, I just make sure we always have a good cash reserve available to cover anything that might come up.

Before we make any major optional expenditure (new furniture, vacation, etc) we look at our savings balance and any anticipated upcoming costs and use that to decide whether we want to spend the money now or postpone. The decisions are based on our overall financial picture, not on putting a specific amount away each month towards specific spending goals.

Not that one way is right or wrong, just a different way of budgeting.

[Anonymous]

I know this is small potatoes, but tell your wife to go to a hair school for her cuts. I used to go to Graham Webb in Rosslyn and the cuts are $18. There's also a Paul Mitchell school in Tysons and prices are similar. They also do color for a LOT less. At the very least, you and the kids could get your cuts at a hair school.

Graham Webb is still in Rosslyn, and I'd still be going there except I moved a little farther away. Now I get my cuts from a woman who does it at her house and I'm paying $25. GW also does facials.

And the quality is fine -- they are students who are ready to work on the public, and they are supervised by their teachers.

[Anonymous]

How much random kid stuff do they get? Toys on every target trip? That is an easy cut there.