If you net $12k per month, please post your budget
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Anonymous
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4k PITI
1k Pre-school for one child 1k car payment, gas, and utility bills incl phones, cable, internet 1k weekly cleaning person and 3x per week after school help |
Anonymous
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OP here; thanks to all who shared. Here is ours:
4,000 - Mortgage/utilities/phones 1200 (groceries & dining out) 2,000 - Pre-K, before/after school, 529s 1000- Auto loan, gas, insurance 400 - Home costs (cleaning, landscaping, etc) 250 - Personal Care (hair cuts, dry cleaning) 1000 - Misc Shopping (clothes, shoes, kids activities, weekend events, amazon, etc) So little left for savings, vacations, Xmas presents, home repairs, etc. I thought it was just me, but I see several of you in the same boat. I decided to cut blue apron, not much else to cut. |
Anonymous
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We net 12k after retirement savings, HSA, insurance, etc.
3,300- mortgage 3,000- daycare 1,000ish- routine bills (cable, phone, gym membership, the works) 1,500- groceries and takeout 300- house cleaners every 2 weeks 500- savings Clothes, date nights, home maintenance, etc. is covered with the rest. College savings is from miscellaneous bonuses and gifts from the grandparents. No cc, auto loan, or other debt except $1,500 in student loan payment (minimum is $500, but we’ve been aggressive at paying it down and will be done in a few months). Our second kid just started daycare so our daycare bill hasn’t been as high until now, which is how we threw so much at the student loan). We’re both expecting to 10k or so raises in the next year or two, which will also help boost our liquid savings. |
Anonymous
I'm self employed -- family of 4, HMO Carefirst, high deductible plan is $1550/mo. To the self employed person, make sure you pay through your company so you can deduct the premiums. |
Anonymous
Op here. Don’t you find it depressing that you can’t save more? |
Anonymous
Um, plenty to cut beyond Blue Apron...you just don't want to. |
Anonymous
DP, I'm assuming that ^PP is saving the max for retirement (and maybe even CIP?). Wouldn't that be part of savings? |
Anonymous
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We net ~$11,000 per month after taxes, insurance, parking, 401ks, and health savings account.
$3600 PITI $500 phones & utilities $1300 groceries, drinks, restaurants, coffee etc $2300 childcare (this includes FT care for 1 & aftercare as well as camp for 1 divided by 12) $400 two cars (gas & insurance) $300 2x/mo cleaning and household repairs $500 shopping (like amazon, clothes) and gifts $300 personal care like haircuts/gym membership $200 entertainment and kids activities $100 life insurance $500 extra the rest usually goes to 529s or travel |
Anonymous
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We net 13.5k after dental, vision, health, life, and taxes
Approximate: $4,000 for PITI, gas line and electric $700 car payment and insurance (almost paid off, super low interest) $200 gasoline for me - husband's car is paid off and gas is comped by work $450 Phones, fios, Netflix, Amazon prime, one sirius xm account $1000 1 child's private school tuition $1200 student loan payment minimum, which I'm about to increase We had a lower HHI before and I cut everything to the bone. When I say to the bone, I mean no eating out, shopping at cheaper places for groceries, no hiring help. I dislike paying someone to do what I can do myself anyway. This includes yard work, childcare, cleaning, cooking and minor home improvement projects. Now that our HHI is higher, we have a ton of money to throw at the loans/savings/investments. |
Anonymous
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i think you could pretty easily come up with $500/month to save, OP. Cut $100 from each of groceries, eating out, misc. home costs, personal care and shopping. Throw the money into a "short term savings" fund for those extra home repairs, travel costs, etc. Also, no more car loans.
My take home is around $13K, after maxing 401k and health insurance costs. Budget: $3800 PITI $3000 savings (split between a brokerage account and paying down mortgage early) $500 utilities and cellphones $500 dog walker and cleaning lady $200 transportation (metro, gas & insurance for car) $700 groceries/dining Remainder mostly covers misc. expenses that go on the credit card, including kid's sports and camps (about $8K/year), clothes and other shopping, and travel. Putting about $10K/year in the 529 out of tax return and bonus monies. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
Thx, helpful. We paid for most of the car cash. We took a three year loan to cover the rest. My dh kept his last cheap car for 11 years. My car is 9 years old. |
Anonymous
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OP, with the budget you show (which is around $10k/month) you should have an extra $2k per month. Your budget says that you are saving for 529s and in 401ks. What more are you looking for? Your car costs are high and your misc shopping costs are high - you could lower both of those line items if you wanted to.
I think your spending looks pretty normal, if not frugal. Blue Apron and landscaping and a high car payment are luxury expenses - if you're not willing to make cuts there, no one here is going to be able to give you advice that will help you save more. |
Anonymous
Misc shopping, personal care, home costs. Your groceries bill is reasonable but I'm sure you could trim more off if you tried. To find extra cash, you need to tighten the belt and it might be uncomfortable for a while, but that's the cost of doing business. Clean your own house. Cut your own grass. Buy less stuff - I promise you don't need to buy $1000 worth of stuff every month. Examine your kids' activities and ask if it's really worth the money. And I know you don't want to hear sell your car, but since you want to save more, try to consider that the vast majority of Americans blow an insane amount of money on cars and it is all money down the drain since cars depreciate so quickly. |