Shocked: Our bare-bones monthly cost of living is 5K after taxes! What's yours?

[Anonymous]

In order to ascertain whether we can realistically live on one income or not, DH and I have spent the past nine months recording all of our expenditures. We have also made efforts in several areas to cut the fat from our budget -- especially food costs. We are shocked to find that our absolute bare-bones monthly budget (for us and our toddler) is still 5K after taxes! This figure does not include any savings for retirement or college, daycare expenses, or the medical insurance premiums that are deducted from our paychecks. I should also note that we have a relatively small mortgage for the area (2K including escrow), that we have NO commuting costs (we use Metro and both have Metro subsidies), that we rarely eat out, and that DH and I both tend to wear holes in our clothes before buying new ones. We spend $2500 total for yearly trips to see out-of-state family; no other vacations.

Has anyone else recently calculated their bare-bones budget? We consider ourselves to be a frugal family and are stunned to know what it costs just to keep the lights on in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Ours is similar - around 7500 to 8000, but that does include full time daycare for one and aftercare for another and college savings (since the health insurance and retirement savings come out of our take home pay, they are not included in that amount.)

We also have a 2000 dollar mortgage and live pretty frugally - we do have two cars and commute by driving, but have no car payments, just gas, insurance and car upkeep. It's pretty depressing, actually.

[Anonymous]

It is pretty depressing. Since you are basically saying that you need $60K to survive, but that doesn't include savings.

We are closer to PP, because with student loan repayment and commuting costs we are closer to 8000 as well. Unfortunately, we spend way too much on food, but that is also our entertainment. We don't eat out and our rent is pretty low for DC.

[Anonymous]

I have to ask, even assuming that your mortgage is 2k, how in the hell do you spend 3k on survival? I don't understand what you call bare bones....break it down, then I'll help you spend less.

[Anonymous]

I bring home about $2200/month after taxes and we are doing just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to ask, even assuming that your mortgage is 2k, how in the hell do you spend 3k on survival? I don't understand what you call bare bones....break it down, then I'll help you spend less.

This. Do you have some expensive car payments? Student loan payments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to ask, even assuming that your mortgage is 2k, how in the hell do you spend 3k on survival? I don't understand what you call bare bones....break it down, then I'll help you spend less.

For us, it's health insurance. Just over $2000/month for family coverage. Looking to change plans, so hopefully that will go down a bit, but it's not something you can do without. So with $1000 left over, there's not a lot to cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to ask, even assuming that your mortgage is 2k, how in the hell do you spend 3k on survival? I don't understand what you call bare bones....break it down, then I'll help you spend less.

For us, it's health insurance. Just over $2000/month for family coverage. Looking to change plans, so hopefully that will go down a bit, but it's not something you can do without. So with $1000 left over, there's not a lot to cut.

How is it that you spend that much on health insurance? Are you self-employed and purchasing your own plan? I have difficulty imagining an employer charging 1k a paycheck for health insurance---even McD's is cheaper than that for it's employees.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Until DH and I went through the exercise of recording all of our expenditures, 3K of expenses per month after paying the mortgage would have seemed like a lot to me, too. We don't even have student loan debt or a car payment. We assumed we needed more like 2K monthly, outside of the mortgage. But it all adds up: the $500 out-of-pocket ER visit, the furnace "check-up" that turns into a $400 repair bill, insurance and maintenance for the car that we don't even drive that much, winter heating bills, etc. I don't want to lay out every single one of our expenses, but try the exercise yourself and you might be surprised.

I should also say that the 5K budget does include some things that aren't absolutely essential for survival, like baby and wedding gifts, coffee (but not lunch) at work, toys for our toddler, a newspaper subscription, $$ for family visits, getting together with friends every now and then, and birthday celebrations. But we keep those expenditures pretty modest and wouldn't want to give them up, should we decide to live on a single income.

To the PP getting by on only $2200/month. That's great. Can you tell us how you do it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to ask, even assuming that your mortgage is 2k, how in the hell do you spend 3k on survival? I don't understand what you call bare bones....break it down, then I'll help you spend less.

For us, it's health insurance. Just over $2000/month for family coverage. Looking to change plans, so hopefully that will go down a bit, but it's not something you can do without. So with $1000 left over, there's not a lot to cut.

How is it that you spend that much on health insurance? Are you self-employed and purchasing your own plan? I have difficulty imagining an employer charging 1k a paycheck for health insurance---even McD's is cheaper than that for it's employees.

Partner in a small/medium-sized firm. The firm subsidizes associates and staff, but partners pay the whole cost of insurance. A small fairly small pool (made smaller by the fact that anyone who has another ER plan option from a spouuse chooses that option), a couple of bad claims experiences, and poof - ridiculous premiums. Most ER plans are heavily subsidized by the ER, and most people don't know the true cost of their insurance (although it's typically not as high as mine, it's much higher than they realize). Large pools of insureds also make a big difference.

[Anonymous]

For that, I'd get a second job at Lowe's and get on their insurance plan, or send my partner to work at the mall part-time.

[Anonymous]

We need to lower the minimum wage so that low level workers like nannys, plumbers, repair men , lawn etc. cost less for the middle class. The tradesmen unions have been raping this area for years.

[Anonymous]

So it isn't your bare bones monthly cost of living, it's the cost of living you think you need to stay home. That's a pretty big distinction. Anything that includes nights out, coffee house coffee, toys and gifts is not a bare bones budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For that, I'd get a second job at Lowe's and get on their insurance plan, or send my partner to work at the mall part-time.

Many jobs do not offer subsidized health insurance for its part-time employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to ask, even assuming that your mortgage is 2k, how in the hell do you spend 3k on survival? I don't understand what you call bare bones....break it down, then I'll help you spend less.

For us, it's health insurance. Just over $2000/month for family coverage. Looking to change plans, so hopefully that will go down a bit, but it's not something you can do without. So with $1000 left over, there's not a lot to cut.

How is it that you spend that much on health insurance? Are you self-employed and purchasing your own plan? I have difficulty imagining an employer charging 1k a paycheck for health insurance---even McD's is cheaper than that for it's employees.

Partner in a small/medium-sized firm. The firm subsidizes associates and staff, but partners pay the whole cost of insurance. A small fairly small pool (made smaller by the fact that anyone who has another ER plan option from a spouuse chooses that option), a couple of bad claims experiences, and poof - ridiculous premiums. Most ER plans are heavily subsidized by the ER, and most people don't know the true cost of their insurance (although it's typically not as high as mine, it's much higher than they realize). Large pools of insureds also make a big difference.

Thanks mister lawyer I am sure you are struggling to it make in your tiny 300k a year salary