Is this a reasonable amount of spending money per month based on our income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI is 320k. No debt except mortgage on a townhouse. Both our paychecks go into the same joint account.

I proposed to my wife that we each get $1200/month of personal spending money to go into our own bank accounts that we can spend judgement free. I think she’s okay with it but also wishes she could have more per month to blow on stuff. Is this too low? We have no kids yet but will start trying in the next year and are also aggressively saving for a down payment on another house.

This isn’t money for needs like bills, food, gym, or for shared wants like vacations, activities, or new stuff for the house. It doesn’t include gifts either, that would come from our joint account. It’s basically just an amount that we can individually spend on ourselves without needing to justify it to the other person.

OP, that is an outrageous amount of money to spend per month on non-needs even on that income. I’d wonder if you are saving enough, not spending enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What percentage of your gross income are you guys saving each month? Do you have a fully funded emergency fund? Are you saving adequately for any large expenses like car repairs and home repairs? Do you have a full budget so that you are directing your money where you want it to go and you have this money available to spend? Are you aware that these amounts will go down dramatically if you have kids and need to utilize daycare?

We save probably 10k a month right now including 401k contributions so some is pre tax.

You need to calculate this accurately. Do you owe a huge tax bill every quarter? Or is a huge portion of your income exempt from taxation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's way too much. I think $600 a month would even be a bit much.

+1
Our income is twice yours and we give ourselves $600/mo. We save a ton and are close to paying off our mortgage on a $3M home. Our kids are older- 20, 17, 15, 10.

You make 640k and have a $3M house? Seems like a stretch to afford that. I would rather live in a 1M home and put the difference towards things like toys and experiences. The delta between a 1M and 3M house is probably 10-15k a month and you only give yourself $600/month each. That seems crazy to spend so much on a house while having such a barebones spending budget.

Yes, we bought the home 13 years ago for 1.2M. It's 3M now. We put 20% down and got a 15 yr fixed.

Do whatever you need to do for your finances, but don't just assume others have or have had the same circumstances as you. There is a wide range. Our bare bones spending has also allowed us to purchase 2 vacation homes and send our kids to private school. HHI is a bit higher than your assumptions too. Yes we are frugal. You know the type - drive subaru and wear non trendy clothes - boring. It works for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here this is our current monthly budget

$2200 PITI
$575 groceries & consumables
$500 car & house maintenance
$300 subscriptions (incl gym membership)
$350 utilities
$450 transportation cost (mostly insurance & VA car tax)
$1000 vacation saving
$2400 personal spending

Total is $7775. Our take home is over $17k so it leaves us with almost 10k going into savings every month (more like 11-12k if you count pre tax 401k contributions and match + paying down mortgage principal).

Are we really going wrong here? Seems crazy how you could make double or more our income and barely enjoy any of it for yourself.

You are not including federal, state, and local taxes, health insurance, FICA, and other pre- and post tax withholding. You are also missing several other post tax spending categories.

[Anonymous]

We all know it’s a lot and so do you. However, it’s not a bad idea or an egregious amount. As long as she sticks to it and find ways to hit up the family account for more. I’d also suggest setting a good example by spending way less than your $1200. Having a wife that’s a spender sucks. Buckle up, kids and a house are on the way, it’s going to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our hhi is over 1 million and I can't fathom what I would spend $1200 a month on just for myself. That seems really high.

If you can't even spend 1.5% of your HHI on yourself, you have a mental problem: either you're a hoarder, you don't know how to do math, or you pretend that your gym membership is "for the family."

But he said the $1200 doesn't include things like a gym membership. So this is money above and beyond. We're talking about clothes, nails, hair. You think I have a mental disorder if I think it's absurd to spend $1200 on clothes every month? I'd hate to see your cc bill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here this is our current monthly budget

$2200 PITI
$575 groceries & consumables
$500 car & house maintenance
$300 subscriptions (incl gym membership)
$350 utilities
$450 transportation cost (mostly insurance & VA car tax)
$1000 vacation saving
$2400 personal spending

Total is $7775. Our take home is over $17k so it leaves us with almost 10k going into savings every month (more like 11-12k if you count pre tax 401k contributions and match + paying down mortgage principal).

Are we really going wrong here? Seems crazy how you could make double or more our income and barely enjoy any of it for yourself.

What I don't see is savings for property tax, insurance, and home repairs/maintenance, which I suppose come from savings. I also spend a heck of a lot more on vacation - it makes me happier than face cream. To each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mani pedi once a month at Eclips : $170+40 =210
Haircut, blow dry, touch-up or highlights: probably $400

Facial? $200 or more

It adds up.

Yeah, I'd never do this. I like being rich. Compounding interest really shows after 10 years and I'm so happy I never got on the treadmill in this way. I stay in shape, wear sunscreen, and do my own hair and nails. It looks professional when I do it because I took the time to learn - time well spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s an insane amount of money to blow at your income. Invest as much as you can before you have kids instead of frittering away your cash. You’ll be glad for the financial freedom later.

+1
46 and almost ready to retire!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our hhi is over 1 million and I can't fathom what I would spend $1200 a month on just for myself. That seems really high.

If you can't even spend 1.5% of your HHI on yourself, you have a mental problem: either you're a hoarder, you don't know how to do math, or you pretend that your gym membership is "for the family."

Right. Cause everyone different than you must have a mental disorder. Makes perfect sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's way too much. I think $600 a month would even be a bit much.

+1
Our income is twice yours and we give ourselves $600/mo. We save a ton and are close to paying off our mortgage on a $3M home. Our kids are older- 20, 17, 15, 10.

You make 640k and have a $3M house? Seems like a stretch to afford that. I would rather live in a 1M home and put the difference towards things like toys and experiences. The delta between a 1M and 3M house is probably 10-15k a month and you only give yourself $600/month each. That seems crazy to spend so much on a house while having such a barebones spending budget.

Yes, we bought the home 13 years ago for 1.2M. It's 3M now. We put 20% down and got a 15 yr fixed.

Do whatever you need to do for your finances, but don't just assume others have or have had the same circumstances as you. There is a wide range. Our bare bones spending has also allowed us to purchase 2 vacation homes and send our kids to private school. HHI is a bit higher than your assumptions too. Yes we are frugal. You know the type - drive subaru and wear non trendy clothes - boring. It works for us.

Subarus are not exactly cheap, paying for private school is literally the opposite of being frugal, and buying a house for $1.2 million puts you in a pretty exalted class of spenders. You may not wear nice clothes, but you are a spender, friend. You just spend on different things than others of us. I think OP's spending is fine - but we drive one 14 year old Kia Soul and bought our house for $330k. I know - you could NEVER. That's because you are spendy but on different things than we are spendy on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's way too much. I think $600 a month would even be a bit much.

+1
Our income is twice yours and we give ourselves $600/mo. We save a ton and are close to paying off our mortgage on a $3M home. Our kids are older- 20, 17, 15, 10.

You make 640k and have a $3M house? Seems like a stretch to afford that. I would rather live in a 1M home and put the difference towards things like toys and experiences. The delta between a 1M and 3M house is probably 10-15k a month and you only give yourself $600/month each. That seems crazy to spend so much on a house while having such a barebones spending budget.

Yes, we bought the home 13 years ago for 1.2M. It's 3M now. We put 20% down and got a 15 yr fixed.

Do whatever you need to do for your finances, but don't just assume others have or have had the same circumstances as you. There is a wide range. Our bare bones spending has also allowed us to purchase 2 vacation homes and send our kids to private school. HHI is a bit higher than your assumptions too. Yes we are frugal. You know the type - drive subaru and wear non trendy clothes - boring. It works for us.

Subarus are not exactly cheap, paying for private school is literally the opposite of being frugal, and buying a house for $1.2 million puts you in a pretty exalted class of spenders. You may not wear nice clothes, but you are a spender, friend. You just spend on different things than others of us. I think OP's spending is fine - but we drive one 14 year old Kia Soul and bought our house for $330k. I know - you could NEVER. That's because you are spendy but on different things than we are spendy on.

A 15 year $960,000 mortgage at 2% is close to $7,000/month. Something isn’t adding up here.

[Anonymous]

If you are saving over 25 percent of your income, then you can do whatever you want with the rest.

[Anonymous]

We have a similar income, but own our house outright. We have 3 kids with fully funded 529s. One graduated with money leftover. One half way through and will have a little leftover and a third in high school. My spouse and I are cheap, especially compared with some of these other posters. I can't imagine either of us spending $1200/month. Even considering that he eats in cafeteria at work (subsidized, but not free), I would guess we each spend about $250/month on ourselves. About once a year we each do a solo weekend with friends, so adding in those costs, maybe $350-400/month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's way too much. I think $600 a month would even be a bit much.

+1
Our income is twice yours and we give ourselves $600/mo. We save a ton and are close to paying off our mortgage on a $3M home. Our kids are older- 20, 17, 15, 10.

You make 640k and have a $3M house? Seems like a stretch to afford that. I would rather live in a 1M home and put the difference towards things like toys and experiences. The delta between a 1M and 3M house is probably 10-15k a month and you only give yourself $600/month each. That seems crazy to spend so much on a house while having such a barebones spending budget.

Yes, we bought the home 13 years ago for 1.2M. It's 3M now. We put 20% down and got a 15 yr fixed.

Do whatever you need to do for your finances, but don't just assume others have or have had the same circumstances as you. There is a wide range. Our bare bones spending has also allowed us to purchase 2 vacation homes and send our kids to private school. HHI is a bit higher than your assumptions too. Yes we are frugal. You know the type - drive subaru and wear non trendy clothes - boring. It works for us.

Subarus are not exactly cheap, paying for private school is literally the opposite of being frugal, and buying a house for $1.2 million puts you in a pretty exalted class of spenders. You may not wear nice clothes, but you are a spender, friend. You just spend on different things than others of us. I think OP's spending is fine - but we drive one 14 year old Kia Soul and bought our house for $330k. I know - you could NEVER. That's because you are spendy but on different things than we are spendy on.

A 15 year $960,000 mortgage at 2% is close to $7,000/month. Something isn’t adding up here.

No. My 1.4 mortgage at 2.75 is 8k PITI.