Anonymous wrote:I want to vomit every month when I pay the bills. i have them all on a spreadsheet and it is never under 7K. And that doesn't include any gas, food or incidentals. It sucks majorly.

Oh good--I'm glad it's not just me. Except we have to pay college tuition each month so ours is more like $11K per month.

Anonymous wrote:I think for some people, online shopping has made the problem worse. I see neighbors with an Amazon box on their doorstep nearly every day! With Prime, people think nothing of just ordering that $7 item here, $20 there. It's just a constant stream of purchases.

This is definitely my problem. I feel good about taking care of things immediately/buying what we need as soon as I think of it, but I wind up spending way more than if I just let things fall between the cracks.

I want to vomit every month when I pay the bills. i have them all on a spreadsheet and it is never under 7K. And that doesn't include any gas, food or incidentals. It sucks majorly.

Anonymous wrote:78$ drycleaning bill?? What do you dryclean? And where?

Right? I just wash my suits in the delicate cycle and hang dry. These are nice tailored silk suits, too. No way am I paying $100 a month to have someone spray chemicals all over them.

Anything other than my suits for work I buy wash-and-wear, too. Sure, I have some cashmere that needs to be handwashed, but I can use my hands for free!

78$ drycleaning bill?? What do you dryclean? And where?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:700 to have puppy spayed and $4k for timing belt and major service for Honda Pilot - rats!

Sorry to get off topic but this is why I don't understand why people buy cars. Why sink money into a depreciating asset? Your car is presumably paid off, but then you have to sink an additional years worth of payments (give or take) into servicing the car. I used to not understand why anyone would lease a car, but now I'd rather have the payment as a fixed expense every month rather than spend 4 years making higher payments, then finally pay it off and not have a payment only to need to sink $4000 into it. YMMV.

I have an eight-year-old Acura that has cost me only basic maintenance and one battery. When it starts to need major repairs we'll trade it in, but in the meantime we've gone four years with no meaningful payments on the car, and are hoping to get at least a couple more.

YES!
Kids glasses contacts $600 each (year pack)
Groc $230 week
Costco -- forget it -- it is always $300
Target -- $100+
... and so on

It makes me feel a little ill and ashamed how tight our budget feels given our HHI.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:700 to have puppy spayed and $4k for timing belt and major service for Honda Pilot - rats!

Sorry to get off topic but this is why I don't understand why people buy cars. Why sink money into a depreciating asset? Your car is presumably paid off, but then you have to sink an additional years worth of payments (give or take) into servicing the car. I used to not understand why anyone would lease a car, but now I'd rather have the payment as a fixed expense every month rather than spend 4 years making higher payments, then finally pay it off and not have a payment only to need to sink $4000 into it. YMMV.

Some cars go ten years without needing almost any repair. Leasing really makes sense only in some quite specific cases.

I think for some people, online shopping has made the problem worse. I see neighbors with an Amazon box on their doorstep nearly every day! With Prime, people think nothing of just ordering that $7 item here, $20 there. It's just a constant stream of purchases.

Anonymous wrote:700 to have puppy spayed and $4k for timing belt and major service for Honda Pilot - rats!

Sorry to get off topic but this is why I don't understand why people buy cars. Why sink money into a depreciating asset? Your car is presumably paid off, but then you have to sink an additional years worth of payments (give or take) into servicing the car. I used to not understand why anyone would lease a car, but now I'd rather have the payment as a fixed expense every month rather than spend 4 years making higher payments, then finally pay it off and not have a payment only to need to sink $4000 into it. YMMV.

700 to have puppy spayed and $4k for timing belt and major service for Honda Pilot - rats!

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I went into Costco for milk and eggs and wound up buying a piano for 6k.

I'm always shocked at how much we spend, but it's because it's so freakin expensive around our area (NYC). Based on my tracking, we are spending on average of 10,800 a month. Mortgage and childcare is half that. That means we spend over 5k avg a month on other stuff.

Spending gets to be a habit, and pretty soon you don't think about the snacks you pick up for the kids, the little crap you buy at Target for the holidays, the special food from Whole Foods for a celebration of one type or another, the cute little junk you saw at some boutique you were passing on the way to somewhere else.

I shop at Costco, and can't get out of there under $300 ever! Target I just stay out of except for emergencies. I always spend $200 there. My kids are teens, though, so it adds up! Even underwear and socks costs $50, add one or two things, and you're up to $200 in a flash.

Haircuts, gas, antiques I pick up at the little antique store that's a block from DD's ballet!! Lessons, movies, it just keeps going.... We're not even wealthy, barely middle class, yet the $ goes so fast!