Family of 8. We spend $4k on rent and about $5k on everything else, including saving for non-monthly expenses but not including retirement (about $1200, pretax)

That $5k includes

$840 utilities/cable/phone/internet
$800 transportation expenses
$450 subsidizing our rental property
$500 house cleaning/lawn mowing (leftover from when I was sick, will be getting rid of when I can bear it
$500 credit card (paying off medical expenses, this is 4x minimum payment)
$200 clothes, haircuts, Dr copays
$150 charity
$1500 goes on groceries, toiletries, diapers, etc, including a once a week Mom Doesn't Cook night (Chinese takeaway or Costco Pizza)

That leaves about $300 which I try to squirrel away for Christmas/Birthdays/Shit happening. That last one is a killer. Shit may only happen to a person once a year, but multiply that by eight and you've got shit happening at least every 45 days.

These numbers are insane! I can't imagine ever spending that much on a regular basis.

Family of 3, living in a TH along the Arlington orange line, spend about $4,500/month:

Mortgage: $1,900
Pre-K: $600
Food: $700
Utilities/fuel/car insurance (1 car): $300
Metro fare for DH: $200
Fun/Entertainment/Other: $800

I'll admit that we do manage to run a lot of expenses through our employers, such as phones and internet. In addition, my MIL provides afternoon childcare to DD, so we don't have that expense.

Anonymous wrote:Single mom with kid -- about $5,500 a month, with savings. I hope to have a little more breathing room when the little guy starts school, and can go back to saving more.

Same here, although the outlay is more like 5k per month, since I bought my condo back in the early 14th century.

These threads are ridiculous. As are all the "how much do you spend on...." threads. Seriously there are like 5 of these per week. How many threads for shameless wealth bragging do you people need?

Family of 4 - we spend about 20k per month between mortgage, cars, preschool, lessons, PT nanny, housekeeper, bills, food, luxuries.

2 adults + 1 toddler, about $7k/mo all expenses, not including savings.

family of four. two kids in private school.

12,000 per month

Anonymous wrote:My parents spend 1,000 per month . Everything is paid off and they are very frugal

Well, that's all fine and dandy...

I have a mortgage and a kid in private school so 7k a month right there.

family of 5:

mortgage 2400
utilities and phones 600 (higher in winter)
car payments 500
out of pocket medical 700 (various therapies)
eating out/entertainment 700
gas 150
clothes, presents, repairs, misc purchases 800
lawn care 200
housecleaning 250
childcare 2700
kid lessons 300

so, total is something around 9.5k/month, then 3 to 4k/year for family trips (everyone is on the west coast, so that's almost 2k in airfare alone) and there's always some unexpected huge expense for the house.

as soon as we can reduce our child care costs, that money will go into college savings.

3- $4500-5000

Anonymous wrote:$7500 per month for a family of four with two children in high school. This includes all spending and no saving and no taxes.

We are also in McLean and worth 2+M.

$7500 per month for a family of four with two children in high school. This includes all spending and no saving and no taxes.

Anonymous wrote:break out of above: mortgage/taxes/repairs/utilities on primary home (worth about $1.7m in McLean)= $8500
mortgage/taxes/maintenance on second home (worth about $500K) = $4000
School Tuition = $2700
Housekeeper/nanny = $3000
Food = $2000
College Savings (2 kids, ages 12 & 14) = $4500
Travel Sports = $1000 avg. (includes some international travel)
Misc = $1300

You can't count $4500 for college savings as something you spend. You are SAVING it, not SPENDING it.

We're about 11-12k, but that truly includes all spending - travel, charitable donations, insurance, home maintenance, etc., - averaged out over the year. It does not include savings. Mortgage is $2500, still have daycare, aftercare, etc. I find it a ridiculous amount of spending, but other than cutting back on food and dining costs, I don't want to cut back on any of the other stuff like travel.

break out of above: mortgage/taxes/repairs/utilities on primary home (worth about $1.7m in McLean)= $8500
mortgage/taxes/maintenance on second home (worth about $500K) = $4000
School Tuition = $2700
Housekeeper/nanny = $3000
Food = $2000
College Savings (2 kids, ages 12 & 14) = $4500
Travel Sports = $1000 avg. (includes some international travel)
Misc = $1300