2018 Spending REVEALED

[remizidae]

Okay, no one asked, but I'd like to share, and the thread is open to anyone else who wants to share. These numbers represent spending for one adult in an HCOL area (I'm married but we have separate finances, which helps to keep the joint expense numbers low.) These are yearly totals.

• Savings: $36,715
• Debt payments: $13,828
• Total savings and debt repayment: $50,543 (59%)
• Necessities: $18,905 (22%)
• Discretionary spending: $10,336 (12%)
• Travel: estimated at $5000 (6%)
• Charity: $720 (<1%)

Now, here are the average monthly numbers, with more detail.

Total necessities: 1576

Rent: 878
Medical expenses: 289
Health insurance: 122
Groceries: 211
Gas: 47
Car insurance: 29

Total discretionary excluding travel: 861

Purchases: 209
---Clothes/shoes/jewelry: 96
---Cosmetics/grooming: 34
---Tattoo: 30
---Household: 26
---Books/music/software: 23
Alcohol: 193
Restaurants: 172
Events: 121
--includes museums, theatre, parties, work events, races, concerts, shows
Gym: 60
Discretionary transport: 55
--public transit, Uber, bike rental
Home internet: 43
Netflix: 8

Travel: 416 (estimated)
Charity: 60

I'm not looking for comments along the lines of "here's how you can save money!" I'm already saving plenty, thank you, and all my luxuries are well-thought-out. My goals for 2019 are basically to keep going like I'm going, except that I'm going to put more money into debt repayment and less into cash savings. And, I'm quitting drinking, which should lead to a lower discretionary spending total (not to mention fewer drunken late-night Uber rides!)

[ThatGuy]

Your spending looks reasonable to me for a HCOL area.  I'm single and live in a LCOL area.  My total is around $24,000 a year.  One question popped in my head.  When you list your spending on alcohol and restaurants do you separate the amount you spend on alcohol from your restaurant bill?

[remizidae]

Your spending looks reasonable to me for a HCOL area.  I'm single and live in a LCOL area.  My total is around $24,000 a year.  One question popped in my head.  When you list your spending on alcohol and restaurants do you separate the amount you spend on alcohol from your restaurant bill?

Yes, I do actually.

[Zikoris]

Ours was pretty good - here are our annual totals, two adults + cat in Vancouver:

$9,987 - Housing (rent, insurance)
$9,815 - Travel (Mexico, Europe, Vietnam, short trips around Canada/US)
$3,351 - Food ($145 restaurants)
$1,223 - Health (mostly dental bills)
$1,034 - Shopping (mostly electronics - new laptop and phone)
$1,026 - Bills (two cell phones + internet)
$428 - Pet stuff
$398 - Personal care
$396 - Transportation (mostly bus fare)
$352 - Entertainment
$216 - Other

Total - $28,229

64% savings rate.

[DreamFIRE]

Partial list of budget items - estimated - single, no pets, midwest LCOL

$850 - Home insurance
$1200 - Electric bill
$900 - Natural gas bill
$450 - Water / Sewer / Garbage / Recycle
$500 - Gasoline
$2,800 - Food (including restaurants)
$1300 - Health / Vision / Dental / inc insurance
$510 - Internet & VPN services
$65 - Entertainment / Electronics / Discretionary (excl. restaurants)
$800 - Home maintenance
$350 - Clothes
$0 - Travel, Hotels, Gym, Alcohol, Pets, Concerts
$0 - Cell phone, Cable TV, Movies, Video rentals, Streaming Services, Newspapers, Magazines

$14,383 Total spending (figured separately based on actual spending calculations for 2018, not from list above)

Savings rate - 82%

Savings rate for 2018 thread:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/my-savings-rate-for-2018-90242/

[JAYSLOL]

Nice work OP and everyone else, you are all rocking it.  I didn't tally spending in 2018, but I might go back to that this year.  My savings rate is more in the 35-40% range at the moment, but going to make a big push for 50% this year.

[ThatGuy]

Your spending looks reasonable to me for a HCOL area.  I'm single and live in a LCOL area.  My total is around $24,000 a year.  One question popped in my head.  When you list your spending on alcohol and restaurants do you separate the amount you spend on alcohol from your restaurant bill?

Yes, I do actually.

I don't drink very much anymore so I don't separate it but I do separate eating at fast food restaurants from nicer restaurants.  I have a bad habit of eating junk food so I separate that from the groceries.

[maginvizIZ]

Hell yeah that's amazing! 59%!  Boom!


I'll have to do my analysis on my spending to see where I'm at.  I'm probably around where you are at too.  Kind of crazy to think you only need ~10 years at that rate to become FI!

[seattlecyclone]

I just put my yearly breakdown in my journal: family of four, HCOL, >50% savings rate.

[2Birds1Stone]

$6,530   Rent/Utility
$1,135   Grocery
$957   Gas
$2,618   Entertainment
$1,000   Depreciation
$648   Vehicle Fund
$776   Travel
$1,315   Insurance
$489   Health/Hygiene
$895   Misc
$1,113   Gifting
$17,476   Total Spent

83% Savings Rate

[maginvizIZ]

My one category I'm focusing on for next year: Alcohol.  2018: $1030 (ouch)


It's hard for me to categorize things... I do groceries & buy things at walmart... There's been a lot of reimbursements with traveling for work (I show I spent $2500 eating out, which stuns me... But now that I'm thinking, at least 50% was due to work... and was reimbursed).

Doing rough math of excluding things that was reimbursed... I spent $17k this year. $3k less than last year. :) I think being single helps with my expenses.

[phildonnia]

My 2018 results are in:

Auto/Fuel: $7281
Other Transportation: $3114
    Travel: $2971
Household: $4064
    Groceries: $2894
Dining out: $1744
Insurance: $1049
Medical: $3203 (excludes employer-paid premiums)
Clothing: $82
Internet: $374
Utilities: $3041
Gifts: $531
Recreation: $995
School/Daycare: $4827
Financial Management Fees: $1941
Tax: $38334
   Property Tax: $2779

[NonprofitER]

I'm amazed that some of you can spend $1k - $2k on groceries/food for the WHOLE YEAR. That's inspiring!
We're a family of 3 and I can't seem to get us all fed for less than $6500/yr. Granted, we're basically grain-free, so that reduces the inexpensive "filler" options (bread, pasta, rice, etc.)... but still.  We're trying to cut back the budget a bit tighter this year. [fingers crossed]

[phildonnia]

Granted, we're basically grain-free, so that reduces the inexpensive "filler" options (bread, pasta, rice, etc.)... but still. 

What's the grain-free based on?  Is it a gluten thing, or just cutting carbs?  Are potatoes still on the menu?  There's a lot you can do with potatoes.

[NonprofitER]

Sadly (for my budget) its low carb.

I'm ultra low carb for a lengthy health reason  (not trendy/woo woo dieting but due to an actual rare genetic disorder in processing glucose). The other 2/3rds of the family are moderate carb (probably low carb by SAD standards) mainly because our meals are shared and I do most of the cooking. But they do consume potatoes and I often augment their meals with them.  I do cook everything from scratch and we all 3 pack lunches, etc. 

I'm aiming for $5,500/yr for the 3 of us. In fairness, our annual total also includes household stuff (such as toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, etc) because I'm too lazy to separate those items out on the grocery bill.

[phildonnia]

Sadly (for my budget) its low carb. I'm ultra low carb for a lengthy health reason ...

Sorry to hear that.   

I've been blessed with the ability to put absolutely anything into my mouth without problems, so I sometimes don't realize that other people have difficulties I wouldn't think of. 

Sometimes tell myself "It may not be your fault, but it is your problem."  Many people would throw up their arms and call this problem unsolvable, but still you apparently pursue badassity, and that's awesome.