For those who spending a relatively small amount on housing, out of their total spending, are you free and clear on a mortgage and only paying TI/repairs now? Or are you living in a LCOLA?
For those who spending a relatively small amount on housing, out of their total spending, are you free and clear on a mortgage and only paying TI/repairs now? Or are you living in a LCOLA?
I own my home and live in a LCOLA. :-)
Ouch on the medical, B_J! Both $ and all the prods and pokes....
I, like Raenia, am amazed by how little folks spend on housing -- go you! For those who spending a relatively small amount on housing, out of their total spending, are you free and clear on a mortgage and only paying TI/repairs now? Or are you living in a LCOLA?
For those who spending a relatively small amount on housing, out of their total spending, are you free and clear on a mortgage and only paying TI/repairs now? Or are you living in a LCOLA?
I own my home and live in a LCOLA. :-)
Ouch on the medical, B_J! Both $ and all the prods and pokes....
I, like Raenia, am amazed by how little folks spend on housing -- go you! For those who spending a relatively small amount on housing, out of their total spending, are you free and clear on a mortgage and only paying TI/repairs now? Or are you living in a LCOLA?
OP: Consider looking at total income and treating taxes as one of your categories. That was eye-opening for me and caused me to focus a lot of my effort in tax reduction strategies.
Ouch on the medical, B_J! Both $ and all the prods and pokes....
I, like Raenia, am amazed by how little folks spend on housing -- go you! For those who spending a relatively small amount on housing, out of their total spending, are you free and clear on a mortgage and only paying TI/repairs now? Or are you living in a LCOLA?
Except, if we’re talking % of spending, not income, then wouldn’t you expect a low spender to have their housing as a very large percentage of their spending??
For us, we have an extremely cheap house in an MCOL city and our housing and utility costs are about 60% of our spending (not including student debt repayment) because we spend so little on anything else. In terms of gross income, our housing costs are less than 10%.
Having universal healthcare and not having kids leaves us with very little necessary expenses outside of housing.
I did an interesting exercise this morning and wanted to share in case anyone else was interested in doing the same. I looked at some basic categories in spending and compared %s of total spending. Here is what I found:
15% : Personal (FUN- Monthly personal spend, travel, fun home projects)
14% : Food (Groceries and restaurants)
14%: Transportation (Car loan, maintenance, insurance, gas)
12% : Education (Student loans loans and currently paying for DHs class out of pocket)
11% : Housing (Rent and utilities)
10% : Medical co-pays
8% : Kids (Childcare, diapers, toys)
7% : Digital entertainment (Cell phone, internet, cable)
3% : Other
1% : Clothing
Lots of good personal takeaways. I would imagine these %s vary wildly based on specific personal circumstances, but it was interesting to see where my money is going. Apparently we prioritize personal spending; I knew this but had no idea that would be our highest category. Similarly I knew we didn’t spend much on our kids or our housing but I didn’t realize it was a relatively low amount, by comparison.
Background: We have a 2 year old, adding another kid next month! DH 32 and I’m 27. We rent so do not have big home improvement/unexpected home expenses.
Category | % of spending | % of take home |
Housing (taxes, insurance, small repairs) | 6.2% | 2.8% |
Utilities (home utilities, internet, phone) | 10.2% | 4.6% |
Car (insurance, gas, minor repairs) | 5.7% | 2.5% |
Other insurances | 2% | .9% |
Personal Allowances | 16.5% | 7.4% |
Food (Groceries, Dining Out) | 20.6% | 9.2% |
Entertainment (movies,streaming, etc.) | 1% | .5% |
Travel | 18.6% | 8.3% |
Misc shopping (household items, clothes, etc.) | 11.3% | 5.1% |
Medical (non-HSA funds) | 1% | .5% |
Charity | 6.2% | 2.8% |
After-tax savings | --- | 55.3% |
Housing/Rent | 39% | |
Tax | 20% | |
Charity | 14% | working on increasing |
Food | 9% | working on decreasing, especially fast food |
Travel | 6% | decreasing naturally |
Car | 5% | working on decreasing, especially gas |
Bills | 3% | |
Shopping | 2% | includes personal and home supplies |
Entertainment | 1% | |
Gifts | 1% | |
Hair | 0% | 0.4%, but it rounds down haha |
though to be fair I am also taxed on my waived tuition
though to be fair I am also taxed on my waived tuition
Your tuition wavers should not be taxed; you might want to look into this.
though to be fair I am also taxed on my waived tuition
Your tuition wavers should not be taxed; you might want to look into this.
Yeah, they aren't for most university grad students, but I attend a non-university institution and here it seems to depend on what kind of grant is funding you. They pay me a little extra to make up for it, so my take-home is unaffected, but when I calculate % taxes it shows up.
I say "waived" for simplicity, but technically I am paid extra and then the tuition is withheld from my paycheck.