32
FIRE'd at 31
Lived in HCOL NYC, now in HCOL NoVa/DC
Most of my cuts in spending made my life better, and I don't see them as sacrifices. I stopped drinking alcohol, stopped eating at restaurants as often, learned some tasty, healthy batch cooking methods, doubled down on free entertainment, stopped buying home decor, cut cable, and took trips through work and volunteer organizations. I started getting my clothing through free swaps, inviting friends over for dinner, and meeting dates for coffee or walks in the park. I don't have a car and don't want one. Same with kids. :p
The cut that has negatively impacted my life and still does: my cheap cell phone. It drops texts and has unreliable service outside of NYC. Since I have been traveling and no longer live in NYC, this is an issue. I've managed, and it's a first-world problem, but I will likely spend a bit to get something fancier.
This was my 2015 breakdown, from when I lived in a fancy, too-big apartment in NYC. 2016 was very similar.
2015 Financial Summary, Part I
Spending
Rent: $15,600
Food: $1,895 ($158 monthly average)
Health insurance (pretax): $785 ($450 if you consider taxes avoided)
Utilities: $547
Internet: $549
Transit (Metrocard, almost all pretax): $1,413 ($918 if you consider taxes avoided)
Transit (Other): $466
Travel: $668
Health/home supplies: $249
Entertainment: $234
Manufactured Spend: $22
Gifts: $18
Total Spending in 2015: $22,446 ($1,870/mo)
Total Spending with Tax Savings Factored In: $21,616 ($1,801/mo)
2017 was much less expensive. My boyfriend and I broke up, and since he has much higher living standards than I do, I was able to drop my fixed monthly expenses by almost $1,000. I had higher medical spending (approx. $1,500) and a lot more donations.
Estimated 2017 breakdown (monthly):
Rent & utilities: $500 (lived in what was technically a living room - not ideal long-term, but fine for a year)
Food: $200 (WAG - I became a little looser on restaurants in my last months in NYC)
Health insurance (pretax): $70
Medical: $125
Transit (Metrocard): $125
Transit (other): $10
Travel: $100
Health/home supplies: $20
Entertainment: $20
Cell phone: $20
Donations: $300
Total: $1,490
Total without donations: $1,190
Since Dec 2017, I haven't had rent or medical premiums. I've done a mix of couch-surfing, house-sitting, and campaign housing. I'm not tracking anymore, but this is a wild educated guess. This is making me curious, though. I may go through my accounts to figure out more exact numbers and see how far off my guesses are.
Dec 2017 - present:
Food: $100-200 (varies a lot by where I'm staying and how much I eat out)
Travel: $200
Entertainment: $75
Cell phone: $20
Misc: $30
Total: $425-525