Author Topic: Is this budget realistic to live off of?  (Read 6284 times)

FuckRx

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Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« on: February 13, 2014, 09:27:19 PM »

For some of you who are in retirement is this a feasible retirement budget? Or is it too strict/limited?

apt rent   $825
grocery   $250
Cell bill   $20
household   $30
Gasoline   $80
home wifi   $30
car ins.   $30
car repairs   $30
Restaurant   $80
medical    $30
car reg.   $15
publc trans.$10
laundry   $25
clothing   $10
Netflix   $8

TOTAL   $1,483

chucklesmcgee

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2014, 09:53:07 PM »
Some of it seems very optimistic. While it's great to aim for this budget, you should plan your retirement to be able to accommodate unexpected expenses and future inflation.

Double check these figures:

If you're in a state that lets you get $30 car insurance, good for you. Are you sure you can get this rate? $250 for groceries is also doable, but a bit tight. 

$30 for medical expenses? How do you figure that? Insurance costs a lot more than that and you'd have a pretty stiff deductible/copays.

$30 for car repairs? Depends on your mileage and car, but that can be a big underestimate. Just getting a belt replaced or new tires can easily exceed your $360 annual budget. Since you're spending $80 a month on gas I'm guessing you drive a reasonable amount. Unless you do a lot of work on your car yourself,  even very routine things like changing out brake pads, oil, wiper blades and your battery is already pushing it.

$10 for clothing basically gives you enough to replace worn out socks, underwear and basic t-shirts. Fine if you're ok with it.

How does laundry cost $25/month unless you're getting stuff dry-cleaned?

Do you have an electric or water bill, or is that included in your rent?

I think it's a decent framework, but I'd be budgeting enough to deal with say, real medical expenses or unexpected car trouble.

Zikoris

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2014, 10:15:58 PM »
How many people is it for? My boyfriend and I spend about that combined, though we spend less on rent, transportation, eating out, and medical, and more on entertainment and electronics. I think it's reasonable.

FuckRx

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2014, 11:18:12 PM »

shit, forgot about health insurance :)
I'm so used to getting it from work for free.
grocery has been ok at that price.
car insurance is too low, you're right, I messed that up as well.
Yea I wash my clothes/sheets perhaps too much but it's the laundromat I use at my building hence the prices. No dry cleaning.
No water/electric at this apartment.
I will need to adjust my car repair estimates.

FuckRx

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2014, 11:19:17 PM »
How many people is it for? My boyfriend and I spend about that combined, though we spend less on rent, transportation, eating out, and medical, and more on entertainment and electronics. I think it's reasonable.

I don't mean to be nosy but can I get some more details on your living expenses? That's awesome for 2 people, and definitely cheers!

Zikoris

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2014, 12:00:10 AM »
Sure, here was the exact breakdown for 2013 from our blog: http://incomingassets.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/2013-financial-report/

We live a pretty comfortable life - downtown Vancouver apartment, easy office jobs that we both walk to, lots of shows and concerts, lots of really good home cooking, and a ton of travel. 

chasesfish

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #6 on: February 14, 2014, 04:37:05 AM »
I would say that's pretty minimalist for someone coming from a physician's income.

I know for me the number is $3,000/mo after my housing is paid for.  That's for two people and includes really healthy figures for travelling. 

BPA

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #7 on: February 14, 2014, 05:28:55 AM »
I would say that's pretty minimalist for someone coming from a physician's income.

I know for me the number is $3,000/mo after my housing is paid for.  That's for two people and includes really healthy figures for travelling.

Retirement figures should be based on what you need/want in retirement, not what your working salary was otherwise MMM and family should be spending a helluva lot more than $25k a year.

I will draw $1500 a month from a pension and that will be more than enough for me and my son who will still be dependent for a couple of years then.

MayDay

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2014, 05:48:49 AM »
As others have mentioned, medical, car repairs, household seem low.  Can you really get home wifi for 30$?  We can't unless we get dial-up (can you even get dial up anymore?). 

Sure you can probably get by with low household, and car if you are willing to go without a car for months while you save up to repair.  But when our timing belt needed racing at 100k miles to the tune of 700$ (not sure the price if you do it yourself, is that the plan?  Seems hard in an apartment if that is what you are renting) that is 21 months of saving to get the car fixed.  Yikes. 

Medical seems wildly unrealistic to the point that I am wondering what in the world you are thinking.  Even if your insurance is free, you are going to have med costs, co pays or coinsurance, etc as you age, no matter how healthy you may be now. 

medinaj2160

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2014, 06:02:27 AM »
My number is 28k with a house paid off, 7-8k of the 28k is for traveling.

netskyblue

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2014, 08:55:19 AM »
It's reasonably close to my budget, now, though distributed a bit differently.

apt rent   $825      | $750
grocery   $250       | $290
Cell bill   $20          | $26
household   $30    | $0 (I put this under grocery)
Gasoline   $80       | $65
home wifi   $30      | $70
car ins.   $30         | $77.5 (includes car, renter's, & personal articles rider.  I intend to drop some coverage after winter is over, now that car is paid for)
car repairs   $30   | $20 (includes repairs, maintenance, car washes, annual registration)
Restaurant   $80   | $0  (included in grocery)
medical    $30       | $0  (insurance is $22.5 out of each paycheck, but I don't set aside anything at this time above the $1k my employer contributes annually to my HSA)
car reg.   $15        | (included in repairs, above)
publc trans.$10    | $0 (we don't have public transit)
laundry   $25        | $0
clothing   $10        | $0 (on the rare occasion I need to replace socks or underwear, it comes out of grocery)
Netflix   $8            | $8

TOTAL   $1,483

I also have: 
Energy bill  $94
Gifts  $94

Total: $1494.50


Have you included utilities, gifts, and health insurance?

sheepstache

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #11 on: February 14, 2014, 09:41:49 AM »
If that is for long-term retirement to calculate your number, don't forget if you're going to have a car it is going to need to be replaced at some point.

horsepoor

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Re: Is this budget realistic to live off of?
« Reply #12 on: February 14, 2014, 10:22:27 AM »
It seems like you would want some allocation for travel or other hobbies.  You list NetFlix, so don't forget to budget for keeping up your TV/computer/DVD player because those things do need replacing periodically.  Think about what you might be doing with your spare time in retirement and then think really hard about what expenses those might incur, no matter how small.  For instance, running is cheap, but does require shoe replacements, which wouldn't be covered by a $10 a month clothing budget.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!