- Mortgage 1360 |
- Electric 125 |
- Water 35 |
- Nat Gas 75 |
- CPI 50 |
- Garbage 25 |
- HOA 67 |
- Home 100 |
- Pest 28.5 |
- Fence 10 |
- Lawn 20 |
Housing 1900/mo |
|
- Cell Phones 62 |
- Medical 75 |
- Contacts 50 |
- Grocery/Costco 425 |
- Clothes 50 |
Necessities 662/mo |
|
- Internet 57 |
- Cable TV 116 |
- Hosting 10 |
- Netflix 10 |
- Amazon Prime 8.5 |
- Food/Alcohol 350 |
- Life Events 50 |
- Fun Money Me 175 |
- Fun Money Her 175 |
Entertainment 952/mo |
|
- Cars 350 |
- Car Insurance 102 |
- Car Tax 32 |
- Car Maint 50 |
- Gas 175 |
Transportation 859/mo |
|
- Gifts 50 |
- Churning 28 |
- Misc 50 |
Other 128/mo |
|
- IRA 600 |
- Cars 150 |
Savings 750/mo |
I tried to re-categorize your spending to make more sense of it. The split in Cars expense is an estimate based on your statement that part of it goes to savings for new vehicles (the rest going to loan payments). Additionally you spend about $600/month on Big Ticket (combined 40% of your bonus and 6000 from "other bumps"). I'm not clear on whether 20% of your bonus is included in the Misc in the budget above (both are $50), or if that needs to be added in. Same with the 40% of bonus going to IRA, which would be an additional $100 per month.
Anyway, lets take a look at the categories as I've split them. Housing is location dependent, but does seem high at first glance. You are spending quite a bit on energy (Elec + Gas = $200) and there is $100 "home" floating out there. If that's anything like cleaning supplies, household goods, etc., it should probably be classified as groceries (and reduced significantly). I think you could cut these costs by $150/mo without much sacrifice.
Next for Necessities, you seem fine honestly. Cheap phones, reasonable medical, low clothing. Some would say your food is high for 2 people but based on what you describe of your diet choices it's not bad. The only thing I would suggest is looking in to eating additional healthy fats and/or clean carbs as substitution for part of your meat eating. 150g of protein is a lot, even for a very active large guy. You're probably on the top end of "even if I was a bodybuilder I would not benefit from eating additional protein", which is pretty extreme. Might try slightly reducing portions and see how it goes for a month. Cost cutting maybe $50/mo.
The Entertainment budget is huge, and doesn't include the travel/big ticket. Others have talked about Cable, but even if your wife keeps this you should be able to cut it in half. From the amount I assume you're on premium channels.. if you go to expanded basic there are still a lot of popular shows. Food/Alcohol just basic ideas to cut it, invite people over, drink less or drink before, volunteer to be DD, order appetizers instead of meals, order well vodka on the rocks instead of expensive cocktails. Try cutting down Fun Money if you can. Cheaper golf courses, taking less risks with the bike, etc., and applying the less costly going out principles as well. Cost cutting about $400 as a start, and more if you can swing it/as you get used to doing things in a less costly way.
Transportation is pretty big as well. You spend a lot on fuel and a lot on insurance as well (I recognize the insurance is likely required by your lender at this time). Maybe combining trips a bit, shopping around the insurance, but most of the savings here will come when the loans are gone. $25 cost cutting at this time, then a total of $400/mo when the loans are gone.
Other, I don't know what churning is! Besides that this seems okay, although if Misc is truly $100 (with an additional $50 from the 20% of your monthly bonus) you might see if you can allocate some amount to a formal category. Cost cutting, $0.
That's a total of $625/mo without significant lifestyle change, which would go up to $1000/mo when the cars are paid off. That's already a lot! Keep in mind though there may be a meta issue here, which is where you live vs. where you work. You have high housing costs as well as high transportation costs. Typically there are savings if you move closer to work, which also gives you more free time to deal with everything around the house. I can't say how much you would save without details of how far your commutes are, what the housing market looks like, etc... but you may have huge savings by looking in to this.
Good luck!