Author Topic: So what did you guys spend in 2014?  (Read 4502 times)

Zikoris

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So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« on: January 02, 2015, 12:04:40 PM »
I'll start. Two people + one cat household. $26,288 total. $17,914 excluding travel.

$9359 - Housing...   Rent, insurance, composting supplies, and moving expenses from a summer move

$8373 - Travel...   Incidentals from January Guatemala trip (mostly paid for in 2013, just minor expenses like a spa visit), two weeks backpacking from Budapest to Paris via Vienna and Zurich, a long weekend getaway to visit family, and nearly all costs for our upcoming Hong Kong trip

$3205 - Food...   $2426 groceries, $257 restaurants, the rest snacks/soda and our Costco membership

$1398 - Entertainment...   A big chunk of it was going paragliding for our 5th anniversary and boyfriend's birthday. Also includes a lot of concerts, symphonies, opera, movies, activities, and my ballet lessons

$1271 - Shopping...   $460 in electronics (two e-readers, new tv + mounting kit, new ipod, new phone, plenty of video games), $168 in ebooks + magazine subscription, $160 clothing, $155 furniture (moved to a smaller apartment, some old stuff wouldn't fit), $136 shoes, $97 office supplies/stamps, and the rest little things

$1006 - Bills...   Internet and two cell phones

$753 - Personal care...   Haircuts, laundry, and toiletries

$527 - Transportation...   Bus tickets and bike expenses

$289 - Cat...   Food and litter and stuff

$107 - Everything else...   Gifts and medical stuff

Albert

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2015, 02:05:44 PM »
I admire those of you who are able to keep record of your spending so precisely. I should try to do better this year...

All I can tell is that I as a single guy spent about 35,000$ by the current exchange rate. From that approximately :

19,000$ - Housing (rent, heating, electricity)
800$ - transportation (public transport)
600$ - phone and internet

The rest goes for everything else including a lot of travel (6 separate trips this year).

Exflyboy

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2015, 02:12:44 PM »
I will find out on Feb 1st (when I had finally slashed our expenses.. If its anywhere close to those above I'll be both delighted and amazed.. And thats with the mortgage paid off..

I'm guessing $30k, but we'll see.

Frank

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2015, 02:55:28 PM »
I did a trailing 12 month total a month or two ago and got roughly $36k for 2 adults and 2 school age children.  This does not include employer paid health insurance. 

Major catagories include:

Mortgage PITI:$10,000

Groceries:$4,000

Gasoline:$4,000 (I know!)

Utilities:$1,800

Cell/Internet:$900

Auto insurance:$800

This leaves a pretty big everything else category which doesn't bother me as long as we stay under budget on a mothly basis.  Dining out accounts for very little.   

Once FIRED, gas will decline (I've got a 70 mile roundtrip commute at the present) but it did include a 3000 mile road trip in the van.

 

Jon_Snow

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2015, 03:10:12 PM »
I'm thinkin' we were around 30k. If we got rid of our car, cable tv, stopped taking our truck on the ferry, and a few other "luxuries" we could very easily hit 24k... not shabby at all for the Vancouver area. To be honest, I think we have hit the sweet spot with our lifestyle and expenses - I doubt we are going to cut any of these things out of our budget.

Our housing costs (mortgage free condo) are around $300 monthly - this is the key to EVERYTHING for us, budget wise...

We have acreage on a west coast island that we, if we were so inclined, could set up a little subsistence farm and "live off the land". Would love to do this one day and see how little we could live on over the span of a few years... might be tough to convince my wife of this. ;)

sheepstache

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2015, 03:27:06 PM »
Looks like a little over $14,000.  Not including taxes.

$700 of that went into a FSA, of which I'm rolling over $500 that's still available.
$2000 food, which SO shares (but he eats out a lot and sometimes buys groceries when I "forget" to buy the pricey things he likes)
$5000 rent (my half)
$2500 utilities and joint savings ($1500 of which went into joint savings bonds, another $400 for vacation costs)
$960 loan repayment
$450 phone
$1278 eating out and entertainment
$400 travel

Of the $900 remaining I know where it went but it's a mixture, doesn't really fit into a category for these purposes.



thedayisbrave

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2015, 03:42:37 PM »
Right around $15K for a single person.  That includes the special private concerts I host for some singer/songwriter friends (hosted two this year) so I could probably cut it down even more if I had to.  I'd like to cut it a bit more, but the concerts are one of the most looked forward to events of my life, so I'm going to keep trying to do them as long as I'm able :)

NinetyFour

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Re: So what did you guys spend in 2014?
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2015, 05:35:29 PM »
Here are my expenses.  I am single.  The first number is for 12 months.  The number in parentheses is the monthly average.

Coffee Shops:$97.57($8.13)
Groceries (food only):$2354.30($196.19)
Car:$2105.87($175.49) (includes tires, maintenance, insurance, registration)
Gasoline:$964.73($80.39)
Electricity:$508.12($42.34) (for myself and my tenant)
Gas:$662.87($55.24) (for myself and my tenant, includes stoves and heat--and tenant's dryer)
Water/Trash/Sewer:$579.79($47.57) for myself and my tenant)
Cell Phone:$72.71($6.06) (yes, really--I LOVE TING!!)
Household stuff:$113.27($9.44)
House Expenses:$627.85($52.32) (landscaper, chimney cleaning, and appliance repair)
Gifts:$990.81($82.57) (includes $465 charitable giving)
Internet:$484.60 ($40.38)
Netflix:$27.78($2.32) (signed up for a short time while suffering from injuries)
Hockey:$1648.85($137.40) (this included some travel and lodging for out of town tournaments)
Medical:$1181.75($98.48) (out of pocket costs--broken leg in September didn't help)
New York Times online subscription:$34.84($3.17)
Eating out:$148.43($13.49)
Bicycle repair/maintenance:$130.89($11.90)
Campsite Fees:$125($10.42)
Out of town travel and lodging (not reimbursed by work):$713.19($64.84) (mini-splurges in Boston and Denver)
Parking and bus fares:$12.25($1.11)
Tax Prep:$250($20.83)
Contributed toward new fridge at work:$120($10)
Hotels for out of town guests:$124.84($11.35)
Hiking Shoes:$129.13($10.76)
Miscellaneous:$35.86($2.99)

Total of above:  $14,245.30

I also paid:

TIAA loan:  $43,000 (part of this was possible because of windfall)
Mortgage:  $30,000 (about $14,000 of this was extra toward the principal)
403b:  $18,640 (pre-tax deferred salary)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!