What is your month-to-month spending? And where do you live?

[jeromedawg]

Hey all,

Just curious to see some 'breakdowns' from others as far as month-to-month spending. Not sure how many of you are willing to divulge this information (I assume some might be since there's some of this going on anyway when we ask others for help or advice). It would be interesting to know where the general area you live too and to see some "Mustachian" data and how people get by. Not looking for budgets here but looking for actual 'rough' estimates of what you spend month-to-month.

I haven't done this recently and actually think it might be a good exercise just to do for myself, so I'll hopefully do it and post it up soon! I'm not sure if this this should include or exclude contributions to retirement accounts either. I've kind of debated between whether or not to consider IRA contributions as part of my "spending" but I'd lean towards no in that it should be considered like another line item off my paycheck if I'm talking about pure "spending"

Thoughts? Would love to see anyone else who perhaps has laid it out. I guess not much different from what MMM himself has posted here - http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/01/16/exposed-the-mmm-familys-2014-spending/ & http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/01/26/calculating-net-worth/ (although, I wouldn't be as interested in net worth really - just spending and "cost of living")

[ac]

South Carolina
$3,100/month on average
Family of 4
Includes home mortgage, insurance, and taxes

If I could stamp it down to $1,800/month I'd meet the 4% rule!  Not likely.

[pka222]

South Pacific
2500 a month on Average
Family of 4
Includes rent, and annul spending like holidays and insurance

Like AC- if I could halve it - we'd be done

[jeromedawg]

For me, last year's avg spending was about $3000 - just the two of us right now. I'm in SoCal. Gonna have to get on that budget soon.

[Melody]

$3k/month on average including stuff like international holidays, furniture etc, actually monthly spend varies but $36k a year is pretty accurate. Single, renter, in a high cost of living area (Perth, Australia). Earn $6k after tax a month plus $1100 retirement account contribution from employer. I would let to get my spending to $2.5k a month :-) less than $2.5k would probably involve pretty big trade offs (house sharing, no holidays etc).

[Nudelkopf]

Single, 23yo, female, Australia.

$1600/month. This is unacceptably high, but does include a lot of trips (like, 8 weeks worth of holidays?), and a new bike, and a whole new work wardrobe.

[2Birds1Stone]

1500/month.
This is for just me, split rent/Utilities  with SO.
HCOL area.

[alsoknownasDean]

I'm spending around $2500-3000 a month, of which $1200 is rent.

Single, age 30, live in Melbourne, Australia.

[pancakes]

$3700/month average

Two adults in Perth Australia.

This is more or less the breakdown month to month:
55%   Rent
9%   Grocery
6%   Dining out & take away
6%   Utilities/house
5%   Lunches (take away)
4%   Public Transport
3%   Car expenses
3%   Cafe
3%   Alcohol
2%   Medical (inc insurance)
1%   Cat expenses
1%   Entertainment
1%   Misc

[MandyM]

~$1800/month. Just me, includes mortgage, not income taxes. Kentucky.

[AK]

About 3,200 per month in upstate NY. Over half from housing and student loans.

[YTProphet]

I'm on the high end here, but I've got a few kids and I'm not as gung-ho Mustachian as some on here. I live in Michigan.

401(k) gets maxed on top of this and so do the Roth IRA's of both my wife and I. Plus I usually have $2,000 left over each month for my brokerage account or other long-term expenses (new roof, replacement vehicle, etc).

Charity   $500
Mtg   $1,300
Groceries   $750
Electricity   $200
Gas   $75
Phone   $25
Water   $25
Internet   $20
Eating Out$150
Clothes   $50
Gas   $125
Insurance   $250
Target   $100
Gifts   $50
Misc    $200
   
Total   $3,845

[Stachetastic]

We're at $3700 total right now, including 3 rental units and all of their costs. If we only count our primary residence (as the rentals pay for themselves) we are at about $2500. Family of 3 (with a fourth on the weekends). Looking to knock out my $250 SL payment in the next few months.

Edit: We are in the Midwest--the land of cheap housing.

[hoodedfalcon]

In SC. I spend $3000.00, but my actual living expenses amount to about $1800.00. Student loan payments take me to 3K.

[tarheeldan]

$1,670/mo on living expenses. $920/mo is rent and pet rent. Single, living in Manchester, NH.

[rubybeth]

About $2,600/month for 2 adults, rental apartment for $665/mo. in the middle of Minnesota (midwest but not rural... small metro area with about 100,000 population). No debt, two older vehicles. In a pinch, we could cut this by a couple hundred a month but we are saving a lot and paying DH's grad school tuition with no loans, so I'm pretty happy with this amount. On top of that, we've budgeted about $5k for a trip to Europe this year.

[FLBiker]

I think we average a bit over $3K per month if we factor in vacations.  It's my wife and I, we live in Florida.  We're having a baby soon, though, so things will be changing.

Oh, and we own a 1800 sqft house.

[jasminegeekface]

About a $900/month, in upstate NY. That's for myself, renting and living with a roommate. Rent is more than half of that; food is most of the rest.

[samburger]

In 2014, we spent a total of $40k. $25k went toward normal expenses, and $15k went toward one-time (not lumpy!) expenses like tuition, a trip for my parents as a gift, furnishing an apartment, and adopting a new dog.

So we average a little more than $2,000/mo. We're two adults living in a medium-COL Midwestern city in the US.

[catccc]

I'm also on the (way) high end compared to the other responses.  Average last year was $4,255 per month.  Family of 4 in Philly suburbs.  Or whatever is between suburbs and boonies.

Sometimes I want to post a case study, but I know I'd just get defensive about valuing things like our family Y membership and private school tuition, the fact that we have 2 cars and DH has a motorcycle, we pay for swim lessons, average $71 a month on gifts, eat out to the tune of $226/month, etc.  But we do okay- got the basics of frugality going- no pay TV, cheap cell plans, no student loans, no consumer debt, older (04 & 05) cars, no car loans, maxing out 401K, Roths, saving some on top of that.

Broken down by our YNAB categories:
Rent/Mortgage     1,200
Tuition & Fees     731 (We have two more years of tuition, about $16K total, before both are in public school...)
Groceries    429
Car Repairs & Maintenance    336
Fuel    277
Restaurants    226
YMCA Membership    110
Travel    94
Car Insurance ($535/biannually for 2 cars, +$78 for DH's motorcycle) 93
Electricity    80
Quarterly Water/Sewer/Trash Bill    77
Gifts    71
Medical    66
Natural Gas    65
Kids' Activities    62
Hidden Categories    46 (replaced our mattress this year)
Clothing    46 (DH lost wedding band, cost $250 to replace- we wanted identical style, but got 10K gold instead of 14K)
Internet    41
Entertainment    41
Christmas    36
DH's Life Insurance ($348/yr)    31
My Life Insurance ($319/yr)    29
Household Goods    23
Charitable    20
Hobbies    13
Renter's Insurance ($135/yr)    11
Home Maintenance    1
Total Expenses    4,255

So that's 51K for the year.  Without tuition it would be $42K, which I think sounds more reasonable for a family of 4.  But I see this is like monster budget compared to other posters.  Maybe I should post a case study for a bit of face-punching motivation.

[Thegoblinchief]

Wisconsin. Family of 5. A bit over $3,000 including SL debt, $2,400 without.

The last few months have been higher because of spending out of savings for various things, but that's our long-term average.

[Caoineag]

$3800 per month for 2 people, Denver. Also includes a 15 year mortgage so some savings included in there.

[Killerbrandt]

About $1,800 in expenses for 2 in San Antonio, Texas.

[charis]

Family of 4 in upstate NY city.  Our spending averages about $3700/month, which includes mortgage, SL payment, and one kid in daycare.  It not include the occasional larger SL payoffs we make with excess income.

[YK-Phil]

Our personal living expenses are about $1600 for a family of 2 in Calgary, living downtown.

No cable, no home phone, no internet.

No mortgage payments, but our condo fees + utilities are $450/month.

Car is used less than one week/month, mainly for groceries. Gas is never more than $30/month.

We eat out or go to coffee shops with friends too often when I am home on my rotation from work. I miss my wife and friends when I am away, so being back home is always a good reason to celebrate. This is relative since I am home on average only one week every three weeks, so our total monthly spending on "restaurants and coffee shops" is about $120. Otherwise, our food budget is under $300.

My airfare to and from work (average $400/month) is not included in my budget. It is an extra expense that I more than offset by not paying rent/food and having a couple of side gigs (part time job, house-sitting, pet-sitting netting me about $2000/month) when I am away from home. I also do not include expenses/income from a rental property that has a positive cashflow.

[jopiquant]

We're higher than everyone so far, because of the mortgage. Presently on a 9 year amortization. Once the house is paid, our annual spend will be about $2000/month.

[catccc]

We're higher than everyone so far, because of the mortgage. Presently on a 9 year amortization. Once the house is paid, our annual spend will be about $2000/month.

What does your mortgage payment add?  I'd like someone to dethrone me from the "highest spender" seat on this thread.  We don't have a mortgage, but we pay rent...

[Unique User]

We're higher than everyone so far, because of the mortgage. Presently on a 9 year amortization. Once the house is paid, our annual spend will be about $2000/month.

What does your mortgage payment add?  I'd like someone to dethrone me from the "highest spender" seat on this thread.  We don't have a mortgage, but we pay rent...

I'm at about the same as you, $4,200 a month, we live in the Midwest burbs.  We pay rent, but our house in another state is rented along with a rental house so we have about $1200 in mortgage payoff per month.  Doesn't include 401k, IRA, ESPP, etc to the tune of about $5300 going into investments per month.  Travel and money going into taxable investments are variable and I only track those annually.  We've had some big medical expenses that I don't count in my monthly budget either, cancer was expensive, but hopefully done with.  I do count braces in the monthly budget though, we're on a monthly interest free payment plan with the orthodontist.  I haven't done a case study either, I know I'll get major face punches.  I figure even with all the medical bills last year that we paid out of cash flow, we still lived off less than 50% of our after tax income so I'm not going to stress over it. 

[chubbybunny]

What does your mortgage payment add?  I'd like someone to dethrone me from the "highest spender" seat on this thread.  We don't have a mortgage, but we pay rent...

Only to do you a favor, I will post our monthly budget.  We are a family of 4 (kids age 15 and 4), in a suburb of Atlanta (4 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car garage, .75 acre lot)

Spending: $6450  (lots of rounding, so probably doesn't add up)

Mortgage & HOA (primary residence): $1250  (currently spend an additional $2400/month to pay off in 3 years, not counted above)
Mortgage (rental property): $1200
charity (we mostly donate our time, not cash): $50
groceries: $580
restaurants: $188
utilities: $280
transportation: $340
daycare $574
Medical: $270 (kids are both special needs)
kids activities (therapy, etc.): $150
vonage, cell phones & Internet: $120
pets: $80
homeschool supplies: $250
furniture/electronics/misc: $500
vacation/entertainment: $700

[jexy103]

I live in Honolulu, a very high cost of living area. My expenses (for just me) are about $2,900 a month. That includes $1,100 in rent (which is only my half; I have a roommate), and 4 off-island trips in the past 12 months (at $1,200-$2,100 a pop). Pretty terrible, but my 2014 savings rate was 47.94% and I'm moving away in about two months (to another HCOL area, but should be slightly better).

[Cassie]

$3600 for 2 people in Nevada. We have no mortgage & this includes traveling.

[jopiquant]

We're higher than everyone so far, because of the mortgage. Presently on a 9 year amortization. Once the house is paid, our annual spend will be about $2000/month.

What does your mortgage payment add?  I'd like someone to dethrone me from the "highest spender" seat on this thread.  We don't have a mortgage, but we pay rent...

$5300 with mortgage.

[SilveradoBojangles]

We live in the bay area (2 people), and rent. Last year I tracked our expenses and we averaged 2300 a month. However, we also spent 12,000 on a destination wedding and 5 week honeymoon last year, so our total spending wasn't that low. So far we are averaging 2300 in the first two months of the year, so hopefully we'll have a good year.

[Prepube]

family of 2.  Last month spent 4200 including mortgage of 1200.  Remainder of income (about 8000 after taxes) went to 401ks, savings, etc.  We are a little spendy sometimes (going to Vegas tomorrow!), but i don't give a shit as long as we are still saving more than 50% every month. 

[Hummer]

2 of us.
~$3800 per month. Really been trying to get this down over the past year but it's tough. Some of our fixed payments... All monthly
~$1700 mortgage
~$210 property tax
~$110 house insurance
~$200 car insurance for 2 cars (they are both mustachian cars if that helps)
~$100 utilities
~$100 natural gas and electricity
~$90 life insurance for both of us
~$80 for 2 cell phones
~$50 for internet

The only good thing about the house is we generate $700 per month in income from renting out our basement suite.

Prince George, BC, Canada

[Jon_Snow]

$2300 in Vancouver...yes you heard that right. And we have premium cable, a vehicle, don't skimp on groceries, and treat ourselves to dinners out occasionally.

All made possible by the fact that our housing costs are well under $400 monthly. Mortgage free, 2 bedroom condo..strata fees under $200, property tax about $85 a month. Condo appraised at $350 k.

Buying just before Vancouver real estate got stupid, around 2002, was probably the best financial move we made...set us on the path for FIRE, that's for certain.

It wouldn't take much us to knock $500 off our spending...but its really is not necessary.

[Malaysia41]

~$8500 / mo 

We are a family of 5 - 3 of us in Malaysia - two daughters are in US. 

[morning owl]

It varies, but on average it's been about $4-5k in our current HCOL city. Our basic expenses are about $3k, but with an older home that needs repairs every year, it can get a lot higher -- plus some extra $ for travel. This is without a mortgage. We're trying to get this monthly amount a lot lower.  But historically, that's where it's at.

[MarciaB]

Whoa, looks like I'm due for some serious face punching! I'm single and spend $2,486/mo (that's the 12-month trailing average - yeah, I'm a spreadsheet geek and have been tracking this for 19 years). That includes a goodly amount of travel, organic food, and housing.

My savings rate is 45% though, so maybe limit those punches to just a couple per person.

[pachnik]

I spend between $1800-2000 per month for myself.  I share a home with my SO but we keep our money separate. I live in Burnaby, B.C. which is a suburb of Vancouver.  You didn't ask, but I save about a third of my income.

[johnny847]

Single 23 year old male here, living in midtown Atlanta, GA.

Last year I spent $23979
Rent (includes all utilities):   $11,800  (hoping to find a cheaper place come May)
School fees (I'm a grad student): $3417
Food (groceries + eating out): $2654
Travel: $1995
Bicycle stuff (mostly start up costs): $1276
Fun stuff: $981
Health insurance + random OTC meds: $440
Gifts: 305
General supplies (bathroom, kitchen, etc): $303
Charity: 208
Car (includes fuel and Zipcar use before I got my car): $168
Clothes: $73
Other crap that's getting tedious to list: $359.


So in all, just under $2000/month. But the school fees are mandatory. If you want to get a better idea of how much somebody can live on in Atlanta (not that I'm the best example of frugality in this city), you should throw those out. That's a yearly spending of $20462, or $1713/month.

[LAL]

$5500 family of 4 in Boston $3k mortgage.

[PawPrint3520]

$5880 for 2 people living in Seattle. Includes $1755 for rent.

[Zikoris]

We averaged $2190/month last year, two people in Vancouver.

$780 - Housing (rent, insurance)
$697 - Travel (some of Guatemala trip, all of Hungary, Austria, Switz, and France trip, most of Hong Kong trip, minor weekend trips here and there)
$267 - Food (groceries, snacks/drinks, and restaurants)
$117 - Entertainment
$106 - Shopping (mostly video games, ebooks, and household/kitchen items, also includes clothes and shoes)
$84 - Bills (cell phones and internet)
$63 - Personal care
$77 - Everything else (about 60% bus tickets, the rest mostly cat related)

[Indexer]

Last year I spent $34,567.97.  So 2880/month.  Now that did include a lot of non-recurring expenses like paying off what was left on my car loan, my republic wireless phone, vet bills, etc.

Normally its closer to $2400/month. 

Over 1/3 of that is rent.

Location:  NC

[JumpJ]

I spend ~$1,700/month for one person in the suburbs outside of Seattle, WA.  I have been racking my brains trying to think of ways to cut a few bucks out but I have reached the point of diminishing returns.  My expenses nearing parity with my tax withholding.