Commoncents is right. I feel like all we do is pay bills but that obviously can't be right. I will note that we only got married ten months ago and I have no idea why my husband spent so much or what he spent it on before that. Last year was the first time I made any money. I have always saved a lot (%) but I made considerably less back then so it looks really low compared with the current income. Just before we married I opened an IRA for him, and had him change his 401k to the max allowed.
For the purposes of clarity I'll exclude bonuses/overtime/overseas assignments. When we got those checks it went straight to paying off the loan he took out to remodel (before we were married) and to deposit into savings/index funds. Excluding that, our salaries are $200k combined.
Health care: $5400
Life Insurance: $900
Vision/Dental: $800
401ks: $35,000
Taxes/SS: I don't know. A lot.
What we regularly get every two weeks is $3,800. That's $98,800/year.
Monthly bills:
Mortgage: $2,500
Daycare: $1,200
IRAs: $916
Index funds: $1,200
Groceries: $400
Cell phones: $200
Internet: $60
Water: well
Gas (house): $150
Electric: $187 (most recent bill - seriously I do not know why this is. I have seen it fluctuate from 80-187. I line dry clothes and diapers, we turn off lights, and keep the thermostat very moderate)
Insurance: $150
Dog: $100 (based on the average so far this year)
Gasoline: $150
We don't shop. I spend less than $200/year on clothes (work included) only at thrift stores. I cut my own hair and don't buy a lot of "products." We don't eat out - I cook every night. Lately it's just been big house expenses: in the last 6 weeks our washer died (and having a washer full of wet, dirty diapers didn't encourage me to "shop around" long), the fridge broke but could thankfully be repaired for 1/3 the price of a new one, and we had to replace a pump grinder for the septic system. I sew, so I make a lot of the stuff for our home. We have a 20x25ft veg garden. We spend nothing on the baby but daycare - I breast feed, and we have a friend with a girl just 3 mos older who gives me clothes all the time.
But, I think we can do better. I just hate being the bad guy all the time; my husband may take another overseas job for 4 mos and who wants to be nagged and hassled about $ when you are about to go be miserable for 1/4 of the year.
Guess it is time for a fun conversation about spending and goals lol. I guess my $40k estimate was based on not paying for daycare, not paying a mortgage, not having such big savings and retirement savings deposits, and living someplace we don't have to drive everywhere and where utilities aren't horrible. (Thankfully we are moving to just such a place in 6 mos.)
I will look at airvoice for November when my contract is up. Is it month-to-month?