Author Topic: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?  (Read 25076 times)

killingxspree

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #50 on: February 20, 2014, 07:16:26 AM »
we're on 26k (2 adults and 1 cat) in AUD. 8-9k rent. We eat out generously and travel to interstate twice a year. We could cut it alot and still eat out at least once or twice a week

mushroom

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #51 on: February 20, 2014, 07:23:49 AM »
$26600 last year for two adults including renting in Chicago and $3000 in travel

Elaine

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #52 on: February 20, 2014, 07:29:16 AM »
We still pay rent, and for now we live in nyc so our annual cost for two people is $38k. This is a bit misleading though because my fella is in college- we're paying as he goes so that's an added expense that won't always be around. If I didn't include our cost of rent, to simulate no longer having to pay a mortgage, our cost for two people would drop to $22k. Without college bills (which we won't have in about two years) our cost for two people would drop to about 15k.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2014, 10:17:37 AM by Elaine »

Gin1984

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #53 on: February 20, 2014, 07:31:40 AM »
We spend about $38,000/year but that includes the mortgage (about $3000) and daycare/child expenses.  When those end we will be spending the $25-30K including health insurance if we stay in the same area, which we probably won't.  The numbers really depend on COL, we could not be living on what we are in say California (bay area).

nereo

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #54 on: February 20, 2014, 07:46:59 AM »
I'm just starting to pay down my mortgage (purchased in 2012).  If you subtract just my mortgage (not the taxes or upkeep) then in 2012 my fiancée and I lived on about $18,000 (takehome pay/after taxes).

lifejoy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #55 on: February 20, 2014, 07:49:07 AM »
We're two adults, 27 and 25, live in Vancouver, and spent $26,377 in 2013, and $28,039 in 2012. That included every penny we spent, rent, travel (France, Caribbean cruise to Miami, Mexico, Caymans, and Belize, France again, Italy, Monaco, and Guatemala), everything.

Any tips you'd like to share? I know Vancouver CAN be very affordable, but you have to know what you're doing. (On that note: have you tried Sushi Ville? Amazing sushi for the best prices I've seen!)

bdbrooks

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #56 on: February 20, 2014, 08:37:43 AM »
Married with 1 dog and no mortgage (at the ripe old age of 25 and 24). If you take out donations, taxes and savings, we are living comfortably on about 27k. We have vacations. We eat about once a week. We have 2 cars and drive them tons (moving down to 1 and will hardly even drive it once we move, this is about 8k of the 27k). I should mention this is in KC so it is a very reasonable cost of living.

kolorado

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #57 on: February 20, 2014, 08:44:40 AM »
Family of five, one income, I homeschool the kids, and we spend $25K a year not counting the mortgage and including health insurance and travel(US camping and visiting relatives). We're in an average COL area with a 1500sq ft house, two cars and soon to be camper. Without the kid expenses, we'd easily fall somewhere in the 18K a year range. If we downsized the house(in a scenario without kids) it'd be in the 15K a year range. Although I suppose we'd travel and go out more if we didn't have the kids, but not much more.

When we lived in NJ(medium-high COL, Southern) a few years ago, I calculated our bottom number for family expenses to be around $25K without mortgage or travel but with health insurance. So we're doing better here in an average COL area, even with a home twice the size of our last one, since our $25K base now includes a generous $3600 a year camping budget.

It helps if you actually love simplicity and feel overwhelmed with all the stuff and stimulation outside your front door like we do. Staying home and baking, reconstructing something old into something new, or reading library books is practically free as entertainment.

A budget can only go so low as your personal level of deprivation. Once you hit that level you bump it back up a notch and that's your bottom level. Different tolerances for different personalities so it's not always very helpful to compare to others.

pom

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #58 on: February 20, 2014, 08:53:09 AM »
For a European comparison

2 people, number are really approximate
Rent: 18 000€ (24 000 USD) (in the center or Paris)
Rest: 21 000€ (28 000 USD)
Total: 39 000€ (52 000 USD)

That includes approximately 6 000€ worth of travel which is our main splurge.

Paris is an expensive place. I don't intend to stay here once I am FI.

daverobev

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #59 on: February 20, 2014, 10:01:17 AM »
We eat about once a week.

Now come on.. I'm sure you can afford to eat more frequently than that! Unless it's some kind of new super diet?!

YK-Phil

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #60 on: February 20, 2014, 10:17:00 AM »
We eat about once a week.

Now come on.. I'm sure you can afford to eat more frequently than that! Unless it's some kind of new super diet?!

LOL but he is married with 1 dog, and the dog wins all the time...

4alpacas

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #61 on: February 20, 2014, 10:41:10 AM »
We eat about once a week.

Now come on.. I'm sure you can afford to eat more frequently than that! Unless it's some kind of new super diet?!

LOL but he is married with 1 dog, and the dog wins all the time...

Haha!  We actually dramatically cut down on the amount we went out to eat (and out for drinks) when we got our puppy.  It was great!  We've actually cutback on a few things to make things better for the dog, and it turns out that we're saving more (even including the ridiculous amount we spend on her).  However, we are far from being mustachian.

Gerard

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #62 on: February 20, 2014, 10:52:01 AM »
One adult and two part-time kids, I spend $33K a year with TWO mortgages (my job is in a different province from my home). With one paid-off home, I would be spending between $13.4K and $17.4K a year. Wah, that's an eye-opener...

YK-Phil

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #63 on: February 20, 2014, 10:52:59 AM »
We eat about once a week.

Now come on.. I'm sure you can afford to eat more frequently than that! Unless it's some kind of new super diet?!

LOL but he is married with 1 dog, and the dog wins all the time...

Haha!  We actually dramatically cut down on the amount we went out to eat (and out for drinks) when we got our puppy.  It was great!  We've actually cutback on a few things to make things better for the dog, and it turns out that we're saving more (even including the ridiculous amount we spend on her).  However, we are far from being mustachian.

We don't have a dog, but I already had a cat when I met my wife. He left me for her, and she now treats him like royalty. He is the only one who get to have an all-organic all-natural diet in the household, hence our inflated food budget. When we go pick up his food at the local hipster organic market, I always say loudly that the only thing I can afford there is the free "organic" water from the water cooler. The wife is not always impressed with me when we go out in public LOL

Zikoris

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #64 on: February 20, 2014, 10:58:50 AM »
Quote
Any tips you'd like to share? I know Vancouver CAN be very affordable, but you have to know what you're doing. (On that note: have you tried Sushi Ville? Amazing sushi for the best prices I've seen!)

I don't think I've tried Sushi Ville since I live up in Gastown, but I'll add it to my list of places to try. Tips: Rent a cheap place, like a housing co-op or a unit in one of those beautiful big old heritage houses converted into private suites. Take advantage of the fact that the city is bikeable. There are a bazillion grocery stores, try to get in the habit of shopping at a lot of them. Take advantage of the oodles of free and cheap entertainment.

DeSteeg

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #65 on: February 20, 2014, 01:18:46 PM »
We are at ~25K/ year without mortgage (which is about 10K/year)- 2 Adults (26+27)+ 2 Beagles

Our biggest issue is still the monthly $650 grocery bill.  We only go out once a month, but for some reason can't seem to keep the food budget down. :( I'm amazed when I read here that people are feeding families of 4 on $100-200 less than what we, as two adults, are spending on food. 

lifejoy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #66 on: February 20, 2014, 01:25:09 PM »
Quote
Any tips you'd like to share? I know Vancouver CAN be very affordable, but you have to know what you're doing. (On that note: have you tried Sushi Ville? Amazing sushi for the best prices I've seen!)

I don't think I've tried Sushi Ville since I live up in Gastown, but I'll add it to my list of places to try. Tips: Rent a cheap place, like a housing co-op or a unit in one of those beautiful big old heritage houses converted into private suites. Take advantage of the fact that the city is bikeable. There are a bazillion grocery stores, try to get in the habit of shopping at a lot of them. Take advantage of the oodles of free and cheap entertainment.

Great tips! Thanks! For Sushi Ville, I got a yam roll which I think was $3. Start small 'cause the rolls are HUGE. http://www.yelp.ca/biz/sushi-ville-vancouver

PintSizedMustachian

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #67 on: February 20, 2014, 01:43:00 PM »
I do! Since finding MMM, we're on track to spend about $30k for two of us in one year.

It's not amazing (especially compared to a lot of people in this thread!), but we're working on it. It also includes international travel, school tuition, & three pets. We've got a lot of room to trim, so I'm looking forward to decreasing this number.

Random Hangers

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #68 on: February 20, 2014, 01:48:49 PM »
I just assumed we didn't fall into this category since it felt low when compared to how much the average, non-Mustachian household spends in a year. But I'm glad I ran the numbers because it turns out we're living this too!

Two adults, one cat: $43k/year including mortgage. Just under $29k/year without mortgage.

Both figures include taxes, HOA, healthcare premiums (through work), and general living expenses. They do not, however, include any savings (retirement or otherwise) or vacations (since that comes out of one of our various savings buckets). We will consider ourselves FI when our base expenses can come out of our investments and we need only work part time doing things we enjoy to cover travel and the like.

swick

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #69 on: February 20, 2014, 04:15:46 PM »
Not including mortgage, we come in at just under 27,000. This includes saving buckets for travel, home renovations, and car replacement.

frugaldrummer

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #70 on: February 20, 2014, 06:14:04 PM »
@ Ian - thanks for that chart.  A good reminder for me that I should be able to get along just fine in retirement.

Don't have a completely tight read on my budget yet, but when I subtract all the money that's currently going out to support my young adult kids and other family members, and house payments,  looks like I'm currently spending about $28k/yr take-home for one.  But that's 1) before streamlining my budget  and 2) with expensive health insurance.  So - even if I didn't streamline my budget (giving up those Starbucks lattes and concert tickets and international travel and restaurant meals) - if I pay off my house before retirement as planned, I could live quite comfortably on just a little more than my Social Security.  Since I'll also have a pension and have a 401k - I'll be ok once all my family members get on their feet :).   

And since I'm paying all the property taxes and utilities etc - if my boyfriend joined me in my home, our combined living expenses would likely only go up by 6-10k or so.  So a rather luxurious not-so-mustachian lifestyle could be had in Southern California for $35k take-home for 2 if my house is paid off; could easily be reduced to 25-30k with more mustachian efforts.

Exflyboy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #71 on: February 20, 2014, 06:38:43 PM »
These are all splendidly encouraging responses.. I'm glad I asked...:)

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to provide the data.

Frank

Sparky

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #72 on: February 20, 2014, 06:47:32 PM »
I am a single guy who lives off about 18K a year living in Alberta. Not hard to do at all, I eat well and have expensive hobbies. When I'm travelling, I knock down my expenses to around 10k/year :)

FIPurpose

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #73 on: February 20, 2014, 07:12:53 PM »
I thought I was going to be somewhere out rageous in like the 40's but after putting it all together my budget aims for around 18k minus rent. That's for both my wife and I. This could easily be lower since this includes about $150/month in misc expenses and about $190/month for travel.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #74 on: February 20, 2014, 07:39:20 PM »
Not including mortgage, we come in at just under 27,000. This includes saving buckets for travel, home renovations, and car replacement.

Sounds like my planned FI budget. A lot of the big expenses built into it are travel, home, and car savings buckets.

abhe8

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #75 on: February 20, 2014, 08:18:55 PM »
shoot, if you don't count mortgage, we live on 25k for a family of 6!

our mortgage would add 9k to that total. it doesn't include any investing, savings or my stinkin student loan. but just what we live on. we do live in a low COL area and the kids are still small.

Fireman

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #76 on: February 20, 2014, 08:36:48 PM »
If omitting mortgage, we are at $37K. That does include home insurance and property tax on home.
That also includes a good bit for kiddos' activities and such.

We are:
Two adults
Five kids
Two dogs
Two cats
Six chickens
Two cars

shoot, if you don't count mortgage, we live on 25k for a family of 6!

These sound incredible!

My girlfriend lives with me and our bills are separate but, excluding the rent, i'm on track to spend around 17-18k.  Looking ahead to 2015, I should be under 10k.

Rural

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #77 on: February 21, 2014, 01:09:49 AM »
We're right at $26k including health insurance and house-finishing expenses. Once the house is done, realistically it'll drop, but we'll still plan for maintenance. This is two adults, two giant breed dogs, three cats. I have a 75-mile round trip commute four days a week and we eat out not quite weekly.