Author Topic: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge  (Read 36378 times)

minimalistgamer

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Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« on: January 08, 2017, 01:03:00 PM »
So this year, we decided that we are going to live within $2000 per month. Last year, we spent a little over $32000 at an average of $2666.66. This year, we hope to bring that down to $2000. Its going to be a little difficult, but I think we can make it. Looking back at the expenses, there were some bad decisions we made, and this year, I am going to try my best to avoid them.

Between car repair and travel, we spent $2744.41. We need to avoid these big ticket expenses as much as we can.

I will post my progress at the end of each month. So far in January, we already spent $1856.74. We got around $140 to spend before the end of this month. It will be difficult. However, the good thing is, all the bills are paid. The only expenses we anticipate are fuel and food...

So let's see how this goes.

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2017, 01:55:47 PM »
does this include rent? bills? savings?
or just purely expenses? w/thoughts on your post. i tallied the following for me: $1,799 expenses + savings sans bills, $2,749 w/bills, $4,539 w/bills and rent.

dropping your spending down $666 does sound challenging. but a good challenge can be fun. looking forward to your updates. sounds like cleaning out the pantry and some recipes from budget bytes could help out.

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2017, 03:26:57 PM »
does this include rent? bills? savings?
or just purely expenses? w/thoughts on your post. i tallied the following for me: $1,799 expenses + savings sans bills, $2,749 w/bills, $4,539 w/bills and rent.

dropping your spending down $666 does sound challenging. but a good challenge can be fun. looking forward to your updates. sounds like cleaning out the pantry and some recipes from budget bytes could help out.

Thank you, I appreciate your insight.

This will include all expenses, but not savings. I understand that I am kind of going against the norm here by not budgeting savings, but I am tracking those separately. So yes, $2000 will include ALL expenses (mortgage, utilities, cell phone etc.)

I think it can be done. The reason the average was up to 2766 last year was because of some very big expenses towards the end which pushed the total way up. This year, if we are careful, I think we can make it. I will post more updates.

SquashingDebt

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2017, 04:16:33 PM »
$2,000 per month is what I generally aim to spend, though I mostly failed at it in 2016 (with an overall monthly average of $2,373).  For me, that $2,000 includes all spending - rent, utilities, insurances, food, etc., but doesn't include savings or debt repayment.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2017, 05:03:04 PM »
Absolutely not going to happen for us.

We have a mortgage with a PITA of $1862.   
We're also paying down a HELOC we took out to buy a rental property at the clip of $1000 a month.

We're also cash-flowing renovations for some rental and flip properties.

BUT - we intend to have the mortgage and HELOC paid off when we retire in 16 months. 

And the business expenses associated with renovating those properties are actually a form of savings/investment, so I think we can ignore them according to your rules.

I'm going to aim for that spending level excluding those expenses.    We'll see how well off we do!

recklesslysober

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2017, 05:20:20 PM »
Posting to follow!

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2017, 05:00:10 PM »
I'm in! My expenses (all-inclusive) averaged out to $2490.00 per month, so I'd love to get it down to $2000.00.

golfreak12

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2017, 10:58:40 PM »
If my wife just didn't start the university 40 miles away this year I would totally be in.
The house got paid off last Sept so our fix expenses are only 880/months. That would leaves us with $1100 for food/home/entertainment/gas, etc....
In Nov of last year, you had our lowest month yet of $1843.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2017, 11:04:50 PM »
I've been wanting to try this for a while, so I'm in!  Thanks for starting this thread.

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2017, 05:47:12 AM »
Thank you for your support everyone. I appreciate it.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I spent $45.14, and we are up to $1906.70. We are going to have to make it on $93 for 19 days. I don't know...its not looking good! :p

However, considering I spent $12 so far this month eating out...who knows, I might just make it! Will keep you all posted!

syednaeemul

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2017, 06:14:47 AM »
I will join!

oldtoyota

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2017, 06:21:04 AM »
does this include rent? bills? savings?
or just purely expenses? w/thoughts on your post. i tallied the following for me: $1,799 expenses + savings sans bills, $2,749 w/bills, $4,539 w/bills and rent.

dropping your spending down $666 does sound challenging. but a good challenge can be fun. looking forward to your updates. sounds like cleaning out the pantry and some recipes from budget bytes could help out.



Thank you, I appreciate your insight.

This will include all expenses, but not savings. I understand that I am kind of going against the norm here by not budgeting savings, but I am tracking those separately. So yes, $2000 will include ALL expenses (mortgage, utilities, cell phone etc.)

I think it can be done. The reason the average was up to 2766 last year was because of some very big expenses towards the end which pushed the total way up. This year, if we are careful, I think we can make it. I will post more updates.

Wow. I can't live on $2K until my mortgage is paid. How much is your rent/mortgage?

My mortgage is the majority of my current expenses.

tomatops

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2017, 08:42:08 AM »
I'm pretty much in the same boat! My spending last year was about $2250 per month. Hoping to bring it down to $2000 and have started by:

- making coffee at work in the afternoons instead of buying (courtesy of a french press)
- cooking more (I was very wasteful in 2016 with fast food lunches)

I also restocked my wardrobe in 2016 and hopefully that should mean very limited clothing expenses in 2017...

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2017, 01:07:19 PM »

Wow. I can't live on $2K until my mortgage is paid. How much is your rent/mortgage?

My mortgage is the majority of my current expenses.

My current mortgage is $1190.36 per month.

Our utilities and food expenses have been less than $200 for each. So very basic living can be covered for $1600. We need to make $400 last for the rest of the expenses.

tarheeldan

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2017, 01:11:26 PM »
You are kicking ass. I'm in! As a single person, no kids, I'll say my handicap puts me at $20k/yr ($1,665/mo).

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2017, 05:47:07 PM »
You are kicking ass. I'm in! As a single person, no kids, I'll say my handicap puts me at $20k/yr ($1,665/mo).

Thank you, I appreciate it.

I had to fill fuel. Cost me $14.22. I am now up to $1920.22! Inching closer to $2000!

oldtoyota

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2017, 08:27:01 PM »
You are kicking ass. I'm in! As a single person, no kids, I'll say my handicap puts me at $20k/yr ($1,665/mo).

Thank you, I appreciate it.

I had to fill fuel. Cost me $14.22. I am now up to $1920.22! Inching closer to $2000!

This is stressful to watch! LOL.

You ARE kicking ass. Good for you!


2Birds1Stone

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2017, 06:40:40 AM »
I'm in! 2016 I spent $25,277 for the year :)

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2017, 09:09:09 AM »
What does a $2000 month look like? We did our best back in NOV with $2,500 but most of our months are 3 to 4k

Our fixed bills HOA, Power, ect are around $500 and I don't count my $600 mortgage payment as spending.


We could do it if we don't eat out EVER, or do any travel or have any big odd things like car repairs.

Am I missing something? If we could do this reliably we could FIRE very quickly (2 years MAYBE less)

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2017, 03:00:57 PM »
Thank you all for your support.

I have a feeling that we may not be able to make it. At this point, we are up to $1956.58, and we are only at Jan 14.

> What does a $2000 month look like? We did our best back in NOV with $2,500 but most of our months are 3 to 4k

I track all my expenses. Here is a screenshot of all the expenses this month - https://sli.mg/BNkYeT

We are trying really hard not to eat out, because we simply cannot afford it. If nothing unexpected comes up, we can afford to make $44 last for 15 days. We have all the basic groceries, but its going to be tough. I am kicking myself for buying $50 worth of computer related stuff at the beginning of the year. I could have waited till February for it. I think the lesson here to make sure I make these unnecessary purchases towards the end of the month, when I know exactly how much we have spent on groceries etc.

Lets see how things go from here on. I will post more updates.

Mezzie

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #20 on: January 14, 2017, 06:48:51 PM »
$44 iver 15 days is totally possible, especially since it looks like you only need groceries. If you've got some staples already, you can do it.

Even if you go a bit over, I'm still impressed. :)

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #21 on: January 15, 2017, 11:58:46 AM »
$44 iver 15 days is totally possible, especially since it looks like you only need groceries. If you've got some staples already, you can do it.

Even if you go a bit over, I'm still impressed. :)

Thank you, I appreciate it.

I am concerned that we will go over, but I think its important that we made this effort. Hopefully we can keep it within $44! :)

This weekend, we spent $0! And the important thing to note is, I am not miserable. I am perfectly happy playing video games, and eating food that is cooked at home!

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #22 on: January 15, 2017, 12:28:47 PM »
If you have a car commute and it is not far, then I would say you could make it work. This is where the fun in a challenge happens - when down to the wire. Finding creative solutions to limited funds.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #23 on: January 15, 2017, 08:42:59 PM »
I have a similar goal of $1500/month, which is easier being single and having set up my life in the mustachian style of moving to walking distance to work while minmizing other life costs while cultivating inexpensive hobbies.  I am more impressed with threads focused on spending less than those based on saving more (since the latter is more income-dependent), so I am looking forward to following this thread!  Good luck!!

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #24 on: January 15, 2017, 09:17:05 PM »
Posting to follow only. We have two kids in daycare so no way we can actually partake of the challenge :)

I think this will be fun to read and cheer along!

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #25 on: January 15, 2017, 10:00:40 PM »
Posting because this is an interesting peak into a different world for me. Our rent is $2400/month so there is no way we will be joining you, but I applaud your goal and wish you the best.

recklesslysober

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #26 on: January 16, 2017, 12:41:18 PM »
I was just following along for inspiration because I thought this might be too much for me at this point. This month is going really well so far though! It's looking like I'm going to make it!

$1,174.10 on rent and bills - nothing else to come out

$71.47 on groceries
$21.72 on meals out
$14.38 on entertainment
$11.33 on health

= $1,239.00 so far, or $940.95 USD. Not including student loan repayments of course! Everything extra goes to those.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #27 on: January 16, 2017, 01:03:02 PM »
Posting just to say that you rock OP!  I hope to one day join these ranks.  I hit $2k just between rent and groceries.  Gotta have goals!

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #28 on: January 17, 2017, 06:07:10 AM »
The support in this thread has been wonderful. I appreciate it.

Due to lack of self control and poor planning on my part, I ended up spending $4 on lunch yesterday...this puts us at $1960.92. We have less than $40 to manage for 9 business days. Weekend tend to be less expensive. I have to go grocery shopping this Thursday, so I am going to have to keep it to a minimum. At this point, its not about money anymore. This became personal. Haha!

I am not going to spend a single penny until Thursday. I will post about my grocery expenses when I return from shopping.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2017, 05:35:11 AM by minimalistgamer »

hobbes1

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #29 on: January 17, 2017, 06:57:14 AM »
good luck!

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #30 on: January 17, 2017, 10:02:57 AM »
Very interesting exercise and this sounds like great pre-FIRE practice.   When I first joined MMM I made a list of our minimum expenses and should revisit that to see if it's still reasonable.

Toffeemama

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #31 on: January 17, 2017, 12:51:23 PM »
This looks like a really cool challenge; I'm in!  What are the rules for this challenge?  When you say that you're not counting savings, do you mean short-term savings like Christmas gifts and home repair-type funds?

Our spending so far this month is $1375(family of 5).  It'll probably hit very close to 2k by the end of the month though; I'm estimating at least $200 for groceries, we need to buy a new toilet and paint for our apartment(roughly $200), and Mr.T plans to spend his birthday money from his parents on fisherman's wool so I can make him a sweater(about $130).  Our water and car insurance bills are nearly due as well, so that's about another $200, which puts us a little bit over unless I can cut down the groceries and supplies.

westtoeast

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #32 on: January 17, 2017, 05:06:00 PM »
Hello, I have been looking at this thread unsure if I should join, but I think I'm going to jump in now. Seems like a positive place to keep myself accountable. Every time I do a low spend challenge I end up wanting to do the next month anyway... so why not a year! My SO & I have separate expenses right now so I am holding myself to a much lower number than $2000. I will aim to be under $1400 each month (not counting savings and student loan repayment). 

Rent/Utilities (my share): $800
Food: $250
Bus/Train/Uber: $85
Everything Else: $265

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #33 on: January 18, 2017, 05:57:56 AM »
Good to see a lot of new people here joining. Good luck to everyone!

No money was spent yesterday. I gave up my allowance this month i.e., my fun money budget this month is $0, and my wife used some of her allowance money to buy cheese and lunch meat. We are definitely going to the extreme this month just for the sake of being under $2000. We are still at $1960.92 this month. I think if I can keep the groceries under check tomorrow, we should be able to pull it off.

We are literally eating rice and beans at home. Haha :)

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #34 on: January 18, 2017, 09:21:39 AM »
You and DW can do it!!  There is a thread around with some great bean & rice recipes. You should search it out.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #35 on: January 18, 2017, 11:12:21 AM »
Is this halved for single people? I probably can't keep it under $1000 consistently (with health insurance at $231 and rent/utilities at $700, that's not enough to eat) but $2000 is way too much. Is it worth it to join the gauntlet if I set my own lower goal?

tarheeldan

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #36 on: January 18, 2017, 11:15:59 AM »
I think if I can keep the groceries under check tomorrow, we should be able to pull it off.


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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #37 on: January 18, 2017, 03:32:35 PM »
I'd love to try this, but healthcare for us is 1k/month:( and living on the road our gas will vary wildly. and DH isn't quite that thrifty.

I will see how many months I can come "close" to 2k, that would be fun.

so if we are in a location we like and we stay a couple of months, gas will be somewhat normal - but not mustachian as our commute car is a 1 ton dually. Our travels will be to disc golf courses and the grocery store, so I could see us getting close.

Our rent has been prepaid for the year (annual dues for TT and RPI paid in December) but I do have a slush fund for camping fees of $200.

No bills, and no utilities so then there's food and propane left. A little discretionary spending here and there.

It will be fun so see how low we can go.


westtoeast

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #38 on: January 19, 2017, 04:26:16 AM »
Is this halved for single people? I probably can't keep it under $1000 consistently (with health insurance at $231 and rent/utilities at $700, that's not enough to eat) but $2000 is way too much. Is it worth it to join the gauntlet if I set my own lower goal?

I think it is reasonable to make your own "living within" number that is a challenge for you but also takes into account your fixed costs. My housing costs are very high due to my city, so I went with $1400! It would be nice to see people striving for their own specific number somewhere between $1000 and $2000.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #39 on: January 19, 2017, 06:30:58 AM »
This would be cool to try. I'd have to look a little more carefully at my budget, but 2k per month inclusive of bills is not do-able for me.

Here's a really quick and dirty snapshot:
mortgage: 1761
insurance: 75
electric: typically 100
gas: average 100 (winter more like 175-200)
internet: 55
cell phone: 45
transit pass: 112
city utilities: 200 every 4 months
groceries: around 200

tuition: 8,500 per year

LOL @ 2k per month goal

I think a more realistic goal for me would be about 2,300-2,400 unfortunately. The biggest area I could save on is bringing my eating out to 0-20 per month, and alcohol spending to a similar rate.

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #40 on: January 19, 2017, 06:31:53 AM »
No money was spent yesterday. We are still on track. Today will be grocery shopping day. We will see how that goes.

I am going to have to reevaluate this goal. Will do so this weekend. I will not be able to stay under $2000 if I have any medical expenses. So I am going to have to come up with categories that I want to control. Also, I have this incredible urge to pay off our house...if and when we do that, I will definitely be able to live for less than $2000 total. Lots of thinking to do this weekend.

Thanks again for all your support, and good luck to those who are joining. One thing to remember is that you will have your own number, $2000 is not feasible for those living on the coasts or in large cities. Feel free to post your own number!

Toffeemama

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #41 on: January 19, 2017, 08:37:52 AM »
I'd love to try this, but healthcare for us is 1k/month:( and living on the road our gas will vary wildly. and DH isn't quite that thrifty.

I will see how many months I can come "close" to 2k, that would be fun.

so if we are in a location we like and we stay a couple of months, gas will be somewhat normal - but not mustachian as our commute car is a 1 ton dually. Our travels will be to disc golf courses and the grocery store, so I could see us getting close.

Our rent has been prepaid for the year (annual dues for TT and RPI paid in December) but I do have a slush fund for camping fees of $200.

No bills, and no utilities so then there's food and propane left. A little discretionary spending here and there.

It will be fun so see how low we can go.



Oh, I'm not counting our health insurance premium in my $2k spending; ours is $800.  It's through Mr.T's employer, so that just comes straight from his salary.

Looks like we may go a bit over.  I wasn't counting on Mr.T spending all the money he got from his family, about $90 more than I'd figured.  Today is grocery day, so we'll see how I do out there.

monstermonster

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #42 on: January 19, 2017, 09:20:54 AM »
I'll join with my own goal! $1,666 per month including everything (travel & health insurance) and $1,330 excluding the travel costs (so that I have a clear goal for normal expenses.)

Basic Living Expenses (rent: $615, groceries: $155, household goods: $10 health insurance: $231, utilities/internet: $70, transport: $6, renter's insurance: $11): $1,107

Extra Eat & Drink (Beer/Liquor for home:$25, Bars: $20, Restaurants: $25, Coffee: $10, Soda Stream: $2, Farm Share: $20): $92

Discretionary (Clothing: $62.50, Fitness: $40, Haircut Sinking fun: $15, Gifts: $10, Spending Money: $10, Skin Care: $5, Entertainment: $10): $162.50

(Clothing is very very high - I spent $0 last year - because I gave myself a $750 budget at the beginning of the year to completely redo my wardrobe - turning 30 & starting to get more TV gigs, it's time for a redo. A bit crazy as far as the amount of money, but hopefully worth it.)

Travel Fund: $200
Travel Hacking Fees (credit cards, etc): $20


Travel expenses are so high because I'm aiming to travel on the trans-siberian railway this year for a month (!!) I'll be pretty frugal (no hotels unless couchsurfing is unsafe for a single female, bring own food on train, etc) when I'm out there but it's definitely not the cheapest excursion overall even if you just consider visa costs (I am travel hacking for the flights to/from).

My budget all together stands at: $1581.50, so that leaves me another $1020 annually for unexpected expenses.

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #43 on: January 19, 2017, 10:00:37 AM »
Posting to follow.

Considering if we can pull this off.

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #44 on: January 19, 2017, 10:30:56 AM »
All I know is I have $100.39 for food and/or discretionary to last until EOM. But I have $147.57 for auto gas. I will definitely have left over with that.

Fish Sweet

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #45 on: January 19, 2017, 06:09:59 PM »
I'd love to join this with my own goal!   $1300 or less a month, AND I want that total expenses number to drop every month so that I hit a minimum in December (which is going to be real fun with the holidays coming around).   Hoping for a total expenditure of about $17k this year, and yes, that's including a big fat cushion for international travel.

That said, I'm a childless single pringle with many roommates and no mortgage in an extremely HCOL area, an unmustachian commute, and some expensive hobbies.

General Living Expenses:  $530 Rent + $45 split utilities.  Healthcare covered by employer, parents pay for bottom dollar car insurance and phone plan, though I may be splitting off from this this year (adding to my expenses)

Food:  Averaging about $300-350 a month, split half and half between groceries and eating out.  Hoping to drop that to $250, and maybe even $200 or so as I go a couple months this year without eating out.

Car/Transportation:  $100 average for gas, maybe about $90 average a month for a year's worth of maintenance.  I run an old, old Infiniti that I got from my parents and plan on fixing up and driving into the ground.  That said, maintenance and repair costs are starting to soar and I'd like to A) first start learning some DIY car care, and then B) start exploring my options for a cheap new (to me) car.

Random Bullshit:  $235 worth of clothes, games, books, music, gifts, and hobby crap.  Gifts and hobby stuff (I do amateur costuming and propmaking) are what really drain me dry, so I'm making an effort to shop around for better deals and emphasize to my friends and family that I want small, cheap, and useful gifts this year, and will probably reciprocate in kind.

Travel:  International travel is non negotiable to me, due to family reasons, so I'm budgeting $1400 for that.  However, I'm going to see if I can find a better priced "off season" time to go, and save on the plane tickets (by far the most expensive part)

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #46 on: January 19, 2017, 10:05:04 PM »
I am going to fail the January challenge.

After today's grocery trip, which cost a total of $23.55, and this does not include milk that my wife is going to buy tonight, the total is up to $1984.47

There is no way we are going to survive on $10 for 10 days. We are going to have to do some grocery shopping next week, and that will put us over $2000. That said, I am going to try to keep it to a minimum. I will be starting a different thread for February shortly. Lets keep this thread going until the end of the month. On January 31st, I will publish the full list of expenses for the month.

umi

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #47 on: January 20, 2017, 02:18:48 AM »
This is my goal too, even though I most likely won't make it all the way this month. My spending this month so far is $1676 and my projected monthly cost at current pace is $2556. I live a nomadic life so I like to distribute my costs on a daily basis, since my rent isn't paid in advance all the time etc. Here's my daily cost breakdown so far:

Rent:        $27
Transport: $16
Food:        $12
Insurance: $5
Misc:         $13
Business:   $10

Business includes coworking spaces and server hosting. I'm not going to separate this from my personal expenses until my business has a decent cashflow. Misc mostly consists of clothes (3), a bunch of subscriptions, and vaccines (5 - rabies shots are expensive!). My goal is to bring this down to roughly 20/10/10/5/10/10.

Rent is on track of ending at a daily $25 when the month is over, and Transport is likely to go down a bunch too (long-haul flight stands for a lot of the the cost in this category). I think I can get food and misc down a few notches too before the month is over.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2017, 02:24:44 AM by umi »

andy85

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #48 on: January 20, 2017, 06:07:34 AM »
i should be able to hit this 2k/month most months this year. I know there will be a couple of months were it may be double that due to upcoming house projects. Vacations/travel will also more than likely break this challenge. But keeping my "normal expenses" under 2k shouldnt be much of an issue. So i am semi-in on this challenge.

minimalistgamer

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Re: Living within $2000 per month - 2017 Budget Challenge
« Reply #49 on: January 20, 2017, 06:35:33 AM »
This is my goal too, even though I most likely won't make it all the way this month. My spending this month so far is $1676 and my projected monthly cost at current pace is $2556. I live a nomadic life so I like to distribute my costs on a daily basis, since my rent isn't paid in advance all the time etc.

Do you actually pay rent on a daily basis? Or are you just doing the math in this manner for it to be convenient for you?

I think in my next thread for February, I will qualify this a little bit better. When I am talking about keeping expenses under $2000, I meant regular essential expenses which does not include medical costs, etc. I will post the categories whose sum I intend to keep under $2000.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!