What are we doing wrong?

amother

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 7:37 pm

dena613 wrote:

Clothes you wrote 700x12=8400 per year is quite excessive. That's over1k/person!

How much do you spend per person per season?

From Jan 1 2022 until now, here is what we've spent (total around $4,600):

me: $1064 clothing (including undergarments0
$160 alterations
$70 shoes

husband:
$500 weekday clothing

teen daughter: $246 uniforms
$500 camp clothes
$1,100 Pesach clothes (includes spring/summer weekday clothes, Shabbos & weekday shoes)
$165 misc clothes (sweaters, etc.)
$77 sneakers
$40 alterations

2 younger kids: $130 uniforms (not done shopping)
$246 summer clothing/swimsuits
$121 Pesach clothes
$195 shoes & yarmulkas

amother

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 7:40 pm

amother NeonOrange wrote:

Do you eat all that chicken and meat in one week?

Offhand, frozen chicken nuggets cost a lot. So do the deli meats that you bought. As well as bottled salad dressings.

I'm assuming the dairy free yogurts are important? They're expensive for what they are.

Thanks for looking!

Frozen chicken nuggets were for camp lunches.

Yes, we eat all the chicken and meat over the week and Shabbos (chicken for dinner + chicken Fri night, ground beef for dinner one night, london broil for Shabbos).

Deli is for Shabbos

Bottled salad dressings & dairy free yogurts are for special diet person.

amother

Chicory

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 7:54 pm

amother OP wrote:

Do you and your husband buy yourselves new wardrobes every season? I would think grown afults wouldn't need new clothes so often.

All the clithes numbers seem very high..$500 camp clothes?

Maybe buy fewer clothes and do an extra load of laundry midweek?

amother

Tuberose

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 8:06 pm

amother OP wrote:

Yes, these expenses are high. Assuming that your fall expenses will be similar, you will have spent $4000 a year on clothing for your teenage daughter, and $2000 on yourself. The expenses for your younger children are more reasonable.

But the big expense you need to look into is Misc Shopping: 1,300/month. That is nearly $16,000 year for things other than food, clothing, entertainment, eating out, tuition, etc.

amother

NeonOrange

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 8:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

I understand that all the food gets eaten.. but I'm pointing out that some of these are higher cost items without nutritional value (deli, yogurts, salad dressings). And that is a lot of chicken and meat, so I understand how your groceries cost a lot. If you're interested in cutting back on groceries, that's where I would start. But maybe you feel they're all important, in which case you can cut back elsewhere.

amother

Olive

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 8:36 pm

I am impressed at how closely you are paying attention. Most people have no idea what they are truly spending.

The harsh reality is that clothing is expensive. Even cheap clothing. Most people underestimate their yearly expenses. I am shocked at how much we spend on clothing. And I am always shopping clearance.
People aremy puking attention.
No one needs ONLY two pairs of shoes. Every child needs school shoes, sneakers, boots, water shoes. And most kids need Shabbos shoes and sneakers twice a year. Boots can be passed down sometimes.

Just tights and stockings are $100-$150 per year. Tights are $6-8. Even in the cheapest places. Stocking are $4.50 and up. You can’t make your kids wear ugly or uncomfortable stuff. Especially not if you want them to be happy to be tznius.
I see how many pairs of tights and stockings my teens need in a year. I see how many I need.
I challenge people to pay attention to what they are really spending per season.

Maybe try to cut out some of your food costs. A few extra things that you can manage without. Look at your items and point a few you could skip. You can start making it a habit. You will save $40/50 just like that.

Amarante

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 9:17 pm

I don't think your expenditures are shocking.

What you want to do really depends on whether you want to save money as a goal because there are some obvious large amounts which you can tweak.

For example the cost of the almond milk is high because you are being 6 individual containers instead of one large container. Is there a reason?

Similarly the cost of the bars is a lot of money for an individual bar. I know you say someone has restrictions but you could make homemade types of granola/snack bars for a fraction of that amount and they are simple to make.

The dozen roses is an obvious splurge - if you buy equivalent every shopping trip that would be about $600 per year - nothing wrong with flowers so long as you don't want to use that money in a different way.

Can you shop for some items at Costco or Trader Joe. I ask because the amount you are paying for the Snyder's pretzels seems very high. I buy pretzels so am aware of the cost.

Similarly some of your other items seem high like what you pay for a small jar of mayonnaise or spices - there are less expensive sources for spices as well so buying in the grocery store is very expensive - and the quality of the spices tends to be lower as well.

Why spend on premade challah dough because the price you are paying is very high. Have you considered getting a bread machine. I ask because when my father retired he became very obsessed with making challah - biscotti and challah. He had a bread machine which I gave him - he didn't bake the bread in the machine but it made the process very simple because he would put the ingredients in and the machine took care of mixing, kneading and rising. All he had to do was take out the dough and shape it

Cost for coffee seems high - Costco and Trader Joe sell excellent coffee beans for much less.

As others have said you are spending a lot on bottled salad dressing - $11.98 for a small bottle is a huge amount and a simple vinaigrette dressing is super easy - oil, vinegar and flavorings. It is gluten, soy and dairy free just as it is.

Is there some reason you are serving meatless chicken nuggets? I ask because you are paying significantly more than you would for "real" chicken nuggets. They are very simple to make - don't contain soy or dairy and could be gluten free if necessary depending on how you bread them.

I don't think you have much "fat" in what you are feeding your family as I couldn't imagine eliminating fresh produce and it isn't as if you are serving Chilean sea bas or other luxury items but I do think if saving some money is a goal you could do it without compromising what your family likes to eat AND without causing you a lot of extra work.

amother

PlumPink

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 10:19 pm

Good for you for being so on top of your spending! I have a few comments on where you can save:

Re cutting down grocery bill:
Some items (eg mayonnaise, tomato sauce) are cheaper in non-name brand (eg Shoprite mayonnaise)--if there's an Aldi near you, you might be able to cut down in the costs of many items
Chicken/meat--stock up when it's on sale, or buy in a cheaper store. Lately I've been buying chicken in Costco, which is $1-2 less/lb than the local stores (chicken cutlets are slightly more than half the price of kosher supermarkets). I buy family packs of ground beef when it is on sale (which happens pretty often) and freeze in serving size packages in ziploc bags.

Clothing-it really helps to make a spreadsheet and estimate what you should be spending in each category. Then keep track of costs and see if you can keep within your estimates. This should decrease impulse clothes buying. I've done this with my teenage daughters--giving them a budget based on estimates we come up with together for each category. This empowers them to decide how they want to spend it. eg. if they are allocated $300 for summer Shabbos clothes, they can decide if they like the $150 dress enough to spend half their budget on it, or if they'll hold out for something cheaper. Or if they spend more than budgeted in one category they'll spend less in another (eg cheaper shoes) to compensate.

amother

Daisy

Tue, Aug 16 2022, 11:59 pm

OP, you aren't doing anything WRONG, but if you want you can do things DIFFERENTLY.

Some of the expenses you list are not very negotiable, but others are very flexible. But lowering even very flexible spending will necessitate some level of lifestyle change.

Are you willing to make some changes? Some may be noticeable, some may bother you the first time but become your new habit quickly.

The obvious categories to target are:
- Clothing
- Entertainment
- Pharmacy
- Home Services
- Beauty
- Groceries
- Food Out
- Misc Shopping
- Cash

Obviously you can't cut any of them out entirely, but it may be possible to lower them with only minor changes.

Have you price-compared medications between pharmacies? There are a lot of ways to get prescriptions filled for significantly less.

Some home services, as others have mentioned, may not be as necessary to outsource to "professionals."

Clothing has been hashed out extensively here, so just be aware that although your spending is not extravagant, it can be lowered significantly while still remaining well-dressed.

$100 a month for beauty is a nice chunk. Can you cut out one manicure, stretch the wig setting by a week, consider doing some DIY haircuts or using a cheaper place?

Others have already provided a lot of feedback on the food budgets. I don't usually think this is the FIRST place to start because it will probably hurt the most, but it is also often a very flexible number.

Misc shopping - lots of people have picked on this number already. It might be a good idea to go through your misc shopping and start categorizing it so you can decide how much of it is necessary and urgent, or if you can give yourself a lower budget for these types of things.

Cash - this is another form of misc. And it's a significant amount as well. It's a good idea to track where it's going. It might mean that you are spending double the amount of "food out" as you think.

You don't need to make any of these changes if you're making it with what you have. But you most certainly CAN if you want to and are willing to change what you have been doing until now.

If you do want to make some changes, do yourself a favor and start with the ones you're least likely to notice. And take the savings and put them somewhere so you can see what you've accomplished.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 9:33 am

amother Freesia wrote:

I’m shocked people are telling op to spend less on clothing. If you want to buy tznius or teens and have them fit in to their peer group plus listen to the rules and obligations of the school/community then you must spend this. And I believe the op is spending less than most people. Op where did you shop that you spent so little for camp? Just the undergarments, bathing suit that’s proper for by teen, and pool terry outfit will cost 500.

I agree that there are lots of constraints we need to consider, but I don't agree we need to spend a lot. I don't know where you shopped, but the undergarments, bathing suit & terry outfit that I bought for me daughter cost me a lot less than $500. A LOT less.

amother

RosePink

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 10:56 am

amother Freesia wrote:

Where are you shopping for undergarments that cost so much? Real life prices for what I got my teen daughter. I took the time to look up these prices to see if they really added up to anywhere near $500.

Fruit of the Loom Women's Bikini Underwear, 6+3 Pack, Sizes 5-9: $9.48 at Walmart
2 packs of these = 18 pairs underwear at $18.96

Hanes Women's X-Temp Comfort Flex Fit Bra: $15.94 at Walmart (this is what my daughter actually wears, but there are plenty of other styles in similar price range
3 bras = $47.82 (presumably girls have some from before so don't need more than 3 new ones for camp)

Memoi Camp Knee Socks (from frum hosiery store): $8 for a 3 pack
4 packs = 12 pairs knee socks at $32

Memoi Pantyhose (for Shabbos - from frum hosiery store): $7.25 for a 2 pack
2 packs = 4 pantyhose at $14.50

Costco Speedo Swimsuits - don't remember exact price, but was around $20 each
2 swimsuits = $40

Basic Colors 2 piece Swim Cover Up = $30

Basic Colors Shells (depends on the outfit whether needed): $10 each
5 shells = $50

Total: $233.28

By the way, I live out of town. Basic Colors ships. My daughter is very "with it" and particular about fitting in, so does wear mostly t-shirts from frum stores. The clothing definitely adds up to a lot, but I don't see where underclothing/swimwear can be $500. What am I missing? Even if you want to add a terry cover up instead of the Basic Colors one, still way less than $300!