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Are my expenses average?
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:41 pm
I am trying to figure out if I spend more money then is healthy or not.
So there is two aspects to the questions:
1) Is what I spend a normal amount for someone not on a tight budget (no mater your income)
2) Is it Normal for someone who makes the income that we make. (self employed about $400k before health expenses and taxes)

Some background. We live in NJ, we currently own our house (25 years of mortgage payments left, at about $1.8k per month). And we have two leases for about $900 per month between both of them
Most of our expenses go through our credit card, so the numbers below are from that (according to Mint).
Shopping: $8k (This includes regular stores, online, walmart, etc..)
Food & Dining $7k (this is groceries and restaurants)
Amazon $3K (a big mix)
Auto $2k (Gas, AAA, EZPass)
Phone/Cell: $1k
Hotels/Uber $700
Pharmacy $400

So a total of about $28k for everything not counting mortgage, tuition, and leasing.

Thank you
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amother
Seashell


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:43 pm
What is your income, and how much are you saving each year?
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Optione




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:45 pm
$28K how often?
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:46 pm
I'd lose the word normal and healthy. There is nothing wrong with spending money that you have, so long as you are also saving sufficiently and giving tzedkah.

Editing myself to say - "unhealthy" is when there is spending as an addictive way of coping with "life".
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:48 pm
Sorry I edited my post as soon as I submitted.
Single income family of about $400k per year. I say about, because my husband is self employed, but it averages that number.
We dont really actually put anything into savings directly. We basically just operate off of the one account. The numbers I gave for this year so far seem probably about average.
We do go on one vacation a year that costs about $2k. But besides that things pretty much average out.
Tuition for our kids is about $15k a year currently
We do have a nice nest egg saved up from over the years. I believe it is currently at $700k, and that is with us just investing in a commercial property that we had to put down $200k. And this is with all of our last year taxes paid up.

Thank you
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:50 pm
Your self employed husband should have a separate business account from the family account.
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:51 pm
Optione wrote:
$28K how often?

The $28k is year to date, so a bit more then 4 months. That is not including mortgage, leasing and tuition but pretty much everything else

amother wrote:
I'd lose the word normal and healthy. There is nothing wrong with spending money that you have, so long as you are also saving sufficiently and giving tzedkah.

Editing myself to say - "unhealthy" is when there is spending as an addictive way of coping with "life".


So maybe I said the wrong word. While I believe I can afford to live the way we do (not extremely extravagant), the question was more am I spending/wasting money more then I should. A person can be a multi millionaire, but it is still a waste to spend money on certain things.

Thank you
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:53 pm
amother wrote:
So maybe I said the wrong word. While I believe I can afford to live the way we do (not extremely extravagant), the question was more am I spending/wasting money more then I should. A person can be a multi millionaire, but it is still a waste to spend money on certain things.

Thank you


what do you think "wasting money' means?

I think it means mindlessly spending money and getting zero value from it.
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:53 pm
amother wrote:
Your self employed husband should have a separate business account from the family account.


I agree, we just never really sat down to do (too much time working). We also do give tzedaka, I think my husband said it was something like $60k last year.

Thank you
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:55 pm
amother wrote:
what do you think "wasting money' means?


Buying clothing or things around the house more then one really needs. Spending more money on prepared food instead of making it ones self. Go to eat out too much or going to hotels too much. Things like that.
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amother
Denim


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:56 pm
It is a lot of money. You are spending about $7,000 per month excluding mortgage, leasing, and tuition.

If you want to, you can cut down a lot of those costs. But some of them will impact your current standard of living.

If you want to free up more money for other things (pay down mortgage early, give tzedakah more generously, buy a home in Israel), you can most definitely get that down to $4,000 or $5,000 without too much trouble.
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:56 pm
Wow that's cheap tuition! Is it a chassidish school?
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TwinsMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:58 pm
so these numbers are for just 4 months??

Shopping: $8k (This includes regular stores, online, walmart, etc..)
Food & Dining $7k (this is groceries and restaurants)
Amazon $3K (a big mix)
Auto $2k (Gas, AAA, EZPass)
Phone/Cell: $1k
Hotels/Uber $700
Pharmacy $400


Then yes I think ALL of those categories could easily be cut down except possibly pharmacy--- I don't know what your med co-pays look like.

Having his biz acct be separate will be much easier for you when it comes to taking schedule C deductions (I assume he's a sole proprieter)---- I assume, for instance that most of the hotels/uber is for his work and can be deducted, and probably a nice chunk of the phone expense, etc.

2 cell phones could run as little as $100 a month or $400 for 4 months--- to me $1K is a heck of a lot for 4 months of phone usage.

AAA is under $100 a year... don't know about EZ Pass because I live in Ohio...... so you're spending ALMOST 2K on just gas for the car...... in 4 months???
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 8:58 pm
amother wrote:
I agree, we just never really sat down to do (too much time working). We also do give tzedaka, I think my husband said it was something like $60k last year.

Thank you


Okay. I think you'll find money management a lot easier if business and personal are separated.

I'm sure you could find ways to spend less in all areas. Anybody can be frugal. Frugality though takes time. One of the benefits of having money is not needing to spend time being frugal.
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 9:01 pm
I looked a bit more into the numbers. About $1k of the travel is because of work but almost everything else is personal. He does have a separate business credit card so these numbers do not reflect that
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 9:03 pm
amother wrote:
Buying clothing or things around the house more then one really needs. Spending more money on prepared food instead of making it ones self. Go to eat out too much or going to hotels too much. Things like that.


Okay - well you are living your life. You can take stock of if you think you have too many things, or are eating out too much. Those are your decisions. There is no guide book that says you should only have xyz amount of things, or go out to eat xyz amount of times.

What many people do say - is too much stuff, and too many convenience items start to ruin a person's character. Not everyone agrees with that.
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amother
Seashell


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 9:08 pm
Honestly, I think this is very individual. You're earning and saving responsibly, you are covering all your expenses, and you're giving tzedaka. Beyond that, you have to decide where you want to be spending or saving more, and then figure out which category would be most painless to cut back on. Many people spend way less than you in all categories listed, and do so easily. Should you? Not necessarily.

If this were me, I would prioritize spending differently than you do. Travel is important to me, as is owning a home in EY. So I would certainly prefer to lease a cheaper car, buy cheaper food, and shop in cheaper clothing stores (or less often) to achieve those goals. But I'm not you.
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TwinsMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 9:15 pm
also wondering---- are you done having children? or will your tuition numbers go up dramatically (as well as groceries, clothing, etc a little bit) I didn't see how many kids you have or where in your childbearing career you are. Smile
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amother
Salmon


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 9:43 pm
$28000 for four months does not sound like a lot to me. We spend around $20000 to $25000 a month and my dh makes about $300,000.
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amother
Seashell


 

Post Wed, May 09 2018, 10:20 pm
amother wrote:
$28000 for four months does not sound like a lot to me. We spend around $20000 to $25000 a month and my dh makes about $300,000.


Op's numbers exclude mortgage, tuition, and car leasing. I'm sure your numbers are inclusive.
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