Budget exercise

[Dirtyhip]

In prep for winding down our working life, we want to get more aggressive with saving. We've been saving like 50% of our income, over the last year.

Aside from health care, we are trying to keep our spending under $2000 a month.  Home, utilities, entertainment, transportation and food are the items that will be included in the budget. 

I guess there will be no new bikes this year, or $100 bottles of balsamic.  It's cool. 

 

[Randomguy]

31 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I guess there will be no new bikes this year, or $100 bottles of balsamic.  It's cool. 

To what level will you allow youself to slum, balsamic-wise?

[Square Wheels]

You meant a week, right?

[Dirtyhip]

11 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

To what level will you allow youself to slum, balsamic-wise?

I have about 1/2 of the real stuff left.  It is used quite sparingly, anyway. 

Not sure what slum groceries will look like, as we practice this exercise.  Some organic foods are out though.  It is getting into the unaffordable range.

No fancy cheese.  I will probably just eat less cheese, which is probably a good thing.

[Randomguy]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

I have about 1/2 of the real stuff left.  It is used quite sparingly, anyway. 

Not sure what slum groceries will look like, as we practice this exercise.  Some organic foods are out though.  It is getting into the unaffordable range.

No fancy cheese.  I will probably just eat less cheese, which is probably a good thing.

I keep telling myself I will have to eat less cheese, too.  I will go make a pizza now.

[Kirby]

Budgeting is easier when you have a specific goal in mind and you can see your sacrifices as a choice for something else you want such as more personal time or time with family. You did this when K. first went back to school, and I'm sure you'll ace it again.

[ChrisL]

Oh man good cheese can get pricey. When I need my fix I'm paying $15 for a wedge of imported aged Boerkaas from Holland.  So worth it tho...  I buy budget balsamic but it's still $10 a bottle.  We spend around $200 a week on food so we have to budget.... Kids, they will freaking suck you dry!

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, Square Wheels said:

You meant a week, right?

No. per month.  You would be surprised of how low our house payment and utilities run.

Actually, after taking out essentials like a roof over our head and all necessary utilities, we have $1078 of discretionary income for gasoline, food, entertainment.

[Dirtyhip]

12 minutes ago, Kirby said:

Budgeting is easier when you have a specific goal in mind and you can see your sacrifices as a choice for something else you want such as more personal time or time with family. You did this when K. first went back to school, and I'm sure you'll ace it again.

Agreed.  Being that our home will be paid off by next year, I think winding down the work life is closer than ever.  My husband plans on keeping his nursing license.  He said he has no plans to ever let his license lapse.  There are options for traveling that we might take advantage of.

13 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Oh man good cheese can get pricey. When I need my fix I'm paying $15 for a wedge of imported aged Boerkaas from Holland.  So worth it tho...  I buy budget balsamic but it's still $10 a bottle.  We spend around $200 a week on food so we have to budget.... Kids, they will freaking suck you dry!

We spend about $200 a week for two people.  That is eating pretty much everything gourmet, top shelf.

Eating like this is not sustainable, if I want to stop working so hard.

[ChrisL]

5 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

We spend about $200 a week for two people.  That is eating pretty much everything gourmet, top shelf.

Eating like this is not sustainable, if I want to stop working so hard.

Yeah that's spendy for 2.  We all pack lunches which saves but ads to the grocery bill and we cut back on eating dinner out which also ads but saves... 

Dinner out for 5, even at out taco place, is still $75.  Well over $120 if we go to reasonable  sit down place.  That wasn't sustainable for us...  What cracks me up is my wife says we can't afford to eat out all the time.  But if I have to work late or am on travel and she has to cook, suddenly we have the money!

[Randomguy]

6 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Yeah that's spendy for 2.  

?  It seems really reasonable for 2, without organic stuff at all.  Don't you live in LA?

[Kzoo]

Budget exercise

Thread Fail.  This topic was billed as budget exercise.  Then you turn it into a thread about budgeting money.  I need to know how to budget exercise.  I need to know how to exercise more while doing less.  Expend more energy while expending less energy.  Please get this thread back on track.

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, Randomguy said:

?  It seems really reasonable for 2, without organic stuff at all.  Don't you live in LA?

 I'm 50 miles south in the OC.  Cost of living is similar tho... I think 1/2 of our shopping expense is feeding our son who just powers down food.  Milk, eggs, yogurt, ice cream, cereal & bread just dissapears in our house. I bet my wife and I could live on 1/2 our grocery budget if it was just us.

[Dirtyhip]

7 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Yeah that's spendy for 2.  We all pack lunches which saves but ads to the grocery bill and we cut back on eating dinner out which also ads but saves... 

Dinner out for 5, even at out taco place, is still $75.  Well over $120 if we go to reasonable  sit down place.  That wasn't sustainable for us...  What cracks me up is my wife says we can't afford to eat out all the time.  But if I have to work late or am on travel and she has to cook, suddenly we have the money!

I pack lunch, and we rarely eat out.  That price was for mostly home food.  If we eat out, it is almost always taqueria.  That is usually around $13.

[Randomguy]

8 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I pack lunch, and we rarely eat out.  That price was for mostly home food.  If we eat out, it is almost always taqueria.  That is usually around $13.

That isn't extravagant by any means.

[Randomguy]

10 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

 I'm 50 miles south in the OC.  Cost of living is similar tho... I think 1/2 of our shopping expense is feeding our son who just powers down food.  Milk, eggs, yogurt, ice cream, cereal & bread just dissapears in our house. I bet my wife and I could live on 1/2 our grocery budget if it was just us.

So $100/week per person is a lot?  You would have to scrimp a bit somewhere to have three meals a day for less than $14/day, even if you don't eat out.  I am sure you COULD do it, but go to a restaurant even one time that week and you are in trouble, even if you are having oatmeal for one of those meals.

[ChrisL]

12 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I pack lunch, and we rarely eat out.  That price was for mostly home food.  If we eat out, it is almost always taqueria.  That is usually around $13.

I also think where you live impacts this.  I probably spend way more on housing, fuel and taxes as you but produce in SoCal is ridiculously cheap.  When in VA i notice they pay per item what we pay per pound on many items.

[Dirtyhip]

6 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I also think where you live impacts this.  I probably spend way more on housing, fuel and taxes as you but produce in SoCal is ridiculously cheap.  When in VA i notice they pay per item what we pay per pound on many items.

Our home is less than a $600/mo cost.

Avocados are $1.79 each

Transportation is extremely cheap for us.  5 minute car drive or a 15-20 minute bike ride.

[ChrisL]

14 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

So $100/week per person is a lot?  You would have to scrimp a bit somewhere to have three meals a day for less than $14/day, even if you don't eat out.  I am sure you COULD do it, but go to a restaurant even one time that week and you are in trouble, even if you are having oatmeal for one of those meals.

I think my wife and I could live on close to $50 each per week of food.  We don't eat that much.  For example I buy a packet of 8 chicken thighs for $5 and it will feed 4 for 1 meal.  My son will eat 1/2 of that pack of chicken. I eat maybe 3 eggs a week where he'll eat 3 in a sitting. Neither of us drink milk but we buy a 1 & 1/2  gallons per week.  My wife will eat 2 or 3 yogurts a week but we buy a 18 a week....

Teenage boys eat a lot.  My wife, daughter and I combined probably eat less than him.

[Randomguy]

Just now, ChrisL said:

I think my wife and I could live on close to $50 each per week of food.  We don't eat that much.  For example I buy a packet of 8 chicken thighs for $5 and it will feed 4 for 1 meal.  My son will eat 1/2 of that pack of chicken. I eat maybe 3 eggs a week where he'll eat 3 in a sitting. Neither of us drink milk but we buy a 1 & 1/2  gallons per week.  My wife will eat 2 or 3 yogurts a week but we buy a 18 a week....

Teenage boys eat a lot.  My wife, daughter and I combined probably eat less than him.

It is definitely cheaper if you eat a SAD, too.  

[Dirtyhip]

28 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

It is definitely cheaper if you eat a SAD, too.  

sad?

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

sad?

I didn't get it either but thought better of questioning him...

[Square Wheels]

Standard American Diet?

[Randomguy]

1 minute ago, Square Wheels said:

Standard American Diet?

I thought it was common knowledge to call it that.

[ChrisL]

17 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I thought it was common knowledge to call it that.

I had to look up the term although I kind of figured what it meant.  Yeah we don't eat a SAD and I'm guessing neither does DH.  

[Randomguy]

17 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Yeah we don't eat a SAD and I'm guessing neither does DH.

I didn't think you did, but DH does.  But it kind of points out how the poorest people tend to be the biggest, the dirt-cheap stuff is almost always the most fattening.

[ChrisL]

6 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I didn't think you did, but DH does.  But it kind of points out how the poorest people tend to be the biggest, the dirt-cheap stuff is almost always the most fattening.

I was blessed having a mom who was a phenomenal cook, and she loved to cook. I have her passion for sure but not nearly her skill.... Yeah most everything we eat is made from fresh ingredients.

[Prophet Zacharia]

4 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

In prep for winding down our working life, we want to get more aggressive with saving. We've been saving like 50% of our income, over the last year.

Aside from health care, we are trying to keep our spending under $2000 a month.  Home, utilities, entertainment, transportation and food are the items that will be included in the budget. 

I guess there will be no new bikes this year, or $100 bottles of balsamic.  It's cool. 

 

That's aggressive.  If I didn't have a mortgage, I still don't think I could save 50%. 

I'm resigned to work about 10 more years until both kids are about done with college. But I think retirement before 62 largely hinges on whether affordable healthcare can be easily obtained. I suspect I'll have to work at least partt time in order to maintain benefits until Medicare eligible.

[Kzoo]

9 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

hinges on whether affordable healthcare can be easily obtained.

That right there is funny.

[Dirtyhip]

40 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I didn't think you did, but DH does.  But it kind of points out how the poorest people tend to be the biggest, the dirt-cheap stuff is almost always the most fattening.

You think I eat a S.A.D.?

[Prophet Zacharia]

16 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

You think I eat a S.A.D.?

No, he's not saying that. Just that you are hip to the nutrition literature and would be aware of the term.

Actually, rereading his follow-up post, I don't know what he means. 

[Razors Edge ★]

42 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

That's aggressive.  If I didn't have a mortgage, I still don't think I could save 50%. 

I'm resigned to work about 10 more years until both kids are about done with college. But I think retirement before 62 largely hinges on whether affordable healthcare can be easily obtained. I suspect I'll have to work at least partt time in order to maintain benefits until Medicare eligible.

A huge roadblock towards my retiring "early".  It is not likely to be something that is fixed in the next four years or so, but I am hoping by the time I hit 55, something sensible has been implemented.

Tom

[Randomguy]

35 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

You think I eat a S.A.D.?

Of course you do!  Heh heh...

[Longjohn ★]

5 hours ago, Kzoo said:

Budget exercise

Thread Fail.  This topic was billed as budget exercise.  Then you turn it into a thread about budgeting money.  I need to know how to budget exercise.  I need to know how to exercise more while doing less.  Expend more energy while expending less energy.  Please get this thread back on track.

They need to join one of those $10 a month gyms.  That's where you get that "budget exercise".

[shootingstar]

On ‎2017‎-‎10‎-‎02 at 10:02 AM, Dirtyhip said:

In prep for winding down our working life, we want to get more aggressive with saving. We've been saving like 50% of our income, over the last year.

Aside from health care, we are trying to keep our spending under $2000 a month.  Home, utilities, entertainment, transportation and food are the items that will be included in the budget. 

I guess there will be no new bikes this year, or $100 bottles of balsamic.  It's cool. 

 

Sounds great Dirtyhip.  

We don't buy $100 bottles of balsamic. But we do occasionally buy ice wine produced here in Canada.

I would be aiming for same thing under $2,000 but probably overshot with some plane trips each year.  Right now, in limbo zone..not sure about job in next month or so.  We don't own/use a car. Rent a car for up to 2-3 days --annually.

I worry about health care in the area of dental care...since Canada's public health care insurance system doesn't cover dental costs, certain drugs (unless one is a senior and must qualify, etc.).  Our province's dentists charge the highest rates in Canada. And there's other allied health care services that isn't covered by public health insurance (podiatry, optometric services, counselling, etc.).  But no, I don't worry about medical health care in general. That would not be my deciding factor on when I should retire. 

[Dirtyhip]

40 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Sounds great Dirtyhip.  

We don't buy $100 bottles of balsamic. But we do occasionally buy ice wine produced here in Canada.

I would be aiming for same thing under $2,000 but probably overshot with some plane trips each year.  Right now, in limbo zone..not sure about job in next month or so.  We don't own/use a car. Rent a car for up to 2-3 days --annually.

I worry about health care in the area of dental care...since Canada's public health care insurance system doesn't cover dental costs, certain drugs (unless one is a senior and must qualify, etc.).  Our province's dentists charge the highest rates in Canada. And there's other allied health care services that isn't covered by public health insurance (podiatry, optometric services, counselling, etc.).  But no, I don't worry about medical health care in general. That would not be my deciding factor on when I should retire. 

I don't buy wine, ever.  I tend to prefer a fancy bottle of olive oil, or some real balsamic made of only grape must.  If it has more ingredients than that, it is a fake/inferior product. 

[BR46]

On Monday, October 02, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Prophet Zacharia said:

 affordable healthcare can be easily obtained. 

This is the only thing that is keeping me from walking out the door of where I'm working. 

[Wilbur ★]

I buy the luxury items like Olive oil, cheeses and vinegars in Europe.  Generally speaking, the products are far superior.  I just brought back 2 gallons of amazing olive oil I purchased in an Arab market in Israel for 25 USD. 

[Dirtyhip]

2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I buy the luxury items like Olive oil, cheeses and vinegars in Europe.  Generally speaking, the products are far superior.  I just brought back 2 gallons of amazing olive oil I purchased in an Arab market in Israel for 25 USD. 

that is fantastic. perks of the job? 

[MickinMD ★]

On 10/2/2017 at 12:02 PM, Dirtyhip said:

In prep for winding down our working life, we want to get more aggressive with saving. We've been saving like 50% of our income, over the last year.

Aside from health care, we are trying to keep our spending under $2000 a month.  Home, utilities, entertainment, transportation and food are the items that will be included in the budget. 

I guess there will be no new bikes this year, or $100 bottles of balsamic.  It's cool. 

 

Budgeting is a great exercise and makes your dollars go farther. Bad legs (now mostly healed!) induced me to retire 11 years ago at 56. I had a Soc.Sec.-sized pension with worker-provided health insurance, but didn't want to drain my next egg waiting for Soc.Sec. to kick-in.  So I began budgeting and honing my comparison shopping skills, maxing cash-back, using Walmart's Savings Catcher, buying store brands when they're as good as the brand names, etc.

After Soc.Sec. kicked-in, I kept budgeting.  I use the 11th budget spreadsheet (actually a workbook) even though it says there are only 10, listed here: https://christianpf.com/10-free-household-budget-spreadsheets/

It's called "Personal Budgeting Spreadsheet" and I like it because it lets me set up a lot of variable spending categories. It's a workbook of 14 spreadsheets: one to set up your budget and the categories, one that's a summary page, and one to enter the spending for each month.  The categories you enter under variable spending on the set-up page appear in a drop-down box when you enter your spending on the month pages.

I set up categories that fall under necessity of luxux categories. For example, I divided food into groceries (healthy), snacks, beverages, and restaurants. That way, I can keep an eye on overspending on junk. It also gives me a good gauge of how much I could cut down if I needed to.

[donkpow]

I think you are all missing the most important money saving exercise available to you in retirement. Dumpster diving. "Professor Dumpster" can offer guidance.

[Dirtyhip]

We finished the month with a $238 surplus.  I figure this is monies that would be used for entertainment with spending more on gasoline, lift tickets, etc. 

Our monthly spending on food, gas, and discretionary spending is about $850.  This included a couple of donations, one wedding gift and our AAA membership with a tow package.   I did drop myself off the AAA policy.  I drive so rarely, that it made so sense to keep me on it.  Seems like a flush of $35. Our monthly home payment and utilities stay about the same every month. 

The food spending has dropped significantly.  We are shopping sales more often and cooking things based on what is on sale.  We've never cooked that way really.  It makes an enormous difference.  

[ChrisL]

47 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

We finished the month with a $238 surplus.  I figure this is monies that would be used for entertainment with spending more on gasoline, lift tickets, etc. 

Our monthly spending on food, gas, and discretionary spending is about $850.  This included a couple of donations, one wedding gift and our AAA membership with a tow package.   I did drop myself off the AAA policy.  I drive so rarely, that it made so sense to keep me on it.  Seems like a flush of $35. Our monthly home payment and utilities stay about the same every month. 

The food spending has dropped significantly.  We are shopping sales more often and cooking things based on what is on sale.  We've never cooked that way really.  It makes an enormous difference.  

We dropped our kids off the AAA plan as well.  They always call us first anyway so when my son's car died we went to him and then called AAA... Worth the savings.