How much do you spend annually

Seeking Advice Forum
1

Hey there, we’re a family of three with a dog, and our child is 15 months old. My husband is 34, and I’m 30. We’re trying to be more frugal while balancing life with a toddler. Our monthly spending is around $7,200-$7,500, including savings directly transferred from our checking account.

My husband has a work, and retirement account, and I have a separate pension. We save $100 weekly, which isn’t included in our tracked expenses.

Here’s our monthly breakdown:

  • $1,200 for daycare
  • $1,900 for the mortgage
  • $900 minimum for groceries and consumables (South East New England)
  • $300 for gas
  • $1,700 for utilities, car insurance, recurring expenses (pet and life insurance, my retirement, car payment, student loan, son’s savings, Netflix, etc.)
  • $80 for dog food
  • $850 for miscellaneous expenses (birthdays, clothes, car repairs, etc.)

We also put an extra $1,000 towards our mortgage principal monthly.

We feel privileged not to worry too much about money but want to cut on down spending. Ideally, I’d like our miscellaneous budget to be around $500, but unexpected expenses (like two windshield replacements) have made that challenging.

Am I doing anything wrong? I see people spending only $45k a year and wonder how. With our mortgage, utilities, and fuel costs alone, we can’t seem to match that. Any advice?

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2

Your monthly utility bill of $1,700 is the amount that seems excessive to me. Even with utilities, house insurance, and HOA included, your mortgage payment is still higher than average.

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3

That is also what caught my attention. Even in the coldest month of February, where I live in the Midwest, our utilities come to roughly $280 ($120 for electricity, $80 for gas, and $80 for water). We also have a hot tub outside.

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Except for those who live in condos or whatever, that sounds like a really minimal amount of heat. Unless it is incredibly efficient or every place I have ever lived in has been an energy wasteland, a stand-alone home would cost far more.