Families of 4...monthly expenditures?

[Marionnette]

Well, according to this chart, we are right on target based on our income.

An we live in a SUPER expensive area. Our rent alone is $3250/month.

Then you make enough to be able to afford to live in your SUPER expensive area. The chart uses income percentages and not dollar amounts.

 

[DLgal]

Then you make enough to be able to afford to live in your SUPER expensive area. The chart uses income percentages and not dollar amounts.

I understand that the chart uses percentages. I never said we don't make enough. I was just curious how much people with a similar family makeup spent every month on the "essentials", like groceries, gas, etc.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

There is no "norm". People living in high COLAs will spend more. People with more disposable income will spend more. And different people have different priorities as to where they spend their money. If you feel as if you are overspending, then you probably are. Comparing your spending habits to those of someone who makes more (or less) than you is pretty useless.

There are people on this board who shop thrift stores instead of buying new clothes. There are people who only eat organic. Some people don't spend a lot on cars but spend a considerable amount on travel. There's just no "average" budget. However, there are general guidelines for budgeting that should help for anyone, regardless of where you live or how much you make. Perhaps using those guidelines would be a better way to gauge where you should be allocating your money.

Thanks for posting this! I've always thought we spent more than we should and it's good to know we're pretty darn close to what this chart portrays. We don't have much debt so that goes in other areas. I'm not seeing groceries/essentials, health insurance or child care on that chart. I'm assuming it'd fall under other living expenses which puts us at about 30%. I guess it all evens out though.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

I budget $1700/mo for gas/food/misc (does not include the regular expenses like internet, tv, insurance, etc...).

 

[Ava]

We live in Brooklyn, NY, so also an expensive area (although we live in a less-expensive part of it). We are also a family of 4 with kids ages 6 & 2. My wife has been a stay-at-home mom since our first child was born, so we've gotten used to living on one income & keeping our day-to-day expenses low.

Off the top of my head (I use YNAB so don't have my full budget handy) we average:

$500-$600/month on groceries
$100-$150/month on eating out/delivery
$100-$150/month on other household items & pet food/supplies (we have a cat and some fish)
$50-$100/month on school things, gifts, etc.

Kids activities don't get charged every month & they vary so I'm not sure there. And we tend to buy clothes only once or twice a year, when we need things for a new season/size, so its not a regular expense. We also don't own a car, so no regular gas or car maintenance expenses. We spend $233/month for two unlimited Metro cards, but $130 of that comes out of my paycheck pre-tax.

Like others have said, if you feel like you are spending too much then you probably are. The first step is to track exactly how much you spend in different categories, so you can see where you can cut back. You may be surprised at how much money you "waste" on things that aren't really important to you.

 

[tink9702]

Our budget is as follows:

$500-550 groceries
$100 restaurants/eating out
$150 gas
$50 personal care (shampoo, toothbrushes, hair cuts etc.)
$75 clothing
$200 household goods (toilet paper, pots & pans, decorative items - it's all inclusive)
$50-100 gifts (we budget $50 at the beginning of the year and closer to $100 near the end to cover Xmas and multiple birthdays)
$50 birthday party expenses
$100 miscellaneous
$140 swim lessons
$50 other activities/fun things
$300 preschool

So approximately $1,700 a month on variable items. I always think the $200 household goods is high but then new furniture eventually comes out of that budget line so it works in the long run.

 

[Marionnette]

I understand that the chart uses percentages. I never said we don't make enough. I was just curious how much people with a similar family makeup spent every month on the "essentials", like groceries, gas, etc.

And I never meant to imply that you do not make enough. What I'm trying to point out is that it doesn't matter what a family with a similar make up spends on what you are terming "the essentials" because their incomes and costs will not be the same as yours. Comparisons are pretty useless unless you're looking at percentages of net income, rather than actual dollar amounts. And even then, personal priorities will still have a major influence on where those dollars get spent. Someone on a limited income, but with a firm commitment to eating natural or organic, is going to spend a larger percentage of their income on food than someone with a very comfortable income but is willing to eat foods that don't carry those certifications.

 

[Dakota731]

And it makes you question your values when you sit down and do this! I discovered we are paying more for our cable bill (includes internet) than our healthcare so I guess I won't complain about that any more!

 

[mjkacmom]

Our housing costs are a higher percentage than they should. Heck, property taxes and utilities are over $1500 a month, never mind the mortgage.

 

[damskipi13]

What I'm trying to point out is that it doesn't matter what a family with a similar make up spends on what you are terming "the essentials" because their incomes and costs will not be the same as yours. Comparisons are pretty useless unless you're looking at percentages of net income, rather than actual dollar amounts.

But using percentages doesn't take into account that as income changes your needs don't change, or that someone who earns a low income will spend more on needs than someone who makes $300K/yr. For instance, when I entered the work force I was paying about 32% of my income towards housing costs, but my income has more than doubled since then. Now, even with a bigger place, my housing costs are 19%. That doesn't mean I should get a bigger place just so I'm closer to 35%.

I think the OP's reason for wanting to compare amounts makes a lot of sense. If she is paying $2K for groceries each month and most people are paying closer to $800, it would cause her to look at why. Maybe she would realize she's okay paying that much because her family eats all organic & free range food and that is important to her, but if she never asked the question she might never have thought about it. Nothing wrong with examining your expenses and making a conscious, educated decision.

OP, I'd answer your question but it's just me and my dog so I'm not sure it'd help Cheers!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Ours is around $1500-$1700/month and we also charge everything including groceries, gas, eating out, misc. items, Target runs, etc. We live in coastal FL. Food here isn't as expensive as it is in other areas I don't think.

 

[eliza61]

And it makes you question your values when you sit down and do this! I discovered we are paying more for our cable bill (includes internet) than our healthcare so I guess I won't complain about that any more!

LOL don't even get me started with cable. Comcast just announced that we can expect a 4% rate hike starting January 1. So I'm out. the value is definitely gone especially since I complain about having 700 channels and not a thing to watch on the weekend.

 

[stayhomemom77]

We are in Canada and we spend:

Food $500
Gasoline $160
Family Fun Money $100
WAM $100
Allowance $250
Slush Money $100
Reserves $100

We also put aside $175 a month for gifts for the year.

Food and gas are self explanatory. Family fun money is for dining out one night a month and then the movies or the arcade or golfing or some other activity.

WAM stands for walking around money. It's what we take out in cash for things like runs to the dollar store, school trip fees, paying the paper girl, junk food runs and any other out of pocket expenses that don't fall into one of the other categories.

Allowance is $5 a week for each kid ($50 max a month) and $100 each for DH and myself. The kids are paid in cash but DH and I just track our expenses made on the credit card. Mine usually doesn't get spent and instead goes towards the vacation fund so we can get on our travels faster. LOL

Slush money is stuff like replacement ink cartridges for the printer, clothes and shoes (in September we spend about $300 on back to school wardrobes which just means our savings is down by that much that one time), sidewalk salt, windshield washer fluid, new wiper blades, light bulbs, batteries, etc.

Reserves is basically money we use on gasoline and groceries if we go over budget. Our families live out of town. So we travel more to visit them on months with holidays. We need extra gas to accommodate the extra travel for those months. And when those family members come to see us...we spend more on groceries because we then are playing the host. When we don't spend all (or any) of this budget, it gets tossed into the travel fund.


Whew! I had no idea we were spending an average of $1500 on variable expenses until I added this up. It doesn't seem like much at all with it all broken down into small chunks.

 

[DnA2010]

My budget sheet has 3 sections-

Monthly costs:
Mortgage
Hydro
Life Insurance
RRSPs
Home Phone/Internet
Cell Phones
Gas
TF Savings Account

Varied Month Costs (things that happen one time/only certain months)
Seasons Ski Passes
City Utilities
House Insurance
Annual vet for horses and dog
Horse shows
Car Insurance for me, for DH

Variable:
Fuel/Car Maint ($400)
Food/Dining ($500)
Gifts/School/Extra Curricular Act/Other ($250)
Animals (we have a dog and 3 horses that are kept at inlaws) ($200)

So our variable is $1350- I don't track against this so know whos what it actually is- next year I might try to