What is your single biggest expense in your budget every month/year?

[BellePrincessBelle]

All you have to do is eat peanut butter and fluff and then you would only spend $541/year on food.

but the kiddies can't eat peanut butter and I don't allow fluff in the house

 

[timzagain]

Food! Every week my grocery bill increases! I'm fast approaching the stage where there's no fat left to trim in the food budget, without sacrificing the healthfulness of our meals.

 

[DawnM]

Thankfully we have our loans paid off and only have mortgage as a loan anymore.

We do pay childcare. We just started this week! It is around $760 for the 3 year old and $200 for the other two combined in after school care. So, almost $1000/month.

Dawn

 

[disneyjunkie]

My son's high school tuition $670.00 per month.

 

[ProudMomTo3Boys]

Mine is groceries. I spend between 19-20,000 a year on groceries.

just out of pure curiosity, how many people are you buying for?

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I would say taxes. I'm self-employed so VERY aware of how much I pay in taxes (because I have to actually send it in, it's not taken off a paycheque as it is for most people). Second would be groceries. Insurance has gone down a lot now that my boys are no longer teenagers, but at one time it would have been number one!!

Teresa

 

[writersblock42]

Well after the taxes that are taken out of the paycheck and after the mortgage, it is def. the credit card bill with the majority of that being groceries. I actually do a pretty good job of keeping that in check for the most part but my husband goes through soda like it is water so that adds a bit to the grocery bill. I think he bathes in Mt. Dew.

 

[willoughbyclan]

#1 Groceries (3 adults, 4 growing girls, 1 dog, 1 cat)
#2 Gas (DH and I drive 90 miles roundtrip to work)

Nothing else even comes close to these 2.

 

[lemondog]

For us it is DD's private school tuition. Luckily right now we are able to pay one lump sum -- $4500/year. However, when the twins start in 2 years it will bump up to over $12,000, so we'll be looking at a hefty monthly payment.

 

[neatokimmo]

The last couple of years has been the adoption (18-19K total). Saved & paid woohoo

After that its trips (don't hate me, I have a cruise addiction). Second will be her daycare sometime early next year.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

just out of pure curiosity, how many people are you buying for?

6 but I buy fresh & organic if at all possible. It's around 1600 a month or $400 a week. It's not so terrible if you break it down.

 

[Sethsmom]

Taxes for us. If we didn't have so many taxes taken out of our paychecks, we would be rich. Then add in house/property taxes.

Next childcare.
car payments
insurance
groceries
gasoline
lake property rent

 

[DisneyBill]

Hands down, taxes, taxes, and more taxes.

 

[WETWHISTLE]

Aside from Rent - our biggest expense each year is vacation. We have no debt and our vacations cost more than anything else!

 

[kfeuer]

Health insurance and co-pays We had $1500 put into our MSA this year, thinking it would be enough. I just checked our balance this morning and we have $34 left for the rest of the year We've already paid alot out of pocket, too.

The thing is, our health insurance is decent (although our dental insurance is pretty lousy). We have a $250 deductible and $15 office co-pays. We've just had a bad year...I had to have a root canal earlier this year which cost a small fortune, and DH was diagnosed with diabetes (which prompted alot of other appointments he'd been putting off, like having his eyes checked and going to the dentist). Relative to what we make, we're spending a small fortune on health care.

 

[Kaler131]

Utilities! My four kids really know how to waste a lot of water & electricity. I have been working on them to teach them the importance of conservation. I hope it works!!!!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

My and my husbands' student loan repayments just about equal our monthly mortgage payments.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

6 but I buy fresh & organic if at all possible. It's around 1600 a month or $400 a week. It's not so terrible if you break it down.

You must have some hearty eaters (teenaged boys maybe?) We eat all fresh and organic and we hardly ever eat out, and we spend maybe $500/month for the 3 of us and 1 cat (she also eats organic believe it or not). That's including 3 gallons of organic milk/week for DH (so $20 right there), and probably $150 in freeze dried fruits/veggies from justtomatoes every month. You might know this already, but BJ's carries a lot of organics for pretty good prices. We do a good amount of our shopping there and I think we save a lot over what we'd spend if we just shopped at Wild Oats and/or Publix.

 

[hinodis]

It seems like DD's horse and trainer...but college and private schools eat almost as much as the horse.

 

[heartsy77]

This is a no brain-er the electric company = 200, phone = 50, cable w/ Internet 100 tivo 14 = 364 a month! I would also count cell plan which is another 100 so really it is 464!