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

[LoveBWVVBR]

Outside of your home mortgage, what is your single biggest expense in your budget? I don't mean retirement or college savings...I mean an actual expense.

For us, it is insurance, hands down. We have homeowners' (FL residents, so it's high), the 2 cars (not that high, but still), umbrella policy, disability ins., life ins., and flood ins. I shop around like crazy, have high deductables, drop coverage that I don't want/need, etc. We still pay more in insurance than we pay in property taxes, grocery costs, or any other common expense.

Our next biggest expenses would be either groceries (about $500/month for a family of 3 and one pet), DVC dues ($1200/year...I occasionally debate selling the points because of this), property taxes ($3600/year), and expenses for DD's various classes (about $300/month, so not too bad). I was just curious as to what everyone else's big expenses were.

 

[summerrluvv]

Childcare, which is around 1200 a month for both and more on the days DS doesn't have school.

 

[mickeyfan2]

For us it is insurance. Nothing else even comes close.

 

[carissanboys]

Car payments, no doubt. We bought two vehicles last year after returning from Australia. Sometimes I really wish we'd just gone with one vehicle and made due (dh works 45 minutes away).

 

[gillenkl]

mortgage on our home

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

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

 

[hjohnson6]

Our biggest is our Mortgage payment. House payment plus all the money for Home Owner's Insurance and property taxes that they take out each month. Our next biggest expense would be propane. About $475 every time we fill up the tank. Thankfully that expense isn't monthly.

 

[NY Disney fan]

My biggest expense is vacations and manicures. I probably spend about $20,000 a year. I consider "fun" a top priority!



**kidding*** Mine is groceries and insurance.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Groceries $700 per month, none of my other expenses even come close.

 

[LadyShiva]

I want to say dining out, but it is really child care. Dining out we could cut down on a good deal, though.

Brandie

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I was going to say the payment on DH's 2006 Murano but after thinking about it, we probably spend even more on groceries. Can't wait for DS15 to stop eating like a wolf! He's not home this week and the grocery bill has been half of what it normally is.

 

[KristinU]

After the mortgage it is childcare for us - only one DS, but we're over $800 a month and it is going up again on Sept. 1st.

 

[mickeyfan2]

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

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

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Hands down our biggest monthly expense is childcare. Daycare for both boys is a scant $41 less than our mortgage.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Private school tuition for 3 kids. Luckily ds14 won an amazing academic scholarship for highschool

 

[poptoone]

For us it's:

1) Mortgage
2) Tithe (not an expense, but in $ relative to other payments)
3) Payment on Travel Trailer

We have no car payments!

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Food and drink - try to keep it to under $1200 a month, but it is hard.

We live in Chicago and there are so many new restaurants and hot spots to visit.

 

[Momof2princess]

Right now our biggest expense is my DH's flying education loan. It is only $100 shy of our mortgage After that would be groceries and then the kids classes. Luckily with DH's work all of our insurance is free.

 

[punkin]

DD8's private school. $10K per year. After that, I would say groceries. Third would be vacations-we tend to splurge.

 

[Harvest02]

After reading this thread, I was going to say car payment, but I am SURE we spent more than our fair share on groceries. And it is even worse now that we have a Kroger within walking distance of our house!