Where Does All My Money Go

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I am a strict budgeter, and a less strict but still dedicated budget follower.

For the sake of the discussion, I'll provide recommendations based on the idea that you take home roughly $6500 per month which makes your mortgage around $1300 a month, which would be reasonable for a small family living in a small condo (which I know you aren't because you built a deck, but just act like you are for budgeting purposes).
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[PsYcNeT]

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Grocceies at 16 and restaurants and food at 4% seems high. If there are alot of grocceries there should be less eating out? And what's entertainment at 2% is that netflix, movies, hockey tickets and concerts?


Pets is also a danger area. Not that 2% is bad for a great pet but that is non-static and out of your control will fluctuate and increase in the future as they get sick and need medical care.

Yes for the entertainment

And you are right about pets too

[Jacks]

Need more info.
We've established 3 people so I'm assuming 1 car based on vehicle and insurance costs.

Need to know city, actual dollars and mortgage situation to give meaningful advice.
Without knowing one obvious target seems to be total food costs. If you have the money up front you can save 20%+ on meat by buying a freezer pack from a butcher shop or getting bulk packs at Costco, even more if you go for the more unpopular cuts. Example: I'm not saying you eat steak every night but for the cost of a good steak you can feed 3 people.
Other obvious target seems to be home expense, I'm guessing it's that high because there are condo fees involved?

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by Tiger

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this seems really high to me for food. You said your mortgage is $X and you are spending more than that on food for 3 people.

I know I'm above average but for the last 7 months I've been tracking my budget and I spend ~$300/mo on food. DELETED INFO

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Hard to say without knowing the actual numbers and your situation. Taking a rough guess at the percentages I'm guessing you're about $5000/month. Groceries could be really high or not depending on how many people you are feeding, if it's one person you can save a ton there. House costs seem high but depends on how much the new deck impacted that number can't imagine you had a deck put in for $800 so it must be financed?

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[Mr.Coffee]

Groceries is a bit high. Just popped open my budget and for family of 5 we’re a few hundred less than what you’re insinuating here and it’s about 12% of our monthly budget.

When you say “home” I assume that’s including utilities / bills like phone / internet etc?

Insurance may be something you can phone around and grind down.

Is the online shopping necessary? Also yeah the books looks insane to me but then again you’re probably 10x smarter than I am so maybe I should re-think my life.

Oh and I was only half joking- your wife is probably spending a ####load on small useless stuff or is that just me?

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Tiger

Looked at total month spend and it is about $7500. This doesnt include savings. The deck was a purchase to build a bigger one, mainly because of covid which was about 8k, not financed just paid outright.

That explains the high house costs then for the most part. $7500/month take home (in Calgary) is a lot of money. Based on that there are a lot of things that seem high, food for sure is a big one. Guessing you have 2 vehicles that are financed + gas + maintenance + insurance, losing one of those will save a lot. Most of the other stuff seems reasonable but if you are going into debt you can trim a lot of small stuff. If you are in debt stop adding to it, interest on debt is a black hole, rather than earning on an investment you are paying, it's a double whammy.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Need more info.
We've established 3 people so I'm assuming 1 car based on vehicle and insurance costs.

Need to know city, actual dollars and mortgage situation to give meaningful advice.
Without knowing one obvious target seems to be total food costs. If you have the money up front you can save 20%+ on meat by buying a freezer pack from a butcher shop or getting bulk packs at Costco, even more if you go for the more unpopular cuts. Example: I'm not saying you eat steak every night but for the cost of a good steak you can feed 3 people.
Other obvious target seems to be home expense, I'm guessing it's that high because there are condo fees involved?

The housing costs are mostly the deck, painted a few rooms during covid, needed a door fixed and then some random garden and diy projects.

Obviously it is the food budget we need to look at. Restaurants is nothing fancy, it would be like earls. But basically are house is pretty much no red meat besides the odd steak i get myself. Many chicken and salmon, it doesnt seem like we buy expensive stuff trying to get a lot of bulk-ish superstore stuff. One thing we noticed that we are working on is buying too much produce at one time and having waste.

[GirlySports]

Salmon is expensive.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Groceries is a bit high. Just popped open my budget and for family of 5 we’re a few hundred less than what you’re insinuating here and it’s about 12% of our monthly budget.

When you say “home” I assume that’s including utilities / bills like phone / internet etc?

Insurance may be something you can phone around and grind down.

Is the online shopping necessary? Also yeah the books looks insane to me but then again you’re probably 10x smarter than I am so maybe I should re-think my life.

Oh and I was only half joking- your wife is probably spending a ####load on small useless stuff or is that just me?

Luckily my wife is low maintenance and cheap

[Mr.Coffee]

So is Earls for what it is

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Tiger

Luckily my wife is low maintenance and cheap

I’m actually just joking around but I’ll try to be funnier next time.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Groceries is a bit high. Just popped open my budget and for family of 5 we’re a few hundred less than what you’re insinuating here and it’s about 12% of our monthly budget.

When you say “home” I assume that’s including utilities / bills like phone / internet etc?

Insurance may be something you can phone around and grind down.

Is the online shopping necessary? Also yeah the books looks insane to me but then again you’re probably 10x smarter than I am so maybe I should re-think my life.

Oh and I was only half joking- your wife is probably spending a ####load on small useless stuff or is that just me?

And utilies are separate from home cost. But utilities is internet electricity water gas and the bins

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Jacks

That explains the high house costs then for the most part. $7500/month take home (in Calgary) is a lot of money. Based on that there are a lot of things that seem high, food for sure is a big one. Guessing you have 2 vehicles that are financed + gas + maintenance + insurance, losing one of those will save a lot. Most of the other stuff seems reasonable but if you are going into debt you can trim a lot of small stuff. If you are in debt stop adding to it, interest on debt is a black hole, rather than earning on an investment you are paying, it's a double whammy.

Not going into debt luckily but that debt is highish but at least a write off. I do buy everything on credit card paid off every month (as i met frank abagnale and his piece of advice is buy everything on credit card as long as you pay it off)

[Jacks]

Produce can be expensive. I tend to keep frozen on hand for when I run out then buy fresh a few days at a time. Not sure if you buy those bags of pre-mixed salads but they are a rip off. Eating seasonally can also save a lot as well as getting a couple of planters going, I've been having free zucchini and kale from the neighbor for a couple of months now, been trading tomatoes and peppers I grew.

Chicken and salmon are pretty pricey, might want to to mix in legs, thighs or even buy whole chicken to roast which lasts a few days. Other cuts of fish are also much cheaper than salmon. You can by whole sides of fish at Costco for a better price then portion it yourself. Mixing in some pork and larger cuts like roasts or hams can save a lot. As mentioned before, call around to some local butcher shops, I buy 3-6 months worth at a time and it's a lot cheaper, quality is better than the supermarkets also.

Anyway hope you get it under control and start saving money, there is freedom in not owing anybody money.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I’m actually just joking around but I’ll try to be funnier next time.

I know and i enjoyed the line

[surferguy]

Stop getting haircuts and shaving - let your daughter do it. Boom instant savings and lasting memories for both you, her and everyone you meet.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Stop getting haircuts and shaving - let your daughter do it. Boom instant savings and lasting memories for both you, her and everyone you meet.

But then his bandaid and TP budget will skyrocket.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Tiger

Luckily my wife is low maintenance and cheap

Sure, but how are her spending habits?