My Fiance and I live together and we are trying to compile a monthly and weekly budget based on Gail Vaz Oxlade's Categories:
Food
Transportation
Entertainment
Clothes and Gifts
Everything Else
Do any of you have set budgets for these categories? What are the amounts that you allocate and why? I am interested because I would like to see what other 2-member families are living on in order to give some insight into how we should be dividing up the money.
Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Roughly:
1 - 400$
2 - 126$ bus pass + Zipcar for groceries (20$-30$ per month) + tickets for the other one about 20$-30$ (in the winter, it's another bus pass) Total 186$.
3 - none
4 - 100$ month or 1200$ per year (includes some specified household items too, if we didn't spent the 100$ that month it carries forward) I am trying to make my own laundry soap so it will cut down a lot. Sometimes we don't stay within 100$, so we will have to adjust this soon.
5 - no tv, no home phone
cellphones for two = 56.60$ tax incl
internet 40$ = I am really working on this, I find it too expensive (suggestions anyone?)
and life insurance.
Internet for $40 isn't really that bad...and the great thing is, you can use websites like surfthechannel.com and torrentz.eu to watch free tv shows and movies. I've been trying to get my fiance to cut the cable, as the whole bundle costs us way too much, but he seems to think that we "need" tv...but if we can get it for free online, why do we "need" it?
I know some universities offer dial up service for $100-$200/year. Since you don't have a home phone line, you'd have to install one to host the dial up...it would probably be worth it to stick with the $40/month. What you could do is shop around with different internet providers, and if any one company even matches the company you're currently with, you can give your company a call and let them know that their competitor is willing to match their price...they will often times negotiate a lower price to keep your business. You do need to be quite aggressive with them, I hear.
Oooh tough one. It depends on alot of variables like your income, where you live, what you drive, your hobbies & if you coupon :biggrin:
We don't have a budget but we also have a pretty high income. We don't go out alot but when we do it's usually far away lol. I bet none of this will help you but I'll tell you anyways....
Food- we spend approx $100 every second week. but it depends what we have coupons for. We also eat out alot because we work so much. Probably another $60 a week eating out
Transportation- We have an SUV & a truck. Gas (just get around the city) we spend maybe $100 a month total :confused: It's hard to tell because my hubby's day job is a delivery driver so he actualy spends about $1000 a month gas. Oil changes we only need on Truck is more because that's the work vehicle. And I believe vehicle payments are supposed to be included in this but I haven't watched the show for awhile
Entertainment- We go out for supper about every 3/4 Monday's (we don't drink). Usually just to Montana's which is around $30-$50, if we go to our other favourite resturaunt that's around $100 but we only go there once every few months. Movies we don't go to very often, maybe once every 2 or 3 months & they are chep here so both of us & munchies is only $30.
BUT...
We have travelled to Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary & Denver to see Kevin Smith. We go to alot of concerts which are usually in Saskatoon so that's about $60 gas plus a $30 meal & $40-$200 for shirts. Plus the cost of the tickets can be $40-$200 each ticket. Also we went to Calgary for comic con. We don't take "real" vacations so I classify these things as entertainment.
Clothes and Gifts- Like I said concert shirts. Other than that unless we see a cool Star Wars t-shirt we don't really buy clothes. A couple times a year I buy a few new work shirts but they're always cheap $10 shirts. My hubby used to go through a pair of work & everyday shoes every month or two but we stopped buying the cheap $30 shoes & started buying him $80 shoes & they last 6 months! so it's a better investment in the long run.
Gifts I never set a budget for. I know what I want to buy someone & I buy it. It might be something more expensive or I might find a good deal on something. Like my father in law's Xmas present for this year we bought last year on Boxing day, it's a nice leather winter jacket, Reg $100 but we got it $25
Everything Else- Now here's the awesome part. I don't have to buy shampoo, soap, toothpaste, dish soap, razors, shaving cream, laundry detergent, toilet paper, kleenex, deoderant, etc. When I do it's very cheap if not free. If I see an awesome deal on toilet paper I might go spend $40 but now I won't have to buy any for 2 years. Everything else I use my coupons & have a huge stockpile of that only cost me a few dollars. Same with cleaning supplies.
We have 2 dogs ( a pug & a bug) & a cat. We have to buy treats & toys which is maybe $10 a month. We buy the dogs Purina One dry food & Beneful cups. The Beneful cups we stocked up on last year for about 50c each (Reg over $2) so at the time we spent around $30 but haven't bought any since. For the dry food I know we can buy cheaper food but I won't feed them crap & again we usually stock up so I might spend $60 but that will last 6 months.
Cat food I bought 3 biggest size bags last Sept on sale & wiith coupons. Spent just under $40 & just ran out this week.
Food=$200
Transportation=$500
Entertainment=$100
Clothes and Gifts=$50
Everything Else=$800
I used to live in BC. There you get internet for 32$ tax incl. I was trying to match that here. Can't yet! :(Quote:
Originally Posted by supersaver22
We are a two person, one car family so far.
Food - $320 (but usually less around $270)
Transportation - $350 ($220 gas, $80 for insurance, $50 misc - owned outright so no car payment.)
Entertainment - $80 (we really only go to the movie like once a month and we have loads of free passes from points so this generally lasts for a month or two)
Clothes - $50 which is a carry over right now unless we really need socks/undies. We (I) have a clothes hoarding problem that I need to work on. Need to pare down with a donation bag.
Cell phones - $145 for two smart phones. Ick!
cable/Internet - $140, again, ick! Thinking about cutting down to just Internet.
Gifts - don't budget for these because I use my points programs for PayPal to transfer to my bank account.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alicia
I like the food budget, I feel like I have to reduce mine from 400$ too, it's just without a car and in Toronto, I cannot always go out of my way to buy on sale...
will think about this one, thanks for sharing.
//later, insurance in Halifax is so neat... im moving there... :)
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I started at $400 for the two of us because I used to budget $200 for just me so I figured double it for two... but a lot of things don't necessarily fully double. So I slowly eased it down from $100/week to $90, to $80 and now I'm working on getting to $70 for the two of us. I'd loved to keep going but honestly since we eat mostly whole foods it'd be really tight ($12/week in milk and at least $20/week in produce... that's basically half the budget without meat/bread/random things that run out). It's easy to cut $10 off at a time but to jump from $100 to $70 I would have found so difficult. I know my food budget probably isn't nearly as impressive as lots of peoples on SC, but I think I'm doing pretty good. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by aemi
Also, I forgot my miscellaneous payments (hot water heater rental $17, life insurance, $30, tenant insurance $10) but I figure those are mostly wrapped up in our condo so it's all housing expenses (minus the life insurance).
We give ourselves $60/month each for misc spending - for his gaming subscriptions (boys and their toys, ugh), my road race registration fees, coffees here and there. It's not a whole lot but it's enough so that we're not constantly at each other over tiny purchases. We also have a threshold that we can spend without discussing it with the other person and currently it's pretty low because I'm still a student so we're kind of strapped financially.
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I don't get what you mean. If you mean it's inexpensive, that all depends on what coverage you have, what you're driving, and how long you've been insured. I've never had insurance in NS, so despite the fact that I've had a drivers license for 25+ years, I'm considered a 'new driver' and would have to pay insane insurance rates if I had a car. The last time I looked into it, it was more like $300 a month than $80.Quote:
Originally Posted by aemi
I might be an anomaly but I don't think so. I'm 26, had my licence and insurance for 10 years. No accidents on my six year old hatchback (have had accidents but not my fault) and my previous insurance was $1400/year, so about $120/month. I have since switched to a provider that gave me an alumni discount down to about $950/year ($80/month) and then a bit more by bundling my home insurance into it. My coverage is actually better now than it was at previously with Intact. I don't remember the specifics off the top of my head but I think it's collision, $500 deductible and $2 million in liabilities.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zonny
As Zonny said it'll vary. For example my SIL was late to the driving game and got her licence around 30 - about 4 years ago. She has since had accidents and so she pays close to $300/month. I guess I'm just lucky to have reached the point where I'm not a new driver and have had a clear driving record.
So far, for the first six months this year:
Food: $228/month (wish I didn't eat constantly :bawling:, includes eating out once in awhile, and we still toss out food often :bawling:)
Transportation: ~$1,000/month (DH's travel to and from work, including maintenance, family visits)
Entertainment: $0 (until transportation costs come down, but could be included with internet bills and transportation costs - our families are pretty entertaining! Ha ha!)
Clothing & Gifts: $22/month (but will go up astronomically as wedding season/baby showers/birthdays are coming)
Other: $725 (includes medical, DH's non-reimbursed work expenses which make up about half :rant:, home repairs, etc.)
I'm seriously going to beg lecale to negotiate my phone/internet bills for me. :flowers:
we budget a little differently. We try to stick to $900 a month in variable expenses. Variable expenses do not include mortgage, condo fees, cel phones, property tax, car insurance, home insurance, eye care, medical,dental, trips, electronics, repairs.We're two adults in downtown Toronto who bike,walk to work.
Our variable expenses include food, entertainment, ttc tokens, gas, clothes, gifts, haircuts, makeup, personal care. We don't have specific budgets, we just try to stay under $900/month
This is somewhat hard for me to answer because our income varies month to month. For the most part we don't have to sit down and put a set amount for things and I am forever gratefull and hope it stays this way.
Food - I would say generally $400. That would work out to $100 a week for two people. It is coming down slightly because I've got so many things stockpiled now. We never go to resturants. Maybe once a month we get take out?
Transportation - DH's insurance is paid up front for a year ($2000) so if we worked it out to a month it would be $350 for his insurance and then insurance on my car. Gas is hard to say because he uses his van for work soley so I wouldn't count the gas for that. Gas for my little hatchback is about $50 -$75 a month. So could be anywhere from $400-$425. I expect this to go up a bit in the next months or so as DH got a speeding ticket (idiot!!!). I do not count in any repairs to the vehicles as they are both in pretty good shape and rarely need anything major.
Entertainment - Rarely do we spend much. We only go to the movies once a year or so for my birthday and we get free tickets for it. Some months we will rent a few movies but for the most part I would say our entertainment costs lie therein of cable (DH) @ $30ish and internet (me) $42
Clothes and Gifts - Nothing. This would be better calculated on a yearly scale. We don't do gifts for family and admittedly we don't really have friends except for each other. For our birthdays we each get a $250 limit and same thing goes with christmas. I hardly ever buy clothing. I'm the type of person who will wear clothes for years and years until they get really thin (mostly PJ's am talking about). One good thing about being plus size is its extreamly hard to find cheap flattering clothes so I don't buy often. DH maybe gets a few new t-shirts a year and jeans. I would say yearly for the two of us $500 at most. I can't really calculate clothing on a monthly basis since we can go many months without buying anything.
Everything Else - $400? Maybe? Again, really hard to say since luckily we don't have to keep track of everything. This would include DH coffees/ice caps, cat meds and food, splurge items.
I think the bulk of our expense lies in our housing costs. We pay $1142 a month in rent (OUCH!!!) and utilities on top of that which can vary anywhere from $80-$400 every two months. Usually its around the $75-$115 range except for half of May, June, July, August and half of september. Thats when the big bill comes in!
oh this is nice reading what others pay out
food -for the 3 of us -my mom lives with us a month i would say 300-350-sometimes more other months as i build my stockpile
transportation-both cars are paid off -so gas-250-300 a month
clothing -well i am not really into buying a lot of clothing-50.00 to 80.00 maybe a month -or even less other months-like i have a wedding to go to in oct -i bought a dress last year for 25.00 reg 49 -so i dont have to lay it out this year
entertainment -we dont go out that much but the odd time with friends 200.00 a month or less other months-dinner in a nice restaurant
everything else-44.00 a month on my hubbys mcdonalds or hortons coffee-we dont smoke or drink that much-so save there
My husband and I don't have a formal budget, but this is what we typically spend:
Food: $300 a month - Groceries were $220 a month on average for the first 6 months of the year (plus I use an average of $100 in coupons and $40 in gift cards or points from rebates, surveys, trades, Air Miles, PC credit card, etc) but it isn't just food, it's toiletries, cleaning and paper, cat food and litter - I don't break down my receipts. Plus my husband goes out for lunch about once a week ($40 total) and we go out to dinner roughly once a month ($40).
Transportation:$240 - car insurance is $160 + $60 on gas + $20 in bus tickets. We paid cash for the car when we bought it so no car payment. So far all it's needed is a new battery so we haven't spent much on it in the year and a half we've had it.
Entertainment: $120 - Internet is $70 a month (a lot, I know, but it's our main source of entertainment!), plus an average of $50 a month on video games (mostly my husband!) When we go to the movies (2-4 times a year) it's always with free passes from Web Perspectives and we only get pop or popcorn if we have free coupons (loved that Old El Paso promo!) We both read a lot but we get our books from the library and sometimes get DVDs or video games there too. If I do buy a book it's with Chapters or Amazon money from doing surveys. We don't have cable so I usually watch shows on ctv.ca or . . . acquire them other ways ;)
Clothes and Gifts - maybe $50 a month average? We each spend no more than $100 a year on clothes, so the rest is gifts for family and each other. Sometimes I use gift cards or free passes from surveys to add to gifts. Like for Christmas my two coworkers and my brother each got two Cineplex Admit One passes (from Web Perspectives) and an assortment of snacks to smuggle into the theater :) For a baby shower where they wanted books I used Chapters e-gift certificates (also from Web Perspectives, or maybe a trade?) to send a bunch of books and some toys. My mom (who is into couponing and mail in rebates too) got a book of stamps and a year subscription to Chatelaine both from trades (I spent money on her too, lol - these were just in her stocking).
Everything Else - $900 or so a month. This is the most expensive category! We have 2 cats so we spend about $400-$500 a year on the vet and medications, but the cat food and litter is in the food budget. Rent and parking is nearly $800 a month including utilities. $25 a month for my husband's cell phone and $12 or so on my pay-as-you-go. $20 a month for tenant's insurance. $15 a month for a prescription (no coverage). I can't think of anything else significant at the moment.
I agree with Jeniana, we also do a lot of reading as our entertainement and get lots of stuff for the library including newer DVD's (make sure to get on that wait list right away!!!) With reading you can make it even more entertaining by doing it outdoors somewhere quiet.
I should of also mentioned that both of our vehicles were bought flat out so we don't have car payments either.
Also wanted to adjust something I said previous. I added up what we've spent so far on actual groceries this month (not including timmies, and cat meds) and its only about $150 so far for the month so I'd say $250 for this month total. So it really all depends on the sales and such as to how much our grocery bills are.
I only started tracking our budget about 3 months ago. So far, here's a rundown on the budgeted amounts on a bi-weekly basis:
Groceries - $60
Dining - $60
Fuel - $130
Home - $75
Entertainment - $20
Since we haven't tracked before we now realize our budget wasn't really realistic (but pretty close). Actual is more like:
Groceries - $80
Dining - $80
Fuel - $150
Entertainment/Home I find hard to budget because we may not spend anything in a while and then suddenly go for a concert or have a backyard fence to pay for and go from $0 to $200 or $2000!!
So for me, "budgeting" is more just tracking and having a rough idea where we're at during a month (making sure we don't spend more than our paycheck).