Since Hubs has said he wants to retire in about 2 years from now, I've gotten keen on looking at how much of the income we actually have been spending to "live" and where/how we can reduce these expenses before he actually leaves his work.
For the last few years(2011)I've kept a handwritten monthly accounting(plus a breakdown of food/toiletries spending in a notebook)of our money and where it all goes.
I look back at the beginning of each new year to see how we did compared to the previous years and then we think on how we can reduce some of the expenses/spending.
Yes, it's "Numbers Nirvana" for geeks like me! ;-)
I am taking a DEEP BREATH and bravely posting a rundown of our yearly spending on the essential bills we paid plus some significant non-essential categories of spending. You will note that we don't have a mortgage because the house is paid off. 8-)))
Not included are spending on the kids(except for food where I can't separate it out), pet care(since we don't have those bills any longer), clothing for us and "frivolous" spending(Vera Bradley handbags anyone?). Also not included are any category that we have automatically deducted from the paychecks(all retirement account funding, medical/dental/eye/long term care/life insurance premiums, charitable contributions and federal/state/local taxes withheld).
I'll come back to these lists at another time/post and get into the nitty-gritty of them.
2014 SPENDING
Long Distance Phone $87.16
Dental Bills $88.20
Eye Care $172.05
Cell Phone $216.39
Home Maintenance $2767.76
Landline Phone $292.19
Garbage $336.00
Sewage $407.40
Water $610.93
Insurance Home $634.00
Cable/Internet $1269.66
Car Maintenance $1563.21
Insurance Cars $1890.51
Electric $2890.02
Local Taxes $3272.12
Gasoline $4393.81
Medical Bills OOP $4652.97
Food/HBA $4989.49
SUBTOTAL.............$30,533.87
Non-essential categories-
Car Rentals 895.79
Eating Out $1890.99
Lodging $1923.20
Alcohol $2284.81
SUBTOTAL.............$6,994.79
GRAND TOTAL......$37,528.66
And here are the same categories we spent on in 2013.
2013 SPENDING
Long Distance phone $91.30
Dental bills $1071.00
Eye care $135.00
Cell phones $214.12
Home Maintenance $19452.51
Landline phone $284.58
Garbage $336.00
Sewage $407.40
Water $780.52
Home Insurance $612.00
Cable/Internet $1293.84
Car Maintenance $1726.53
Car Insurance $3080.17
Electricity $2437.36
Local Taxes $3148.24
Gasoline $3197.15
Medical Bills OOP $2442.99
Food/HBA $4560.82
SUBTOTAL.............$45,271.53
Non-essential Categories-
Car Rentals $392.17
Eating Out $2182.54
Lodging $1158.07
Alcohol $1129.98
SUBTOTAL.............$4,862.76
GRAND TOTAL....$50,134.29
Sluggy
For the last few years(2011)I've kept a handwritten monthly accounting(plus a breakdown of food/toiletries spending in a notebook)of our money and where it all goes.
I look back at the beginning of each new year to see how we did compared to the previous years and then we think on how we can reduce some of the expenses/spending.
Yes, it's "Numbers Nirvana" for geeks like me! ;-)
I am taking a DEEP BREATH and bravely posting a rundown of our yearly spending on the essential bills we paid plus some significant non-essential categories of spending. You will note that we don't have a mortgage because the house is paid off. 8-)))
Not included are spending on the kids(except for food where I can't separate it out), pet care(since we don't have those bills any longer), clothing for us and "frivolous" spending(Vera Bradley handbags anyone?). Also not included are any category that we have automatically deducted from the paychecks(all retirement account funding, medical/dental/eye/long term care/life insurance premiums, charitable contributions and federal/state/local taxes withheld).
I'll come back to these lists at another time/post and get into the nitty-gritty of them.
2014 SPENDING
Long Distance Phone $87.16
Dental Bills $88.20
Eye Care $172.05
Cell Phone $216.39
Home Maintenance $2767.76
Landline Phone $292.19
Garbage $336.00
Sewage $407.40
Water $610.93
Insurance Home $634.00
Cable/Internet $1269.66
Car Maintenance $1563.21
Insurance Cars $1890.51
Electric $2890.02
Local Taxes $3272.12
Gasoline $4393.81
Medical Bills OOP $4652.97
Food/HBA $4989.49
SUBTOTAL.............$30,533.87
Non-essential categories-
Car Rentals 895.79
Eating Out $1890.99
Lodging $1923.20
Alcohol $2284.81
SUBTOTAL.............$6,994.79
GRAND TOTAL......$37,528.66
And here are the same categories we spent on in 2013.
2013 SPENDING
Long Distance phone $91.30
Dental bills $1071.00
Eye care $135.00
Cell phones $214.12
Home Maintenance $19452.51
Landline phone $284.58
Garbage $336.00
Sewage $407.40
Water $780.52
Home Insurance $612.00
Cable/Internet $1293.84
Car Maintenance $1726.53
Car Insurance $3080.17
Electricity $2437.36
Local Taxes $3148.24
Gasoline $3197.15
Medical Bills OOP $2442.99
Food/HBA $4560.82
SUBTOTAL.............$45,271.53
Non-essential Categories-
Car Rentals $392.17
Eating Out $2182.54
Lodging $1158.07
Alcohol $1129.98
SUBTOTAL.............$4,862.76
GRAND TOTAL....$50,134.29
Sluggy
