Biggest expenses in life

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
Topic Author
WarAdmiral
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:09 pm
Location: Raleigh

Biggest expenses in life

Post by WarAdmiral »

What are some of the biggest expenses you have had in your life ?

a) That in retrospect, you wish you hadn't made and rather invested some portion of that amount.
b) They were worth it.

Some big ones at least in my life so far are..

1. Wedding.. could have gone smaller and saved $$
2. House..worth it
3. Day Care...very expensive but totally worth it.
Golf maniac
Posts: 1359
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 1:02 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Golf maniac »

Easy, biggest expenses were kids and houses. Kids were definitely worth the expense. Housing is a lifestyle, not an investment. I would say the houses were not worth it, my DW would disagree, so we have a house.
User avatar
Lee_WSP
Posts: 10401
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:15 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Lee_WSP »

Children, housing, auto, entertainment, food in that order.

So far, not an issue for me, but health would be another one. Taxes too.
Last edited by Lee_WSP on Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
raamakoti
Posts: 189
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:20 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by raamakoti »

$33k cash for my brand new Acura in year 2011, I wish I financed this depreciating asset. Still drive and should last another decade but that’s it for me. Rest are all natural part of life
raamakoti
Posts: 189
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:20 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by raamakoti »

Golf maniac wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:08 pm Kids were definitely worth the expense
:sharebeer Totally agree on that
Lexx
Posts: 376
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:21 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Lexx »

Wedding was cheap. We went off and got married in Hawaii and didn't invite anyone. My biggest costs have been my education, housing, and my spendthrift ways.
User avatar
SmileyFace
Posts: 9184
Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:11 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by SmileyFace »

All worth it:
- stay at home parent decision (biggest ticket item)
- house
- children's educations
- new cars
- some big memorable vacations
- inground swimming pool and landscaping (my spouse and I argued on this one for a bit but in retrospect it was worth every penny - lots of memories and still in use after 20+ years)
BalancedJCB19
Posts: 405
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2019 11:30 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by BalancedJCB19 »

It depends on who you are asking, but in my case it is Pizza
sailaway
Posts: 8215
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 1:11 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by sailaway »

BalancedJCB19 wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:28 pm It depends on who you are asking, but in my case it is Pizza
Between the pizza, the chinese delivery and the fast food, this is probably my one regret, but that has more to do with the diabetes than the money (my diabetes is currently lifestyle controlled, so not an additional money drag).
Normchad
Posts: 5648
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:20 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Normchad »

My single biggest expense in life is Insulin. It's worth it.....

Actually, I spend more on taxes. I also think those are worth it.
User avatar
calmaniac
Posts: 1325
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:32 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by calmaniac »

Biggest expense in life....

Wasting time on the internet when I could be living life.

Not meaning to be a bomb thrower, but that's what came to mind. Time is more precious than money...and what we'll run out of first.

With that, I'm gong to take my own advice and get off the computer and hang out with my wife. :beer
"Pretired", working 20 h/wk. AA 75/25: 30% TSM, 19% value (VFVA/AVUV), 18% Int'l LC, 8% emerging, 25% GFund/VBTLX. Military pension ≈60% of expenses. Pension+SS@age 70 ≈100% of expenses.
BalancedJCB19
Posts: 405
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2019 11:30 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by BalancedJCB19 »

sailaway wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:33 pm
BalancedJCB19 wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:28 pm It depends on who you are asking, but in my case it is Pizza
Between the pizza, the chinese delivery and the fast food, this is probably my one regret, but that has more to do with the diabetes than the money (my diabetes is currently lifestyle controlled, so not an additional money drag).
Oh Man, thanks for turning this serious. Glad you have it under control. I don't have diabetes yet, but definitely other issues due to my over indulgence of my beloved Pizza and Chinese food. Damn it! Everything I love is either bad for me, immoral or illegal.
runner3081
Posts: 5993
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 3:22 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by runner3081 »

Upgrading houses we didn’t stay in very long and vehicles along with wheels, accessories, etc.
grkmec
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:46 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by grkmec »

Taxes, by a country mile !!!
User avatar
Riprap
Posts: 798
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:08 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Riprap »

From a personal standpoint, a big chunk of my budget goes to insurance in one form or another: health (100% self funded), homeonwer's, auto, umbrella, and a couple of specialty type policies.
runner540
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 4:43 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by runner540 »

raamakoti wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:12 pm $33k cash for my brand new Acura in year 2011, I wish I financed this depreciating asset. Still drive and should last another decade but that’s it for me. Rest are all natural part of life
How would financing have to have helped?
Exchme
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2020 3:00 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Exchme »

Our taxes have exceeded the sum of everything else for many years now.
gator15
Posts: 591
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:33 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by gator15 »

One of my biggest expenses was buying a brand new Harley 9 years ago. I don’t regret the purchase but DW continues to remind me that all it does is sit in the garage. She is right. It has less than 2k miles. I know. It’s shameful. I can’t bring myself to sell it as I know I will want another as soon as I sell.

One of our biggest recurring expenses was gym memberships. We spent a fortunate each year on them. I finally got smart and cancelled two of the memberships recently. I’m now trying to find a gym closer to the house as the others weren’t as close as I would like.
mnsportsgeek
Posts: 555
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:39 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by mnsportsgeek »

So far my house and daycare tuition.
sailaway
Posts: 8215
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 1:11 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by sailaway »

Exchme wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:46 pm Our taxes have exceeded the sum of everything else for many years now.
When we first started tracking, our taxes were equal to our other spending, but we are slipping further and further behind on spending.
BernardShakey
Posts: 1147
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2019 10:52 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by BernardShakey »

There are lots of one time, two time, few time expenses (Like cars, weddings, roofs, etc.). But I feel like, aside from raising children, the three biggest costs over my adult life are in descending order of magnitude:

1) Taxes
2) Interest
3) Insurance
An important key to investing is having a well-calibrated sense of your future regret.
sabtastic
Posts: 188
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:00 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by sabtastic »

taxes
an_asker
Posts: 4903
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by an_asker »

WarAdmiral wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:05 pm What are some of the biggest expenses you have had in your life ?

a) That in retrospect, you wish you hadn't made and rather invested some portion of that amount.
b) They were worth it.

Some big ones at least in my life so far are..

1. Wedding.. could have gone smaller and saved $$
2. House..worth it
3. Day Care...very expensive but totally worth it.
I've paid significant "stupid tax" as Dave Ramsey would call it! :oops:
an_asker
Posts: 4903
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by an_asker »

grkmec wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:48 pm Taxes, by a country mile !!!
Taxes plus stupid tax :oops:
H-Town
Posts: 5905
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:08 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by H-Town »

grkmec wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:48 pm Taxes, by a country mile !!!
No doubt. By far taxes is the biggest expense.

OP: do we get to amortize expenses over useful life? House purchase seems big, but if I amortize it over the projected useful life, it's not bad. For example: $150k over 20 years is $7.5k per year. We spend more on traveling on per year basis.
Time is the ultimate currency.
RonSwanson
Posts: 183
Joined: Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:15 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by RonSwanson »

When I was young my biggest expense was my car - a used Porsche and maintenance. Totally not worth it.

Now my biggest expenses are house, child care/school, vacations, and food. So far they seem worth it but who knows what I'll think in the future about my past :)
User avatar
Sandtrap
Posts: 19591
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:32 pm
Location: Hawaii No Ka Oi - white sandy beaches, N. Arizona 1 mile high.

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Sandtrap »

A
Real estate
B
Real estate

j🌺
Wiki Bogleheads Wiki: Everything You Need to Know
Uniswap
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2021 1:08 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Uniswap »

Rent.
retire57
Posts: 735
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 3:03 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by retire57 »

Regret: Homeownership. If I could do it over again, we would be life-long renters.

No regret: Retiring (earlier than planned) after a job loss in order to travel.
Topic Author
WarAdmiral
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:09 pm
Location: Raleigh

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by WarAdmiral »

This has thrown in some interesting ones..

Taxes - yes - year over year - but you can't do much about it except stop making money :)
Insurance - another one that adds up, year over year.

Yes, a house appropriately sized, amortized over longer period of time softens the blow..

Honorable Mention:
Pizza and Chinese food ... :twisted:
CloseEnough
Posts: 1290
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:34 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by CloseEnough »

Spent a very large amount, for me, to take family on safari. Worth it, would do it again. Spent excessive and perhaps not financially prudent amount on major house renovation, and very glad to have completed it before pandemic. Totally worth it especially since the past year has required so much time at home. Paying for kids education, worth it to be able to remove the burden of school debt from them.
truenorth418
Posts: 637
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:38 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by truenorth418 »

Maybe I'm an outlier but for me BY FAR the biggest expense has been income taxes.

While I was working, fully 35% of my income went to work-related taxes of one type or another, federal/state/local income taxes, payroll taxes, etc.

Every other expense was much less than that.
camden
Posts: 414
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:22 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by camden »

Taxes, of course, but they are inevitable.

Divorce (surprised no one had mentioned that yet). Very painful financially and in every other way. Avoid if you can.
Xrayman69
Posts: 1013
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:52 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Xrayman69 »

Taxes - mandatory (limited ability to alter )

Housing - mandatory (but lifestyle/quality of life choices made a d still make this worth the “added expense” above and behind bare minimum)

Child education - mandatory (but upgrading to independent school in place of public school was shown to be very much worth the added expense during the last two years with pandemic era restrictions)

Food/dining / leisure/ vacation are by FAR are biggest discretionary spend that I could see being trimmed without issue. Basic sustenance is mandatory but all the rest above and beyond. I’ll say that perhaps 5% -10% of our dining out experiences are less than ideal and thus could be termed regrettable. I could then say that 90% of our experiences were positive and thus contributed to a enjoyment and a good use of time and resources.
User avatar
MikeWillRetire
Posts: 790
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:36 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by MikeWillRetire »

Daycare. I remember that my daycare costs were more than my mortgage. But it was worth it.
Private elementary school. I believe it was worth it.
Now with two grown children, I really do feel rich.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by stoptothink »

camden wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:48 am

Divorce (surprised no one had mentioned that yet). Very painful financially and in every other way. Avoid if you can.
Paying off (ex) wife's undergrad loans and cash-flowing her dental school. The divorce was relatively cheap in comparison.
sc9182
Posts: 2178
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:43 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by sc9182 »

Retirement Savings: 401k/IRAs/HSA/MegaBackDoor/Brokerage/Emergency— savings Top over 30% for us — with no immediate benefit.

Yet to see/experience kids future college expenses — I am sure those will be less than other two buckets— but this could overtake for the 4-8 years of kids college going years ..

With Taxes - at least we enjoy some immediate benefits- such as decent roads, infra, police/fire, good Schools and such. With FICA taxes - future benefits such as SS, and Medicare..

Charitable giving - not near top buckets- but a big ticket item ..
Last edited by sc9182 on Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
TomatoTomahto
Posts: 17158
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:48 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by TomatoTomahto »

1. Taxes - some are worth it, some are wasted (NJ, I’m looking at you)

11. Home and renovation - worth it
12. Education - worth it, actually a money maker
13. Travel - worth it
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
carolinaman
Posts: 5463
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:56 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by carolinaman »

Taxes are a huge expense, but to a large extent are unavoidable.

We made the decision after our 2nd child for my wife to be a stay at home mom. Admittedly, this is a revenue decision but we have no regrets and it made a difference for our kids. It was right for us. Our daughter made the same decision for her family and we are very proud of her for doing so.

Children's education can be a huge expense, especially today. We were fortunate that college expenses 25 years ago were a lot more reasonable than today.
User avatar
Watty
Posts: 28859
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:55 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by Watty »

Travel.

We did not spend much compared to what many other people here spend and some of our other expenses categories have been more but we have spent a significant amount on travel and I do not regret that.

I am really glad that we did that when we could because;

1) Before the pandemic over tourism was starting to overwhelm many of the popular tourist destinations and it seemed to be getting worse every year. Some cities like Barcelona or Venice were getting to the breaking point.

2) I think that it will likely be years before travel to a lot of international destinations is realistically possible again. By then we will probably be in our 70s and more limited in what we can do.

3) Even in the US many tourist destinations are overwhelmed and I think that will get worse.
cutterinnj
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:08 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by cutterinnj »

Divorce, by far. Sets retirement back some years.
Worth it, but wish I had the insight to get a pre-nup.
sc9182
Posts: 2178
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:43 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by sc9182 »

surprised the RMD bandwagon hasn’t chimed-in yet ; May be busy catching early Brunch/Supper specials :-)

Or how ‘bout’em - who with high investment expenses (AUM fees and other direct/indirect fees could get pretty large especially on large AUMs)
jerrysmith
Posts: 107
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:20 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by jerrysmith »

1. Student Loans
2. Cars

Take the most egregious of those out and I'm living a totally different life.
humblecoder
Posts: 1531
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:46 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by humblecoder »

Taxes of various types (income, property, sales, etc).

By far.

I won't comment on whether or not it is worth it, since political discussions are not allowed.

EDIT: I should add that I am glad I paid them, otherwise I'd be in prison and would not be able to post on this message board!
SimonJester
Posts: 2500
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:39 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by SimonJester »

In order of expense:

1) Taxes
2) Children's College
3) House
4) Vehicles
5) Vacations


2-5 worth it...
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
mancich
Posts: 1219
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 2:05 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by mancich »

House
Cars
College for oldest daughter starting in the Fall. Daughters are all 4 years apart so basically non-stop college for next 12 years
I'll be a dried-out husk by the time this is all over :D
hoffse
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:47 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by hoffse »

In order:

1) Taxes
2) Housing
3) Our educations
4) Kids (ours are still young though - one 3YO and one presently in utero - so I expect they will eventually move into third place)
5) Home renovations
6) Travel

Other than taxes, all worth it.
chris319
Posts: 1659
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:04 pm

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by chris319 »

My brother and I came into a medium-size inheritance in 1991. He put all of his portion into purchasing his house. I divided mine between investments and buying a one-bedroom condo unit. Best financial decision I ever made. His house is now worth $3 million but it's all tied up in the house. To realize that gain he would either have to take a loan and be on the hook again with payments, or do a reverse mortgage, or sell the house and live elsewhere.

I don't face that dilemma and have liquid assets.
Financial decisions based on emotion often turn out to be bad decisions.
fuddbogle
Posts: 200
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:35 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by fuddbogle »

sailaway wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:33 pm
BalancedJCB19 wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:28 pm It depends on who you are asking, but in my case it is Pizza
Between the pizza, the chinese delivery and the fast food, this is probably my one regret, but that has more to do with the diabetes than the money (my diabetes is currently lifestyle controlled, so not an additional money drag).
You guys forgot KFC.

https://twitter.com/Annakhait/status/12 ... 5520593920
User avatar
khangaroo
Posts: 255
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:11 am

Re: Biggest expenses in life

Post by khangaroo »

1. Spent $80k for undergrad and another $29k for grad school (company paid the other $21k of it). I probably could've done undergrad for a lot cheaper but I'm still in the same career that I majored in so I consider that a win? Grad school is still up in the air as I'm only 3 years out so not 100% sure how that ROI is gonna play out. Overall, I would say the expense was worth it as it has allowed my net worth to grow substantially while my mental/physical health is still intact in regards to my job affecting it.

2. Paid $365k (3.5% down payment) for a house in SE Portland which we're currently renting out the top unit and living in the bottom unit. This was been extremely worth it in the short term and I think will pay for itself handsomely in the long term. Only 1.5 year into home ownership but things are looking good.
Post Reply