What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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Silly Wabbit
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Silly Wabbit »

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Last edited by Silly Wabbit on Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
averagedude
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by averagedude »

Would it be wrong to show this whole thread to my spouse how other boglehead households spend their money frugally, or could this result in a bear market that could result in a 50% drawdown for me?
Normchad
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Normchad »

averagedude wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:00 pm Would it be wrong to show this whole thread to my spouse how other boglehead households spend their money frugally, or could this result in a bear market that could result in a 50% drawdown for me?
The range seems to be from about $25K to $225K. If you fall outside that range, it might something to think about.
averagedude
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by averagedude »

Good point! I fall between these two ranges, so I think I will just keep my mouth shut.
BashBound
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by BashBound »

We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
CletusCaddy
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by CletusCaddy »

BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
stoptothink
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by stoptothink »

BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
:shock: You can absolutely afford luxuries like that so no judgement, but as someone who has little to no knowledge of these things, I assumed you added (at least) one extra zero in error.
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22twain
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by 22twain »

BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).
Those four items alone match our entire spending last year, including income taxes and a bathroom renovation.

(Retired couple, late 60s / early 70s, small town in the South. No, we don't live in a trailer park. :wink: And our expenses will increase by about 25%, thanks to additional income taxes, after I start Social Security next year and RMDs in a few more years.)
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SubPar
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by SubPar »

Always interesting to see the wide spectrum of responses.

We're a family of 3 (DH 35, DW 36, DD 2) in the Upper Midwest, high(ish?) COL. HHI $370K before variable bonuses/deferred comp ($0-$200K+).

PITI: $38,400
Utilities: $5,300 (electric, gas, refuse, water/sewer, internet)
Insurance: $2,600 (auto, term life, umbrella)
Daycare: $19,800
Vehicle: $6,200 (lease, annual registration)
Gym Memberships: $2,300
Phones: $1,400
Family Expenses: $30,000 (entertainment, restaurants, groceries, vacation, home/vehicle maintenance, gas, subscriptions, etc.)
DH Allowance: $4,800 (personal hobbies/discretionary spending that doesn't benefit the family)
DW Allowance: $4,800 (personal hobbies/discretionary spending that doesn't benefit the family)

Total: $115,600

I reconcile our spending at the end of every month, but I don't really have interest in categorical tracking/budgeting beyond what's above. I just try to keep the "Family Expenses" line item, which is basically everything we've put on the credit card, to within ~$2,500/mo. The rest of the expenses are auto-paid from our checking account.

I sometimes get a little antsy about our spending, but at 401(k) x2, R-IRA x2, $4,000/mo taxable, $1,000/mo 529, we have about ~$2,000/mo of residual cash before taking any bonuses into consideration. So we're at about 1:1 saving:spending from base salaries, which calms the nerves. Any bonus comp goes to taxable, though I may start to do some real estate investing in the future.

DW is pushing for a monthly cleaning service which I've been hesitant about, but after typing this out...
BashBound
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by BashBound »

stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 6:38 am
BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
:shock: You can absolutely afford luxuries like that so no judgement, but as someone who has little to no knowledge of these things, I assumed you added (at least) one extra zero in error.
Unfortunately no extra zeroes…
homebuyer6426
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by homebuyer6426 »

Annual, married couple's household, no kids, LCOL area, small house

Take-home pay = $55000 (from $75000 + $3000 salary)

House Payment = $6500
Internet = $1020
Cell phone service = $360
Natural gas = $1000
Electricity = $900
Water = $150
Gasoline = $1500
Vehicle Maintenance = $1000
Vehicle Insurance = $1000
Groceries = $5000
Restaurants = $1000
Home Supplies = $2000
Entertainment = $500
Vacation = $3000
Education = $3000
Total: $27930

Remaining to Invest: $27070
45% Total Stock Market | 52% Consumer Staples | 3% Short Term Reserves
BashBound
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by BashBound »

CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:14 pm
BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
My wife would probably argue it is investment in the sense that the resell value is steady or likely even increases in a few years time.
CletusCaddy
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by CletusCaddy »

BashBound wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:55 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:14 pm
BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
My wife would probably argue it is investment in the sense that the resell value is steady or likely even increases in a few years time.
In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down.

When your net worth stays the same because you’ve converted money into house form or car form or handbag form, that’s not spending at all. Of course the carrying costs that come with those items would be true spending.
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ray.james
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by ray.james »

I expect our budget will be very close to last year. We specifically track to see where money is going but are not hellbent on budgeting exact amount for any category.

San Francisco bay area, 1 kid just started elementary last year.(2k daycare -> 1k after school mid year). Data from Mint.
PITI is 71k, rest of housing is cleaner, appliance upgrade and maintenance.
Food and dining covers groceries, eating out, cleaning supplies, anything at Costco including some clothing.
Shopping covers clothing, electronics, target(sometimes minor food items). Shopping category seem to swing between 1k ->5K depending on the year.
1 paid off car and a bike.(looking to add an e-bicycle/e-scooter this year).
Entertainment covers day trips ,national park and golden state passes and any local activities.
Travel covers anything that involves air travel/hotel based trips.
Financial is life+ disability insurance.
Fees and charges are credit card exploits for points/miles.
car spending was higher due to new tires.

Code: Select all

CATEGORY			Spending
Home		   	$75,770.78 
Kids		   	$18,237.75 
Health & Fitness	  $328.61 
Food & Dining		$9,361.00 
Travel			$9,221.95 
Financial		$4,752.21 
Bills & Utilities	$4,627.45 
Auto & Transport	$3,460.56 
Shopping		$1,881.87 
Entertainment		$1,602.41 
Fees & Charges		$1,014.00 
Gifts & Donations	  $389.00 
Personal Care		   $77.67 
Taxes		      ($1,085.05)
Total		      $129,640.21 
When in doubt, http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=79939
keith6014
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by keith6014 »

8301 wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 12:31 am
keith6014 wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:52 am Family of 4.
Expect to spend (roughly):
education - 50k
mortgage - 33k
misc - 30k
travel - 30k
groceries/alcohol - 25k
child care things - 20k
property taxes - 18k
car/home insurance - 5 k
utilities/phone - 5k
~225k
Your yearly budget appears to be on the high side.
Note:
Education & child care - these things happen in life.
After subtracting the above - 155k : looks more normal.
Housing related - nothing unusual.
Isn't insurance a little too high? Expensive auto insurance?
Misc - means anything.
If groceries/alcohol includes restaurants, it looks normal.
In my case insurance meaning: home + auto + umbrella. Last year it was 3.5k. I expect it to go up for some reason to $5k. Misc means: Gifts, furniture, etc...
keith6014
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by keith6014 »

BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
Your take home is 50% more than ours but you spend 40% more than us. So you are quite optimal. But, thats assuming you didn't spend anything in the first 4 months.
hudson
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by hudson »

TinyHouse wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:01 am Here’s our monthly budget for family of four, kids under age 10, HCOL, ~$1.5M portfolio, no debt, north of $200k annual income, we eat very high quality food, living in trailer on paid off bare land (budget was similar last year except we were paying more for housing previously):

Living/Utilities 600
Phones, vehicles 300
Food & Food related 2000
Medical 250
Miscellaneous 500
Total 3650

Will be using some income to start building in the coming year or two. We’ve kept everything pretty low-key so far.

What’s your budget for this year?
Wow! I thought that my long paid for housing was low until now.
Mine still costs me $521 a month or $6250 a year including taxes, homeowners, and utilities.
Otherwise my budget as a 75 year old retiree is to "hold the line" (as possible and appropriate) on holdings and "no debt."
Last edited by hudson on Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TinyHouse
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by TinyHouse »

hudson wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:54 am
TinyHouse wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:01 am Here’s our monthly budget for family of four, kids under age 10, HCOL, ~$1.5M portfolio, no debt, north of $200k annual income, we eat very high quality food, living in trailer on paid off bare land (budget was similar last year except we were paying more for housing previously):

Living/Utilities 600
Phones, vehicles 300
Food & Food related 2000
Medical 250
Miscellaneous 500
Total 3650

Will be using some income to start building in the coming year or two. We’ve kept everything pretty low-key so far.

What’s your budget for this year?
Wow! I thought that my long paid for housing was low until now.
Mine still costs me $521 a month or $6250 a year including taxes, homeowners, and utilities.
Otherwise my budget as a 75 year old retiree is to "hold the line" on holdings and "no debt."
We don’t have a house on the land, so that’s why it’s so low. $521\mo is awesome, nice work!
smitcat
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by smitcat »

CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:09 pm
BashBound wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:55 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:14 pm
BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
My wife would probably argue it is investment in the sense that the resell value is steady or likely even increases in a few years time.
In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down.

When your net worth stays the same because you’ve converted money into house form or car form or handbag form, that’s not spending at all. Of course the carrying costs that come with those items would be true spending.
"In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down."
+1 - yes exactly.
H-Town
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by H-Town »

CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:09 pm In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down.
Ha. When market went down most of last year, someday I spent $20k a day. I feel like a high roller.

This January, I actually have a negative spending of ~200k. I can't keep up with budget like this.
Time is the ultimate currency.
xpy1999
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by xpy1999 »

I had to go through each monthly bank statement and sum up spending manually. How do you guys categorize them, manually or through software?
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White Coat Investor
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by White Coat Investor »

TinyHouse wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:01 am Here’s our monthly budget for family of four, kids under age 10, HCOL, ~$1.5M portfolio, no debt, north of $200k annual income, we eat very high quality food, living in trailer on paid off bare land (budget was similar last year except we were paying more for housing previously):

Living/Utilities 600
Phones, vehicles 300
Food & Food related 2000
Medical 250
Miscellaneous 500
Total 3650

Will be using some income to start building in the coming year or two. We’ve kept everything pretty low-key so far.

What’s your budget for this year?
Not counting our three biggest categories (savings, taxes, charity) our average monthly spending for a family of six is $12-25K. Could have been lower than that this month as we didn't go on any trips but we spent $3K+ on boat repairs/winterization. We don't live in a trailer but our house, cars, and educations are all paid off.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
Nver2Late
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Nver2Late »

xpy1999 wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:13 am I had to go through each monthly bank statement and sum up spending manually. How do you guys categorize them, manually or through software?
Quicken.
"Better is the enemy of good." Good is good.
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AnnetteLouisan
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

smitcat wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:08 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:09 pm
BashBound wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:55 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:14 pm
BashBound wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:05 pm We spent 317K in the last eight months of 2022.

VHCOL / HCOL, one toddler (and expecting another), late 20s & early 30s, before-tax pay around 900K

Biggest items are mortgage ($8,000 / month), live-in nanny ($6,000 / month), preschool tuition ($26,000 / year), and a Birkin bag ($25,000).

Definitely not proud and trying really hard to have a formal budget to keep track (and hopefully implement) this year...
Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
My wife would probably argue it is investment in the sense that the resell value is steady or likely even increases in a few years time.
In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down.

When your net worth stays the same because you’ve converted money into house form or car form or handbag form, that’s not spending at all. Of course the carrying costs that come with those items would be true spending.
"In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down."
+1 - yes exactly.
Hm.

Intriguing perspective.
I always thought spending was when you don’t have the money anymore but you have an item or service. A handbag as an investment is a notion I’d heard before but am not evolved enough to agree without more insight.
Last edited by AnnetteLouisan on Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Normchad
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Normchad »

Nver2Late wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:18 am
xpy1999 wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:13 am I had to go through each monthly bank statement and sum up spending manually. How do you guys categorize them, manually or through software?
Quicken.
Yep, quicken. I have all my spending for the last 30 years categorized. It’s important to me, for some reason. I don’t have any actual use for the information though.
Nver2Late
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Nver2Late »

Normchad wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:25 am
Nver2Late wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:18 am
xpy1999 wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:13 am I had to go through each monthly bank statement and sum up spending manually. How do you guys categorize them, manually or through software?
Quicken.
Yep, quicken. I have all my spending for the last 30 years categorized. It’s important to me, for some reason. I don’t have any actual use for the information though.
Same here. I'm still running Quicken '98 though. One of these days the old mac will not fire up and my Quicken days will be over. In some ways, I think it might be liberating.
"Better is the enemy of good." Good is good.
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TinyHouse
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by TinyHouse »

White Coat Investor wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:16 am
TinyHouse wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:01 am Here’s our monthly budget for family of four, kids under age 10, HCOL, ~$1.5M portfolio, no debt, north of $200k annual income, we eat very high quality food, living in trailer on paid off bare land (budget was similar last year except we were paying more for housing previously):

Living/Utilities 600
Phones, vehicles 300
Food & Food related 2000
Medical 250
Miscellaneous 500
Total 3650

Will be using some income to start building in the coming year or two. We’ve kept everything pretty low-key so far.

What’s your budget for this year?
Not counting our three biggest categories (savings, taxes, charity) our average monthly spending for a family of six is $12-25K. Could have been lower than that this month as we didn't go on any trips but we spent $3K+ on boat repairs/winterization. We don't live in a trailer but our house, cars, and educations are all paid off.
You’ve worked hard, been smart, and have a successful business, so spending anywhere under $30K/mo in your position sounds very reasonable. We know families who spend more than you, and probably have way less income/savings. But they are business owners, so it’s hard to tell. Big spending usually seems to happen because they have a few houses and big mortgages and hoas and toys associated them.
ThatGuyOrSomething
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by ThatGuyOrSomething »

Late 30s, Single...

2023 Estimates:
Taxes 123,997
Rent/Rent Insurance/Furnishings 40,064
Food & Dining 12,768
Travel 9,600
Auto & Transport 3,858 (doesn't include depreciation on my 15+ year old vehicle)
Health & Fitness (incl health/dental insurance) 3,563
Gifts & Donations 3,000
Utilities/Internet/Phone 2,553
Shopping (clothing, books, hobbies, etc.) 2,474
Tax Prep 1,400 (K1s, amirite?)
Long-Term Disability Insurance 1,119
Entertainment 487
Other (haircuts, ad hoc education, etc.) 510

$375k W2
+$20k 1099
-$124k Taxes
-$81k Non-Uncle Sam Expenses
= $190k Savings
ThatGuyOrSomething
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by ThatGuyOrSomething »

AnnetteLouisan wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:21 am
smitcat wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:08 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:09 pm
BashBound wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:55 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:14 pm

Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
My wife would probably argue it is investment in the sense that the resell value is steady or likely even increases in a few years time.
In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down.

When your net worth stays the same because you’ve converted money into house form or car form or handbag form, that’s not spending at all. Of course the carrying costs that come with those items would be true spending.
"In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down."
+1 - yes exactly.
Hm.

Intriguing perspective.
I always thought spending was when you don’t have the money anymore but you have an item or service. A handbag as an investment is a notion I’d heard before but am not evolved enough to agree without more insight.
There are clear investments (VTI, etc.) and clear spending on consumables (hot dogs, toilet paper, etc.) but there are also goods that sit somewhere in between such (car, roof, Rolex, Birkin) and how those 'tweeners are accounted for by everyone here in a budget probably varies. You might consider depreciating a car, amortizing the cost of a roof over time, etc. I see some people in the thread including car payments, others car depreciation, and still others seemingly omitting the cost of a vehicle altogether. While a Birkin might hold some its valuable reasonably well and definitely better than hot dogs and toilet paper, it's at least opportunity cost relative to investment (as is all spending as money spent is forgone investment) and probably should be depreciated to at least some extent. Basically depends on whether your budget is a cash flow statement or an income statement I guess.
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AerialWombat
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by AerialWombat »

.........
Last edited by AerialWombat on Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
This post is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real financial advice is purely coincidental.
CletusCaddy
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by CletusCaddy »

AnnetteLouisan wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:21 am
smitcat wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:08 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:09 pm
BashBound wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:55 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:14 pm

Does the Birkin bag really count as spending? Did its value evaporate as soon as you swiped your credit card?
My wife would probably argue it is investment in the sense that the resell value is steady or likely even increases in a few years time.
In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down.

When your net worth stays the same because you’ve converted money into house form or car form or handbag form, that’s not spending at all. Of course the carrying costs that come with those items would be true spending.
"In my mind, spending is only when your net worth goes down."
+1 - yes exactly.
Hm.

Intriguing perspective.
I always thought spending was when you don’t have the money anymore but you have an item or service. A handbag as an investment is a notion I’d heard before but am not evolved enough to agree without more insight.
I think we would both agree that when you buy VTI the cash is gone, but that it doesn’t count as spending.

Net worth impact is the most logically consistent way to approach it.
MN CA IA Geo
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Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:01 pm

Re: Thread: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by MN CA IA Geo »

CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:38 am
MN CA IA Geo wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:17 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:52 pm
MN CA IA Geo wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:27 pm
Household Income Used for Budget - 282k (No bonuses assumed)
Her 401k - $22.5k
His TSP - $15k
Fed. Pension - $800
HSA - $5k
DCFSA - $5k
Employer Insurance (Family Health, Dental, Vision, Her LTD and Life) - $5k

Fed Taxes - $36.5k
State Taxes - $13.5k
Your Fed tax seems really low.

Your taxable income appears to be $202k.

Which puts your Fed tax at $35k.

What about FICA for two people?
Hard to get the zero sum to work out if I omitted a line item!

FICA for 2 is $20.5k in my budget spreadsheet.

I think I'm missing something with the federal taxes part of your comment. You say they seem really low then come up with a lower amount with the quick calc. Do they still seem off?

It's been a few years since I've updated anything except for the tax brackets in my spreadsheet or compared to one of our pay stubs. We've always been pretty close to our actual tax amount at the end of the year so I haven't checked those comps in my spreadsheet.
Let me rephrase, your Fed tax looks spot on but you were missing your FICA completely.

So if your FICA is 20.5k then you’re not leftover with 930 but rather in the hole by quite a bit, right?
Sorry for the confusion. I had already included FICA on my personal spreadsheet but hadn't retyped it in to the post. Redid my budget this weekend after my wife and I thought through our Roth contribution rate and decided to not contribute to our traditional, only Roth. New budget including bonuses paid out in Mid-January, all of our FICA, only contributing to Roth 401k's and increased taxes this year leaves us with 67k left over for taxable investments.
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Go Blue 99
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Go Blue 99 »

SubPar wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:43 am
DW is pushing for a monthly cleaning service which I've been hesitant about, but after typing this out...
Our stats are very similar to yours, though we spend a lot more on vacations now that the kids are a little older.

I would definitely give into the cleaning service request. My spouse pushed for a bi-weekly service, and we started doing it once we hit a certain income level. It's been great, especially since both of us work full-time.
Dantes
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:38 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Dantes »

Retired, marriedm MCOL area, house paid for, one car also paid for.

Monthly budget $5950. That includes hefty allocations for bumpy expenses - travel, automobile, gifts, and so on.

Social Security, if only medicare was withheld, would be $6115. Why oh why did I ever save?
MichRoots
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:01 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by MichRoots »

Question. How do some of you treat automatic 401k withdrawals from your paycheck? Or other automatic paycheck deductions? In my budget I don't even put them on the ledger as I never see them. I do count Roth purchases as spending on my budget each month. I am interested to hear how others might budget.
goblue100
Posts: 1714
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2013 9:31 am

Re: Thread: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by goblue100 »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:39 am

Code: Select all

Category				Amount Yrly
PITI					$28,445.00
Day Care				$15,600.00
Groceries				$12,000.00
OOP Medical				$6,000.00
Home Maintenance			$4,800.00
Cleaning Service (every 2 wks)		$3,780.00
Utilities (PSEG, Verizon, Water)	$3,096.00
Gifts					$3,000.00
Shopping				$3,000.00
Restaurants/Eating Out			$3,000.00
Life Insurance				$2,964.00
Car Insurance				$2,520.00
Auto Maintenance			$2,000.00
Misc					$2,000.00
Lawn Care				$2,000.00
Entertainment				$1,800.00
Gas					$1,800.00
Travel					$1,200.00
Alcohol					$600.00
Streaming				$300.00
Jewelry Insurance			$276.00
Cell Phone				$196.20
Total					$100,377
Groceries includes everything we buy at the grocery store including all sundries like diapers, soaps, detergents, paper products etc.

Personally, I feel we spend *a lot* without much to show for it.
I'm not clear if you are looking for feedback, but is the lesser paying Job really worth it? I see about a quarter of the budget that could be saved if someone was home during the day.
"Confusion has its cost" - Crosby, Stills and Nash
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AnnetteLouisan
Posts: 7239
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:16 pm
Location: New York, NY

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

MichRoots wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:56 am Question. How do some of you treat automatic 401k withdrawals from your paycheck? Or other automatic paycheck deductions? In my budget I don't even put them on the ledger as I never see them. I do count Roth purchases as spending on my budget each month. I am interested to hear how others might budget.
I count that as saving. Same with the match.
BizarroJerry
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:33 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by BizarroJerry »

For fiancé and I:
Monthly Expenses-
PIMI: 1022
Utilities: 500
Car Insurance: 200
Car Maint.: 100
Gym: 70
Gas: 350
Food: 1000
Phones: 150
Internet: 150
Dining Out: 400
Pet: 50

Equals out to roughly 4k per month for the two of us, and it is hard to imagine how we could afford to get any bills any lower where we live (without having a paid off house). Fiancé invests 10% of her pay plus her company provides a 6% match plus 3% safe harbor match, and then I currently invest 20% of my income and get a 5% match (not including FERS pension contribution where they take 4.4% post tax out of each paycheck).
michaeljc70
Posts: 10837
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 3:53 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by michaeljc70 »

I noticed a lot of people don't seem to maintain their homes or cars in their budget. Or buy clothes or much of anything else other than food. Or give gifts. I don't follow a budget, but track every expense in Quicken.
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: Thread: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Jags4186 »

goblue100 wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 9:39 am
Jags4186 wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:39 am

Code: Select all

Category				Amount Yrly
PITI					$28,445.00
Day Care				$15,600.00
Groceries				$12,000.00
OOP Medical				$6,000.00
Home Maintenance			$4,800.00
Cleaning Service (every 2 wks)		$3,780.00
Utilities (PSEG, Verizon, Water)	$3,096.00
Gifts					$3,000.00
Shopping				$3,000.00
Restaurants/Eating Out			$3,000.00
Life Insurance				$2,964.00
Car Insurance				$2,520.00
Auto Maintenance			$2,000.00
Misc					$2,000.00
Lawn Care				$2,000.00
Entertainment				$1,800.00
Gas					$1,800.00
Travel					$1,200.00
Alcohol					$600.00
Streaming				$300.00
Jewelry Insurance			$276.00
Cell Phone				$196.20
Total					$100,377
Groceries includes everything we buy at the grocery store including all sundries like diapers, soaps, detergents, paper products etc.

Personally, I feel we spend *a lot* without much to show for it.
I'm not clear if you are looking for feedback, but is the lesser paying Job really worth it? I see about a quarter of the budget that could be saved if someone was home during the day.
I wasn’t really looking for feedback, just sharing. But to answer your question that’s a family setup I’m not interested in. It would also lower our annual savings roughly $40k/yr.
SubPar
Posts: 452
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Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by SubPar »

Go Blue 99 wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:37 am
SubPar wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:43 am
DW is pushing for a monthly cleaning service which I've been hesitant about, but after typing this out...
Our stats are very similar to yours, though we spend a lot more on vacations now that the kids are a little older.

I would definitely give into the cleaning service request. My spouse pushed for a bi-weekly service, and we started doing it once we hit a certain income level. It's been great, especially since both of us work full-time.
Thanks for the encouragement — I definitely see the value more and more. We moved to a new home in July 2022 that doubled our square footage. DW and I both appreciate a tidy, organized household and I do a majority of the cleaning; don’t need to be a mathematician to deduce the additional effort required to keep things orderly in the new digs.

DW’s on deck for a VP role in the next month, so we may see a bump in income for 2023. I think it’s time to push the easy button. We’d both rather spend quality time with our family on the weekends.
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AnnetteLouisan
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Location: New York, NY

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

michaeljc70 wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:45 am I noticed a lot of people don't seem to maintain their homes or cars in their budget. Or buy clothes or much of anything else other than food. Or give gifts. I don't follow a budget, but track every expense in Quicken.
You would be correct.
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Sandi_k
Posts: 2292
Joined: Sat May 16, 2015 11:55 am
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Sandi_k »

DINKs, in the Bay Area...

Income Taxes (Includes taxes on Roth conversions)
Federal $28,800
Medicare and OASDI $12,000
State $9,600
Total Income Taxes $50,400

Housing

Housing- P&I $27,048
Property taxes $8,500
Property Insurance $1,500
HELOC $7,800
Utilities: gas, elec, wat, trash $4,200
Internet & Cable $1,680
Household repairs, AC service $1,800
Housing Total $52,528

Household Expenses

Groceries $4,200
Dining out $6,720
BevMo & Costco $6,600
Subscriptions/Memberships $3,000
Pet expenses $600
Housekeeper $2,210
Yard care/tree/Water weeds $2,040
Cell phones $1,320
Summer & Hol Entertain $1,200
Parking $2,160
Household Expenses: $30,050

Leisure Expenses

Travel $10,000
Entertainment $1,000
Gifts $2,000
Leisure Expense Total: $13,000

Personal Expenses & Hobbies

Haircuts & Massages $3,865
Spending Cash $3,600
Personal Expenses Total: $7,465

Car & Boating Expenses

Car & Boating Insurance $4,380
Maintenance, Wash & Wax $2,200
Gas $2,400
Boating Weekends: Gas, etc $2,000
Registration & Smogging $1,700
Auto & Boating Total: $12,680

Medical & Dental & Vision

Health Insurance Premiums $5,000
Supplemental Life & Dis Insur $4,500
FSA Contribution $1,440
Eyeglasses in excess of FSA $600
Health Care Total: $11,540

Savings

Pre-Tax Savings $24,000
Post-Tax Savings $22,200
Savings Total: $46,200

Total Expenses $223,863
lostdog
Posts: 5361
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 1:15 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by lostdog »

Here is monthly budget for two.

Rent $1,155.00
Food and Gas $1,000.00
Insurance $165.00
Electric $75.00
Cellular $50.00
Internet $80.00
Water $30.00
Netflix $15.00
Prime Video $10.00
Planet Fitness $20.00

Income $4,000.00
Expenses$ $2,600.00

Total +$1,400.00

According to this budget, our portfolio is at 32x expenses.
Stocks-80% || Bonds-20% || VTI/VXUS/AOR
CletusCaddy
Posts: 2678
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2021 4:23 am

Re: Thread: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by CletusCaddy »

MN CA IA Geo wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:07 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:38 am
MN CA IA Geo wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:17 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:52 pm
MN CA IA Geo wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:27 pm
Household Income Used for Budget - 282k (No bonuses assumed)
Her 401k - $22.5k
His TSP - $15k
Fed. Pension - $800
HSA - $5k
DCFSA - $5k
Employer Insurance (Family Health, Dental, Vision, Her LTD and Life) - $5k

Fed Taxes - $36.5k
State Taxes - $13.5k
Your Fed tax seems really low.

Your taxable income appears to be $202k.

Which puts your Fed tax at $35k.

What about FICA for two people?
Hard to get the zero sum to work out if I omitted a line item!

FICA for 2 is $20.5k in my budget spreadsheet.

I think I'm missing something with the federal taxes part of your comment. You say they seem really low then come up with a lower amount with the quick calc. Do they still seem off?

It's been a few years since I've updated anything except for the tax brackets in my spreadsheet or compared to one of our pay stubs. We've always been pretty close to our actual tax amount at the end of the year so I haven't checked those comps in my spreadsheet.
Let me rephrase, your Fed tax looks spot on but you were missing your FICA completely.

So if your FICA is 20.5k then you’re not leftover with 930 but rather in the hole by quite a bit, right?
Sorry for the confusion. I had already included FICA on my personal spreadsheet but hadn't retyped it in to the post. Redid my budget this weekend after my wife and I thought through our Roth contribution rate and decided to not contribute to our traditional, only Roth. New budget including bonuses paid out in Mid-January, all of our FICA, only contributing to Roth 401k's and increased taxes this year leaves us with 67k left over for taxable investments.
You’re in the 24% fed tax bracket. Are you sure Roth 401k is the right answer for you?

Will you have $191k in taxable income (in 2023 dollars) in retirement when you are drawing down your 401k?
Gus Chiggins
Posts: 81
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2015 8:35 am

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Gus Chiggins »

Late 30s, DINKs

Mortgage - $37,000
DW Discretionary - $24,000
DH Discretionary - $24,000
Charity - $18,000
Gifts - $10,000
Home Maintenance - $8,400
Groceries - $7,800
Insurance - $5,000
Utilities - $3,600
Hair & Beauty - $2,400
Gas - $2,400
Streaming & Internet - $2,000
Car Main. & Reg. - $1,500
Dog - $1,000
Phone - $900

Total Expenses - $148,000
Taxes - $307,000
Savings - $450,000
MN CA IA Geo
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:01 pm

Re: Thread: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by MN CA IA Geo »

CletusCaddy wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:12 pm
MN CA IA Geo wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:07 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:38 am
MN CA IA Geo wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:17 am
CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:52 pm

Your Fed tax seems really low.

Your taxable income appears to be $202k.

Which puts your Fed tax at $35k.

What about FICA for two people?
Hard to get the zero sum to work out if I omitted a line item!

FICA for 2 is $20.5k in my budget spreadsheet.

I think I'm missing something with the federal taxes part of your comment. You say they seem really low then come up with a lower amount with the quick calc. Do they still seem off?

It's been a few years since I've updated anything except for the tax brackets in my spreadsheet or compared to one of our pay stubs. We've always been pretty close to our actual tax amount at the end of the year so I haven't checked those comps in my spreadsheet.
Let me rephrase, your Fed tax looks spot on but you were missing your FICA completely.

So if your FICA is 20.5k then you’re not leftover with 930 but rather in the hole by quite a bit, right?
Sorry for the confusion. I had already included FICA on my personal spreadsheet but hadn't retyped it in to the post. Redid my budget this weekend after my wife and I thought through our Roth contribution rate and decided to not contribute to our traditional, only Roth. New budget including bonuses paid out in Mid-January, all of our FICA, only contributing to Roth 401k's and increased taxes this year leaves us with 67k left over for taxable investments.
You’re in the 24% fed tax bracket. Are you sure Roth 401k is the right answer for you?

Will you have $191k in taxable income (in 2023 dollars) in retirement when you are drawing down your 401k?
My thoughts were that the Roth 401k personal contributions were a good way to go for us (didn't do any opportunity cost calcs to come up with a full Net Present Worth comparison though). I used the last retirement income approximation I had done in the middle of 2021 when my wife lost most of her pension to come up with our possible incomes in retirement. Most scenarios put us around 200-210k a year in total income (2020-2021 dollars). At that point in time I was thinking most of it would be taxable as we hadn't had the opportunity/realized the benefits of putting in Roth 401k's and hadn't started doing any back door Roths. Income assumptions (and tax status) in retirement are included below. I assumed 75% of our calculated Soc. Sec. benefit would be a good estimate for retirement income.

Combined Retirement Income Estimates - 2020 Dollars

Type of Income/ Annual $/ Starting at Age
401K (10% Roth) / 113,114 / 57
Roth IRA's (non-tax) / 18,886 / 57
His Pension (Income) / 43,400 / 57
Her Pension (Income) /16,250 / 65
His Soc. Security
Supplement (income) /16,900 / 57-62
75% Social Sec (income)/49,293 / 67
75% Social Sec (income)/34,452 / 62
Total Age 57-62 / 211,045
Soc. Sec. at 62 / 228,558
62 w/no Soc. Sec. / 194,106
@ 65 Both Pensions / 210,356
w/Soc. Sec. at 67 / 259,649

We've both received promotions and have started putting more money in Taxable Investments since these numbers were updated, so we probably have more options for favorable tax strategies in retirement now. My thoughts on putting our full personal 401k contributions in Roth were that we are probably in about as favorable of a tax situation now as we ever will be given the Tax Cut and Jobs Act and generally higher income expected in retirement.

I get 5% match for my TSP and my wife gets 11% from her employer, so if we put all of our contributions to Roth 401k our total contributions are about balanced between traditional employer contributions and our personal Roth contributions.

Employer % Total - Trad 401k Pers. % Total - Traditional or Roth
45.7 54.3 W/o Bonus
48.1 51.9 W/ Bonus

We're probably getting off topic for this post, but I would welcome any recommendations for tax efficient retirement planning as I'm still in the learning stage and just started seriously thinking about investments in the last 6 months or so. We have around 20+ years to retirement, so hopefully I can get on a good track by then or get really good and retire a few years earlier.
CletusCaddy
Posts: 2678
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Re: Thread: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by CletusCaddy »

MN CA IA Geo wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:58 am
Combined Retirement Income Estimates - 2020 Dollars

Type of Income/ Annual $/ Starting at Age
401K (10% Roth) / 113,114 / 57
Roth IRA's (non-tax) / 18,886 / 57
His Pension (Income) / 43,400 / 57
Her Pension (Income) /16,250 / 65
His Soc. Security
Supplement (income) /16,900 / 57-62
75% Social Sec (income)/49,293 / 67
75% Social Sec (income)/34,452 / 62
Total Age 57-62 / 211,045
Soc. Sec. at 62 / 228,558
62 w/no Soc. Sec. / 194,106
@ 65 Both Pensions / 210,356
w/Soc. Sec. at 67 / 259,649

We've both received promotions and have started putting more money in Taxable Investments since these numbers were updated, so we probably have more options for favorable tax strategies in retirement now. My thoughts on putting our full personal 401k contributions in Roth were that we are probably in about as favorable of a tax situation now as we ever will be given the Tax Cut and Jobs Act and generally higher income expected in retirement.

I get 5% match for my TSP and my wife gets 11% from her employer, so if we put all of our contributions to Roth 401k our total contributions are about balanced between traditional employer contributions and our personal Roth contributions.

Employer % Total - Trad 401k Pers. % Total - Traditional or Roth
45.7 54.3 W/o Bonus
48.1 51.9 W/ Bonus

We're probably getting off topic for this post, but I would welcome any recommendations for tax efficient retirement planning as I'm still in the learning stage and just started seriously thinking about investments in the last 6 months or so. We have around 20+ years to retirement, so hopefully I can get on a good track by then or get really good and retire a few years earlier.
Only thought I have here is that you should delay both of your SS payouts to age 70, which would lower your taxable income significantly in your 60s, giving you the ability to Roth convert Traditional 401k balances at a lower rate than 24%, and justifying Traditional contributions now.
Wannaretireearly
Posts: 4847
Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:39 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Average spend per month, over the past year, according to BofA is 17.5k. So I guess my 2023 ‘budget’ is around $200k :shock:

Minus education costs of roughly $50k = $150k (my hopefully high watermark for retirement Xpenses).

It’s a crazy time for costs with middle and high schoolers.

Just thankful to be able to save around $100k in the retirement accounts, plus forced saving in espp etc gets us close to saving Xpenses (minus education costs). This is while being debt free, no mortgage or car/education loans.

Edit: I think backdoor Roths are in the cost line items above too. I’d really have to parse the BofA analysis a bit more. Or use Mint etc, which I know I won’t do.

Summary:
$150k: Income taxes = 100 (fed) + 50 (CA)
$200k: Actual expenses last year, also expected this year
$130k: savings, almost all retirement accounts

Total gross income: $480k (sounds about right)
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
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MrBobcat
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Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2019 4:19 pm

Re: What’s Your 2023 Budget?

Post by MrBobcat »

MrBobcat wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:22 am This is going to be a weird year for us as all of our big home improvement projects are done (been doing them for the last 3 years) and we have 2 newer cars. I am unsure what our "normal" spending will be like, may have to look at travel spending as we will have significantly more available cash to spend, but even still I can't fathom just spending what we've put towards the house/cars on stuff/travel.

Normal month to month spending, not counting health insurance as that is taken out of the mrs's paycheck has been pretty consistent between $3k-3.5K (for 2 people). After paying taxes we still saved (not counting the mrs's mandatory pension contribution) $111K last year and spent a net $22k on a car (new car $32k less $10k from selling old car) and another $26K on house improvements.

This will be the first time in our lives where we feel we are saving enough, spend freely on what we want to spend on and will still have $ left over. I've got a weird cost benefit thing going on inside my head whenever I think of spending money which means I don't usually want to spend it. I suspect it will be a much bigger problem for me when I actually quit work and have to start spending savings.
I recently went through all our "normal" month to month expenses since 2016 as I'm trying to get a better handle on what we spend so I can plan when we can retire, this is for 2 adults, it does not include HI, income taxes, car purchases or the major home renovations which are now done, cars are good for another decade too. HI is currently about $1,100/mo (huge deductible) work picks up $800. I plan on posting this in a portfolio review in a week or so to get some feedback.

2016 - $2771/mo = $33,256
2017 - $2,991/mo = $35,877
2018 $3,896/mo = $46,752
2019 $2,676/mo = $32,108
2020 $2,583/mo = $30,990
2021 $3,112/mo = $37,344
2022 $4,228/mo = $50,734 (ugh, dr stuff, maxed out deductible, hearing aids, etc.)
2023 $2,814/mo so far.
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