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Between $4000 and $6000 per month. Paid off every month. (Have earned a lot of free Southwest Airlines flights over the past 15 or so years.)
Never had a credit card balance in my life.
Never had a car payment in my life.
$500 is nothing to charge on a card; that's a few dinners out at a nice restaurant.
I generally charge all of my restaurant visits throughout the month ($1000-$1200) plus fuel ($500-ish) plus clothing ($100) plus any household goods/necessities ($200-ish) plus any large purchases or boating expenses. Last month was around $2600, this month might be slightly less because fuel went down in cost and I haven't gone boating this month.
As I said, compared to my lifestyle, yours is incomprehensible, and I don't feel deprived of anything I wish I had.
I've had a few dinners in my life at nice restaurants, but I can't recall ever enjoying any of them very much.
I get a burger once or twice a month, $5, which is $995-$1195 less than you.
I walk nearly everywhere, take the bus every week or two. $495-ish less than you. I wouldn't spend $500 on fuel making a coast-to-coat road trip.
I think I bought new socks this year, so clothing is $99 less.
My last large purchase was light bulbs, and I have no boat, so $195-ish less.
I'm going to guess that your boat alone costs you more than my entire cost of living. I would not trade places with you, but that's OK, because you wouldn't trade places with me either. In fact, I wouldn't trade places with you even for a day, because I'd be afraid you wouldn't give mine back.
I'm working on my first card, a secured card, and only using it for gasoline. I've been averaging $60-$70/month. If they let me graduate to a legitimate credit card, I'll probably use it more in place of my bank debit card.
If I charged all my daily expenses on my card every month, it would still be less than $500/month. I just don't spend that much. Groceries, about $300...fuel about $40, occasional clothing, maybe $20 month average, although that tends to be all at once in one big shopping trip, maybe a pizza for $15. That's about it. I do charge some of those things, but not all. Sometimes I just pay cash, or use my debit card, depending. Online purchases, I always use my credit card, but again, I just don't buy much in the first place.
I always pay everything in full. And I've had the same 2 main cards now for about 10 years. I added a Best Buy card a few years ago that my husband charges on for the bonus reward points when he shops there, but then we always pay it off immediately.
We charge nothing on our credit cards except for travel which we pay off immediately upon reciept of the expense check and emergency charges. However our cards are all pretty much full from emergencies that bunched up in a 2-3 year period. Prior to that, we would charge a lot and pay it off each month to get the points and boost our credit rating. Maybe $6000 - $10,000.
You mean there are people who spend more than $500 a month on their card? I can't even imagine needing to spend that kind of money every month on things that I can put on my card. What do you do, put your mortgage and car payments on a credit card? $100 a day for lunch?
$4,000 a month is more than the gross pre-tax earnings of the median family, and that's what you spend besides your mortgage, car payments, saving and investments? I can't even imagine Mitt and Anne charging that much stuff.
I think you're feigning shock here. Yes, I understand you keep your expenses pretty low, but from what you listed in follow-up posts, it's not sustainable to spend the $ (or lack thereof) you claim for food and clothing each month. I'm happy you can live so thrifty, but you shouldn't be surprised others spend more. Unless that first sentence was sarcasm and I totally missed it...
Except for mortgage, student loans, utilities, car/life insurance, church giving and HOA dues, we put everything else on our CC's each month. So a couple thousand dollars is not particularly unreasonable since we're not trying to survive on a 30K HH income budget.
As I said, compared to my lifestyle, yours is incomprehensible, and I don't feel deprived of anything I wish I had.
I've had a few dinners in my life at nice restaurants, but I can't recall ever enjoying any of them very much.
I get a burger once or twice a month, $5, which is $995-$1195 less than you.
I walk nearly everywhere, take the bus every week or two. $495-ish less than you. I wouldn't spend $500 on fuel making a coast-to-coat road trip.
I think I bought new socks this year, so clothing is $99 less.
My last large purchase was light bulbs, and I have no boat, so $195-ish less.
I'm going to guess that your boat alone costs you more than my entire cost of living. I would not trade places with you, but that's OK, because you wouldn't trade places with me either. In fact, I wouldn't trade places with you even for a day, because I'd be afraid you wouldn't give mine back.
I'm not trying to compare lifestyles, you seem to have take offense for some unknown reason. I never said anyone who spent less would feel deprived and I don't know what you're trying to prove by stating how much less you spend than me on certain items. It's petty and childish and I don't care if you wouldn't want to trade places, I never asked if anyone wanted to be in my position or visa versa.
And one of my leisure activities is boating; millions of people have boats, not something out of the ordinary. Between docking fees, slip rental, maintenance, insurance, fuel, etc...I probably spend over $10K/ year on having a boat but it's one of the few things I take pure enjoyment in so it's money well spent in my book. Certainly you have something you enjoy as well, everyone does.
Quote:
I think you're feigning shock here. Yes, I understand you keep your expenses pretty low, but from what you listed in follow-up posts, it's not sustainable to spend the $ (or lack thereof) you claim for food and clothing each month. I'm happy you can live so thrifty, but you shouldn't be surprised others spend more. Unless that first sentence was sarcasm and I totally missed it...
My thoughts precisely. I didn't even KNOW you could buy a burger for $5 nowadays unless it's at a fast food restaurant.
We charge somewhere around 4 to 7k per month across two cards, paid in full. This type of poll is silly because it doesntndo much for comparison purposes unless you have identical income to your sample.
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I'm not trying to compare lifestyles, you seem to have take offense for some unknown reason. I never said anyone who spent less would feel deprived and I don't know what you're trying to prove by stating how much less you spend than me on certain items. It's petty and childish and I don't care if you wouldn't want to trade places, I never asked if anyone wanted to be in my position or visa versa.
