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I have the following budget items tightly nailed down and yes, I still have a home mortgage.
Mortgage W/Property Taxes
HOA Fee
Homeowners Insurance
Medical & Life Insurance Expenses
Utilities
Cable/Internet
Cell Phone
Church
Auto Insurance
Auto Maintenance & Gasoline
Gifts (X-Mas. Birthdays etc)
Pharmacy
Once I do retire we could probably save $100/month but cutting back on services we don't need so much that we do enjoy on cable television and the extras on the cell phone. For right now I have them all figured in the budget but what I can't seem to get a handle on is the following:
Food
Entertainment
Clothes, Hobbies and Beauty Shop
Vacations and Emergencies
Putting these four items into a common pool of money if I retire now (I'm turning 69) we have a total for Food, Entertainment, Clothes, Hobbies and Beauty Shop we have a total monthly budget of $1,417 or $327 weekly.
If I wait another year and retire at 70 we have a total for Food, Entertainment, Clothes, Hobbies and Beauty Shop we have a total monthly budget of $1,609 or $371 weekly.
Emergencies? We do have long term health insurance and as far as the home we have a condo and the condo association pays for all maintenance on the outside such as new roofs, brick work and the like. For home ownership emergencies the worst thing that could go wrong is the HVAC or water heater to go out and have to be replaced. No fun but not the end of the world and we do have savings enough to cover those items. Also, we do have enough cash savings where we can change all those things out and buy a new car so.... well... the $1,417 wouldn't necessarily have to include emergencies as we think of them.
I have life insurance where if something happened to me my wife would have enough to bury me and pay off the mortgage so she would be just fine.
Our Part G insurance includes Silver Sneakers so the gym is included in the budget.
Clothes? When I retire I plan to wear shorts, sports shirts and tennis shoes nearly 100% of the time. I really don't see that much going to clothes.
Barber shop and beauty for us. Nothing extravagant at all.
Hobbies? My wife loves scrap booking and if I do anything I might take up golf again as I would get senior discounts.
Entertainment? An occasional movie date night out and when we dine out it's never extravagant maybe the Outback Steak House and oftentimes we will split a meal not to save costs but we are eating less and even if we split it seems we still take home a doggie bag.
Travel? I have enough in the car budget where we can travel 1,500 miles a month but with the family so close I don't see us traveling more than 500 miles a month.
Food? We eat very healthy but not extravagant. Lots of fish, salads.... very little steak because I don't even like steak anymore.
For work I design fire sprinkler systems and I've always enjoyed it.... lucky that I always found work fun but now I want to really cut back a lot. Maybe work one day a week for a fifth of the pay I get now but I am not including any job earnings in my budget.
I always thought I would work full time to 70 but lately I just don't want to deal with the stress of working 40, 45 and 50 hours weekly. I like the idea of bugging the wife, going to the condo association pool every day and hitting the gym at least once daily. Swimming? I could live half my life in a swimming pool. Never anything better in my opinion which is one reason we purchased the condo we did.
$1,417 monthly or $327 weekly for food, entertainment, clothes and emergencies. Is it doable in comfort?
I am burnt out, I am tired of working all the time. Never thought this would happen but here it has hit me, hit me suddenly and I just don't want to deal. On Monday I would rather be at the pool instead of work. Never, ever thought I would feel like this.
$327 (weekly) for food & clothes ent seems very high. Our Monthly budget for food is $300. I tried to make it on $200 a month but it seems to hit $300 most months. & I cook from scratch, mostly. I have also found I spend very little on clothes, when I was working, I was always on the look out for mew work attire, but for bumming around in retirement, the same old t shirts are fine for me. However, we did move last year, so I had to buy quite a few new summer & winter everyday clothes, (different temps) but I got them mostly at Walmart so they did not break the bank.
I say go for it.
Last edited by evening sun; 05-20-2017 at 02:06 PM..
I only budget for food and utilities. The bare essentials . I don't bother with new clothes, and all the other crap anymore. I drive my wife's old vehicle. 13 years old.
I really don't know how the hell people can afford new vehicles and all these crazy luxuries
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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$100 ...
goes into the "food / entertainment" envelope every month (as it has for 40 yrs)
When It's gone, (seldom) we get creative. We do a lot of cooking for the elderly and infirmed (within this $100 budget)
(BTW: I still wear my "*Frostline Kit*" clothes I made in Jr High 4-H (1960's) & drive a 41 yr old car that gets 50 mpg on free cooking oil. My current car cost me $35 at a towing company auction) More money saved = more money to give away or to use for travel (we're gone 50 - 100% of the time). Just my way of life, YMMV. (fine!)
I charted my monthly expenses on a spreadsheet for a few years before retiring. I figured out what my retirement income would be and lived on that, putting the rest into my 401K. What I found is that expenses are highly variable from month to month, but very stable from year to year. So for planning purposes, only the annual budget can be fairly accurate.
goes into the "food / entertainment" envelope every month (as it has for 40 yrs)
When It's gone, (seldom) we get creative. We do a lot of cooking for the elderly and infirmed (within this $100 budget)
(BTW: I still wear my "*Frostline Kit*" clothes I made in Jr High 4-H (1960's) & drive a 41 yr old car that gets 50 mpg on free cooking oil. My current car cost me $35 at a towing company auction) More money saved = more money to give away or to use for travel (we're gone 50 - 100% of the time). Just my way of life, YMMV. (fine!)
I could get by on $1500 a month if I had to but spend about $2000 a month now. I am comfortable on that and I got a mortgage too. Not married now. Food is $300 a month, that includes dog food and cleaning supplies. Eat lunch out once a week, so another $60 a month. No cable tv, just internet--about $60 a month. Netflix at $9 a month. I wear jeans most of the time so I don't have a clothes budget really. Plenty of clothes in the closet I don't ever wear now that I am retired. Retired at 62. Haircut $20 every six weeks. Not a traveler but close to the beach. SS and small pension are $2200 a month together so I don't really have to touch investments for day to day living expenses.
living in a high COLA (bay area) I have budgeted following (12 years from now) . It's a little bit excessive and there will be adjustments, None the less it's better to budget and not use than have a need and no money.
(Tax is shown high as I have two houses )
Category Sub Category Cost/Month
Housing
Mortgage vari 0
Property Taxes fix 2500
HOA fix 300
Home Insurance fix 102.5
Rent vari 0
Utilities fix 400
Maintenance fix 835.95
home repair/maintenance fix 127.5066138
House cleaning services vari 150
painting fix 95
Food
Groceries fix 800
Dining Out vari 300
Transportation
Vehicle Maintenance fix 300
Fuel fix 500
fix
fix
Auto Insurance fix 162
Public Transportation vari 25
Health Care
long term care Insurance fix 200
Medigap Insurance fix 200
Medications and supplies fix 480
Health Insurance fix 250
Parental care vari 100
Personal Insurance
Life Insurance vari 0
Disability Insurance vari 0
Long Term care vari 100
Other Insurance vari 200
Personal Care
Clothing vari 50
Products and services vari 75
toys for hobby vari 100
Publications vari 20
Misc. Gym Membership vari 100
Loans/Credits cards vari 0
Entertainment vari 200
Class and activity fee vari 150
Cost of services fix 80
family visit to vari 833.3333333
vacation is different from india visit
vacation/travel vari 833.3333333
electronic services fix 345 (netflix, cable, phone, etc)
Hobbies vari 100
Gifts vari 100 (Kids, grand kids)
Education vari 150
Charitable Contributions vari 200
Unaccounted expenses Misc vari 300
Last edited by sanshaloo; 05-21-2017 at 08:02 PM..
I've never budgeted my entire life. I don't see any reason to start now that I am retired.
That describes me exactly, although I suspect I've had a lifetime income a lot lower than yours. (High school teacher - how much lower than that can one get?) I've always lived within my means, i.e., spent less than I made, and I have continued to live that way since I retired.
Of course I do have a rough idea how much I spend per month, on average, in various categories. For example, I probably average about twice a month going to classical music concerts or the opera, but it's not on a strict schedule. In a given month, my entertainment costs might be double or triple the average, but I have a good sense of what it averages out to over the course of a year. Food is about $20 per day (for one person - I am divorced and live alone) but can vary widely. That's $600 per month for food, give or take.
I realize that I am in a small minority with my seat-of-the-pants approach to budgeting, hence I was a bit surprised (but quite pleased) to see I am not the only one.
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