Living Expenses

One of the great things about what I do is I truly get to meet some great people. A recent discussion
I have had is living expenses (Real) vs living expenses (Lenders / Banks USE).

Most people I speak to have said they don't even spend close to what the Banks / Lenders use.
Well for me here is my situation:

- House Hold: Me, my wife and two lovely dogs.
- Debts: No personal debt apart from my car lease which is $450.00 a month.
- Living expenses: My wife and I are health freaks so we only buy organic food. $1500 a month.
- Other expenses: Insurance, Gym and entertainment: $400.00 a month.

$2350.00 a month
How much do you spend?

 

Living expenses doesn't include - energy, rent, travel, car repairs/ car insurance /registration? I spend about 2000 alone in child care costs.

 

Let's see...

Public transport: $125 pm
Car petrol: $70 pm
Eating out + groceries: $1000 pm
Utilities (electricity + gas): $150 pm
Phone and internet: $135 pm
Heath insurance: $200 pm
Pet insurance: $45 pm
Dog walker : $200 pm
Car insurance: $120 pm (if I remember right)
Misc spending: assume $500

That's $2500 pm and I think I still missed several things.

Rent: none. Live in PPOR so paying mortgage
Debt... well, do I need to calculate this based on $rent minus interest payment?

This is for two people and a dog

 

All food is organic and can't dogs walk themselves EN710

 

Not when I'm at work

 

My experience is that people generally spend significantly more than the bank minimums. Dinner out for a couple can easily get top $70, movies for 2 people is $40 - $50 just for the tickets - that's a cheap date night. A gym membership will easily top $200 per month. A takeaway cup of coffee each day at $4.50 runs to $90 per month.

What about birthdays, Christmas, other events? A weekend away will start at a minimum of $500, but probably exceed $1,000 (once or twice a year it adds up).

My experience is that people with a tight budget can comfortably live on the banks minimums, but it is a fairly frugal lifestyle; I don't doubt that many couples do this.

Add a few kids into the mix however, and the expenses blow out very quickly well beyond the banks minimums. The banks assume roughly $500 / month per child. Try raising a teenager on that. $500 is more like a weekly expense for some kids.

 

Our montlhy living expenses is about 5.5-6k...(just 2 of us..but we dont hold back on many things.).

 

If you have the means, why not
I've got no means for that amount of spending but could easily do it if I have

 

So do the govt hand outs.

 

Just curious what would be the top 3 things you would add to your month’s expenses then?


For a long time we used to live on very, very little every week. I would even use my phone to take photos of some pages in books i wanted to read.. hehe


Our idea of an overseas trip was a great picnic in Centennial Park with homemade prepared sandwiches...Didn’t use aircon in 40 degree heat to save money on petrol. But we feel it was soooo worth it, to delay our gratification for only a few years.

 

What are the top 3 things you spend money on that makes your living expenses 5-6k?

 

Uh... it won't be just 3 things lol.

But my bet would be on weekends going away + massages, fine dining, and getting stuff for the dog

 

@THX to be honest I would rather not say as I know some would be trying to ridicule me straight away.

@EN710 I love all your extras except for the dog stuff as I dont have one

But especially plus plus plus to bi- weekly 1hour massages...

 

Try me.

My parents commented that no one can take my money away except my dog.

 

Have you thought about adopting? I'm toilet trained, can cook and clean

 

Np . It's not that strange collecting Cabbage Patch dolls...

 

@EN710 I wasnt implying you would at all. But not everyone is happy for others.

@bob shovel mate you would be a great asset to have with your engineering knowledge which still makes little sense to me lol...when they talk i just nod and say yes.. yep..em hmm..(ask some questions) and then i go and research what they were talking about...

 

I think this is fairly accurate - the new bank minimums based on income changes are much more reflective of realities for most couples i think (except the gym membership - $200p/m is a seriously nice gym!)

 

For $200 it usually comes with some personal training @Redom

 

We are at just over $4000pm (2+1kid, 2dogs) including 2 home loans until our old ppor settles in 2 weeks then drop down to around $3000pm.

Oh and my boy started kindy today so childcare $100pw changes to $170 per term. Then we have another one due in a couple months to take up the slack. But should be an easy 9+ months till the other half goes back to work.