debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
Nope, just the old landline.
My expenses for 2024 as near as I can figure
- Thread starter debodun
- Start date
Axel Slingerland
Blues Rocker
- Location
- 10 Miles North of Weedpatch
Who is this guy? I assume he has nobody he cares enough about to list as his heirs? I have a little money stashed away for my kids when my time comes. I could spend it all on myself now, as it seems this guy is saying you should otherwise you're wasting your money. But in my opinion, that would be selfish and that is not how I am. Sure, I tease my kids and say things like "When I'm gone you kids will be Hundredaires, aren't you lucky?" But if I have anything to say about it, that won't be the case.
It's far more likely that I'll die poor because I'm poor now. My parents grew up in the depression, and I can relate to what he said about that. But there's no need to "Unlearn the lessons of Poverty", as my Mom used to say. She told me all the stories about picking cotton for $1 a day, walking five miles to and from school, and sitting at the dinner table watching her kids eat while she had nothing.
I learned those lessons of Poverty from all those stories, and I did my best to make sure my kids never had to do without anything. I would have sat at the dinner table watching my kids eat while I ate nothing if I had to.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
It may be time to move to cell and streaming.
When I viewed the original post I thought that I would go back and see just how much I spent on food. I am just horrified at how much the cost of food has gone up meanwhile packaging seems to get smaller. I've kept track of food costs for years, that and how much I spend on my pets. So, OP spent $2544 US on food this year, I live in Canada, in 2020 I spent $3742 on food, in 2024 I spent $5166, I'm shocked. I do live in BC and prices here are higher than Ontario. That is an increase of $1418. in 4 years.
Nathan
SF VIP
- Location
- High Desert- Calif.
@debodun , is this your Itemized Deductions? Have you checked your Standard Deduction to see which is larger?
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
I leave that up to my tax preparer. She usually says I don't have enough to itemize.
That Lady in PA
Member
I agree with that 100%.
I also closely track everything we spend, and that is how we know we can do those things without breaking the bank
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
I know what groceries for two run me about 1.25k and that does not include wine, cat, ... .
OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
Deb, I don't know if this would be feasible for you. It depends on whether or not you can use Excel or Google Docs. I've been using the Vertex Family Budget Planner for over a decade. It is a self tallying spreadsheet with categories for just about everything you can think of. You can change the category names as well as those within each category. The spreadsheet tallies monthly and annually, which is a Godsend at tax time.
Here is the link to the spreadsheet: Family Budget Planner
I've never used the graph feature shown in the first example in the linked template. I record my spending, if not daily, at every couple of days Here's one of the categories on mine . I changed the names of the Home Expenses to align with my needs and color code certain items to make it more visually appealing and easily identifiable. There's also a field beneath the categories where I add notes (and more fields if needed).
The columns t the far right in the second photo are the annual totals and monthly averages. Even if you don't (or can't) use this method, perhaps you can find something similar to make it easier for you at year's end.
Here is the link to the spreadsheet: Family Budget Planner
I've never used the graph feature shown in the first example in the linked template. I record my spending, if not daily, at every couple of days Here's one of the categories on mine . I changed the names of the Home Expenses to align with my needs and color code certain items to make it more visually appealing and easily identifiable. There's also a field beneath the categories where I add notes (and more fields if needed).
The columns t the far right in the second photo are the annual totals and monthly averages. Even if you don't (or can't) use this method, perhaps you can find something similar to make it easier for you at year's end.
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
My tax preparer just called and said the returns are ready. I will be getting something back, but her fee has increased another $10 from last year. When I first went to her about 10 years ago, it was $50. Now it's $95.
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
Wow ! that's a horrendous bill.... !!
You spend an awful lot on food.... I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world ..and my food bill is only half that...
Also what maintenence are you paying for ?.... $1100 dollars on maintenance per year .. what for ?...
Cable service almost £3,000 per year... Mine?..Mobile phone, landline, Tv package satelite tv 1000 channels... £600 per year
..nearly $4,500 in storm clearnace... what storm ?... what clean up.. you never mentioned this... did you roof blow off ?
That Lady in PA
Member
Congrats on having yours done.
We are still waiting on a lot of 1099s and such... so we still have about a month before ours is complete.
Nice your fee is so inexpensive!
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
I don't know what you're looking at with the $1100 for maintenance. It was $450.
I mentioned my basement flooding back in August. It took a chunk of money to remediate the damage.
Well, it happened - water in basement!
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
oh yes the basement of course... I'd forgotten
looking back yes the maintenence for $1100 was on your car.. but you rarely your car for any repairs... so how does it cost so much ?
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
Oh, I thought you meant house maintenance.
I spent approx. $500 to repair driver's side window motor, $250 to fix oil leak, $350 to repair sway bars.
I spent approx. $500 to repair driver's side window motor, $250 to fix oil leak, $350 to repair sway bars.
This is interesting. How many gallons of fuel oil do you get for $1,438.60 and does that hold you all winter? My car expenses are very similar except for repairs, the car is under warranty so no expense there. I don't drive much or my fuel expense would be way higher, my car gets about 18 - 20 mpg around town. Electric is much higher, about $130 - $140 per month on average, lower in winter higher in summer. Property tax is about $2,300. Storm clean up, Cable service, internet and lawn mowing is included in an HOA fee.
Spreadsheets are the best!
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
416 gallons. I have to get oil about every 6 weeks in winter.
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OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
Yes they are! Besides the self tallying one that I use for what's been spent, I have one's I created in Google for upcoming expenses (usually 2 to 3 month projections), mutual fund quarterly tallies and liquid asset quarterly tallies. I also created one for my son's tab. He's "co" on all of my credit cards, so I keep track of what he owes me each month and what his cashback rewards are. I transfer those to him quarterly.
I recently learned that the AI programs can create spreadsheet formulas. ChatGPT and copilot are great for this.
Michael Z
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern Wisconsin
Amazon Prime which pays for all my shipping, so really it has very little cost.
Also YouTube and a number of TV apps like PlutoTV, all free.
OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
Interesting. I never thought of trying that.
Teacher Terry
Well-known Member
Hollydolly, I’m surprised you spend so little for food. I spend 300/month and really only eat one meal a day because breakfast is a granola bar and yogurt. I shop at the cheapest grocery store. I do have company at least once a week and every 2 months I have 5 friends for dinner.
That Lady in PA
Member
That half would be $1275 for the year!
I cannot fathom a food bill of only ~$100 a month. That is less than $4 per day for 2 or 3 meals.
What is your secret?