My 2020 Expenses

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
Gathered together all my receipts and bank statements. I was surprised at my food expenditure - it's usually around $2500, but this past year it was over $2700. I expected it to be less because I didn't have to buy pet food, but maybe because prices have risen because of COVID.

groceries - $2714.65
OOP medical - $5663.79
home (including taxes, insurance, maintenance, fuel, utilities) - $7743.95
car (including fuel, insurance, other fees) - $642.84
cable service (Internet, TV and phone) - 3630.87

I was wondering how that compares to others.
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My groceries cost me a lot more last year because I started using Instacart (first for delivery and then for curbside pickup). I used to go to several stores for the best prices and look for sales and clearance items. No more. Plus I tip the shoppers. I also did some stockpiling (not a lot but more than I usually do) so that added to my grocery budget.
 
DH has all this summarized in his spread sheets. He hasn’t done December yet, so no final numbers.

Our food expenses were definitely much higher this year. Purchasing on sale at several stores was one of my favourite pastimes. Also, instead of trying to read ingredients, I was just picking anything as quickly as I could. I’m still doing that.
 

The category that jumps out at me is the cable service.

My monthly phone and internet with free air TV, no cable, is a total of approx. $62.00/month.

My expenses from 2019 to 2020 were up approx. $2,000.00. That increase was mainly due to an increase in income taxes.

My expenses don't vary much from one year to the next unless I have a major purchase, donation/gift, automobile repair, or an unplanned medical expense.
 
Deb...How come you are paying so much for cable, internet and phone?! The highest I paid when I had all three was $1,640 for the year and I thought that was too much. I got it down to $1,214 before finally dropping the cable and home phone services. Anyway in 2020 it's just me:
Groceries - $1.549
Medical including Medicare payments, doctors, dentist, and RX's - $1,803 (this takes into account the $552 annual reimbursement I get from the State Health Benefits program).
Home (including taxes, insurance, maintenance & utilities) - $7,785
Have no car so public transportation (which I only used twice after COVID hit) plus Ubers & Lyfts - $181
Internet, streaming services & cell phone $1,714
 
debodun said:
Gathered together all my receipts and bank statements. I was surprised at my food expenditure - it's usually around $2500, but this past year it was over $2700. I expected it to be less because I didn't have to buy pet food, but maybe because prices have risen because of COVID.

groceries - $2714.65
OOP medical - $5663.79
home (including taxes, insurance, maintenance, fuel, utilities) - $7743.95
car (including fuel, insurance, other fees) - $642.84
cable service (Internet, TV and phone) - 3630.87

I was wondering how that compares to others.
​
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$2714.65 a year for food?

Are you a mouse? 🐀🐁

It's no secret that dear husband and I love food and that we eat well, and we easily spend $800 per month on groceries.

I only wish we could get by on spending $2714.65 a year.
 
Aunt Marg said:
$2714.65 a year for food?

Are you a mouse? 🐀🐁

It's no secret that dear husband and I love food and that we eat well, and we easily spend $800 per month on groceries.

I only wish we could get by on spending $2714.65 a year.
Click to expand...
Is food particularly high in your area? Or is it that you eat a lot of meat? You must think I'm an ant because I only spent $1,549 on groceries. LOL :D Now that I think of it, I have to consider that for two months after COVID hit, I was getting free dinners delivered a few times a week. I did make a healthy donation to the program but won't count that in with my groceries.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Is food particularly high in your area? Or is it that you eat a lot of meat? You must think I'm an ant because I only spent $1,549 on groceries. LOL :D Now that I think of it, I have to consider that for two months after COVID hit, I was getting free dinners delivered a few times a week. I did make a healthy donation but won't count that in with my groceries.
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Oh my word... I knew groceries were cheaper in the USofA, OneEyed, but I didn't realize just how much cheaper.

We aren't particularly big meat eaters, but our diet does consist of meat... at least 2-3 days a week.

I remember friends coming back from the USofA with a block of cheese, where up here that very same block of cheese would run triple, even quadruple the price.

We reside in the province of BC (British Columbia), and for those outside of Canada, the longtime and well-known saying (for years) has been... BC, Bring Cash, because our province is so expensive to call home.
 
Compared to the OP, her food cost for a year seems surprisingly low. Everything else except the car expense seems quite high.

Tony
 
Well, I know it' apples and oranges comparing anything between here in the UK and there in the USA.. or should I say any state in the USA... but even I did a double take at the price of the internet /phone service..

Ours for Satelite TV ( 900 channels including radio) /Fibre Optic Broadband/ 2 cellphones service ...and a landline.. is £1200 pa
 
@hollydolly "Well, I know it' apples and oranges comparing anything between here in the UK and there in the USA.. or should I say any state in the USA." So true. What is 1200 pa (don't have the symbol on my computer's keyboard)? Do you know what that is in U.S. dollars? What does the pa stand for?
 
hollydolly said:
PA...per annum .... £1200 sterling.. = $1, 600 approx
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Okay...thank you. Sometimes I read articles on my news app that are from BBC and they'll have UK prices. I know enough to know that the USD amount is a bit more, but don't check the conversion chart to find out the differences. My cell phone bill would be about $240 less per year but I upgraded to the unlimited plan with more gigs when I thought I'd be doing much more traveling. It includes Amazon Prime membership as a perk.
 
We don't keep an ongoing budget, or excessively track our spending. We have noticed an increase in food prices...especially meat products...in the past year. That is probably due to the impact this virus has had on meat processing plants. We've cut back on our meat consumption, a bit, which is probably good from a health standpoint.
Most of our expenses remain the same....Internet, TV, phone, property taxes and house/car insurance, etc....although our car insurance has decreased a little as the company temporarily lowered the premiums for driving less.
Luckily, our health care, out of pocket, expenses have remained the same.....very little....knock wood. My retirement plan pays for most of the insurance premiums.
Over the past year, we have saved more than usual, since our "running around" and casino visits have been reduced. We try not to Waste money, but if we want, or need something, we get it.
 
I live on mostly cheese sandwiches, salad mix, soup, cereal and crackers. I think bread is very expensive - a cheap loaf here is $3.99. I use to save when I delivered meals because the local supermarket would send over day-old bread to the senior center and I could get all I wanted for nothing. Probably saved me $100 a year. Once in a while I get a package of ground turkey, cold cuts, fried fish or a rotisserie chicken from the grab-n-go.
 
Deb , a cheap sliced loaf here ( wholemeal ) at the major supermarket is 49 pence the average price for a decent loaf of bread is around £1-. to 1.25..
£3.99 is HUGE .. !! and we would only pay that amount at a specialist bakery for an artisan loaf

..again I know we're comparing countries so not really fair, but I do think £3.99 is a massive price for a basic loaf... regardless of what country
 
I don't track exact spending but our grocery costs are quite low because we don't eat meat. Hubby eats a little dairy, but not much. Maybe $25 per month's worth. At most we average $300/month including TP, laundry soap and other household supplies bought at markets and Costco. Fruits and veggies are inexpensive here. :cool:

@debodun: $4.00 a loaf is pretty high for grocery store bread unless you're talking about Dave's Killer Bread or other artisan loaves. Your small town's stores may have you over a barrel and be gouging you accordingly.
 
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debodun said:
I live on mostly cheese sandwiches, salad mix, soup, cereal and crackers. I think bread is very expensive - a cheap loaf here is $3.99. I use to save when I delivered meals because the local supermarket would send over day-old bread to the senior center and I could get all I wanted for nothing. Probably saved me $100 a year. Once in a while I get a package of ground turkey, cold cuts, fried fish or a rotisserie chicken from the grab-n-go.
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Bread is pricey here, too. I was stocking up when it was on sale for $2.99 but they haven't had a sale price for several months now. Quality bread is going for $4 - $5 a loaf.
 
amazed.jpg
Never has my dumb been so founded. I couldn't tell you what I spent, on what, when I spent it and how much it cost. What I can tell you is that I know that every month I spend, on average of twenty-five percent less than what I earn. Reason for that is, I pay cash, as in the filthy folding stuff and the reason for that is simple, Big Brother can't keep tabs on me, I mean, if I don't know my expenditure other than the total amount, I'm fairly sure that the profilers don't know either.
 
Aunt Marg said:
$2714.65 a year for food?

Are you a mouse? 🐀🐁

It's no secret that dear husband and I love food and that we eat well, and we easily spend $800 per month on groceries.

I only wish we could get by on spending $2714.65 a year.
Click to expand...
Does that include paper products, pet food and wine?
 

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