as famed researcher michael kitces found , only 20% of spending tends to go for food , clothing and entertainment . a whopping 60% goes for housing and our cars .
AND this is not about any particular individuals way of life here .. so don't tell us how you live in a hobble in Appalachia and rinse paper towels out so they can be reused or don't own a car . .
it is not about you .. it is the way america tends to spend and what the actual numbers reflect across this country .
kitces :
"the numbers and data show only 20% of spending goes towards Entertainment, Clothing, and Food, and over-60% goes towards transportation and shelter.
just examine , the Where Does The Money Go” from the Department of Labor for the average household.
If we add up all of the Housing categories and sub-categories, and add Transportation on top of it, we come to a whopping 63% of the household’s total annual expenditures. Entertainment- Only 5.5%. Clothing and apparel 3.5%. Food at least is almost 13%, although we can still only trim so much, since we do still have to eat a few times every day.
in real terms – we buy the most expensive house and car we can afford, and then drive ourselves crazy clipping coupons to make up the difference. Perhaps the better conversation is about owning more affordable houses, and driving less expensive (or dare I say it, USED!?) cars.
We tell people to give up the experiences they enjoy – eating out, going to the movies, and their morning Starbucks routine – and never acknowledge that if you buy $10,000 used cars instead of $25,000 new cars, the $15,000 in your pockets pays for all of these enjoyable experiences, and more.
Choosing an apartment that’s $500/month less expensive or a smaller house that has $500/month in mortgage costs, similarly, saves so much money on “the big stuff” that many wouldn’t have to sweat the small stuff at all anymore. And sadly, the more affluent the individual, the more that significant housing and automobile costs consume huge portions of the annual income!
https://www.kitces.com/blog/worried...t-really-matters-and-its-not-the-small-stuff/