I’ve been feeling like our spending is out of control lately. We stopped budgeting after hitting a few road blocks near the beginning of September, and I think we’ve both been feeling like its time to get back on track. This time I’d like to try to base our budget on our what we have spent in the past, not on percentages of income or a goal of what we should be spending. I know we should strive to get our spending down, but first I think we should start with a few more incremental changes and work our way up to where we want to be.
Since I kind of hate Mint, I made new categories and manually categorized our spending for the past three and a half months. I think I got a better idea of what we are spending and where, but I’m not sure if the numbers show enough patterns to be able to make new budget goals. Or if they do show patterns, are the patterns something I can acknowledge and own up to? Will my findings help us make necessary changes?
My thoughts so far:
-we spent quite a bit less when we attempted budgeting in August
-we are spending less on snacks and eating on the go now that I’m working from home and we’re not traveling as much
-I have spent considerably less in the last two months on clothes and self-maintenance (although its still way too much)
-traveling and moving hit our budget pretty hard this summer
-we are spending more in every category than I was aware of, and more than I want to spend
-seeing the numbers in categories that seem more accurate to our lifestyle makes the budget more real to me and motivates me to think about how I can make small changes. Baby steps towards healthy spending and saving!
*Totals for each category are in order by month, September numbers represent the month so far.
June, July, August, September
Home and car repairs:
1458, 843, 848, 200
Rental repairs:
0, 0, 0, 340
Groceries:
664, 677, 363, 414
Gas:
496, 587, 563, 213
Entertainment and misc:
245, 815, 440, 114
Gifts:
80, 100, 0, 28
Individual meals on the go:
504, 981, 256, 139
Dinner dates/ eating out together:
237, 504, 108, 91
Out with friends:
150, 245, 0, 106
Self maintenance (Clothes, makeup, haircuts):
431, 504, 134, 80
Totals:
4265, 4985, 2758, 1725
I think your spending is high! I live in a giant metropolis, and those numbers are high. You spent $470/month on “meals on the go” which must be lunches because this doesn’t include dinner dates and meals out with friends! Those are another $360/month. So eating out is costing you $830/month and groceries are another $530/month. And that’s not enough fun, so you’re adding another $400/month in entertainment. Holy schnikeys!!! What kind of entertainment costs $400/month? Netflix, picnics and cocktails at home are all worthy entertainment. There is at least $15,000/year you could cut right now and pay toward your debt.
The question you should be asking yourself is: do you really want to get out of debt? I mean, how important is it to you, really? You can bring your lunches to work, have one date night a week and cook in for probably half of that – or less. And you’d be out of debt very quickly with that kind of frugality.
Eating out/buying lunch/Starbucks is a sneaky budget killer. Just this past week was a tough one with regards to bringing lunch from home, and you can tell in my budget. Fortunately I’m able to bring my lunch the majority of the time. I drink the office coffee (while bringing in a flavored creamer) and save the fancy coffees for when I reaaallly need one.
When we were childless, my husband and I ate out often – it was practically our hobby, especially when we have so many new and exciting options. Once we had kids, we had to dial it way back because eating out together = dinner, parking, PLUS babysitting.
Keep it up – I know that when things go sideways I feel like I just want to throw in the towel for this month and start over the next month.
We make two vats of food that are always in the fridge for scooping out a quick lunch. Beans and rice and vege of some kind. Meatballs or a meat salad.
We can barely eat out anymore as we’ve gotten snobbish about our own food. May sound obnoxious, but it works. “We could go out for pasta, but ours is so much better, what would be the point?”
Wow almost $900 in June eating out!
i know – shocked me.
Wow, we seem to be on the same path! I FINALLY hit the “ah ha” moment after years of trying to do this. Like you, I struggle with eating out. I also moved. It’s not easy to change decades of habits. When I was a kid, we ate fast food every day. My mother did not cook. Even now, it’s so natural to just grab something on the go. I’ve had to really think hard about what I want. What finally worked is a balance of one lunch out per week, I plan out how many happy hours / friend events I’ll go to (2 this month but another work one already got added in), then I allow myself one take-out Mexican meal a month. Today I could have gone and gotten nachos but I didn’t want to use up my one lunch on Monday. I THINK the reason that it’s sticking now is that 1. I make myself write down every penny I spend and strive for “No Spend Days”, 2. I force myself to pay off my credit card every month and my spending really took a tole on my savings (read: $200 in my account) and that makes me uneasy.
Maybe readers will help you get the food spending down. For me, the negative reactions would not hold me accountable. Thus, I am not a PF blogger. I have a hard time with the cold turkey approach. I spent $900 by myself in May I think, so chin up, and just try to plan better. This month, my eating out budget is $75. Last month, I don’t know where it came in, but I think it was $200 or so. Little by little… š I really enjoy reading your posts.
Thank you Meghan! I am glad you understand this. It seems unreasonable when you see the raw number but it adds up fast when you aren’t careful. I’m glad somebody can identify with us on this.
There are a lot of places you guys to cut to really get your budget under control and get rid of your debt faster. I know it’s difficult and not a change that can happen over night, but if you guys are serious about paying off your debt then you can make it happen!
I remember when I first broke my spending habits down with Mint. It was embarrassing to see how much I spent on food and dining out…and I know how to cook!
That said, now you see your numbers over a four month span, now it’s up to y’all to improve your habits so you can see results.
I see huge improvements here since June!! I think you guys are on the right track and are making changes for the better. We don’t use Mint or any other budgeting programs. I’m the CFO in the household and every payday I set aside a certain amount for “spending” money and a secondary fund for “blow money”. I just divide the spending amount by 15 days (bi-monthly pay period) and I know how much we can spend each day. The blow money is extra for dinner’s out, hobbies, etc. I don’t want or need to know where we overspend in every single category because the money has been set aside separate from our debt snowball and bills. I’ve done this method for 15 years and we never argue about money.
Just a little funny story–my husband packs his lunch every morning and takes it to work. He’s told me nearly everybody eats in the cafeteria every day for a total of at least $150 a month. He’s constantly teased for this and many people think he’s broke and can’t handle money. Then he tells them we paid off both of our new cars, have a 12 month emergency savings and a plan to pay off our house in the next 5 years. They shut up pretty quick. As Dave Ramsey always says, it’s cool to be weird.
Eating out will get you every time! When I was still on my downward-debt-spiral, I was spending way too much money eating out. When I had to make a food budget for myself, I struggled for several months. Now that I am out of credit card debt and married, I still cook most of our meals, often many in advance to store in the freezer or in the fridge so that I can never tell myself “there’s nothing to eatttttt”. I will still go out with friends when they choose to eat out, but I just order a water or a beer and forgo the meal.
The numbers you listed showed a great improvement, budgets during the summer can get a little tricky when you factor in trips, family outings, out-of-towners and other outdoor activities. If you plan ahead for seasonal activities, a lot of the stress goes away. I never used to plan for any financial situation (be it car repairs, trips or even new shoes) so I always ended up breaking my budget or charging my credit cards. “I remember thinking once, normal people do not go into debt for new tires.” š There is always room for improvement and budgets will always be a pain in the butt, just keep at it. It is worth it!
I still think your spending is too high BUT look at those decreases! HUGE decreases in every category over the last four months! That is huge! It goes to show how just being aware of what you are spending, even when the budget doesn’t seem to be working, does work.
Good job – you are making progress. You can do this!
Thank you for encouraging us!
Eating out for lunch gets me every time! I am shocked every time I look at my bank account and see how much I spend at Tim Horton’s or at take out restaurants. They will be among the first cuts in my spending on my journey to pay down debt.
TIM HORTONS!!??!!!! Jealous.
I agree with most of the other comments.
A – wow that’s a lot of money spent on dining out and entertainment, and
B – good progress on what it used to be.
I think the upside of this review is that you have so much nonessential spending going on that finding places to cut shouldn’t be difficult. It’s the folks who are struggling to put basic food on the kitchen table every night and keep the electric bill paid that really have no room to cut anything. You have the luxury of knowing exactly where the “fat” in the spending is.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting you two become hermits and never spend time with friends or go out together, just that with a little thought there are many cost effective options.
Meet up with friends at a park for a game of touch football or frisbee followed by a picnic. If you want to invite people over for a meal make it brunch (breakfast ingredients tend to be cheaper and no alcohol is expected). Have your dates at museums on free or discounted days and go for coffee rather than a meal afterward.
I have a girls’ dinner to attend next week. I couldn’t care less about eating out, but it’s the most efficient way to get together with 6 friends who all lead busy lives. I’ve already reviewed the resaurant’s online menu and chosen the appetizer I’ll be having as my dinner. I’ll have a snack at home before I go, and have water and an appetizer there. I’m going for the visit with friends, not to rack up a giant bill. There will be some who’ll order the most expensive item on the menu and a couple of glasses of wine. My bill should come in under $10 with tax and tip. Theirs will be at least $40.
Given the big discussion over hair care I am really impressed at how much the personal grooming spending dropped!! Way to go!!
I think it’s really hard to create a budget at first – it’s hard to get a bead on what you are actually doing with your money. I think this is a very good first step, and now you know where you need to focus. Perhaps continue with the baby steps by picking one major area to cutback on or 2-3 smaller areas. That might make achieving budget nirvana more likely.
.First, I applaud you for your honesty in this post. This is the most honest post Iāve seen. Overall, your numbers are really high. They would be high if you didnāt have any debt and in light of the situation, even more astounding. Now then, you are definitely on the right track by tracking all of your numbers.
One of the issues I had with the rental properties was the decision to not include them in the numbers. I think one of the problems had been compartmentalizing the debt, i.e. the rental properties donāt count, the mortgage doesnāt count because itās the mortgage, the student loan debt is o.k. because itās not credit card debt. No, it all counts. The other problem I had with the rental properties was the rationalizing of the rental property debt when in reality, you are probably nearly a million dollars in debt when you list the debt from all sources (mortgage, rental properties and student loan debt). I donāt think anyone will ever be successful in any field unless they āknow their numbersā and āknow all of themā. You canāt be successful with that much debt. Watch Shark Tank and the first thing every successful investor will say is that, āthey have to know their numbersā. This also means giving all of the numbers every month. To say, āxā amount was paid for debt is September is meaningless unless itās in the context of your whole budget.
Now then, I think itās great you are tracking. I think you need to figure out some small things that you can do to get these numbers down. In July I think there was over $3k in spending, just from all of the food and entertainment. First, Iād put a limit of going out to lunch 1 time a week for each person. Second, pick one night a week as date night and that is it for the entertainment, restaurant and friends spending. If you want to combine your date night with friends, then do that. When you are only going out once a week to a restaurant, youāll enjoy it more and select it more carefully. Next, I am unclear as to the āindividual mealsāā¦is this fast food spending? All meals should be made from home and Iād recommend taking your lunch to work. Grocery spending should be done once a week and all other shopping (health and beauty aids) once or twice a month. You may not be able to do that now because you donāt know what you need. Clothing spending should stop and other beauty spending should be limited just to hair. Most of us have enough clothing to last. Unless your clothes have holes in it, itās just discretionary spending. I think I am being generous with these numbers, lol. The key is to start somewhere and do less than what you were doing.
I know itās hard to get a grip on the numbers. I track all of my spending. To give you some frame of reference or a different point of reference I’ll share my numbers. They may not be right for you, but it may be helpful…my groceries average $114/week and I get probably 50% organic foods; food outside the home (restaurant or fast food) averages $30-50 for the month for just me (son is special needs and eats with a feeding tube). Hair is $120/month, no clothing budget and all non-grocery items average $100/month. I purchase makeup as needed and clothing as needed. I typically will get clothing we need at the start of the season after making a list. If we need shoes, I buy with quality in mind. For time with friends, weāll do some free things-hikes or walks at the Arboretum, window shopping, etc. If we are going out to a restaurant, Iāll typically go and enjoy myself, but that is often my entire monthly budget. More often than not, itās just as easy to make a pizza from scratch at home and we can visit over that or some other food Iāve made. Recently, I got two free passes to the Arboretum after completing a survey. Iāll use those the second week in October when the leaves are at their best. Iāll invite a friend of mine and weāll enjoy it and have lunch there looking over the lake. Weāll spend a few hours there and catch up plus enjoy nature, have a good meal and get some exercise. Just an example.
Have you considered each of you carrying a small notebook (or entering it on your phone) and writing down each expenditure at the time you make it? Tracking in real time has a big impact as you start to question whether or not the spending is really worth it. I don’t understand all the lunch expenses at all as both my husband and I have made and taken our lunches to work our entire adult lives. We did eat our maybe once a week for lunch but that is it.
I sort of hate Mint, too.
Ugh…good food, pretty hair and clothes. The hard things to give up. Keep trying though. You have great goals to achieve!
Yep. And makeup. All my pitfalls.
Have you tried YNAB (you need a budget) software? It’s awesome. The have webinars to teach how to use. Mobile apps & you buy it once and can be loaded onto different computers. I love it! It keeps track of debt, spending, credit card balances.
I just emailed them to see if we could officially review it for the blog. Enough people have raved about it for us to want to try it!
It’s not hard for spending to get out of control when it comes to eating out. This is the downfall of my budget for sure. We both work full time out of the house and the convenience of grabbing food out is too tempting – for lunch and dinner, because with a toddler I usually don’t feel like cooking when I get home in the evenings! We use to blow anywhere from $700-$1200 per month just eating out! So your numbers aren’t shocking to me. Once you see the numbers, and realize just how high they are, only then can you start to control it. Other than that though, your overall numbers have made some HUGE drops, so awesome job! Obviously you’re improving!
Glad we’re not alone in spending money eating out. We’re really trying to eat at home more often but it takes a lot of planning and work. We ate at home tonight but it was nasty.
You’re definitely not alone on eating out. For us, eating our IS our entertainment. We don’t go to the movies/concerts/bars/typical “entertainment” things. There have been months when we EASILY spend close to $1000 on eating out/groceries for two. It’s outrageous, embarrassing and the only way we have moved forward from those months is to face the numbers, own the problem, and rely on each other to hold us accountable.
The worst months are when we spend tons of money eating out, but still manage to spend a ton of money on groceries that just go to waste.
I think Beks discovered a website that for $5/month sends you a weekly meal planner, including shopping list. And, depending on where you live, the shopping list can be tailored to a local grocery chain and include the weekly specials. Try searching through the archives for her blog post about it.
I think I found the website Beks discovered: http://emeals.com/ . If you pay for an entire year at once it costs $5/month. You pick what dining style you want such as classic, organic, vegetarian, paleo, etc. and the family size – a couple or a family of four. Each week you get a meal plan that includes recipes and a shopping list. They can also tie-in to certain grocery chains. I’m assuming that enables them to highlight items on sale š
It seems to me you are doing rather well, and should take comfort in the fact that you still have plenty of scope to reduce spending far more.
As an expat relying on a retirement income, I had to face the reality of a 40% reduction in income over several years. With minimal debts, I was forced to cut to the bone on discretionary spending such as eating out. My $100 plus a month for eating out, without even considering it, suddenly came under scrutiny. It is now down to zero most months. It has been much easier by eating good and wholesome food at home, so that meals out usually end up with us thinking meals at home are so much better and healthier – which they are most days.
Why was eating at home “nasty”? Don’t either of you cook? You can get very easy, simple recipes online from hundreds of sources. A good one that is practically fail proof is the Taste of Home website.
Agreed. If you ever want to get anywhere financially, learning to cook is a good place to start. You don’t become a great cook overnight. Taste of Home has many great and simple recipes. We have been home cooking our meals for financial reasons for 11 years. Today we are accomplished chefs with a wide repretiore of meals, who generally don’t even like restaurant food any more (our food is just better). Our friends love to eat dinner at our house. 11 years ago? Was probably just “nasty.” But seeing that some of your largest sepnding continues to be in the food category – that is one area you can find some significant improvement. Mostly to say, it doesn’t happen overnight, but I think the benefits are substantial. One thing we notice is we automatically gain weight any time we eat out, since we so rarely eat out any more. IT doesn’t matter what it is – I can just feel the extra fat and oils in all the food. I usually notice on the scale before I notice in the checkbook that we ate out more than we should have. š We have recognized significant health benefits over the years, I am sure.
Yep. I’ve gained 10 pounds this summer. Ughhhh. I do like cooking but I need more time and practice to become good at it. I’ll check out that website!
Kudos for wanting to improve your cooking abilities, but keep in mind that while it’s just the two of you, there are literally countless things that you can throw together for a quick dinner: scramble a few eggs, throw in fresh veggies of your choice, shred a little cheese, and you’ve got a frittata, an omelet, or even the filling for a burrito. Open a can of black or pinto beans, pour into a skillet with a little sautĆ©ed onion and garlic, mash it all together, and use it to fill another burrito or wrap. Keep a bag of salmon or turkey burgers in the freezer–they pan-fry in minutes and can be eaten on a bun or as is with a side salad or vegetables. Things are MUCH easier now on the food front than they will be later if you decide to start a family and have to deal with the likes and dislikes of young children, not to mention the additional cost of restaurant meals with added mouths to feed and the fatigue that the little ones can induce that makes it so easy just to decide to go out for dinner instead of trying to cook something.
You’re doing great at limiting other expenses, especially on the personal care front, but you spend more on groceries and eating out than we do, and my husband and I have four teenagers! We limit eating out, but we eat a lot of organic produce and meat. Costco helps keep my costs down, but the large quantities arent always suitable for smaller households.
Thanks for,the update!
Remember that cooking is not all or nothing. Hunt for a couple recipes that sound appetizing and learn to make a couple things really well. You don’t have to be a master chef to make a good pasta sauce. I have one recipe that is a can of tomatoes, an onion peeled and cut in half and a half stick of butter. Let this simmer in a pan for an hour, then blend it all together with an immersion blender. It’s a completely simple, basic tomato sauce that is so light over a bowl of pasta. Add in whatever fresh herbs you have on hand to take it to the next level. There’s literally no skill involved, is delicious and, importantly, CHEAP!!
That sauce sounds AMAZING.
Yeah, we swear by Taste of Home – I had basic cooking skills but my parents never really cooked, so didn’t have very many recipes when I became an adult. Taste of Home has so much yummy, quick and easy stuff. Just try new things (even if only once a week or so) and eventually you will have a few go-to meals. & if you make something 100 times over 10 years, it gets better. š I am also personally a huge fan of crockpot cooking. An easy way to get great flavors. There is a crockpot365 website – just google it. YUM!!
Slow cookers are handy, too. Just chop up the veggies, toss in the ingredients, set to LOW and let it go. I like the “Set It and Forget It” series of clow cooker cookbooks. Also, America’s Test Kitchen published one that looks good as well. I think a slow cooker would be good for you since you work at home. You can easily do the food prep in the morning after breakfast, and then work on your business. By 5-6 PM dinner is ready and all you need to do is serve it!
Do you have a Dream Dinners or similar type business in your area? You go there to assemble meals that you choose (they provide all the ingredients) and then you store them in your freezer until you’re ready to prepare. It’s a little more expensive than doing your own grocery shopping and meal planning, but WAY cheaper than eating out. I always have enough left over from our family’s meals to bring as my lunch the next day. I’m a teacher who gets a 30 minute break for lunch so it forces me to be good and pack a lunch from home!
Eating out is a big thing with my family. For a very long time I tried different meals only to be told they were not tasty – picky children who would not eat them – husband who really does not eat leftovers, etc. I do not enjoy cooking nor does my husband. Six years ago I told my husband if he wanted me to cook meals he needed to plan the menu and I would execute it. I would do the shopping and cooking. He never did it so we eat out almost all meals or pick something up. Every person gets to order their meal and we do not waste food! My daughter does bring her lunch to school only because she has a half hour for lunch and she is a slow eater. She would not have time to stand in line and eat in her alotted lunchtime. Is this expensive -yes! But then again cooking and tossing out food is too. I keep struggling for a better solution and have yet to come up with one . . .
^^Wow. That’s got to be tough having picky eaters! Leftovers save our sanity and our money at least 2-3 times a week. There must be a lot of people out there in the same boat as you because the restaurants are always packed around here. Doesn’t matter what day of the week it is. I’ve always chalked it up to dual-income households where neither has the time or energy to cook at the end of the day. Makes me wonder how much of the second income is literally eaten every month??
Your approach to budgeting is the same as mine to weight reduction:
I set a goal, start out well, then hit an obstacle and the whole thing starts to fall apart.
I’ve had some major, ‘excusable’ issues this past year, and I haven’t lost ground, in fact I’m still 6 pounds less than I was Jan. 1, but I’ve been 15 lbs less and things got out of control again.
All this to say, I understand the behaviour, I exhibit the same behaviour in other things, but we need to name this behaviour as not healthy.
BTW: is your monthly in-flow greater than your monthly outflow? And I see house maintenance but nothing for mortgage, insurance, taxes, as well. In fact, there’s nothing for insurance at all so will we see a HUGE bill in a future month? If you pay annually (in order to save on interest) we should see that you are putting 1/12th away for car/house/life insurance each month. What we see here is a spending list, not a full budget which includes the spending for the past month, money set aside for expected annual expenses and the income that will offset both.
Eating out is a big expense at our home too. One thing that helps for me is keeping some things in the freezer for nights when I am too tired to cook. Ready made pasta dishes, gourmet frozen pizza, steam in the bag veggies, and anything from trader joes. It’s more expensive (and less healthy) than cooking from scratch, but it is a lot cheaper than eating out. Another thing I do to save money is always ordering water. A soda is 2-3 dollars and they add up fast!
We are FINALLY getting a Trader Joe’s this Friday. I’m excited for a lot of things, but mostly their prepared or partially prepared meals that are a lot cheaper than Whole Foods and Central Market.
YES!! Trader Joe’s is great!! Their prepared meals are good, but I’m not as keen on their produce section. They package a good amount of organic stuff so it’s prone to getting moldy š But the TV dinner meals are very handy. But be aware that they also have a dangerous amount of tasty looking desserts and snack foods….
Also, I like the Lean Cuisine line of frozend dinners. The ingredients look fairly healthy – they do have some preservatives but they aren’t crammed full of chemicals. And my boyfriend and I like the Bertolli bags. They go for around $7-9 per bag and can satisfy both of us with a little side dish for my boyfriend. And the bags take roughly 10 minutes to cook. Newman’s Own also has similar meals-in-a-bag.
Eating out is the true budget buster. For our family of four, a meal out is never less that $65, usually closer to $80. Do that once a week for the year and then add in date nights and we were at close to $5K a year for restaurants. Over 10 years? That’s a really nice car. We cut back to $100/month and the absolute key is that I sit down and plan out our dinners 3 weeks in advance and put it into our Google calendar. Then I can think about what I have on hand, what leftovers can be combined into other meals like the leftover roast chicken becomes the next night’s chicken pot pie, or chicken noodle soup, etc. We no longer stand around and look at each other at 6 and say “What do you want to do for dinner?”. Saves my sanity and tons of money. I highly recommend it. Also, there are great websites that walk you through each step to prepare meals in advance and freeze them. Much cheaper than Let’s Dish or Dream Dinners.
WoW! I see such an improvement for August over the other months. That must be pretty satisfying to see you can do that.
I also find that groceries, both for home and out, are a big part of the budget. Learning to cook has been huge for me, and it really came through practice. Now I see it as my only creative outlet. ‘Huh, we got x, y, z leftover from our trip to the market this week, what delicious thing can I make with that?’. But when I’m tired, I really do find it hard, so then the freezer is very useful, and take-out is cheaper than actually eating out. Trying to make the eating out MORE special and ‘date’ like helps as well. What I can’t do is home lunches every day. But I try to balance 3-2 home cooked/work lunch out. Not as much saving in the budget, but still makes a difference over the month.