Submitted by Earthquake14 t3_z1rsqo in personalfinance
We locked in our interest rate right before they started going up, and by my calculations all of the housing-related expenses would be less than 30% of our take-home pay. Naturally, we both felt really good.
Our combined gross income is $160k, and we live in what is technically considered a HCOL area (CT), although it’s not as expensive here as the 2 big cities that are nearby.
On paper we should have $3k or so left every month (scroll all the way down down for budget breakdown).
Unfortunately, I completely underestimated all the house-related expenses. Since we got the house in April we’ve spent a little over $10k on stuff like furniture, appliances and tools. All of those purchases were discussed and considered necessary.
I’m terrified of any repairs that might need to get done to the house eventually. Wife doesn’t think we need to worry, but I constantly feel broke and stressed. I hate the idea of taking on more debt, but we haven’t even finished building our emergency fund back up.
Here’s the budget breakdown (most values are rounded up a bit):
• Monthly take-home pay (after taxes, 401k, health insurance): $8,600
• Mortgage (principal, interest, taxes. homeowners insurance, PMI): $1,910
• Car payments: $550
• Car insurance: $160
• Gas (on average): $200
• Groceries (on average): $1,000
• Electricity (on average): $250
• Internet: $70
• Phones: $65
• Subscriptions (Spotify, gym, etc): $100
• Healthcare (meds, therapy, etc): $150
• Eating out (obvious weak point): $400
• Entertainment/shopping/hobbies: $400
• Pet supplies: $60
• Miscellaneous: $100
None of these amounts fluctuate too much month-to-month, besides eating out, which we are actively trying to bring under control. Our groceries budget went up with inflation - in 2019-2021 we rarely spent more than $600 a month. Nowadays I consider it a win if the weekly trip to the grocery store costs less than $250.
I know we’re technically not living paycheck-to-paycheck because we contribute to our retirement accounts, and don’t carry any CC debt month-to-month, but it definitely feels like it…
EDIT: For all of you asking why our groceries are so high, here’s a receipt from last week: copied from receipt to excel for easy reading. Yes, I do include stuff like toilet paper and dish soap in the “Groceries” category, because I get them from the grocery store.
