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Married, 2 kids. My only debt is mortgage. Spend on average $10,700/mo.
Housing/utilities: $3800
Child care: $2200
Food: $1100 ($600 restaurants, $500 groceries)
Transportation: $800
Fitness: $300
Total "necessities" = $8200
The remaining $2500 is discretionary spending - mostly stuff like clothing and things for the house. Some months can be $0 and other months can be $5k (for example if we buy a new couch).
EDIT: I just looked back at the other posts in this thread and realized I spend more on housing alone than most people do on everything combined. Damn, now I wish I lived somewhere cheaper. I don't even have an extravagant house - it's just a 3 bedroom Cape, but cost me over $600k.
1,800 on rent
2,900 on daycare (!!!)
250 on utilities/internet/phones
500 on food
500 on gas, clothes, incidentals
20 on health insurance
80 on car insurance
500 into investments
600 into pension
When I prepare my monthly budget, I basically know what most of my 'fixed' expenses are - i.e. mortgage, utilities, cell phone, cable, car payments, etc. Some of those aren't necessarily fixed, but I more or less know what to expect each month so I do budget for them but I generally focus more on the non-fixed expenses when I budget.
Everything else (food, gas, entertainment, etc.) I actively budget and try to keep at a reasonable level. My goal each month, which seems realistic to me, is for my wife and I (no kids) to spend less than $1,500 each month on all of these non-fixed expenditures. However, we can never stick to that budget. We generally spend 2,000 - 2,500 per month on thes items. It seems to me we are spending a lot on food (dining out & groceries), and there always seems to be something that comes up each month (car maintenance, weekend travel, etc.) but I don't think we're living extravagantly so I'd like to get a sense for what others spend.
Single
rent $950
groceries run about $250
phone $100
Internet/TV $120
gas $400
insurance $80
Lease payment on business equipment is about $200, professional services about $500
students loans $250
utilities $150
health insurance $120
Misc is probably another $400/month, eating out, non-essential purchases, some travel.
Extravagant is relative. I could cut housing and utilities down to $500. I write off about $10,000/year in mileage plus the lease payments and professional services, so that's all pre-tax income which helps a bit. I wouldn't say I'm living extravagantly. My cars paid for. Housing is my big luxury. I'd be fine in a 1-bd apartment, but I like having the two-car garage and extra space even if it costs me an extra $300 month.
We are retired with no house payment or car payment and spend when the spirit moves. We average spending about 5K per month but we could choose to make it a lot less.
Always less than I take in and I had been doing that my whole life, that is why I was able to retire young.
Life is not about how much a person makes, it is more about how much a person spends when compared to what they take in.
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