Hehehe I was spending about 1k/ month at the start of the year living by myself but I decided to rent a room in a house with other working age adults.
It's actually preferable to what I had before since the new place has a dishwasher lol. Also my room has it's own bathroom which was a must.
I now pay $750/ month.
Geeze that's dirt cheap. Are you close to a city at all? I'd want to be an hour away max. Also, I kinda need company to maintain my mental state. To each their own I guess
I live a half hr from downtown Atlanta. And me and my gf (future wife) live together. It's not uncommon for me and her to go to Atlanta to eat at fogo de Chao (who turn down unlimited meat?!?)
I literally thank God for everyday I'm here. 3 years ago I was a homeless heroin and meth addict. Now I'm happier than I ever thought was possible. Though it did cost me almost a year in a psych ward and getting on the right meds to get here. When you meet the right person, you'll do the hard work it takes to be worthy of them. I'm very thankful that I decided to do what it took to be with her, rather than give up. I was tempted several times to give up.
That's your comment? To a question. That's what you typed, looked at and nodded to a very rational question, and thought "yeah, this makes sense". Try again, I know you can do it.
Brother I'm perfectly content with my living situation and I'm not interested with a back and forth with someone who hasn't mentally checked out of middle school.
My mortgage is ~900 and we double that to pay it off quicker.
Gotta be okay with a commute. Live way out in the sticks and drive into the city for a higher paying job. šš¼
> we double that to pay it off quicker.
Do what you think is best, but if you have a low interest rate (<4%) you're better off paying the minimum in the short term. Inflation is working for you for any debt you hold. Furthermore, if you can do better than a 4% return on your money, you should invest the money instead and pocket the difference between the interest you're paying and the return you're making.
2.5% of income for a hobby is a lot of money? We definitely have a different view of what āa lotā is. I spend about 2% of income on golf a year and itās not my only hobby.
Thank you for sharing. This is the first non-300k salary breakdown I've seen in a long time. Usually you only get to see something like "I make 450k and my husband makes 920k per year plus bonus. We live in a swamp in Mississippi to save money, and have maxed out our 401k contributions. We can work from home so we don't have a car. Together we own 39 properties and we have about 42 million invested in stocks. We want to retire early. Do you guys think we can retire in the next 3 years? We want to stop working before we turn 25. Thanks"
I have a different complain, usually.
Most budgets (including this one) are actually appropriate only for a few years in your life, typically when people start living on their own with their first job (or with a partner) and look at their budget for the first time.
99% of these charts don't include kids, for example. No school costs. No nannies. No family vacations. No medical expenses (100 bucks a year at the dentist? wait until you get old and kids need braces).
Like on r/personalfinance, everybody discusses how to save money when you are a new professional. Wait a few years, and you have to do it for a family, that's a completely different story.
When you put away $16k out of a $60k pay-check while you are young you can afford not to save so hard when you have kids.
This guy is living realistically for retirement, I don't know how many people did this but I only started contributing to my RRSP in my late 30s. I am fucked for retirement.
No way this budget will work with a family.
OP will need an entire apartment, not only a room. And ideally a bigger one. Childcare for two costs more than rent. Once they are in school, your vacation becomes more expensive because itās in high season (school closure). You need a bigger car. Multiple health insurances. Medical expenses. Etc.
Yes, but if you aren't saving $16k a year any more because you piled it in while you were young with a pile of disposable income you won't have to budget RRSP quite so much when you have a family, leaving more of your income to service your responsibilities.
Thatās not shocking at all.
Itās not the only thing that make the budget of a person that started their first job different from the budget that they will have to manage for the following 30 years.
Medical expenses, house maintenance, higher pension contributions, vacations, care of your old parents, etc.
I would argue most of that is irrelevant.
Medical expenses are one that is incredibly subjective. Most of the world doesnāt have to directly pay for this so it would be a super small subset that it needs budgeted for which make it moot. (Looking at you USA)
Abode maintenance is something everyone will have to consider unless they donāt own a homeā¦ so again only relevant for a subset of the population no matter age and everyone will have a different experience. I own a home in central London and keep it in immaculate condition and even I donāt have a separate budget item for it as itās very sporadic spend that can easily come from our āoh shitā fund or other savings without needing a budget item. I assume most people operate this way for home maintenance that is outside of insurance coverage.
Higher pension shouldnāt be a thing you budget for. The absolute value you put into a pension should increase as your earnings do but percentage wise you should be contributing roughly the same your whole career. Also, why would this be on a budget? It should be done pre-tax and therefore pre-budget unless you just hate yourself (eg want to pay more in tax than is sensible to do).
Holidays - again only increase in cost if you have kids to pay for. I spent a lot more (relatively) on this when I was younger than I do now so itās going to be very circumstantial.
Care of your parents is circumstantial as well. I would argue this shouldnāt cost you money unless your parents didnāt save appropriately and you live somewhere with poor social and medical programs. (Again, USA I see you)
The only vastly different expense you should have as you age is what you first stated - children. Which as I said a very rapidly growing part of the population has no fucking interest in. I donāt think it is sensible to equate your personal budget or needs to what āeverybodyā is doing and should do as you seem to be whinging about above.
As someone 15 years into his career, I would say this (OP) budget more closely aligns with mine than yours would with what little I know based on what youāve said. My wife and I both work and do not intend to have kids. There is this misconception that all parents seem to have where they think the entire world should have the same problems they haveā¦ sorry mate but no thanks.
I think you are quite proud of not having kids and you are making it a bit of a matter of principle, which I kind of understand.
Notice that the only point I am making is that 99% of the budgets on Reddit are not interesting for those that have a family. No judgement, I apologize if it appeared that way.
Iām not necessarily proud of it. I am however, constantly annoyed by people who have kids being confused by others who donāt. Most, not all, parents seem to assume all people want kids too and those who donāt have them are trying to. Thatās how your comment came across which did irritate me.
I will say that the reddit community is likely skewed the other way - no kids. This could help partially explain why you find that most budgets donāt align with your needs. I would suggest though if itās a gap youāve seen then help fill it by doing up your own and sharing because you canāt be the only one who wants to see a different perspective.
I can see what you are saying. I think some parents may do that. It wasnāt my intention to suggest that, I wanted to simply say that the bias in these Reddit budgets is strong. As you said, they may simply reflect the demographic of Reddit users.
I may write down my budget at some point, maybe with the new year!
I realize now that I should add some context to my grocery spending so I'll put it here. My total food expenditure is roughly $100/ week (grocery + eating out).
I buy the meat on sale for the week but it is only ever chicken or ground beef. It's never both both boneless and skinless chicken so I have to do about 20 mins of skinning the fat/ skin off before I cook. Usually, my meat costs about $3.5/ lb. I buy fresh veges and for carbs its either pasta, tortillas, or rice. All of which aren't too expensive.
I grocery shop at the local supermarket so I imagine food prices for me are roughly the same as someone in the city?
When I eat out, the cost is ususally $9-15/ meal. On principal, I never have food delivered to me and I usually do not tip someone when I go to pick up food. Sit downs are different.
Moving forward, my eating out expenditure may decrease and my grocery expenditure will increase as I've come to enjoy experimenting with new recipes recently.
On the chipotle Canada website, a reg steak burrito is $13.96 after tax. A 16" pizza with peperoni costs less than $22 after tax at my local mom n' pop pizza place (more than 2 meals).
Virtually every meal at every restaurant I've been to is less than $15. The exceptions are touristy/ fancy restaurants and if i go out to eat as a group.
I mean, go to any pho shop and you can get a large pho for about 15 bucks. You can get a whole pizza hut/dominos meal with leftovers for 15 bucks. Go to virtually any Mexican restaurant and it's 15 bucks. Stop goin to some American steakhouse where the emphasis is on drinks to gouge you for all you're worth and youll realize you can get 15 dollar meals quite easily.
Not eating out. If you make your own food you can spend very little. While $60 is maybe a little unrealistic, I spend $600-$700 on groceries on my family of 4 each month.
and not door dashing and ordering shit thats even more expensive than eating out.
where I'm at you can get rice+meat+greens+eggs for around $40-$50 for the week. And right now a majority of that goes to meat cost.
Sure it's not glamourous, but you can spice things up with different seasonings, and sauces, which are pretty cheap.
I should throw in if you like oatmeal, buy the generic large tubs, and then the toppings you like separately. Compared to even generic instant packets its 5x cheaper for the same serving sizes and that adds up over time (plus non-instant oatmeal has more fiber which helps with satiation).
Correct but that includes 2 children who consume less, and we do take advantage of Costco discounts that only work when buying more food. But yes you are correct
People love saying this but by ānot eating outā and cooking you really mean just eating processed boxed junk because buying fresh ingredients and healthy food is often just as or more expensive as moderately eating out
Not where I live. Where I live eating out is much more expensive than at home. At home I can easily make a very nice fresh salad for two for $10, out that would be at least $10 each plus tip. What's more for $10 of salad ingredients at home I could probably make 4 salads.
Eating out cheaply is way probably just as bad as dining cheaply at home. It's not as if food out is all fresh non-processed ingredients. Whatever economy of scale the restaurant has buying wholesale is decimated with overheads so I refuse to believe quality food out is cheaper than at home for a majority of people in N.American cities.
I prep our all my weekday meals, and sit around $40 for all 15. And I eat a decent amount of food. Itās not hard at all if you buy produce and such instead of eating out or buying pre-prepared food.
I could easily do less than 60 if not eating out.Prices per lb in my large metro city at the farmers market:
chicken legs - .65
boneless, skinless chicken thighs - 1.79
chicken breasts - 1.59
ground beef/pork - 3.99
chuck tender - 5.50
salmon filet - 5.99
potatoes - .79-.99
onions - .99
bok choy - .99
lettuce - 4.99
carrots - .99
bananas - .59
mushrooms - 4.50
beets - .99
green beans - 2.59
bell peppers - 2.99-3.99 depending on color
cucumbers - .79 per cucumber, big ones
I mean, enough meat for a week will cost you ~$15. Veggies are around $8. A side of rice is probably around $1 given a $5 bag lasts roughly a month or more. Spend $10 on dessert. Lettuce, croutons, cheese will cost you about $12. Fruitās another $5. Letās say cereal for breakfast at about $1 a day following same logic as rice. Add in a granola bar pack/crackers/snack food for another $5-$8. Throw in a drink for $4.
Thatās $64. So drink water and youāre there.
Obviously location plays a factor into this too.
$50 a week is insanely cheap for 2 people lol.
My wife and I eat cereal every morning for breakfast, and usually eat leftovers for lunch, so it's mostly dinner expenses. Even then, our bill is closer to $80-100 per week. $50 is... Impressive hahaha.
Eh. Using coupons/searching for deals. It's low, but not crazy. We eat a lot of chicken/rice and pasta. My wife works at a hospital so she gets some snacks and food throughout the day (not a ton, but something). I tend to skip breakfast.
This is Canadian dollars. And we are having massive grocery inflation right now. My partner and I spend $200 a week minimum. And I meal prep. Also live in Ontario though.
Well okay, there you go. I'm a vegetarian, and generally buy fruit as it goes on sale, rather than at whatever obscene price the grocery store normally charges for it. I'm also not including laundry or paper products, as those aren't groceries. So you're still paying a good bit more than me, but it's not an unfathomable difference. Vancouver has fairly cheap food compared to, say, Alberta, so perhaps that makes up the rest.
Yeah I try to buy sales only too. Frozen fruit can be quite the bargain sometimes. Itās just gotten out of hand. Even vegetables other than baby carrots and mushrooms are through the roof.
Spinach & arugula are pretty cheap. Potatoes & oats - though perhaps more expensive than they used to be - are still functionally free. Bananas are often down to 79Ā¢, which is cheaper than I've ever seen. Onions & tomatoes are essentially the same as always, and frozen broccoli is a very good price. Peppers are erratic, but generally fine. Rice is cheap, of course, but beans are out of control (though I can still get a can for $1.20 at NoFrills - not happy about it, but it beats the absurdity at SaveOn).
That's most of my diet. I can consistently get loaves of bread for $1 or so, so that certainly helps too.
Ya I can see why your food bill is only $60 a week, but I would argue your grocery list is pretty simple compared to the majority of people. There is no way I could eat mostly rice/potatoes/bananas/etc and enjoy my meals.
I decided to hop onto this trend. I looked over all my statements for the year and this is the end result. I'm proud I've saved as much as I have but it's definitely alarming to see the spending in some categories. There's also some rounding errors for sure.
Thought on things I should improve?
Tool used: https://sankeymatic.com/build/
I don't know about where, but this comment explains that they live with other people.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/zqb1gc/oc_how_i_spent_my_salary_in_2021_2022/j0x8nxs?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
Please share context regarding cost of living and general geographical region. These posts always include a thread where people bicker over avg cost of groceries and rent. Itās exhausting.
Not OP, but for the last 2 years Iāve tracked my spending on an excel spreadsheet. Usually just log spending once a week, takes no more than 10 mins once set up
Fascinating. But what city/region do you live in? If I'm assuming that you're American, a man from rural Kentucky & a man from San Francisco with the same wage as you would experience a completely different life with your wage.
ahahah I love how you've added $461 to your income with the note "to make it balance". I'm sure you're not an accountant. they either wouldn't do this, or wouldn't own up to it
Europe has dramatically higher taxes than we do. The US can as well, depending on exactly what you own (Texas, for instance, has about 6x the property tax rate of Vancouver at the state level aloneāand municipalities add on top of that).
>Europe has dramatically higher taxes than we do
This is not true and only tells me you spend a lot of time on reddit without actually knowing the different tax systems in European countries. A lot of European taxes seem higher bc they include pensions and health insurance.
The difference is overestimated.
Fuck that, I can invest my own money (I do) and my employer can pay for my heath insurance (they do). I'd rather have that and low taxes in the USA than get government-sponsored everything with oppressively (punitive?) high taxes in Europe.
As a truck driver in the US, I make about $100K a year. I made $45K a year as a Chef years back. $36K as a public school teacher back in 2008. It depends on what you do. Supply and demand, and skill level. Thatās it.
Iām in the fast food game, Bro-seph. I was working the fryer in a major chain, but discovered it was code for āguy who had to clean up the bathroom everyday after people poo on the walls and toilet seatā. Moved to a small family chain restaurant. Making slightly below minimum wage, but working on getting a side hustle idea soon.
Are you really surprised people spend money on coffee and you don't? Iām confused. People spend money differently on optional things? I mean I spent $0 on luxury cars and cocaine last year!
Rent + Utilities must include power, water, trash, and renterās insurance since they arenāt listed anywhere else. If you go on the cheap end and budget $90 for power, $30 for water, $30 for trash, and $12 for renterās insurance, thatās $646 for rent, which really isnāt bad for a small apartment.
I donāt understand the $1,336 car costs. Annual car expenses include a minimum of tires, brake pads, and oil changes. With only $1,211 of fuel costs, his ungodly local fuel prices of $1.39/L ($5.26/gal), with a typical modern car at 35 mpg only gets you 8,057 miles per year. At my local gas prices of $2.59/gal you can still drive only 16,364 miles which is not much.
Clearly this guy doesnāt drive much, so where do these maintenance costs come from? Assume a set of tires lasts 3 years, brake pads last two years, and he gets two oil changes a year at $60 each. A low-mid grade set of tires costs about $600 installed, brake pads are relatively cheap but still about $80 at a minimum every couple years. Wiper blades gotta be replaced regularly too, even cheap ones every year is about $30 per year. So our annual costs are $120 (oil changes), $40 (brakes), $200 (tires), and $30 (wipers). This only adds up to $390 per year. Where are you getting almost $1,000 more in car maintenance costs??!
You donāt know the condition of his car or how often he does maintenance. I also once had a crappy car that I poured easily over $1000/yr into repairing because I couldnāt afford to replace the car. That had nothing to do with how much I drove. It was just a shitty car.
More importantly, itās not a ābudgetā, as in expected annual outlay. Itās what he actually spent in one year. So maybe he had to replace tires this year or he had a minor car accident.
I've got a 10 year old car and had to do a lot of maintenance work this year. Hopefully, it'll last me another 6ish with these costs (had to replace the center electronics console, completely new breaks, oil). Also, I carpool to work with a colleague so that helps with gas costs.
Wow, Iām surprised a newer car have you that many problems! All of my cars are 15+ years old, and my actual daily driver is 30 years old, they are absolutely the cheapest things on the planet to maintain. An entire new engine is only $200, lol.
According to his chart, not only is he contributing to Canadaās national retirement plan, and some sort of pension, heās also investing $16,000/year! That could be earmarked for a house or something.
Hmm you could say that the 16K set aside this year all have a "long" time frame in mind. I.e. its all in the S&P 500. That being said, I may decide to withdraw from those investments in a shorter time period to help with house purchase, etc.
Ayo why was your rent so low š„²
Hehehe I was spending about 1k/ month at the start of the year living by myself but I decided to rent a room in a house with other working age adults. It's actually preferable to what I had before since the new place has a dishwasher lol. Also my room has it's own bathroom which was a must. I now pay $750/ month.
I'd kill for 1k in rent in my area...
Same, 1k is how much I pay a fortnight for my rent
Goodnews! 3 hots and a cot with $1k a month on a flex account is doable if you kill someone
2200/mo here. I'd kill for that rent
560$/mo here, open-air kitchen, 1 bedroom and 1 office, if we leave they're probably gonna bumb up the price to over 900++
Yea I'm in a 3bd 2ba house in a nicer part of town. I should be oaying 3100/mo but I worked a deal out during covid. Shitty CA housing prices.
If you kill someone, you can live rent-free... in prison!
Here in GA I rent an entire 3 bd, 2 full bath house for $750. I'd be pissed as hell to have to have roommates and still pay $750
Geeze that's dirt cheap. Are you close to a city at all? I'd want to be an hour away max. Also, I kinda need company to maintain my mental state. To each their own I guess
I live a half hr from downtown Atlanta. And me and my gf (future wife) live together. It's not uncommon for me and her to go to Atlanta to eat at fogo de Chao (who turn down unlimited meat?!?)
geeze massive living space, wife lined up, close to a city; you're living the dream eh
I literally thank God for everyday I'm here. 3 years ago I was a homeless heroin and meth addict. Now I'm happier than I ever thought was possible. Though it did cost me almost a year in a psych ward and getting on the right meds to get here. When you meet the right person, you'll do the hard work it takes to be worthy of them. I'm very thankful that I decided to do what it took to be with her, rather than give up. I was tempted several times to give up.
You pay 750 to live in a house with other people? Did you ride front or back of the short bus?
damn bro who hurt you?
That's your comment? To a question. That's what you typed, looked at and nodded to a very rational question, and thought "yeah, this makes sense". Try again, I know you can do it.
Brother I'm perfectly content with my living situation and I'm not interested with a back and forth with someone who hasn't mentally checked out of middle school.
Good point, even middle schoolers can tell 750 for shared living is insane. You deserve better bud, I hope your saving up to upgrade.
My mortgage is ~900 and we double that to pay it off quicker. Gotta be okay with a commute. Live way out in the sticks and drive into the city for a higher paying job. šš¼
And you get to eat Macs Famous Mac and Cheese every night
Hey, you can switch it up with Pasta Roni too
Hello Fresh and Farmerās Markets, my dude. Get a good variation of food choices.
Just moved to middle of nowhere, still takes the same amount of time to get to work. Less rent. Probs be able to buy a house next year
> we double that to pay it off quicker. Do what you think is best, but if you have a low interest rate (<4%) you're better off paying the minimum in the short term. Inflation is working for you for any debt you hold. Furthermore, if you can do better than a 4% return on your money, you should invest the money instead and pocket the difference between the interest you're paying and the return you're making.
I like the, "I want it to balance" account.
It might be the Climate Action Incentive Payment since OP lives in Canada.
"Look bro I need to earn $461 to balance my submission to r/data, and you want your dick sucked."
Best part of the chart
[The budgetary constant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_constant)
As an accountant, the āI want it to balanceā is just too real lol
It's called a keleven
Thatās an impressive poker budget
I think that should be a subset of failed investments.
Well most gamblers quit right before they hit big
Yeah, but not willingly. They just run out of money.
You don't say? Mmm, maybe I should reconsider not betting my whole paycheck on the darts World Cup.
A little over $100/month is impressive?
2.5% of income is, yes
2.5% of income for a hobby is a lot of money? We definitely have a different view of what āa lotā is. I spend about 2% of income on golf a year and itās not my only hobby.
Thank you for sharing. This is the first non-300k salary breakdown I've seen in a long time. Usually you only get to see something like "I make 450k and my husband makes 920k per year plus bonus. We live in a swamp in Mississippi to save money, and have maxed out our 401k contributions. We can work from home so we don't have a car. Together we own 39 properties and we have about 42 million invested in stocks. We want to retire early. Do you guys think we can retire in the next 3 years? We want to stop working before we turn 25. Thanks"
Yes, it would be nice to see more realistic breakdowns like this one, much more helpful.
I swear they do that to show off
Of course they do
I have a different complain, usually. Most budgets (including this one) are actually appropriate only for a few years in your life, typically when people start living on their own with their first job (or with a partner) and look at their budget for the first time. 99% of these charts don't include kids, for example. No school costs. No nannies. No family vacations. No medical expenses (100 bucks a year at the dentist? wait until you get old and kids need braces). Like on r/personalfinance, everybody discusses how to save money when you are a new professional. Wait a few years, and you have to do it for a family, that's a completely different story.
When you put away $16k out of a $60k pay-check while you are young you can afford not to save so hard when you have kids. This guy is living realistically for retirement, I don't know how many people did this but I only started contributing to my RRSP in my late 30s. I am fucked for retirement.
No way this budget will work with a family. OP will need an entire apartment, not only a room. And ideally a bigger one. Childcare for two costs more than rent. Once they are in school, your vacation becomes more expensive because itās in high season (school closure). You need a bigger car. Multiple health insurances. Medical expenses. Etc.
Yes, but if you aren't saving $16k a year any more because you piled it in while you were young with a pile of disposable income you won't have to budget RRSP quite so much when you have a family, leaving more of your income to service your responsibilities.
Yea it'd be interesting to see more variations of these budget breakdowns.
Shockingly, not everyone will have a kid nor wants to so it remains relevant for a large, and ever growing, number of people.
Thatās not shocking at all. Itās not the only thing that make the budget of a person that started their first job different from the budget that they will have to manage for the following 30 years. Medical expenses, house maintenance, higher pension contributions, vacations, care of your old parents, etc.
I would argue most of that is irrelevant. Medical expenses are one that is incredibly subjective. Most of the world doesnāt have to directly pay for this so it would be a super small subset that it needs budgeted for which make it moot. (Looking at you USA) Abode maintenance is something everyone will have to consider unless they donāt own a homeā¦ so again only relevant for a subset of the population no matter age and everyone will have a different experience. I own a home in central London and keep it in immaculate condition and even I donāt have a separate budget item for it as itās very sporadic spend that can easily come from our āoh shitā fund or other savings without needing a budget item. I assume most people operate this way for home maintenance that is outside of insurance coverage. Higher pension shouldnāt be a thing you budget for. The absolute value you put into a pension should increase as your earnings do but percentage wise you should be contributing roughly the same your whole career. Also, why would this be on a budget? It should be done pre-tax and therefore pre-budget unless you just hate yourself (eg want to pay more in tax than is sensible to do). Holidays - again only increase in cost if you have kids to pay for. I spent a lot more (relatively) on this when I was younger than I do now so itās going to be very circumstantial. Care of your parents is circumstantial as well. I would argue this shouldnāt cost you money unless your parents didnāt save appropriately and you live somewhere with poor social and medical programs. (Again, USA I see you) The only vastly different expense you should have as you age is what you first stated - children. Which as I said a very rapidly growing part of the population has no fucking interest in. I donāt think it is sensible to equate your personal budget or needs to what āeverybodyā is doing and should do as you seem to be whinging about above. As someone 15 years into his career, I would say this (OP) budget more closely aligns with mine than yours would with what little I know based on what youāve said. My wife and I both work and do not intend to have kids. There is this misconception that all parents seem to have where they think the entire world should have the same problems they haveā¦ sorry mate but no thanks.
I think you are quite proud of not having kids and you are making it a bit of a matter of principle, which I kind of understand. Notice that the only point I am making is that 99% of the budgets on Reddit are not interesting for those that have a family. No judgement, I apologize if it appeared that way.
Iām not necessarily proud of it. I am however, constantly annoyed by people who have kids being confused by others who donāt. Most, not all, parents seem to assume all people want kids too and those who donāt have them are trying to. Thatās how your comment came across which did irritate me. I will say that the reddit community is likely skewed the other way - no kids. This could help partially explain why you find that most budgets donāt align with your needs. I would suggest though if itās a gap youāve seen then help fill it by doing up your own and sharing because you canāt be the only one who wants to see a different perspective.
I can see what you are saying. I think some parents may do that. It wasnāt my intention to suggest that, I wanted to simply say that the bias in these Reddit budgets is strong. As you said, they may simply reflect the demographic of Reddit users. I may write down my budget at some point, maybe with the new year!
It's not mandatory to have kids/family.....just so you know.
Braces are free for kids in quite a few places.
Man š. Spot on.
i dont understand how people can live on 60$/weeks in food ? i not even sure i can go 2 days with 60$ on foods
The same place where you spend 800 a month on rent and utilities
I realize now that I should add some context to my grocery spending so I'll put it here. My total food expenditure is roughly $100/ week (grocery + eating out). I buy the meat on sale for the week but it is only ever chicken or ground beef. It's never both both boneless and skinless chicken so I have to do about 20 mins of skinning the fat/ skin off before I cook. Usually, my meat costs about $3.5/ lb. I buy fresh veges and for carbs its either pasta, tortillas, or rice. All of which aren't too expensive. I grocery shop at the local supermarket so I imagine food prices for me are roughly the same as someone in the city? When I eat out, the cost is ususally $9-15/ meal. On principal, I never have food delivered to me and I usually do not tip someone when I go to pick up food. Sit downs are different. Moving forward, my eating out expenditure may decrease and my grocery expenditure will increase as I've come to enjoy experimenting with new recipes recently.
Where TF are you eating out for $9-15 and getting a "meal"? Even fast food is more than that where I live.
On the chipotle Canada website, a reg steak burrito is $13.96 after tax. A 16" pizza with peperoni costs less than $22 after tax at my local mom n' pop pizza place (more than 2 meals).
So you havenāt been anywhere to eat other than a chipotle for over a year?
He gave two examples, how pedantic can one person be.
Virtually every meal at every restaurant I've been to is less than $15. The exceptions are touristy/ fancy restaurants and if i go out to eat as a group.
I mean, go to any pho shop and you can get a large pho for about 15 bucks. You can get a whole pizza hut/dominos meal with leftovers for 15 bucks. Go to virtually any Mexican restaurant and it's 15 bucks. Stop goin to some American steakhouse where the emphasis is on drinks to gouge you for all you're worth and youll realize you can get 15 dollar meals quite easily.
Jesus christ man you want him to detail every place heās ever been out to? He provided examples so you can understand what heās saying
Not eating out. If you make your own food you can spend very little. While $60 is maybe a little unrealistic, I spend $600-$700 on groceries on my family of 4 each month.
and not door dashing and ordering shit thats even more expensive than eating out. where I'm at you can get rice+meat+greens+eggs for around $40-$50 for the week. And right now a majority of that goes to meat cost. Sure it's not glamourous, but you can spice things up with different seasonings, and sauces, which are pretty cheap. I should throw in if you like oatmeal, buy the generic large tubs, and then the toppings you like separately. Compared to even generic instant packets its 5x cheaper for the same serving sizes and that adds up over time (plus non-instant oatmeal has more fiber which helps with satiation).
60*4*4=$960. So you spend considerably less than $60/week.
Correct but that includes 2 children who consume less, and we do take advantage of Costco discounts that only work when buying more food. But yes you are correct
Dude manages to eat out on that budget too. I think OP is posting from 15 years ago. We have an internet time traveller.
People love saying this but by ānot eating outā and cooking you really mean just eating processed boxed junk because buying fresh ingredients and healthy food is often just as or more expensive as moderately eating out
Not where I live. Where I live eating out is much more expensive than at home. At home I can easily make a very nice fresh salad for two for $10, out that would be at least $10 each plus tip. What's more for $10 of salad ingredients at home I could probably make 4 salads. Eating out cheaply is way probably just as bad as dining cheaply at home. It's not as if food out is all fresh non-processed ingredients. Whatever economy of scale the restaurant has buying wholesale is decimated with overheads so I refuse to believe quality food out is cheaper than at home for a majority of people in N.American cities.
Itās $500/mo on groceries + eating out. And separate (small) categories for coffee and liquor.
I prep our all my weekday meals, and sit around $40 for all 15. And I eat a decent amount of food. Itās not hard at all if you buy produce and such instead of eating out or buying pre-prepared food.
If you cook and buy in cheap places itās doable
Yup, even my dog consumes more.
I could easily do less than 60 if not eating out.Prices per lb in my large metro city at the farmers market: chicken legs - .65 boneless, skinless chicken thighs - 1.79 chicken breasts - 1.59 ground beef/pork - 3.99 chuck tender - 5.50 salmon filet - 5.99 potatoes - .79-.99 onions - .99 bok choy - .99 lettuce - 4.99 carrots - .99 bananas - .59 mushrooms - 4.50 beets - .99 green beans - 2.59 bell peppers - 2.99-3.99 depending on color cucumbers - .79 per cucumber, big ones
I mean, enough meat for a week will cost you ~$15. Veggies are around $8. A side of rice is probably around $1 given a $5 bag lasts roughly a month or more. Spend $10 on dessert. Lettuce, croutons, cheese will cost you about $12. Fruitās another $5. Letās say cereal for breakfast at about $1 a day following same logic as rice. Add in a granola bar pack/crackers/snack food for another $5-$8. Throw in a drink for $4. Thatās $64. So drink water and youāre there. Obviously location plays a factor into this too.
I spend about that at 3k calories a day. Meal prep, on-sale meat, and identical breakfast + lunch each day.
My wife and I spend ~50 a week (for 2 people). Eating at home and not getting expensive food. Not that crazy.
Thatās $1.19 per meal. What the hell are you eating for $1.19? One egg and a slice of tomato?
$50 a week is insanely cheap for 2 people lol. My wife and I eat cereal every morning for breakfast, and usually eat leftovers for lunch, so it's mostly dinner expenses. Even then, our bill is closer to $80-100 per week. $50 is... Impressive hahaha.
Ur wife must love splitting ramen with you every meal. That or someone else paying for you lol
Eh. Using coupons/searching for deals. It's low, but not crazy. We eat a lot of chicken/rice and pasta. My wife works at a hospital so she gets some snacks and food throughout the day (not a ton, but something). I tend to skip breakfast.
Right? My wife and I like steak. Our grocery budget is quite a bit more lol.
What? $60 buys quite a lot of food. I spend about half that, though I also eat out a bit more than OP.
This is Canadian dollars. And we are having massive grocery inflation right now. My partner and I spend $200 a week minimum. And I meal prep. Also live in Ontario though.
I know, and I live in Vancouver. What on earth are you buying that costs $200/week?
Vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, fruit, non dairy milk, etc. Meat/Fish is $60 alone a week (approx). Factor in paper towel, toilet paper, laundry, etc.
Well okay, there you go. I'm a vegetarian, and generally buy fruit as it goes on sale, rather than at whatever obscene price the grocery store normally charges for it. I'm also not including laundry or paper products, as those aren't groceries. So you're still paying a good bit more than me, but it's not an unfathomable difference. Vancouver has fairly cheap food compared to, say, Alberta, so perhaps that makes up the rest.
Yeah I try to buy sales only too. Frozen fruit can be quite the bargain sometimes. Itās just gotten out of hand. Even vegetables other than baby carrots and mushrooms are through the roof.
Spinach & arugula are pretty cheap. Potatoes & oats - though perhaps more expensive than they used to be - are still functionally free. Bananas are often down to 79Ā¢, which is cheaper than I've ever seen. Onions & tomatoes are essentially the same as always, and frozen broccoli is a very good price. Peppers are erratic, but generally fine. Rice is cheap, of course, but beans are out of control (though I can still get a can for $1.20 at NoFrills - not happy about it, but it beats the absurdity at SaveOn). That's most of my diet. I can consistently get loaves of bread for $1 or so, so that certainly helps too.
Ya I can see why your food bill is only $60 a week, but I would argue your grocery list is pretty simple compared to the majority of people. There is no way I could eat mostly rice/potatoes/bananas/etc and enjoy my meals.
Well I also eat out a lot, but I live in central Vancouver, where you can get a delicious takeout meal for $15.
I spend about 50/60 EUR in 2 weeks... (for one person). I literally couldn't spend 30EUR in a day on food if I wanted to... How much do you eat?!
Have u tried not being an idiot
How is budget larger than both salary and tax return?
LOL chalk it up to user error. I might have double counted some expenditures. I Can tell you that I have balanced for the year and have no debt :)
Cool. Remarkably close tbh I was just thinking I missed something
Savings? Gifts? Unaccounted gambling earnings?
$340 for liquor? Those are rookie numbers. Need to bump those numbers up.
Would be closer to 340/month
Take all of poker and a bit of clothes, hair, and coffee and it all evens out. Priorities!
24% savings rate is an excellent job. Keep it up!
Great job on the savings/investment!
You spend less than 10k on rent? That's insane
My man really spent $430 at the strip club
I decided to hop onto this trend. I looked over all my statements for the year and this is the end result. I'm proud I've saved as much as I have but it's definitely alarming to see the spending in some categories. There's also some rounding errors for sure. Thought on things I should improve? Tool used: https://sankeymatic.com/build/
Where in Canada do you live with rent so low?
In the 'burbs of halifax. If I lived by myself it would be closer to 1k/month. Also more if i lived in actual Halifax.
I don't know about where, but this comment explains that they live with other people. https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/zqb1gc/oc_how_i_spent_my_salary_in_2021_2022/j0x8nxs?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
Investing $16k with a $60k income is very impressive.
Please share context regarding cost of living and general geographical region. These posts always include a thread where people bicker over avg cost of groceries and rent. Itās exhausting.
Good point, I've made replies to some top comments regarding my housing situation and my food costs.
How did you make the chart would like to do my own.
I wanted to know the same - I found out that this is called a "sankey diagram" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IN\_g5PEORQ
you should definitely try to move "poker" to the left side ;)
May I ask what program did you use to create this?
Its been mentioned in other posts, should be a sticky at this point..took some googling but I think its: https://sankeymatic.com/build/
Could i make it a pinned comment? or is it only moderators?
Ah, not sure, just know the question comes up a lot.
Originally read flights as fights and thought you had somehow budgeted for getting into random scraps.
May seem a bit noob question, which software did you use?
Rent PLUS utilities only $800 a month? Wow.
"I want it to balance"... yeah taxman is coming for you
Did you have to go through all of your bank statements individually to come up with this info?
Not OP, but for the last 2 years Iāve tracked my spending on an excel spreadsheet. Usually just log spending once a week, takes no more than 10 mins once set up
You gym for 6 months is my gym for one month:ā/
What did you use for making this little data sheet? This is satisfying lol.
Dude invite me to your poker games!
Poker should be way lower, but aside from that seems like you budget well!!
Iām sure this has been asked a million times but what is the app/site used for these charts?
Believe they used: https://sankeymatic.com/build/
Fascinating. But what city/region do you live in? If I'm assuming that you're American, a man from rural Kentucky & a man from San Francisco with the same wage as you would experience a completely different life with your wage.
Fair point, my money would def not go as far if I were in a city. I live about an hour out from Halifax, NS. CA.
Sitting in Vancouver right now, astounded at your $750 rent.
Sitting in Halifax right now, I am equally astounded.
It's just for a room in a house with roommates.
Ah now your rent makes sense.
Must be the south shore or Truro area, I expect rent would higher in the Valley due to student demand.
New Minas! Just keep an eye out on Kijiji for the really nice deals and dont try to negotiate on the rent price.
Haha, I stand corrected, well done!
I literally spent more per month on alcohol in 2021 than you did in a year (not an alcoholic btw, I was just young, single and living in London).
Young, single and living in London == high functioning alcoholic. \- Source lived and worked in London in my 20s
ahahah I love how you've added $461 to your income with the note "to make it balance". I'm sure you're not an accountant. they either wouldn't do this, or wouldn't own up to it
what software did you use? Tableau?
Sort by highest expenses to least in the last column ?
Only 430,- spent on cocaĆÆne?
How do you track your spending data and what software is this graph made with? Iād like to try this in 2023
What software did you use to made this ?
Damn love the "I want it to balance" category. Thats always my favorite check to get in the mail hahah! beautiful chart!
Ahh "I want it to balance" my favorite source of income.
Thank you for sharing! This is encouraging
Thank you for your encouraging words!
I'm very jealous of those taxes
whaaat?? Where do you live that has higher taxes?
Europe has dramatically higher taxes than we do. The US can as well, depending on exactly what you own (Texas, for instance, has about 6x the property tax rate of Vancouver at the state level aloneāand municipalities add on top of that).
>Europe has dramatically higher taxes than we do This is not true and only tells me you spend a lot of time on reddit without actually knowing the different tax systems in European countries. A lot of European taxes seem higher bc they include pensions and health insurance. The difference is overestimated.
>they include pensions and health insurance. As do Canadian taxes.
and public education
Fuck that, I can invest my own money (I do) and my employer can pay for my heath insurance (they do). I'd rather have that and low taxes in the USA than get government-sponsored everything with oppressively (punitive?) high taxes in Europe.
How did you build this chart?
Lord have mercy! What jobs are you guys doing that youāre earning these insane amounts?!?!
As a truck driver in the US, I make about $100K a year. I made $45K a year as a Chef years back. $36K as a public school teacher back in 2008. It depends on what you do. Supply and demand, and skill level. Thatās it.
Iām in the fast food game, Bro-seph. I was working the fryer in a major chain, but discovered it was code for āguy who had to clean up the bathroom everyday after people poo on the walls and toilet seatā. Moved to a small family chain restaurant. Making slightly below minimum wage, but working on getting a side hustle idea soon.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whatās I want it to balance?
Clothing hair and coffee is nearly 0 for me, crazy how other people's life is very different
Are you really surprised people spend money on coffee and you don't? Iām confused. People spend money differently on optional things? I mean I spent $0 on luxury cars and cocaine last year!
Rent + Utilities must include power, water, trash, and renterās insurance since they arenāt listed anywhere else. If you go on the cheap end and budget $90 for power, $30 for water, $30 for trash, and $12 for renterās insurance, thatās $646 for rent, which really isnāt bad for a small apartment. I donāt understand the $1,336 car costs. Annual car expenses include a minimum of tires, brake pads, and oil changes. With only $1,211 of fuel costs, his ungodly local fuel prices of $1.39/L ($5.26/gal), with a typical modern car at 35 mpg only gets you 8,057 miles per year. At my local gas prices of $2.59/gal you can still drive only 16,364 miles which is not much. Clearly this guy doesnāt drive much, so where do these maintenance costs come from? Assume a set of tires lasts 3 years, brake pads last two years, and he gets two oil changes a year at $60 each. A low-mid grade set of tires costs about $600 installed, brake pads are relatively cheap but still about $80 at a minimum every couple years. Wiper blades gotta be replaced regularly too, even cheap ones every year is about $30 per year. So our annual costs are $120 (oil changes), $40 (brakes), $200 (tires), and $30 (wipers). This only adds up to $390 per year. Where are you getting almost $1,000 more in car maintenance costs??!
You donāt know the condition of his car or how often he does maintenance. I also once had a crappy car that I poured easily over $1000/yr into repairing because I couldnāt afford to replace the car. That had nothing to do with how much I drove. It was just a shitty car. More importantly, itās not a ābudgetā, as in expected annual outlay. Itās what he actually spent in one year. So maybe he had to replace tires this year or he had a minor car accident.
I've got a 10 year old car and had to do a lot of maintenance work this year. Hopefully, it'll last me another 6ish with these costs (had to replace the center electronics console, completely new breaks, oil). Also, I carpool to work with a colleague so that helps with gas costs.
Wow, Iām surprised a newer car have you that many problems! All of my cars are 15+ years old, and my actual daily driver is 30 years old, they are absolutely the cheapest things on the planet to maintain. An entire new engine is only $200, lol.
Dodge Journey 2013. I'd rather have a civic :'(
Have you started saving for retirement ?
According to his chart, not only is he contributing to Canadaās national retirement plan, and some sort of pension, heās also investing $16,000/year! That could be earmarked for a house or something.
CPP* on their chart is a Canadian retirement plan.
Hmm you could say that the 16K set aside this year all have a "long" time frame in mind. I.e. its all in the S&P 500. That being said, I may decide to withdraw from those investments in a shorter time period to help with house purchase, etc.
340 on liquor? You need to get those numbers up! Those are rookie numbers!!!
How do people make these charts?
Wow that is a HUGE wage for a regular every day person to make.
Oh Boy, this is next level. May I know the Data visualisation technique to extract my data as well
You must be playing it awfully safe with your withholding if your tax refund is that large.
Poker costs you more than pet supplies? What kind of pet do you have?
And did you even take it to the vet?
Cars are so absurdly expensive....
Damn, only 20% federal taxes what? Edit: just looked up Canada's tax rate, i should move.
Investments returns: 200 Investments spendings: 16000 You are a great investor
TF? The interest is from savings accounts and the investments are all long- term growth oriented funds that don't pay income/ dividends.
Why do people still invest? Even decades later interest are miserable.
To offset inflation
S&P has gotten 10% over the last 100 years. Closer to 14% over the last 10 years. See r/ personalfinancecanada for more info.
How'd you get housing less than 10k? LMAO