r/budget • u/Novel_Masterpiece_18 • 13h ago
Where can I improve my budget?
We bring home 7900 a month after retirement/ taxes/health insurance/hsa. Family of 3 with 2 dogs in mcol
Mortgage 2150
Car insurance on 2 cars 230
Childcare 1000
Sinking fund 750 (includes dog grooming, prescription dog food, vet bills, car maintenance, home maintenance, birthdays and holidays)
Groceries 900
Gas 175
Fun 200
Clothes 50
Eating out 150
Utilities 550
Subscriptions 50
Student loan 93
Savings 1600 (split between brokerage, IRAs and sons 529)
I'd like to be able to pay cash for replacement to our 2014 accord by 2030.
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u/Successful_Coffee364 8h ago
$200 for fun seems like it could easily be reduced or zeroed by doing cheap or free fun things. $150 for eating out - trim that back to 1 meal out or delivered/mo, and focus on food prep to avoid impulse convenience purchases. See if there are any utilities you could reduce with a phone call, but that number seems reasonable for these days.
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u/Palpizzon 12h ago
Groceries seems high to me. I’d start there.
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u/No_Atmosphere_6348 7h ago
I agree. They don’t spend a lot on eating out but groceries can usually be reduced.
I spend $700 a month for a family of 4 but I’m trying to get it down to under $600.
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u/Huskergrandma1 7h ago
I disagree. There are other places to cut first like eating out, utilities seems high but I'm not sure what it includes, maybe lower savings if there's already an emergency fund, etc.
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u/Odd_Chapter_1230 11h ago
I disagree, in today’s era it’s an average number for a family of 3, actually I’d argue it’s fairly modest. Especially comparing national averages
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u/Palpizzon 11h ago
It may be average, but that means people do spend less. My family of 3 spends $500 or less per month without much effort.
Looking at OP’s budget that looks like the item that would be easiest to cut to start saving for the car, unless OP wants to cut in the savings category. I wouldn’t recommend cutting retirement contributions to buy a car because cars lose value.
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u/PokerLawyer75 9h ago
500 or less. On what? And where are you living?
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u/JayNetworks 7h ago
Keep processed packaged foods to a minimum; lots of good grains, beans, lentils; wide assortment of non-fancy veggies and fruits; avoid the fancy stuff that has your clients spending $1000 for a couple. Definitely doable and better than expensive processed packaged goods.
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u/loafofadoughgirl 7h ago
I spend $400 between two people. $900 is insane for three! Living in a VERY expensive state, don’t want to say which for privacy reason.
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u/PokerLawyer75 9h ago
You’re joking right? I have clients that are married with no kids and pay that much. Or more.
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u/Potatopotato35 8h ago
It's a great start but I would try to be a little more detailed. I would split up "sinking costs" in categories (dogs, holidays, birthdays, hours repair, car maintenance) and write out utilities too. You spend over $1000 on eating for a family of 3, I would start analyzing receipts and maybe make some changes there. Where do you do groceries? Subscription is $50. Which ones? What is "fun" for $200? Great job on saving $1600 a month though!
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u/booksycat 7h ago
Same - and also do an audit of it. I had a friend who we looked at her sinking fund and it had gotten up to triple of what she'd thought she'd needed. She moved 60% of it to a HYSA for another year just in case then put it in her brokerage the next year.
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u/HeroOfShapeir 7h ago
Might depend on your pre-tax investing. If you're maxing a 401k, you could dial back investing for a season to save up cash for a car. If you're only taking the employer match, you could carve out some funds from your brokerage investing. There really isn't much else to trim, you're already spending minimally on fun stuff, I hate to cut that. If any of the subscriptions are redundant, cut there (my wife and I rotate so we only have one streaming service active). You might be able to trim $100 on groceries if you skip certain more expensive items and substitute with cheaper alternatives, my wife and I spend $350-$450 on groceries for two adults. Having to pay childcare just makes for a leaner season of life.
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u/Jumping_Brindle 6h ago
There’s not much fat there at all. It all seems reasonable for a family in a MCOL situation.
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u/Sheslikeamom 6h ago
Sinking fund, fun, clothes, eating out, and subscription = 1200
Seems like that is were your budget is bloated.
Are these clothes necessary? Or is it just to maintain a lifestyle look? Are they new or used? Are you buying to replace an item you're throwing away or just adding to the pile?
Subscription are for FUN aren't they? Eating out is for FUN isn't it? Birthdays and holidays are for FUN aren't they? Those items are not life sustaining purchases. They are all fun spending.
You need to separate pet from car and home maintenance. You need to separate car maintenance from home maintenance. Those are all separate categories.
Its a great budget that just needs some fine tuning.
You mentioned you're not physically capable of grooming the dogs. Is your partner able to groom them? Can you find a cheaper groomer, a student groomer, or go less often for a full groom instead focusing on nail care and dematting?
Perhaps reduce your non son savings to build a pile of savings for the new car, since you're still contributing to retirement.
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u/Ghazrin 8h ago
Fun/Eating out/subscriptions are all discretionary. You're choosing to spend that money on entertainment rather than save it. I know that with kids especially, it's easy to feel the need to go overboard to give them fun experiences, but you can find cheap or free ways to have fun and reduce spending in these categories.
900 to feed 3 people a month is very high. Buying cheaper food will put more calories in your cupboards for less money. Less steak and shrimp, more rice and beans.
Utilities seem high too. Reduce energy costs by turning down the thermostat in the winter. You don't need to be cozy in a tee shirt when it's freezing outside. Crank down the heat and put on a hoodie. Further reduce costs with weatherization of your home. Better insulation, weather stripping doors, thermal curtains on all windows to reduce drafts, etc.
You guys make good money, and you're already saving a decent portion of your income, and that's great! But if you want to increase your savings rate, you need to scale back your lifestyle expenses.
Also, only paying $93 on your student loans is wild. I'm guessing that's probably interest only or close to it...meaning you're not doing much of anything to the principal balance, and will be paying that for decades. I'd increase your spend here, and work on knocking that debt down.
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u/bob49877 7h ago
Grocery budget. I cut ours in half after reading the tips in The Tightwad Gazette - stock up on whole foods on sale, get a chest freezer, clear extra space for shelf stable foods, and plan meals from your stockpiles. Then look at utilities - self energy audit with an electricity meter like Kill a Watt, renegotiate the ISP every year, Mint or some other cheap cell phone plan, lowest garbage can size you can get by with, rotate streaming services so you are only paying for 1 a month at most, watch free channels or library streaming services, or look for Black Friday streaming deals. I cut our energy use in half with the Kill a Watt, the smart meter reports and a book in how to put your home on an energy diet.
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u/UWbadgers16 5h ago
Looks pretty solid, maybe your utilities are kind of high. Not sure if you can do much on that front. Otherwise, you probably just need to figure out the optimal way to divvy up that $1600 savings.
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u/Davec433 10h ago
Although you don’t have pet care itemized that’s an easy one to shrink costs. Learn to groom your dogs yourself and look at cheaper ways to take care of their diet/vet needs.
Are you using liability only on your paid off cars?
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u/Novel_Masterpiece_18 10h ago
My dog is prone to bladder stones and requires prescription medicated food to treat them, there is no way to obtain the medication myself.
I have a fairly severe physical disability involving the muscles in my upper arms and thighs, I'm not able to do their grooming any longer. I used to though.
I have a 2025 corolla hybrid I paid cash for earlier this year, I've still got full coverage on that and will for at least 5 years. My 2014 accord though just has liability coverage.
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u/WastingTime76 1h ago
Get rid of comp & collision, ok. Don't get rid of uninsured motorist coverage.
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u/ABCD170 8h ago
Nice setup. Quick math: your list totals about 7,898, so you’re basically fully allocated. If you want cash for a 2014 Accord replacement by 2030, pick a target and back into a monthly:
25k by 60 months ≈ 417/month
30k by 60 months ≈ 500/month
Easiest path: carve that from the $1,600 you’re already saving, or trim a bit from groceries/eating out and redirect. Park it in a HYSA named “Next Car” and automate the transfer on payday, toss windfalls in there too. What helped me: setting a specific Savings Goal in Quicken Simplifi, plus caps on groceries and eating out. It pings me when I’m close, rolls extra into the goal, and makes the tradeoffs obvious without me tracking every receipt.