What is your core monthly expenses?

[z31maniac]

Mortgage: $380 (my half, wife and I split most everything down the middle)
Utilities: $175
Speed 3: $400
Car insurance/cell phone: $140
Student loans: $250
Gas: ~$200 now with premium closing in on $4
Food: $200
Health insurance: $250
Alcohol/bar/restaurant: Not sure, but I know it's shameful (maybe $450-650 depending on the month). The wife covers most of those since I pay for our health insurance.

~$1800

[EndreM]

Rent $1500
Food $700
Gas $400
Insurance $350
Phone $60
Internet? $80

[Sparkle']

Rent 500
Cell phone 90
Utilities 70
Cable 35
Bike payment 420
Insurance 200 (full coverage on bike, liability/unisured motorist on e30)
Gas 200 minimum
Food 200-300
Ccard atleast 50
Dog 30
Total: $1,430-1,530

And I have no idea where the rest of it goes...

Could it be bars? ;)

[evandael]

not including tuition...

rent + ulitities: 500
food: 150
gas: 50
car insurance: 50
random shit: next to 0

$750 ish?

luckily my parents pick up the bill on the health insurance and phone, which is old and not a data plan anyway. if not for that i'd probably be up around the $1000 mark.

[Wh33lhop]

Rent and utilities $850
CC $40 minimum, usually I pay $100
Phone bill $100
Insurance $150
Food $300
Gas $300

Total almost $2k.. ouch.

[5spoke]

Rent $1600 (apartment with garage)
Food $350
Gas $150ish
Car payment $400
Car insurance $120
Motorcycle insurance $30
Internet/TV $100

$2750 +/- some other things, like car maintenance, any entertainment, autocross entry fees and so on. Probably closer to $3000-3200 after all said and done.

[DEV0 E30]

I need to add my shit up.. hmmm?

Good thing I'm under my parents insurance umbrella, by myself, with over 18 tickets and 3 vehicles, that would be pricey.

I think everyone should use MINT to be honest. Great way to adjust your spending when you can see it all in front of you. If you just jot down this and that you don't have the full picture.

Plus who doesn't love pie graphs? Well maybe not if you're spending more than 2/3 of what you make.

[QUKBMER]

2800.00

[ACMF74]

:curse: when I just think about it.

[Jand3rson]

Blow.

[delatlanta1281]

3k with everything.

[rwh11385]

A whole lot.

There's fixed installments and regular expenses, but those are determined by long term decisions and usually aren't as easy to make changes as monthly discretionary spending. (Mortgage, rent, student loans, car payments, auto insurance, utilities, etc. = not making a quick difference really) And all of these are automatic debit from savings accounts.

I usually cycle quite a bit on the CC, but save money in multiple savings accounts on INGDirect for ones like clothes and ski/golf stuff, car repairs, donations, lawn care / house renovations, and travel which pay off those occasional big expenses.

Mint.com is good for those who want help tracking spending. I do my own thing with downloaded activity and excel, but that's just my preference and habit. Use stacked bar charts and line graphs to see if I'm letting an item get out of hand or doing better at controlling spending. Every $ used on a credit card for the last 34 months tracked makes predicting a budget easier and seeing trends, seasonal or with changes in situation.

[Jand3rson]

(Mortgage, rent, student loans, car payments, auto insurance, utilities, etc. = not making a quick difference really) And all of these are automatic debit from savings accounts.

I LOVE automatic debits. Forces me to pay things on time, which is great, and takes a huge load off my mind. And Mint.com is GREAT.

[rwh11385]

I LOVE automatic debits. Forces me to pay things on time, which is great, and takes a huge load off my mind. And Mint.com is GREAT.

Word. I forgot to add mention of the complex web of finances. ING helps with ability to transfer between two external checking accounts, but with automatic transfers you can just set up and forget about fixed expenses in XYZ account. (I got referrals if anyone is interested) Things are kinda separate in my mind between spending on CC and fixed/regular in accounts, and don't worry about stuff I don't control (not on the plastic)

But got the idea from http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/
I was pretty good with money a few years ago (tracking and such) but took me up another notch. Well worth the $ and time reading for anyone wanting help in the subject matter of this thread.

[Rau]

Rent - $900
Food/Gas - $300
Cable/Internet - $137
Cell ( family plan ) - $141.75
Student loan - $114
BJJ Gym - $89
Insurance ( car/renter's ) - $60

Total - $1,738.75/month