"But I won't do that...." (budget related)

[alisoncooks]

DH & I are talking ways to pinch pennies.  We've totally cut down on extras; we're selling whatever we don't need to keep (considering selling our 2nd vehicle which would probably suck and honestly won't give us much $).

 

Anyway, I'm willing to do a lot of sacrificing.  Sandwiches for lunch (I loathe sandwiches).  Super low heat over the winter (that's okay...I can layer).  

 

But when DH brought up delaying when we turn on the air conditioning this spring, I channeled my inner Meatloaf:

 

"I would do anything for love to save money, but I won't do that.

No, I won't do that."

 

 

(Ugh, I cannot stand being hot/humid in my house!  That's the line we cannot cross...not even for frugality.)

​What's your line?  What can you NOT give up?

[kewb]

I am with you on the ac. I can deal with being hot but if it is humid the AC is being turned on.

[SKL]

Yeah, I like climate control.  And warm showers.  I can't think of much else that I would not do without.  (Of course "won't" doesn't really mean "won't," but rather "that would be the last to go.")

 

I like being able to do extracurriculars for my kids and send them to a good school.  However, if it came down to it I would take them out and make the best of our additional free time.

[Ann.without.an.e]

I am with you on the a/c.  Even if it isn't turned super low, we need it to reduce the humidity.  We can't open windows and use fans because of allergies.  

 

 

[Ravin]

We live in Arizona. A/C isn't optional once the temps get above a certain point. We do try and set the thermostat so that it's just tolerable in the warmest rooms in summer, and vice versa in the coldest rooms in winter.

[Heatherwith4]

A/c is mine as well. Food and internet are close behind.

[Cosmos]

Good coffee and internet service.

 

We already have just one car, no AC, keep the heat low, no cable, low cost phone plans, etc. But we buy expensive locally roasted coffee and internet service costs a decent amount. I wouldn't give up either of those unless things were pretty dire. 

[Ann.without.an.e]

Good coffee and internet service.

 

We already have just one car, no AC, keep the heat low, no cable, low cost phone plans, etc. But we buy expensive locally roasted coffee and internet service costs a decent amount. I wouldn't give up either of those unless things were pretty dire. 

 

 

 

Yes, these are a must here too. 

[JudoMom]

Good coffee and internet service.

 

We already have just one car, no AC, keep the heat low, no cable, low cost phone plans, etc. But we buy expensive locally roasted coffee and internet service costs a decent amount. I wouldn't give up either of those unless things were pretty dire.

Are you me? This is my answer.

[Spryte]

Good coffee and internet service.

 

We already have just one car, no AC, keep the heat low, no cable, low cost phone plans, etc. But we buy expensive locally roasted coffee and internet service costs a decent amount. I wouldn't give up either of those unless things were pretty dire.

Coffee was my first thought, too. :D

 

I can’t give up AC totally either. We live in a humid area and our home is not built for not using AC. When it went out a year or two ago, it was 104 in here at night. That’s not doable, for me. Even with fans. I pass out in heat

 

Meds. A snafu with our health insurance last year meant that DS and my monthly meds were in the $1800 range. I could suffer through the effects of giving up one Rx, but everything else was necessary to stay alive. That got it down to &1500 or so a month - it was painful.

 

We only have one car. We are pretty careful with a lot.

 

But AC, meds - not negotiable.

 

And coffee. :D

Edited February 21, 2018 by Spryte

[Scarlett]

There's not much I say I WONT give up.....I lived without AC all the time I was growing up....it does seem unbearable to me now and I don't remember it being that bad as a kid....but I think I could manage it. Less cooking, line drying....some things like that would make no Ac less horrible.

 

I don't want to have to give up wine. But it is an expense for sure.

 

My vehicle would be the thing I would hang on to the end. I live very rural though.....so there is that.

[Georgiana Daniels]

Toilet paper. Until recently, I didn't realize that people really do this, and it's just something I won't give up. Also, I won't give up internet because that's the only way I can make money without going out into the world to work. Hmmmm.....I guess those are the biggies.

[SparklyUnicorn]

my line involves food...I'm not willing to live on rice and beans or that sort of thing...obviously if the alternative was starving then the point would be moot, but that is not the case

 

 

[BarbecueMom]

I wouldn't give up the little space heater I use year round in the master bathroom. It turns my little closet of a bathroom into a cozy paradise.

[Zinnia]

AC is a big issue here. We live in a house we can afford, a little below market rate. We are likely here another 18 months (then plan to buy). Last spring, our roof was replaced, and now, all summer, our AC doesn't really keep up. It's hot in here from about 1pm until midnight from July to September. It's at least 80+ in here the whole time. It starts to cool off after midnight, and the early AMs are tolerable.

 

Long summer last year, and we are looking at at least 1, maybe 2, more. But moving is costly, and it will set back our goals. So another hot summer it is.

Edited February 22, 2018 by Zinnia

[Zinnia]

Oh, and even on a tight budget, I scrounge coins for my coffee and half and half.

[vonfirmath]

We live in Arizona. A/C isn't optional once the temps get above a certain point. We do try and set the thermostat so that it's just tolerable in the warmest rooms in summer, and vice versa in the coldest rooms in winter.

 

Honestly, A/C is always optional. Even in hot and humid. It's not pleasant or something one WANTS to do. But it was lived without for centuries before it was invented and people lived in these areas and even now, there are people living without it.

 

I grew up in Houston, TX and we did not turn on our A/C.  it was more important to my mom to have money for a two week vacation in the summer so we dealt without the A/C.  She strategically opened and closed windows at different times of the day to cool the house down in the morning. We spent a LOT of time at the pool, even starting the day out there as part of the swim team in the summer. And we sweated some, and drank a lot.

[PeachyDoodle]

Ugh, my dad used to refuse to turn on the a/c until the 4th of July. We live in the South. It was miserable.

 

We ran our a/c last night for awhile. It's unseasonably warm here, but still February. Suffice it to say, we don't like to be hot!

[wintermom]

I'd get rid of the second vehicle right away. It's not just the money you would potentially generate from the sale, but also you eliminate the cost of insurance, maintenance, gas, repairs, parking, etc. It's about $8000/year to own a car.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'd get rid of the second vehicle right away. It's not just the money you would potentially generate from the sale, but also you eliminate the cost of insurance, maintenance, gas, repairs, parking, etc. It's about $8000/year to own a car.

 

See that is something I am not really willing to get rid of (the second car) unless I was desperate.

 

I definitely don't spend 8000 a year on it though.

[wintermom]

See that is something I am not really willing to get rid of (the second car) unless I was desperate.

 

I definitely don't spend 8000 a year on it though.

 

Are you positive? Have you actually done the math. My account has and he has 2 PhDs. I believe him. 

 

And even if it's $5000/year, you can ride the taxi quite a bit before you get to $5000 in fares.

Edited February 21, 2018 by wintermom

[Tap]

For me, I need warmth.  The AC I can do without, but if I get too cold, I shake violently  and I can't stop until I get warm again.  We keep the house at 70, and I could do 65 with layers, but if it dips below 60 I am pushing it to stay in motion constantly or I will start shaking and can't stop. 

 

We used to go to a 3000 sqft cabin with vaulted ceilings, that was buried in feet of snow in the winter. It would take a couple of hours to get the house upto temperature with the heat pump, space heaters and oven going.  I would leave on my ski coat, grab blankets and sit over a heater vent until the house warmed up.  Then, I would carry in our supplies.  LOL

[SparklyUnicorn]

Are you positive? Have you actually done the math. My account has and he has 2 PhDs. I believe him. 

 

I absolutely AM sure.

 

But I drive a Kia.  So just...NO WAY am I spending that.  Last car I had was also a Kia.  I had it for 15 years.  Payments were around $250 a month for 5 years.  I think I spent about $5000 total in 15 years on repairs and maintenance (generous guess).  Much less than 1000 per year on insurance, but go ahead and figure that for simplicity.  Then a bit for registration and inspections.  In terms of gas...well when I got rid of that car I had 55K on it.  So you can imagine how much I drive. 

 

For a more expensive vehicle for someone who drives a lot more, maybe it gets closer to the 8K. 

[Ethel Mertz]

I can't give up AC for medical reasons. And, as a cancer survivor, I don't want to give up eating as organically as I can. Every thing else I'm fine with sacrificing. Except TP.

[JudoMom]

I absolutely AM sure.

 

But I drive a Kia. So just...NO WAY am I spending that. Last car I had was also a Kia. I had it for 15 years. Payments were around $250 a month for 5 years. I think I spent about $5000 total in 15 years on repairs and maintenance (generous guess). Much less than 1000 per year on insurance, but go ahead and figure that for simplicity. Then a bit for registration and inspections. In terms of gas...well when I got rid of that car I had 55K on it. So you can imagine how much I drive.

 

For a more expensive vehicle for someone who drives a lot more, maybe it gets closer to the 8K.

We're around $5K/year on two vehicles with 3 drivers. 1999 Saturn and a 2005 Odyssey (this gets almost all the miles, which is over 100/week). There's no way we could taxi/Uber for less than owning/fueling/maintaining/insuring the two vehicles. Edited February 21, 2018 by JudoMom

[SparklyUnicorn]

We're less than $5K/year on two vehicles with 3 drivers. 1999 Saturn and a 2005 Odyssey (this gets almost all the miles, which is over 100/week). There's no way we could taxi/Uber for less than owning/fueling/maintaining/insuring the two vehicles.

 

Exactly.  Now granted I'd spend less if we went down to 1 car, but I'd still have to either pay something for some other form of transportation and/or do a lot more driving (driving DH to work and back on days I needed the car which wouldn't work sometimes so I'd need to pay for something else).  It is my one area of "splurge".  But if we were spending 16K a year for 2 vehicles..NO WAY could we afford that.

 

Uber only very recently became legal where I am too.  So prior to that it was the city bus or the city taxi.  The bus is limited.  The taxi is a royal pain if you want a ride outside of the city. 

[DawnM]

Are you positive? Have you actually done the math. My account has and he has 2 PhDs. I believe him. 

 

And even if it's $5000/year, you can ride the taxi quite a bit before you get to $5000 in fares.

 

Your accountant has 2 PhDs?  What are they in?  That seems odd to me unless he is teaching in a Univ.

[Laura Corin]

Toilet paper, I agree.  Warm showers in winter.  A location where I can exercise in some way (walk, run, swim - I'm not fussy).  Basic tea.

 

I've lived with heat and humidity without air conditioning and I adapted.  I don't mind wearing layers in winter.  Buses are fine - we plan on giving up the second car fairly soon.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I would assume estimates on what one would spend for transportation would be based on individual factors (type of vehicle, area you live, how much you drive, cost of gas, cost of insurance, how long you hang onto your car, etc.).  So how could anyone come up with an amount that would make sense for even most people?

 

 

[DawnM]

We don't spend a lot on our cars.  My husband is very handy and mechanical and does the work on them himself.   

 

We have a 2004 Sequoia that runs so well we drove it to CA and back this summer without worrying at all.   We have spent *maybe* $6,000 on it total in 13 years (other than the cost of the vehicle.)

 

Our last two cars are both 2014 hybrids.  We haven't needed any repairs on those yet.  One we bought new the other we bought used.

 

 

[Arcadia]

Are you positive? Have you actually done the math. My account has and he has 2 PhDs. I believe him.

 

And even if it's $5000/year, you can ride the taxi quite a bit before you get to $5000 in fares.

Parking is free because my husband’s office provides employee parking and every where we shop has free parking. San Francisco has paid parking but can be validated by purchases and we rarely go there. Parking is free at our home of course.

 

Insurance is around $300 annually as our car is already 11 years old and paid off.

 

The biggest maintenance bill was $1,500 a few years ago, most years was zero to $200. Ours is a Toyota Corolla and parts are easy to come by so the mechanic doesn’t charge much for parts. It’s very low maintenance.

 

We live about 8 miles from my husband’s workplace. Taxi cost at least $12 one way. Gasoline is at $3.09 per gallon on the weekend. Our sedan gets 30 miles per gallon easily for work commuting so less than $3 round trip for gasoline cost for work commuting. Uber would charge between $9 to $27 per trip as there is no fixed rate. Light Rail to work cost $2 per trip flat rate.

 

ETA:

Our car cost us $14k when we bought new from a dealer in 2006. So not that pricy either. We also have a car loan for only three years so after that car insurance costs go way down once there is no car loan.

Edited February 21, 2018 by Arcadia

[elegantlion]

Ugh, my dad used to refuse to turn on the a/c until the 4th of July. We live in the South. It was miserable.

 

 

 

My dad wouldn't turn ours on until 4th of July either. I remember crying being so hot on some evenings, trying to get cool air from the fan in the window. It was miserable and I swore to never do that to my kid or my adult self. 

 

Internet is my thing. I love feeling connected and can do so much at home (when I'm at home lately). 

[DawnM]

I will NOT live any further out of a city than we already do.  I already feel we live too far out.  I don't like it.  I want to move closer in to the city.   I am a city girl.  

 

Other than that, good coffee, good friends, and good wifi and I am good.

[alisoncooks]

I'd get rid of the second vehicle right away. It's not just the money you would potentially generate from the sale, but also you eliminate the cost of insurance, maintenance, gas, repairs, parking, etc. It's about $8000/year to own a car.

 

 

Well, we own the truck (no payments).  We think we can sell it for 2-3K, after some tidying up and replacing a belt (which we already have, just need to climb up in there and do it).

 

The main reason we're considering it is that DH will be in the hospital for 1 month.  He is not allowed to drive for 100 days after his transplant (so says the paperwork) = so another 3-4 months.  Assuming no complications here.  So the truck will not be used for 4-5 months.  

 

He does need a vehicle for work, if he's able to return in August, but we might can get by until my vehicle is paid for (November) and then pick up a cheap 2nd vehicle.  That way we're not paying insurance (full coverage) for these 6+ months...

 

 

Long story short...we're debating but it seems worth pursuing (depending on what we can get for the vehicle).

[Rachel]

See that is something I am not really willing to get rid of (the second car) unless I was desperate.

 

I definitely don't spend 8000 a year on it though.

We don’t spend that much either on 2 cars. Not even when we bought tires. My husband does all maintenance himself which is a huge cost saver.

[JFSinIL]

a/c here is mandatory. I am home most of the days, and can not take the humidity. We periodically get letters from ComEd during the warm months noting how we are using much, MUCH more energy than our neighbors. Excuse me, this is a large, five-bedroom house, at least one person is home during the day, and yes we are going to use more than the folks not home in the daytime, or those with much smaller houses or no a/c (this is an older area - houses range from 1880 to 1929, then a few post-war, and most have a window unit or two, not full a/c)

[Cosmos]

Obviously, the $8000 figure must be an average and it will vary considerably among individuals. But one would have to make sure to include the cost of the car, whether that is through payments or cash. For example, we paid $15,000 for our car nine years ago, and will probably be replacing it next year. So, dividing that payment over 10 years gives us a cost of $1500 per year just for owning the car (minus whatever we can sell it for -- probably not a lot). That cost would be higher for a newer vehicle but on the other hand, maintenance would probably be less. 

 

Gas and parking depend on how much you drive and where you live. I don't see how getting rid of a second car reduces that expense.  Changing your driving habits certainly can, but that can be done regardless of how many cars you own.

 

(ETA: In fact, occasionally having only one car forces us to drive more than if we had a second one, in a situation where one person needs to be dropped off/picked up. But for us other factors outweigh that occasional occurrence by far.) 

 

Anyway, I do think it's worth making these calculations. More info means better decisions. But I wouldn't take average figures and assume they apply to everyone equally.

Edited February 21, 2018 by Cosmos

[wintermom]

Obviously, the $8000 figure must be an average and it will vary considerably among individuals. But one would have to make sure to include the cost of the car, whether that is through payments or cash. For example, we paid $15,000 for our car nine years ago, and will probably be replacing it next year. So, dividing that payment over 10 years gives us a cost of $1500 per year just for owning the car (minus whatever we can sell it for -- probably not a lot). That cost would be higher for a newer vehicle but on the other hand, maintenance would probably be less. 

 

Gas and parking depend on how much you drive and where you live. I don't see how getting rid of a second car reduces that expense. Changing your driving habits certainly can, but that can be done regardless of how many cars you own.

 

Anyway, I do think it's worth making these calculations. More info means better decisions. But I wouldn't take average figures and assume they apply to everyone equally.

 

That is the definition of an average. ;) It incorporates a range.  How am I supposed to know a person's insurance cost or the amount they drive, the age of the vehicle?  Not to mention, I'm in Ontario, Canada where our gas prices are higher than pretty much anywhere in the US. 

 

I'm pretty sure my accountant doesn't mean it costs $8,000.00 either. But I know darn well he will help me figure out the exact cost, just as he's done this with hundreds of clients over his 30+ year career. 

 

I'm also pretty sure few people on this board have calculated the exact cost of their vehicle every year over the past 20 years. But my accountant does that for lots of people every year, year after year. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Right now we have two car payments which is painful as hell, but it is what it is.  We got away with no car payments for the 10 years prior.  HOWEVER we are still paying just a little over 500 a month.  So doing the math, we still are not at 8000 a year for even two cars. 

[DawnM]

I can say for sure we do not pay $8000 a year on either of our cars.  It is probably even less than $8k a year combined.

 

The math-

 

I spend about $70 a month in gas.  Round that up to $100 just to be generous because there are some months we have to budget more if we have an extra trip or two to Indy.  I have run the odometer and I average around 500 miles a month.  So that totals $1200

 

Our maintenance budget is $150 a month, that covers both vehicles.  DH does our vehicle maintenance which keeps the cost down.  Although we do use some of the $150 to help DD22 with her vehicle sometimes, just divide that by 2, so it works out to $900 a year.  We could round that to $1000 if you want, so we are now at $2200.

 

Vehicle insurance on all three cars is about $200 a month.  Even though it's not evenly divided, if I just straight divide $200 by 3, then multiply that by 12, I come up with $800 a year. 

 

Which brings the total on my van to $3k.  There aren't many other odds or ends left.  Plates are only like $60, I can't recall the last time I ran the thing through an actual car wash, we don't have vehicle inspections here....I can't think of much else.  It only cost $2600, we have had it for about 3 yrs, so I suppose you could tack on that $860-ish if you wanted.

 

I suspect this is probably where your accountant got the figure from

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/total-cost-owning-car/

 

and it looks like car payments figure HEAVILY into it.  Yeah, if your monthly car payment is FIVE HUNDRED a month, I can certainly see how that would jump your annual cost to $8k.   Since we don't buy brand new cars, and we don't buy cars on payment (haven't had a car loan in almost a decade) our vehicle costs are substantially lower than $8k, even though we drive older vehicles. 

 

Now, we drive older vehicles and I would say that in that decade, we have probably spent about $9000 total buying cars.  I would have to go through paperwork to get exact numbers and I don't want to do that.  But lets just round that up to $10k, in 10 yrs buying new to us cars, which includes the van I mentioned.  SO....looks like we spend $3k a year on my van, so lets say another $3k a year on DH's vehicle.  So $6k for 2 cars.  Add in the cost over the 10 years of replacing cars, we are looking at $7k per year, for each of us to have a vehicle or about $3500 per person. 

 

 

You know, I am pretty sure we couldn't do the kind of driving we do in an average year by using a taxi.....but I may just have to look that up.  This has been an interesting exercise, thank you for letting me think this out "out loud"

 

Using that calculator, and if we are including gas and insurance into the mix, yeah, maybe $8,000/year for THREE vehicles.

 

My teen is now on my insurance and that is $300/mo with him on there.  

Gas runs about $200/mo?

I currently do have a payment of $218/mo for my vehicle with 1% interest.

 

We haven't paid much for maintenance because DH does all the work.

 

Before my son got his license, we had 2 cars with $0 payments and insurance was $135.  So, it has gone up to about double by adding those two in.

[DawnM]

Right now we have two car payments which is painful as hell, but it is what it is.  We got away with no car payments for the 10 years prior.  HOWEVER we are still paying just a little over 500 a month.  So doing the math, we still are not at 8000 a year for even two cars. 

 

Including gas and insurance?

[solascriptura]

I won’t give up eating a lot of produce. Fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive so a lot of our food budget goes there. I don’t worry about organically at all, but I need fruit and veggies.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Including gas and insurance?

 

Rounding up to $550 a month x 12 = $6600

insurance is $90 a month x 12 = $1080

 

So yeah we are nearing 8K with that.  Gas...I don't know what we spend, but DH put 3000 miles on his car last year.  I put in a similar amount.

 

But this really is not even close to 8000 a year for one car.  We had our last two cars for 15 years.  Car payments were similar.  Insurance was similar.  Gas consumption similar. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well actually for years insurance was lower because the cars were cheaper to insure for awhile.  That went up when we bought the cars. 

 

 

[GinaPagnato]

Wait, what?? How is giving up TP even a thing? What's the option??

 

:svengo:

[Murphy101]

Dbl

Edited February 21, 2018 by Murphy101

[4Kiddos]

Well, we own the truck (no payments).  We think we can sell it for 2-3K, after some tidying up and replacing a belt (which we already have, just need to climb up in there and do it).

 

The main reason we're considering it is that DH will be in the hospital for 1 month.  He is not allowed to drive for 100 days after his transplant (so says the paperwork) = so another 3-4 months.  Assuming no complications here.  So the truck will not be used for 4-5 months.  

 

He does need a vehicle for work, if he's able to return in August, but we might can get by until my vehicle is paid for (November) and then pick up a cheap 2nd vehicle.  That way we're not paying insurance (full coverage) for these 6+ months...

 

 

Long story short...we're debating but it seems worth pursuing (depending on what we can get for the vehicle).

 

Could you just do a Non-operation registration for those 4-5 months? I am not sure what state you live in but you can do a non-operation registration here and not pay insurance. Then you could keep the truck and it will just sit and wait for it to be used again and go back to operation registration. Especially if your husband needs the truck for work it could just sit there and not cost you anything and then you won't have to try and purchase a new truck in 4-6 months.

 

Also, there is no way that our vehicles cost $8k a year and we live in an expensive registration/insurance state. Ours didn't even cost $8k when we bought them! Well, this year we bought our 12 passenger van to hold all the kids- purchasing it cost $4,500 and it needed a new battery and it will need tires. So with the cost of it, plus battery and tires, plus registration and purchase tax and insurance we might spend $8k. We buy used cars and take good care of them- well my husband does. Most of the time if something breaks he can fix it himself. Does that include all the gas for driving too? Because maybe then we would spend $8k for both in a normal year but I don't think even then.

Edited February 21, 2018 by 4Kiddos

[Arcadia]

Well actually for years insurance was lower because the cars were cheaper to insure for awhile. That went up when we bought the cars.

Once we paid off our car loan, our car insurance drop by a lot due to not needing to maintain tippy top coverage. We actually didn’t factor in the reduction in car insurance cost when we opt for a 3 year versus a 5 year car loan offered by the dealer since we paid $350 per month maximum for the 3 year loan. When the car insurance agent explained that we can’t reduce coverage because of the car loan, we ended up downpaying the car loan as fast as we can.

[Pawz4me]

I suspect that depreciation would be included in the annual "cost" of vehicle ownership? And for many vehicles that would be by far the biggest "cost."

 

[Murphy101]

Are you positive? Have you actually done the math. My account has and he has 2 PhDs. I believe him.

 

And even if it's $5000/year, you can ride the taxi quite a bit before you get to $5000 in fares.

Not here. Is easily hit $5k within a couple months if I had to use a taxi. It’s $25-30 just to go 5miles.

 

The only reason I have a second vehicle now is because I inherited my dad’s truck with 498000 miles on it this year. I’m not parting with that truck for any amount of money. The insurance addition to our policy was $20 a month. We spend about $30 a week in gas. Oil and misc monthly care is averages about $3k a year.