None of the above. for us it is child care

Will be interesting to see the results.

In the UK the housing prices are extortionate. You would pay around 100 pounds a week for a rented room (bills included) or 100 pounds a week for a studio apartment (without bills) and this is outside major cities. On top of that, you must pay the council tax of approx. 1000 pounds a year depending on the region. I’m a student and don’t have a job yet, but standard net starting wage for graduates would be 12-16k pounds per annum which means that 40%-50% of net income goes to covering the most basic housing arrangement.

one difficulty i have as an extrovert is interacting or leaving my socioeconomic class.

you’ve talked about the senseless acts of eating at restaurants / drinking at bars, which my peers adore. i’ve mitigated some of this through interactions with local groups that perform some purpose (sport and volunteer). however, there naturally seems to be an eventual drift to restaurants and bars. it’s just awkward, to me, going to those places not eating or drinking anything.

and on the flip side, so far i have a hard time mentally engaging with lower socioeconomic classes. i know there are very intelligent people in those crowds (like most of my friends from college who resisted a high paying career path); i’m having a hard time once again finding this nexus. as well these crowds eventually learn about my “noble” engineering field which “must pay a lot,” and creates (again, to me) weird financial expectations.

i think one solution is to move out of the crappiest apartment in a nice neighborhood to a somewhat safe apartment in a seedier neighborhood. my current tool of craigslist to find roommates then becomes much less useful.

Hmm, the survey is missing the option: “I’m happy with my spending and I’m on track to retire when I want.”

Having said that, I think personal finance is simple, but humans tend to have a lot of trouble just doing the things we know we should. Maybe the root is that our decision making is emotional and not rational. There may also be more to it and I’m interested to read Jacob’s thoughts.

This is a weird question to me–I’m not totally sure what the question is. I think what you are trying to get at is which categories seem to have plenty of room for improvement, but we feel we are spending too much and haven’t been able to reduce our spending much even with some effort or at least with some thought. And so I picked transportation–by getting rid of my car, especially if I got better at bicycling, I could greatly increase my savings without much reducing my happiness, but I don’t want to get rid of my car.

As far as what’s holding me back from retiring tomorrow, I’d say that I want a certain standard of living both now and after I retire. I’m not currently willing to do the things I know about that can lower my expenses (or raise my income) beyond those that I am already doing, so I have to settle for a later retirement. So another possible answer is that what’s holding me back is ignorance about all the things I would be willing to do–either I’ve never even thought of them or, because I’ve never tried them, I don’t realize that I’d be willing to do them.

Finally, the last time I was wondering where all my money went and so I kept track of every penny for a while, the problem turned out to be that my roommate was often late in paying rent. He doesn’t mind paying on time, but I have to actually remind him every time. While he still has money and while he is in a position to write me a check.

Housing is 70% of my total expenses(though
only 21% of my gross income).I sold my house in 2006 and moved to a 2 bedroom b 1000 Sq, ft. Apt. 3 miles from work,where I pay $1200/month…which I find bothersome but is typical for Miami unless
you are living in “Da Hood”.
Still..It does bother me to pay that much…
Most of the space in my Apt. is for my 10,000+
record collection..and being extremely introverted(I’ve been called anti-social on many occasions),even the thought of having
someone living with makes me anxious,though my lease allows it.
Food is another issue..I find myself spending
$500/month on just for myself…and I never eat out,order in,have stuff delivered or buy
processed food.
Other than these issues,I keep my other living expenses very low,with an occasional indulgence
in Casino gambling,which is my only actual reason for getting out of the apartment except for work and errands.
Compared to my few acquantances,I’m doing OK
financially..very little debt and saving almost 35% of my income …But at age 53 I wish I’d had started much sooner to be able
to retire early.

Costs are fine but rural underemployment is my problem. I know the answer is to cut costs to match income and we’re working on that. Some costs are hard to cut: insurance, heating, vehicle.

Traveling for me, but that exactly what I would do if I were to retire early.

I am retired but my biggest expense in 2010 is now my health insurance+dental expenses, mostly the former. This year they overtook my housing costs (all co-op maintenance expenses less property tax rebates) as my #1 expense by $16 a month. The HI premiums went up 20% in 2010 while the maintenance was just about unchanged (and rarely rises or drops much from year to year) so the HI will likely go up and up and up at a pace much higher than the maintenance.

@Kym, the freezer is your friend. You can make a family-sized portion of something you like and split the leftovers into single-sized portions. Keep one in the fridge for quick re-heating and put the rest in the freezer. I do this all the time. And depending how often you visit your relatives, you may save money by renting a car for those trips and getting rid of your car. I did this for four years, renting to visit my relatives who were 200 miles away 2-3 times a year. (When I was traveling every other weekend to visit a boyfriend, it was cheaper to own my own car.)

@vga, on the one hand, you can interview people, lunch with them, and visit them at their place before offering to let them live with you, so they aren’t a complete stranger (and of course you continue getting to know them after they move in, so they don’t remain strangers). On the other hand, even people you know well may turn out to have many traits that you discover only after they move in. On meat, I like to mix my hamburger 50/50 with hydrolyzed vegetable protein—I tried just using half as much hamburger, but I missed it. Also, even vegetarians don’t have trouble getting enough protein—beans or nuts and grain make a complete protein (peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter toast, peanut butter oatmeal, banana nut bread, beans and rice, and bean burritos are my favorites) and most dairy products also have loads of protein (milk, cheese, yogurt).

Books and coffee! I luv both and without them I would save more but my life would be dreary and depressing:) I don’t mind buying used books and going to the library and I’ve recently joined a book swap so I’m getting better at managing this addiction. I only buy coffee at mid-range coffee shops (not Starbucks). I sometimes brew my own coffee at home but I take pleasure in reading a book with a cuppa joe at the bookstores around town. I don’t have debt and my retirement savings are quite good so I allow myself a few luxuries to make life joyful.

My wife and I look at this info once a month. Yesterday was the day.

Our budget breakers are in two areas. First Health care continues to go up. With premiums ,copays and prescriptions we spend over $700 per month for a family of 5.

For us that’s more then housing, more then food, more then taxes, more then trasportation, and utilities. Its crazy.

ANother area is spending on kids activities such as a camp each summer, tae kwon do, soccer, school picts, trumpet lessons, camping trips …each kid deserves something fun to do we think.

Mom and dad have the same deal. We call it mad money. We each get $100 ea per month to spend however we want….well not completely free (use your imagination of what the wife won’t go for). Mine goes for kiteboarding equip.

ANyway those two are our two areas we chose to spend on. Take away the marriage, kids and family health care we could retire many years earlier. They are also what brings us lots of happiness to our life. So it will just take a little longer.

My weakness might be cable TV. I usually watch about 45-60 mins worth on weekdays, and on weekends usually a movie and/or a sporting event. For what I pay for it, I think it offers me good value in terms of cost and entertainment.

It’s not really all that expensive, and as a percentage of my income it’s about 1%, so I can rationalize it and say it isn’t going to make much of a difference. On the other hand, there are times when I say to myself “If you’re really serious about this, you’d get rid of the stupid cable bill…” I know there are clever ways to substitute for having cable– like getting DVDs at the library.

I still have cable, so maybe that’s my weakness.

I would like to see the results of that survey.
My major costs are child care when I have to travel, food (I only eat organic x2) and my cable,internet bill because my family moved in with me, (mom, 4 brothers) and of course, the Big One: Medical and dental for myself and my 18 months old child.

Wish I could find ways to cut down the medical side,but my child has asthma and seasonal allergies, so medical is the one thng I will not change or do without.

Education? I guess I’m the only one in grad school…

Well, it’s like this with me. I don’t owe anyone anything but taxes and utilities, and that has been my thing for several years. Taxes and utilities are recurring bills that you must pay unless you go to wood and coal oil, and evade the tax collector somehow.
So what you do is this. As early as possible, you get everything you need paid for. You get a home (unless your lifestyle is mobile) and you pay for it so you own every nail in it. (For highly mobile people renting could be a better alternative). You do the car trick so you always pay cash for those. You never finance anything that depreciates, or consumes itself in use. Repeat: Never.
You therefore obtain cash flow by keeping what you earn/have earned. So you increase your income by reducing your need for cash, because your cash stays yours, and earns more cash for you. Want more money? Easy, reduce your need for it to outflow from you to someone else. Balance your spending-to- income ratio. Soon your writing a check for everything you buy, but it is your money, and you find you would rather saw off your leg than let it go for something you really don’t need. Then you find you have happiness and a serene life. Your looking for a roof, warmth/cool, a place to cook some food, security/personal safety, health, future.
In the end of this drill, you are set, you find what you need to be contented and it really isn’t that hard if your dedicated to doing it. It is really just common sense.

I know what my biggest costs are: Housing and transportation.

And both are completely my fault.

My problem is that I know what I need to do financially, but it is way to easy to just stay in my own routine.

I only live 1 mile from work so I could easily sell my car and be done with it. Yet I keep making excuses for why I need it, the main reason being my parents/siblings/relatives live about an hour away, so I feel I need a way to get to them if need be.

Also, my 1BR apartment is extremely convenient to work/grocery/safe area/everything else so I am reluctant to move farther away from my job to save a bit on rent. However, I should look into getting a roommate. My problem is I feel I am too old to live with strangers (just turned 30).

I think I just need to suck up my pride for a few years as I could definitely retire in my 30′s if I was willing to do so.

Jacob your path is so clear yet so hard for me to follow. I honestly don’t know what my problem is. It is definitely a psychological problem not an intellectual one.

I am going to have to go with healthcare. My husband and I are still on track to retire early, however he was diagnosed with cancer last year. Even when he is cured I don’t think we would be able to afford healthcare ( or even be able to get it) if we retire early. Until something in healthcare changes I may just have to work employer benefits. ( usually not offered with part time work)

@tracysimplylivinginspain – I’ve found education expenses to be a significant hurdle towards ER. Of course private schooling is optional depending and where you live and what your priorities are, but if does end up to be deemed necessary (as in your case) it can be outrageously expensive. And then, of course, there are college fees to follow…

My income is my biggest problem. I managed to only spend a little over $12k last year but since I only made about $15k I didn’t make much progress towards FIRE.

Definitely food. A lot of the problem is a big lack of time and ease of access to take out or more expensive food. Friends suggest meeting in places that are too expensive- got caught the other day with that one bigtime but could have gone for cheaper options!!!!. However, am still justttttttttttttttttt making savings goals

Yes, then your kids go to college…My single Mother struggled to put me through a very expensive private high school (now costs in the area of 30K per year — insane!) but luckily I was smart enough to want to attend UCBerkeley, which at the time cost something like $600/semester in fees (not anymore, I know). Lived at home the first year until I could support living on my own with part-time jobs. Am hoping my kids do something similar… But to tell you the truth, I am seeing less and less usefulness in a college education…

@vga

Can’t help you with your first issue (nice housing is expensive). However with the second, I think you can seriously consider reducing your meat consumption. For myself, I haven’t gone completely vegetarian but I only eat meat occasionally and certainly not at every meal.

There are many well documented vegetarian athletes so it can be done without affecting performance (I’m not just talking about long distance runners, but athletes who need significant all-around muscle mass). I suspect though that you’d need to be much more careful about planning your meals though.

@slim
I can justify spending that 40k a year for preschool because it’s a guarantee that she’ll have a “safe” ride into the other schools. I know it’s a lot, but aside from education, it’s access to connections to other parents that are in positions of power, and her classmates will also be growing up within an enriching environment. Success breeds success. She’s young enough to be molded a bit. I want her to have access to a world I couldn’t have as a child because in the long run, I can see her being self sufficient. She’s pretty smart already, and very curious. I’m trying to get her the best education I can while she’s still wanting to learn a out everything. She’s also gifted in dance. She’s 18 months and can keep beats n has rhythm. I’ve yet to meet another child that can do that. So, I’m doing all I can to keep her “entertained” her way n learning.

50k for college? Hmmm…my parents never paid for my schooling. I believe college is something every child should pay for. It increases the chances of them not wasting their time since they to earn their keep. I’m attending an Ivy League school n to me, it’s more about networking than it is the education.