Monthly Spendings

More like spending too much on car/insurance/gas.

By food/entertainment I mean going out.

wiktoro wrote: ↑ Hello,
Im Setting up a personal budget and am trying to figure out how much I should spend per month on food and going out. I’m 19 and am living at home with my parents. I take home $2200/month. My expenses are: car $350, insurance $410, phone $95, gym $30, gas $150. Up until now ive been spending $200 on Food/entertainment and saving the rest (~$900).
My question is, am I spending too much on food/entertainment?

No, but you're spending a lot on that car of yours...

since you're likely not paying room & board living with parents.....

over $900/mth in vehicle costs is a huge amount of money as a percentage of your take home pay, thats 41.3% basic, then there is oil changes, maintenance, repairs, license sticker etc, probably close to 45%

can you/would you use public transit & for other travel maybe a taxi?

if you are firm on keeping the vehicle, maybe re-look at vehicle insurance alternatives & coverage - just do basic basic insurance

do the numbers see how they work compared to vehicle cost/maintenance, gas, insurance & depreciation to a combined public transit/taxi & maybe bum rides.

see if you can get a better deal on the gym costs, such as pay as you go or even the local community centre gym?

$95/mth for a phone plan is also too much, try to get this down by at least 25%, shop around

as for eating out & entertainment, $200/mth is less than $50/wk calendar week, around $7/day average. - I don't see this as an issue for a 19 year old, I would have guessed more.

redoing your budget on the vehicle costs, phone & gym membership you could probably save that $200



.

May I recommend a template kind of like this one for your spreadsheet. This is like what I use.



What is a good/bad budget will always bring differing opinions. Everyone has a different lifestyle. The most important thing is are YOU happy, both now and into the future? Do YOU make use of your expenditures to get the most out of your life, or do they go to waste?

That being said, based on 2200/month net and your current spending for each category, that financial picture is not out of the ordinary. What you spend for each is pretty typical. Just note that you can't afford to move out unless you have roommates, and even if you do, you'd likely save little to none. If I were you, saving and budgeting wouldn't be the first concern - but finding higher income (or another income source) be it. If I were in your shoes, I'd look for another part time job immediately to raise your monthly saving rate to 1600/month minimum. That way, when you do move out, at least you have a little leeway. If you do not, at least you'd be within first home downpayment range in 1-2 years.

wiktoro wrote: ↑Hello,
Im Setting up a personal budget and am trying to figure out how much I should spend per month on food and going out. I’m 19 and am living at home with my parents. I take home $2200/month. My expenses are: car $350, insurance $410, phone $95, gym $30, gas $150. Up until now ive been spending $200 on Food/entertainment and saving the rest (~$900).
My question is, am I spending too much on food/entertainment?

Car insurance is $410/month?! Holy crap. How many DUIs do you have? Lol.
Or, am I just being naive and this is a consistent rate in Toronto? (I don’t live in the GTA).

$200 on going out isn't too bad but the $95 phone bill is quite a lot. What carrier and plan are you on?

410$ a month on insurance... that's almost 5000$ a year.... freaks me out. This and the phone bill 95$ which I think is a bit expensive.

OP, you definitely must find ways of reducing those insurance premiums...you're not getting any of that money back in your pocket! Look into en route dongles that monitor your driving habits and yield instant rebates on auto insurance. Consider insuring the vehicle under one of your parents as primary (especially your mom assuming she drives), that might knock it down. At 19, owning a car isn't cheap. OTOH, once your car financing is paid off, you'll have a real strong credit score and history.

Gas at $150/month is fair. Cellphone bill is high unless you have iPhone X or Galaxy Note 8 on there. I think $200/month for recreation is fair...that's roughly what my "fun money" budget was when I was in school.

I guess the ultimate dillema is...ditch the car (and start taking public transport or Uber) or get a better paying job or second job. Even better if you can do both.

Can’t you go under your parents insurance policy and pay less for insurance? It would be cheaper than an individual policy

Arkaine wrote: ↑ Car insurance is $410/month?! Holy crap. How many DUIs do you have? Lol.
Or, am I just being naive and this is a consistent rate in Toronto? (I don’t live in the GTA).

That's pretty normal for someone in GTA, GVA, or Edmonton area with little to no driving experience, or has ample driving experience but a bad record. It is normal for someone starting out to pay $4,000 - 5,000 for a year with complete coverage. Most people ditch the collision coverage and choose to drive a cheap vehicle when first starting out, as the bulk of that cost is due to the collision coverage cost (where then the cost of the collision coverage over a year or two is almost the cost of the car itself). Without collision coverage, it drops to more like $2,000 or less for the year.

Perhaps that is a beautiful piece of advice for the OP - to get a cheap vehicle and not bother with collision coverage. There's another $200+/month in the pocket.

No, you are not spending too much. The goal of completing a budget is to help you determine how much you wish to spend in each category. It's your money and it is up to you how you wish to spend it. Your goals and wishes are different from every one else.

ProductGuy wrote: ↑ Can’t you go under your parents insurance policy and pay less for insurance? It would be cheaper than an individual policy

He's still the principal driver though, so his driving exp. would have a direct effect on insurance rates.

skeet50 wrote: ↑ No, you are not spending too much. The goal of completing a budget is to help you determine how much you wish to spend in each category. It's your money and it is up to you how you wish to spend it. Your goals and wishes are different from every one else.

Well yes it's his money, but since he's never left home he may not realize how crazy it is to spend nearly half your income on car expenses.

pseudosammich wrote: ↑ He's still the principal driver though, so his driving exp. would have a direct effect on insurance rates.

He can become the secondary driver, but then that's only if his folk are going to do that for him. Given he's already shelling out that much, likely that's a no.

I don't really think there is a lot you can do. You can definitely look into a cheaper cell phone as $95 is ridiculous -- I don't think I know anyone who pays over 50 or 60.

I'm guessing the $350 per month is on a lease or financing for the car? You're probably better off finding something you can afford and buying it outright instead of paying each month (though if you're locked in then that's easier said than done). If you do that for 5 years, that's approximately 20 grand. What type of car could you own for 20 grand that would last you more than 5 years? Pretty much any used car on the market...

FirstGear wrote: ↑ He can become the secondary driver, but then that's only if his folk are going to do that for him. Given he's already shelling out that much, likely that's a no.

This is only applicable if there are not as many cars as drivers. If you have 3 cars at a residence and 3 drivers, everyone is automatically a primary.

gorillatomato wrote: ↑ This is only applicable if there are not as many cars as drivers. If you have 3 cars at a residence and 3 drivers, everyone is automatically a primary.

Are you sure? Whenever you apply for insurance for a particular vehicle the firm usually asks to designate a primary driver, and then a secondary one as optional.

My pay is going to go up since I’m doing an apprenticeship in electrical so in about 4 years time I’ll be making $45 an hour instead of $17. I’m stuck with the car as my plan is to pay it off by the time I move out and not to have a car expense. One thing I did with insurance was get the Automerit program which will save me $100 per month starting October.