What is the dollar amount on being frugal?

[Roger Vi]

Being frugal is a trait many of us share on this site. Most of us started out with some type of personal finance or investment book that preached being frugal and spending your money on solid investments instead is the way to build wealth. I have always had this mindset but after reviewing my current budget I realized I have slowly added many unnecessary "luxury" expenses to my monthly routine. Money has been good to me the last few years and I remember telling myself at some point that I deserved all these things. But I still think it is important to stay frugal to reach my goals quicker. I want to ask everyone on this site a simple question. HOW MUCH MONEY DOES YOUR HOUSEHOLD SPEND A MONTH? The average person spends more than they make, but I'm not comparing myself to average and neither should anyone else on bigger pockets. I want to know what the investors are spending on themselves every month. Goal of this post is to get a dollar amount on being frugal. Obviously it matters how big your household is, so if you have kids maybe post your expenses before kids and after kids if you can remember. My wife and I spend just under $3000/month total. This includes our primary home mortgage, food, gas, car expense, home bills, cell phones, restaurant budget, entertainment.... Everything we need to survive month to month. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE EXPENSES FOR INVESTMENTS (Such as yard work for rentals). Thanks in advance to everyone that contributes. It would be nice to have an idea what everyone considers frugal while I re do my budget for next year. Your income and net worth are not important for this post, I just want to see how frugal investors are regardless of where you are in your financial journey.

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Roger Vi 

  nice job keep at it....

I look at it in decades.. when I was pumping gas in 1970  for 1.20 an hour and got a job bagging groceries for 2.73  I thought I hit the lottery.. then I thought 10 bucks an hour how could spend all that money.

1980  selling RE making 4 to 5k a month and thought I was pretty dog gone rich.. Had a home car bought an airplane then I had 2 kids and airplane went by by.  So I could run all of that off of 3 to 4 k a month.

by 1990  things got very expensive in the BAy Area RE wise.. so 2 to 3k a month became the mortgage payment.. and one needed 7 to 8k to live. and raise kids.

2000.. WEll now your travelling kids are in college and 10 to 15k became what was needed.

2008  well us RE guys or at least Me got crushed and negative 10 to 20k a month became the norm for a while... UGH.

2010 recovery mode and now ... at my age with what I like to do 15 to 20k is minimum to live .. I know it sounds sick but that s what it is... could I do it on 5k a month.. I guess as I have no real debt other than a mortgage payment under 2k a month.. but could I really do it.. NO way.

[Joshua D.]

My wife and I live on $1,675 each month.  Personal expenses only.  

We currently save about %40 of our income. 

[Kirk R.]

Couple areas that I think many people have an opportunity to save are:
1.  Cell phone - Mine runs $30 a month through t-mobile

2.  Cable - I just have a 25 mbps internet connection that runs me $34.99/month

Talking to one guy - his was $85 for cell phone - and $90 for cable/internet - $110/month in cash flow he could free up.

Cars are another:

All mine are paid off and I don't carry collision/comprehensive.  Between insurance and car payment this is easily $300/month maybe as high as $600 in cash flow freed up.  I'm not driving a 2014 car for sure though.

One question I have is - What is the lowest price for rental house insurance?  I have a quote for $500 - but I talked to one investor and he was at like $250 per year.

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

We live off right now $2500 because I downsized while my husband is deployed. Personally we our goal is to live off one income and save the other. This allows us enjoy life will still having money for investments. The sooner rather than later goal is that the investments fund themselves so we can enjoy the one income and reinvest the investment income.

[Long Khang]

we live under $1500 monthly,  no mortgage,  no car payment,  no credit card debt.