what do you spend your money on?

duck soup

duck soup

son of a BANG son of a BOOM
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
735
Location
toronto, on
genuinely interested in this topic, because i'm often shocked to hear what people do and don't spend their money on

as for me, of course we've got the essentials:
- rent
- monthly transit pass for transportation (though my family usually helps me out with this one)
- food (maybe go to a restaurant a couple times a month; during heavy work periods i'll break down and go to places like subway because i don't feel like making anything or going home to get food)
- internet service
- tuition & school supplies

and the non-essentials:
- physical media is a big one that i should slow down on. probably the bulk of my spending...
- records (though i've eased off a bit on these)
- blu-rays & television box sets
- comics (usually keep it below $25/month and download titles i don't buy)
- coffee (during heavy periods at school, i'll go to tim hortons every single day. occasionally twice :-/)
- alcohol (pretty infrequently any more, but maybe a couple times a month)
- events (ie. the movies. these are also pretty infrequent during school when i like to buckle down)

i do not spend money on video games. i assume that's a big one for a lot of people. and i used to collect a lot of action figures, but there hasn't been a toy line in years that has interested me like palisades' muppets, which stopped being produced in...2005? and hardly ever buy books anymore, unless they're for school, and stopped buying magazines entirely.
 
it's a really odd time for me, since I'm temporarily living rent free. I'd have to imagine what it'll be again starting next month:

-rent
-food
-gas (holy shit this is a biggie with my new job being some surprisingly lengthy transit, thankfully it's cheaper in nevada than california)
-internet
-movies (once a month)
-tapped out (I swear to god I wish this was porn instead, I try to keep it to $20 a month but it always ends up going higher :()
-cat food/litter
-video games, since I'm receiving a PS3 (not a typo) for xmas and I'm going to try to catch up on a lot of gaming

back in CA I always kept a reserve for my trips to various theme parks, which I also limited to once a month, and it was usually disney. even though I would very, very rarely buy souvenirs, it usually ending up costing around 30 to 40 bucks every time for parking, food and generalities even with a pass. nowadays the closest park to me is the rinky-dink circus circus theme park (although they're opening up an sweet el loco soon [look it up], so I mayyyy have to pay a quick visit), so there's money saved there. it also helped back in CA that I worked in universal so whenever I wanted to check something out there I got in for free.

and another thing I'm not spending money on is going to shows/writers panels around town which usually was about 15 bucks a pop. I did get to meet several writers including dan harmon during that time so I definitely miss that as well.

I'm going to save money in vegas for sure, but there are things I'm going to miss.
 
What I spend money on: Paying keep (rent) takes up a large part of it. Recently I've spent a bit on video games, but I don't usually pay for that kind of thing. (Really need to go back to pirating to decide which games to get instead of going "oh it's only £4 on Steam".) I spend a lot on alcohol, and recently candy in lieu of caffeine. Delivery food, which is always overpriced. Netflix, but I don't pay to watch anything by other means. My mum still pays for my clothes, food and internet technically, so I'm hyper-aware of how much it's going to suck when that's my responsibility.

What I don't spend money on: Books - mainly because I write my own books, which takes up a lot of my reading patience, and I have the internet for non-fiction and stupid stories. Bus tickets - if someone else pays for it I will usually accept the money, but if it's my money more often than not I would rather walk. Overly expensive ready-meals. Cigarettes - back when I smoked, I smoked for free. Music - sadly if I did start paying for music again (note my huge collection of shit emo CDs) I would not know where to stop, so I would rather overpay for gig tickets and merch when the time comes. Television - if it was my responsibility to pay the TV license, I just wouldn't; hope that's outlawed by the time I have kids because I ain't payin'. Sims 3 expansions - I bought the base game but EA needs to learn the hard way not to spread the 5% of good content they create out over like fourteen BLOATED $40 discs. Old (out of original print) games, unless I can't get an ISO. (I already own copies of most of them so I'm not paying twice, but meh either way.) Education - I'm not paying that back unless I earn so much that it's hilarious.
 
These are my monthly expenses in order of how much they are:

Rent
Car payment
Car insurance
Groceries
Phone bill
Gas (usually fill up every two weeks)
Electric bill
Internet (oh shit need to pay that!)
Utility (water/trash/etc)

Other stuff I spend money on when I can:

Eating out: usually once a week, maybe twice if I got paid that week.
Video games/movies

That's pretty much it.
 
dang I almost all but forgot about utilities. I'm sure that'll figure in again soon.

parklife said:
i also forgot that i used to go to see a lot of bands perform live but, god, i think i went to...one show in 2013? bob dylan. those are usually expensive nights, especially if you're buying drinks. beer at the dylan show was $12/can!
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oh my god the bars at hotel I work at, especially the ones for the shows are insane. I think a cocktail is $14 and a shot is about $7. a bucket of beer (six cans) will end up draining you $40 (!!!)
 
I don't have a real job or expenses. I used to spend my little income on nice little treats for myself, like books, music, movies, and magazines and such. Now I spend the only money I make mailing things so I can start school, paying fees so I can start school, my phone bill, my birth control, bus fare so I can take care of shit, and on getting to see my boyfriend. Lately I have also been spending on Christmas gifts.

People say money doesn't buy happiness, but if an extra twenty grand appeared in my bank account, no strings attached, I'd be the happiest fucker alive.
 
Rent, food, car, beer, video games, movies, music, Netflix, Cox cable/internet, Sirius Satellite Radio, cell phone. I think that's really it. I get paid a pretty good amount from the Navy though, I have a housing allowance(about $1150/mo.) that takes care of my living expenses(rent, electric, water, trash, cable) and even then I don't use all of it each month, so I end up pocketing about $400 a month on top of my base pay(around $1700/mo. after taxes). Certainly never strapped for cash.
 
Komeau Kinda Khristmas said:
Rent, food, car, beer, video games, movies, music, Netflix, Cox cable/internet, Sirius Satellite Radio, cell phone. I think that's really it. I get paid a pretty good amount from the Navy though, I have a housing allowance that takes care of my living expenses(rent, electric, water, trash, cable) and even then I don't use all of it each month, so I end up pocketing about $400 a month on top of my base pay. Certainly never strapped for cash.
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supernatural-mouths-open.gif
 
It should be noted though that the apartment I live in has a rate of nearly $1700 a month, but it's a three bedroom place that I split with two other friends, so we each pay $580 a month for rent(which is really good for the area). And our electric is around $100(split three ways), and water is about $50(split three ways). Trash and sewage is already included in the rent.

And Netflix is $8/mo., Sirius is $12/mo., Cox is $98/mo. for both cable/internet, cell phone is $85/mo., car is $290 for payment, $150 for insurance, about $100/mo. for gas.
 
Rent/mortgage
Utilities (gas/electric/water/internet/trash)
Gas
Cell phone
Groceries
Credit Cards
Netflix
Restaurants and fast food
Entertainment (movies/shows/bowling/casino/Dave & Busters/hookers)
Video games (I maybe buy one game per month, often retro)
Airplane tickets (usually once or twice per year)

Still holding out from getting cable or a dish... Been just roughing it with a HD antenna and Netflix combo for now. AT&T keeps pestering me to bundle their U-Verse TV but I keep trying to save the $20-30 per month. Mostly because I'm just really cheap.
 
all my budgeting is by term because that is when my grant comes in

three biggest expenses:
Bills
Food
Train Tickets

then I have my monthly spotify & netflix and my ONM subscription every 3 months

the rest varies month-by-month depending on what i want and how my budget is looking after my money for train tickets and food has gone out (amount of times I go home varies a lot and same with food)
i barely need books for my course but occasionally they spring one on us and i have to quietly weep as i click "order" on amazon and cancel my preorder for charming nintendo game 3: 3d edition.

tend to buy a few games of varying price ranges a term
 
According to my credit card statement it is 69% food and the rest "professional services." Of course I barely use it so it's not super accurate.

But:

Rent/mortgage/utilities (goes to parents, includes cable and internet)
Monthly/yearly subscriptions/services like Hulu, Netflix, PS+, Amazon Prime
Bills (pediatricians, other doctors, credit card)
Baby stuff (her food half provided by WIC thankfully)
Dog/cat food
Boring shit like groceries and toiletries and attire
Fun stuff (games, movies, Groupon activities)
"Stuff my husband needs or wants"
Soon to go to student loans as my forbearance ends
Soon to get monthly bus pass again until I get a car, where I will then have to pay for that shit too.

We had it fairly easy since we live with family and pay half the rent and utilities. Soon we will have a mortgage and higher bills to pay (until we get photovoltaic) and there's some work to be done on the house. I can keep at least 75% of my paycheck for myself but once we move I'll get anywhere from 25% to 50% of my money each month which means sacrificing some things.
 
my paycheques go towards rent, my RRSP and other investments, food, dental bills (really eating into me, these are, no pun intended), and what little is left over maybe on stuff like movies and magazines
 
Since I chose to be a college student with an apartment at my university, right now my money goes toward:

- rent
- electric/heat
- trash
- Internet
- gas
- food
- phone cards
-textbooks

That may not seem like much, but it really does add up and given the fact that my job is somewhat seasonal, I lose major income over the winter months. I'm lucky that my parents pay for my car insurance so that I can pay for my schooling, and they still help me with food. Next year when I commute, I won't have house bills anymore, but I will spend a lot on gas and start paying my car insurance, although I don't think those will be nearly the amount I spend on bills. Hopefully I will have a different higher paying job til then, and so will have more income to spend on video games, jewelry, and can start saving money for my own apartment and a new car. Although I may not spend much money on myself at all so I can save for those other things.
 
Well I still live with my parents, because you know, every bill is paid for them, so I just spend them on non-essential stuff like:

-Comics

-Consoles and games

-Art material

-Food

-Internet
 
When I do get a job and money:

-Driving courses (1 100$)
-College fee (approx. $300, raises to $1 000 at the end of the year)
-Gas to get to college probably (a lift) - er, maybe 30$ a month?
Might do to the groceries once in a while.

Yeah that's it. Don't think I'll get my own place in 2014. 2015...could see it.
 
Dobbie said:
When I do get a job and money:

-Driving courses (1 100$)
-College fee (approx. $300, raises to $1 000 at the end of the year)
-Gas to get to college probably (a lift) - er, maybe 30$ a month?
Might do to the groceries once in a while.

Yeah that's it. Don't think I'll get my own place in 2014. 2015...could see it.
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you should put some commas in there so you don't confuse us normal folk ;)
 
Normally whatever is required to stay alone and to cover yourself, other than that if i have anything extra it goes straight in my belly :D
 
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