Budget Update

what's the $47 you pay for education?
edit- are you working out? considering you sit on a chair so many hours/day, exercising should also be on your routine imo

lol sounds really boring being responsible for a family and careful with expenses.
btw.... car payment = bought car on finance? what sort of interest do u have to pay on car finance?

this is good stuff.

suzuki sx4 tho? this thing looks ugly as ****
i'd suggest something like Audi A6 (avant, wagon, sportwagon how ever you call it) with right engine it will have space and not expensive
also Honda accord, mazda 6, subaru ?

Yea I kind of like it. Will try to do something similar when I've moved. Before that it just seems really hard to get a handle on what I spend money on.

On March 27 2012 11:55 Raidern wrote: what's the $47 you pay for education? edit- are you working out? considering you sit on a chair so many hours/day, exercising should also be on your routine imo

The education was just some books and supplies my wife needed for her classes. I'm not really working out right now, but we have a pool so in a few weeks I will be able to swim in the mornings. We also have a treadmill/elliptical but it doesn't get much use. I'm also considering using my Bicycle/attaching a baby seat to it and taking a few bike rides per week. The library is only a few miles from my house so it wouldn't be too hard of a ride to take a few times per week, and could be something to do with our daughter after we are down to one car.

On March 27 2012 12:02 Ket wrote: lol sounds really boring being responsible for a family and careful with expenses. btw.... car payment = bought car on finance? what sort of interest do u have to pay on car finance?

Car interest is obviously rape, I think around 5%, but considering that the money is leveraged meaning I get to use the difference in my bankroll, I think I get a better than 5% return on the money not being used to pay it off. I'd like to be free of a car loan by the end of the year though, it's one of my top goals.

On March 27 2012 12:07 dUUd_ wrote: this is good stuff. suzuki sx4 tho? this thing looks ugly as **** i'd suggest something like Audi A6 (avant, wagon, sportwagon how ever you call it) with right engine it will have space and not expensive also Honda accord, mazda 6, subaru ?

I certainly wouldn't mind getting a wagon, or a late 90's accord but my wife suffers from the myth that SUVs have more interior space (not like we use it anyways) than wagons. I think she actually just likes being up high and feels safer on the road though. That and there's a mental block about owning a cheap car.

Also, I kind of like how the SX4 looks. Here's a side-by-side of it and our current SUV (Hyundai Santa Fe).


Kind of quirky looking I guess, and less trunk space but I don't mind, and I hear it's fun to drive, and is one of the only decent SUVs that come with a 5-speed. Will try and test drive one soon and post how it rides.

-wh00sel

On March 27 2012 11:34 thewh00sel wrote: SPOILER: Sorry no bird/spider tattoos in this post.

lol

sounds good to me, 6.7k is alot :o gl etc!

Hm.. how can you spend such an absurd amount of money ;o.

I think even $5XXX monthly is insane.

I spend about $600 a month! Anything over $1.5k a month is insane

On March 27 2012 13:56 Twisted wrote: Hm.. how can you spend such an absurd amount of money ;o. I think even $5XXX monthly is insane.

I know kind of embarrassing, but obviously trying to get my costs down. Some stuff is not going to change like 2k /month for mortgage, and $400/month in health insurance for my family. But hopefully by cutting out some unnecessary stuff we will just have mortgage, utilities, gas/insurance, food, phone bill, internet and that will be it by the end of the year. That will still be like 4k per month though, but that will be cutting my costs in half since last year so I would be pretty happy with that.

WTF? Entertainment 4.99

On March 27 2012 15:38 casinocasino wrote: WTF? Entertainment 4.99

rented a good movie if u know what i mean

Why is your mortgage payment so big? what are the terms?

On March 27 2012 13:56 Twisted wrote: Hm.. how can you spend such an absurd amount of money ;o. I think even $5XXX monthly is insane.

Given its family expenses and given they pay about $2k mortgage I dont think its absurd, just somewhat high.

Btw Whoosel, what system do you use to track your expenses?

I'm surprised to see so many people think he's spending a lot. My average monthly alcohol expenses alone have his current total beat (although the average drops every month by a lot since black friday).

I like this blog a lot, seems like a fun and objective way to be smarter with your money.

On March 27 2012 16:02 Joe wrote: Btw Whoosel, what system do you use to track your expenses?

I use mint.com. Not sure if it's available for people not in the US but it's very nice free tool to give you a big-picture overview of your financial situation. Links up to your bank accounts/credit cards, etc. sidenote about it that's kind of cool: Some young kid invented it and then sold it to a company (chlorox I believe) for many millions.

Yea mint is sadly only working with US banks

noice. def gotta get out of debt asap. I was going to say 2nd hand toyotas are cheap and really reliable, but that suzuki looks pretty perfect for what you want.

how is your health/fitness so high? i work out like 25 days a month doing a lot of different activities (bjj,snowboarding,rock climbing, golf, etc) and mine is probably like 400 tops.

but overall my expenses are probably something like 7-8k a month. lots of travel, high rent costs, often have 2 apartments at the same time, spend a shitload on food every month (2k) and dont even really party that much but when i do it contributes.

jesus it really is kinda nuts. ive probably spent on average 6k a month for the last 3 years and i dont even own a home. if i was a single guy living at home with my parents and didnt travel much im guessing id be about 50k richer a year.

On March 27 2012 16:39 Daut wrote: how is your health/fitness so high? i work out like 25 days a month doing a lot of different activities (bjj,snowboarding,rock climbing, golf, etc) and mine is probably like 400 tops. but overall my expenses are probably something like 7-8k a month. lots of travel, high rent costs, often have 2 apartments at the same time, spend a shitload on food every month (2k) and dont even really party that much but when i do it contributes. jesus it really is kinda nuts. ive probably spent on average 6k a month for the last 3 years and i dont even own a home. if i was a single guy living at home with my parents and didnt travel much im guessing id be about 50k richer a year.

Health is high because it includes health insurance (418/mo for 3 people) and two hospital bills from an ER visit a while ago that we are paying off ($610 /mo). The only good thing about hospitals is that if you call them and tell them you can only afford $X per month after you get your bill, they will usually let you pay that without interest so you don't have to put it on a credit card or shell out the cash right away. That 610 will be gone within 6 months or so, and then it will just be 418+34+ random co-pays for checkups and whatnot so that will help lower expenses.

How is your debt? Do you have any such as credit cards/outside loans? I always start there when looking to reduce finances, since interest is just lighting money on fire. Any money WASTED is money which can be saved.

34/mo is totally fine for gym membership imo. You have to think about what you'd have to pay for a home gym, a few hundred for a squat rack, another 50-100 for a bench and ~ $1/lb for used plates, and more for anything else you would need. No reason to skimp on gym memberships if the gym has everything you need imo.

you need to put more money on entertainment.. so life goes ez

your blog is always interesting, don't stop! I always thought health insurance wasnt crazy expensive (canada eh) until a family member in states told me they pay $2k a month for health insurance for family. Your $400 still seems crazy.

Keep grinding and hopefully once you play 10/20 money will be less important yo

On March 27 2012 21:18 Highcard wrote: your blog is always interesting, don't stop! I always thought health insurance wasnt crazy expensive (canada eh) until a family member in states told me they pay $2k a month for health insurance for family. Your $400 still seems crazy. Keep grinding and hopefully once you play 10/20 money will be less important yo

eh, 2k/month seems a little extreme, must be some unique circumstances. If through your employer, most solid insurance plans will run a family between $300-$500 for top level service. If you are self-insured because you're self-employed or something then I could see it as high as $1000-$1500 for a family with top level service. Unless he has a bunch of weird pre-existing conditions and shit they're charging extra for.

good for u posting this man, i pay like double this haha

On March 27 2012 17:29 NewbSaibot wrote: How is your debt? Do you have any such as credit cards/outside loans? I always start there when looking to reduce finances, since interest is just lighting money on fire. Any money WASTED is money which can be saved.

No CC Debt, just car loans which I'm trying to take care of. The funny thing with poker is that we need so much liquid cash available that it can become worth it to have a loan on a vehicle and eat the interest because the 5% (or whatever) that you are losing is much less than the value of the car (say 15k) is in your roll. It's a similar concept to "Do I pay off my mortgage or invest in index funds." If your home mortgage is 5% and stocks typically appreciate 7% then you are better off in stocks. Just saying sometimes there is more to consider than just if you have a debt or not.

On March 27 2012 16:20 thewh00sel wrote: Show nested quote + On March 27 2012 16:02 Joe wrote: Btw Whoosel, what system do you use to track your expenses? I use mint.com. Not sure if it's available for people not in the US but it's very nice free tool to give you a big-picture overview of your financial situation. Links up to your bank accounts/credit cards, etc. sidenote about it that's kind of cool: Some young kid invented it and then sold it to a company (chlorox I believe) for many millions.

And how do you track your cash transactions?

On March 27 2012 22:15 NewbSaibot wrote: Show nested quote + On March 27 2012 21:18 Highcard wrote: your blog is always interesting, don't stop! I always thought health insurance wasnt crazy expensive (canada eh) until a family member in states told me they pay $2k a month for health insurance for family. Your $400 still seems crazy. Keep grinding and hopefully once you play 10/20 money will be less important yo eh, 2k/month seems a little extreme, must be some unique circumstances. If through your employer, most solid insurance plans will run a family between $300-$500 for top level service. If you are self-insured because you're self-employed or something then I could see it as high as $1000-$1500 for a family with top level service. Unless he has a bunch of weird pre-existing conditions and shit they're charging extra for.

yes your theories are correct on the situation

On March 28 2012 03:30 Joe wrote: Show nested quote + On March 27 2012 16:20 thewh00sel wrote:   On March 27 2012 16:02 Joe wrote: Btw Whoosel, what system do you use to track your expenses? I use mint.com. Not sure if it's available for people not in the US but it's very nice free tool to give you a big-picture overview of your financial situation. Links up to your bank accounts/credit cards, etc. sidenote about it that's kind of cool: Some young kid invented it and then sold it to a company (chlorox I believe) for many millions. And how do you track your cash transactions?

There's a mint mobile app, all you have to do is tap one button to add a transaction and then just type in the dollar amount and the location, a nifty feature.

The one thing I don't add to my expenses is things like tipping valet and cocktail waitresses (I'll never add tipping dealers because it's pretty much rake, must be done). Considering adding those tips in as business expenses just to see how much I'm really spending on that stuff. I'll keep track of it for April and see how much I spend on it; I think for Valet I probably spend about $75-100 per month depending on which casino I go to since some you don't need to valet park at. Cocktails I used to spend several dollars per day but recently I've been bringing my own water to cut costs there.

On March 27 2012 16:11 Smuft wrote: I'm surprised to see so many people think he's spending a lot. My average monthly alcohol expenses alone have his current total beat (although the average drops every month by a lot since black friday). I like this blog a lot, seems like a fun and objective way to be smarter with your money.

lawl stnd