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Yesterday I looked at our spending for the trip to Disney World. We spent $537 for food, averaging about $30 and $20 per day each. This includes the $31 meal at Boma. Thus it was cheaper than the meal plan they offer, and much more flexible. We especially enjoyed this flexibility when we were at Epcot during their food and wine festival. There were probably 20 different carts each serving three different snack-sized dishes and some wine from a different country. Mmm, we had lots of fabulous snacks on two days.
We also spent some money on souvenirs, gifts, and health supplies. All in all, it cost me about $1435 for this vacation and Robin a bit more. Not bad for a vacation involving flying, hotels, and expensive amusement parks for a week and a half.
And did I mention I got three totally awesome souvenirs? I got a Tower of Terror shirt, which shows Mickey Mouse looking through some elevator doors into ... the Twilight Zone. And on the back it says, "I suggest you take the stairs."
And I got a shirt with a dinosaur skeleton on it. The dinosaur is embroidered in tan thread in great contrast to the black shirt. I hope this survives washing well.
I can wear large sized kids' t-shirts, which saved me a buck or two per shirt. Also, the print on the Tower of Terror is a little more Debbie-sized and thus doesn't get tucked in when I tuck in my shirt.
I also got a deck of Pirates of the Caribbean playing cards. They are of higher quality than I expected and also beautiful.
**
Because of the increased cost of health care during retirement, I've decided I need to revisit my budget. I've been very careful with some of my budget categories, but have decided I need to pay more attention to other categories.
I still have some numbers from a few years ago. My research has shown me that I am no longer spending just $125 per month on food, but more like $200+. This is partly because of eating more organic food and partly because of eating out more. Although R. generally pays, I sometimes pay, and that can really add up.
I'm spending about the same for phone and gas service as I was in 2003, but other utilities have gone up from $93 (12-month average) to $132. I'm not sure why.
I can't quite tell if I'm staying in my monthly "other spending" limit (fun, clothes, gifts, books, and stuff) of $412/month. Most of what I buy is very, very cheap, but then I do have an occasional big expenditure, like for a professional conference or dentist visit or furniture or big pile of shoes that isn't quite extravagant enough to move to the "vacations and other big expenditures" category (other big expenditures generally being electronics or really expensive furniture).
I needed to look into this because I'm trying to decide how much I can spare for the new Roth 403(b) plan being offered by my employer next year. The minimum is $25/month, and I feel sure I can contribute that much. I'd ideally like to contribute twice what I'm contributing to my Roth IRA, but that would be $666.66/month. Ha! I've decided to start with $100/month.
And of course I want to add new categories for medical care and renovation expenses.
I still haven't quite figured out why I feel poorer than I should right now (in the sense that my savings isn't growing fast, not in the sense that I feel financially deprived). One problem is that I am negative in my car repair budget.
Surely I will have to reduce something if I want to be realistic about food and utility expenditures and add these other categories. We'll see what happens.
We also spent some money on souvenirs, gifts, and health supplies. All in all, it cost me about $1435 for this vacation and Robin a bit more. Not bad for a vacation involving flying, hotels, and expensive amusement parks for a week and a half.
And did I mention I got three totally awesome souvenirs? I got a Tower of Terror shirt, which shows Mickey Mouse looking through some elevator doors into ... the Twilight Zone. And on the back it says, "I suggest you take the stairs."
And I got a shirt with a dinosaur skeleton on it. The dinosaur is embroidered in tan thread in great contrast to the black shirt. I hope this survives washing well.
I can wear large sized kids' t-shirts, which saved me a buck or two per shirt. Also, the print on the Tower of Terror is a little more Debbie-sized and thus doesn't get tucked in when I tuck in my shirt.
I also got a deck of Pirates of the Caribbean playing cards. They are of higher quality than I expected and also beautiful.
**
Because of the increased cost of health care during retirement, I've decided I need to revisit my budget. I've been very careful with some of my budget categories, but have decided I need to pay more attention to other categories.
I still have some numbers from a few years ago. My research has shown me that I am no longer spending just $125 per month on food, but more like $200+. This is partly because of eating more organic food and partly because of eating out more. Although R. generally pays, I sometimes pay, and that can really add up.
I'm spending about the same for phone and gas service as I was in 2003, but other utilities have gone up from $93 (12-month average) to $132. I'm not sure why.
I can't quite tell if I'm staying in my monthly "other spending" limit (fun, clothes, gifts, books, and stuff) of $412/month. Most of what I buy is very, very cheap, but then I do have an occasional big expenditure, like for a professional conference or dentist visit or furniture or big pile of shoes that isn't quite extravagant enough to move to the "vacations and other big expenditures" category (other big expenditures generally being electronics or really expensive furniture).
I needed to look into this because I'm trying to decide how much I can spare for the new Roth 403(b) plan being offered by my employer next year. The minimum is $25/month, and I feel sure I can contribute that much. I'd ideally like to contribute twice what I'm contributing to my Roth IRA, but that would be $666.66/month. Ha! I've decided to start with $100/month.
And of course I want to add new categories for medical care and renovation expenses.
I still haven't quite figured out why I feel poorer than I should right now (in the sense that my savings isn't growing fast, not in the sense that I feel financially deprived). One problem is that I am negative in my car repair budget.
Surely I will have to reduce something if I want to be realistic about food and utility expenditures and add these other categories. We'll see what happens.