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Mvelopes Household Budget Comparison Calculator

December 13th, 2007 at 07:09 pm

Budget categories we should cut down to be at national average for our income, according to Mvelopes:

Water/Sewer/Recycling
Groceries
Allowances
Auto Maintenance
Home Maintenance

Budget categories we should raise to be at national average for our income:
Donations
House furniture
Clothing

Where we rule:
Savings
Electricity

I was pleased to see that the nation was spending 22% of its net income on mortgage/rent... ours came to 21.1% but we have a twenty-year mortgage. So we're "just right" with our three bedroom house with yard in the city.

I don't know what to do about the water. We don't have a dishwasher, and we have aerators and low-flow toilets. I looked into tankless water heaters but was convinced that they would cost us more money rather than save. I do crave my hot baths once a month, and even more frequently in the winter... Could it be that my area charges more for water/sewer/yard waste/recycling than others? And my area is dirt cheap (third lowest in the nation) for electricity?

Ready to try it yourself? Here's the

Text is link and Link is www.simpledebtfreeliving.com/household-budget-calculator.html
link

Off-topic:
Text is Oh yay. Stock up on the nonperishables and the silver. and Link is www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-nov-wholesale-inflation-hits/story.aspx?guid=%7B4FF90E7C%2D62EF%2D490B%2D9B62%2D5730F9B5BFA0%7D&dist=morenews_ts
Oh yay. Stock up on the nonperishables and the silver.

Posted in | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Mvelopes Household Budget Comparison Calculator”

  1. Amber Says:
    December 13th, 2007 at 08:57 pm 1197579451
    1197579451

    Grocery and dining out is the hardest thing for me...thanks for the link

  2. Caoineag Says:
    December 13th, 2007 at 11:57 pm 1197590261
    1197590261

    Wow, thanks for the calculator. It was a little disturbing that I was below the national average on everything but water/sewer (I live in the desert). Weird that they didn't have a debt or retirement category (though I gues retirement could go under savings).

  3. scfr Says:
    December 14th, 2007 at 04:58 am 1197608329
    1197608329

    Don't worry about the water. Probably not much you can do about it. Our water bill here in TX is about 20% of what is was in WA. Of course we are in an apartment here vs. a house in WA, so it's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison, but I'm sure at least some of the difference is because of location.

  4. monkeymama Says:
    December 15th, 2007 at 03:33 am 1197689623
    1197689623

    The water bill blows me away in Sacramento. It's a flat rate. They don't even meter (so people tend to be rather wasteful). It's night & day from drought country, where I come from, a mere 2 hours away. I remember paying pennies for water when we rented a house in the Bay. Now it's $80/month.

    But we're getting metered and it's going down to $60ish!

    I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!

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