K and I spend around $120 a week on food for the house, toiletries, and cleaning supplies, and we have fairly expensive tastes (i.e., nice cheeses, non-generics, green cleaning supplies, etc.). On the other hand, she is a Mennonite and I am a Quaker, so we probably are unusually frugal. We usually eat out once a week, for $20-$30.
Our utilities are about $300/month + heat, which fluctuates wildly (between ~$50 and ~$300). Water is covered by rent. Besides heat, utilities include cell phones, fancy internet + cable package, and electricity; you can certainly do it cheaper. Our house is technically a 4BR, I think, and rent is ~$1900 (but we're a mile from the nearest T stop). Laundry works out to about $10/month.
When biking, I spend about $20/month on MBTA. When not, I get the $59 T pass. K drives to work in the winter, and drives to dance and grocery shopping; I'm not sure how much she spends on gas.
Beyond that, K and I live very frugally. In a typical week, I budget about twenty bucks for "mad money" — coffee and entertainment — though sometimes we fly to other countries or see a $50 concert or go out to dinner at a fancy place. I very rarely buy new clothes, but a professional clothing budget is something good to calculate (though a gift card for clothes might also be a good birthday request for relatives). Renters' insurance is a good thing to have, especially since it covers your bike even when it's not in your house.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2011-03-22 04:37 pm (UTC)Our utilities are about $300/month + heat, which fluctuates wildly (between ~$50 and ~$300). Water is covered by rent. Besides heat, utilities include cell phones, fancy internet + cable package, and electricity; you can certainly do it cheaper. Our house is technically a 4BR, I think, and rent is ~$1900 (but we're a mile from the nearest T stop). Laundry works out to about $10/month.
When biking, I spend about $20/month on MBTA. When not, I get the $59 T pass. K drives to work in the winter, and drives to dance and grocery shopping; I'm not sure how much she spends on gas.
Beyond that, K and I live very frugally. In a typical week, I budget about twenty bucks for "mad money" — coffee and entertainment — though sometimes we fly to other countries or see a $50 concert or go out to dinner at a fancy place. I very rarely buy new clothes, but a professional clothing budget is something good to calculate (though a gift card for clothes might also be a good birthday request for relatives). Renters' insurance is a good thing to have, especially since it covers your bike even when it's not in your house.