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justlikeofficespace OP t1_j1s9r48 wrote

Created using SankeyMATIC

Backstory: I moved back home with my parents mid-pandemic (hence why there's no substantial expenses like rent and food). This chart doesn't include my investment or retirement accounts. It also doesn't account for ~$950 of miscellaneous expenses I didn't want to categorize. My goal right now is to stow away as much cash as I can to hopefully purchase a home towards the end of 2023 (or if/when there's a major economic downturn).

I've been tracking my expenses for years using PearBudget. It's an app/service now but you can find the Excel template with a quick Google search, which is the one I use. My expenses were already categorized in PearBudget so it was a matter of summing them up for input in SankeyMATIC.

A few things stood out to me after seeing the visual representation of my finances.

  • Uncle Sam has his hands deep in my pockets (lol). I file as single so that's kind of to be expected.

  • I don't eat out that often. It was interesting to see that the handful of dates I went on this year comprised ~30% of that expense! Dating is expensive (and emotionally draining!)

  • Emergency dental visits suck! Had a crown come out and had to get that fixed/redone. Brush your teeth 2x/day, floss, WaterPik, etc. people!

  • In an age of subscription services galore, I somehow only still have one.

For clarification:

  • Luxury goods are exactly that. A designer brand wallet, sunglasses, Tactile Turn pen, etc.

EDIT: Ah crap, I accidentally left out 1 month of pay. Spending figures should still hold true. Revised the savings. Revised chart for those curious.

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MidnightPale3220 t1_j1sfif8 wrote

Impressive indeed. For the record, Uncle Sam is pretty lenient with his taxes. For a first world country to get more than 50% of your salary in net income seems luxurious to many Europeans.

Then again, we don't generally need to save as much for medical bills, if I understand correctly.

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ripewildstrawberry t1_j1vj0qp wrote

The ability to move back home in and live rent-free while saving for a house is a luxury that you are wise to take advantage of. Big ups to you.

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JustForMySubs t1_j1vo278 wrote

Seems like you’re overpaying your witholding significantly on your taxes if you’re getting almost 5k back. You’re giving the government a free loan by doing so, id suggest updating your W-4 if you’re actually worried about “Uncle Sam in your pocket” and not just being glib

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Arcidamus t1_j1uxz08 wrote

What’s your savings goal for the house? How much house are you going to buy?

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justlikeofficespace OP t1_j1v701m wrote

Goal is around $200k. I live in a high COL area so anything under $1M would be a win. Realistically 3b2ba for $7-800k would be nice.

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jordanr03 t1_j1wlmra wrote

Your plan is a $600K mortgage? Are you expecting a jump in income shortly? More help?

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justlikeofficespace OP t1_j1wogb5 wrote

The goal is to get into a house where I can rent out 2 of the rooms to help out with the mortgage. My income will increase 5% every year (until capped out) with additional salary adjustments based on the negotiated bargaining contracts from the union.

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