Budgeting and frugality tips

[rjs0416]

I've posted on this forum to some extent prior to the migration to the new domain. I'd just like some advice since I am going to have to pinch a little to live in a new location.

I just signed a lease for a BEAUTIFUL, albeit small alcove studio in Boston, right in the city-center. It is updated, beautiful views, and includes all utilities (even electricity). The space is approximately 500 sq ft and I will be living alone and paying for everything by myself. Does this monthly budget look appropriate? Any suggestions for cost cutting:

Income 4400
Car -385
Car Insr -110
Cell Phone -110
Internet -60
Gasoline -240
Food -300
Credit Card -500
Discretionary -350
Remainder 2345
Parking -100
Rent -1475
Savings 770

I've decided to take the following cuts already:
1. No cable television - will use antenna
2. No house phone - will use cell phone for personal and work
3. Cancel gym membership - use outdoor gym and sports at local park in summer, use friend's home gym in winter.
4. Require faster Internet for work - absolutely can't settle with less expensive package.

So I have three areas that I can absolutely cut from:
1. Food spending
2. Discretionary spending
3. Parking

In an urban area, I'm not sure if $300 is too much or too little to spend on food. In January, I made the following cuts:
- no longer getting morning coffee at shop - opting for free coffee at work. Might buy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop once a week, $3
- no longer eat out as much, withdraw $200 from checking account at the beginning of each month and use that for exclusive grocery store spending

Discretionary spending:
I figure $350/mo will go quite a ways in paying for the following:
- medical/dental expenses
- car maintenance
- entertainment (clubs/bars/dancing/movies)
- clothing
- unexpected bills (excise tax, occasional parking fine, travel costs)

Parking:
- to park or not to park, that is the question. For free, I can do resident parking (open street parking with resident sticker). If I can't find a resident spot, I can find my car a nice home at a parking meter, waking up early to move the car to a resident spot.
- parking behind the building is $100/mo for a single, uncovered spot. This is a STEAL for the neighborhood.

I haven't lived in an urban setting in four years. At the time, I was with two roommates so didn't have to worry about self-budget to save money.

Anyone with experience in small apartment living have any advice?

[Jessamyn]

The biggest thing I saw, and maybe I'm looking at it wrong is that you're putting $500 towards debt payoff, and $770 to saving? I might adjust how much I put into saving and try to pay the credit card faster.

[Float On]

Isn't Boston known for it's parking problems? I think $100 a month would be well worth it to have a secured spot, think of the gas and headaches you'll save not to mention the time driving around and around looking for street parking.

I also think flipping the $500 debt payoff and the $770 savings would be better. In fact I'd probably go $1000 debt payoff and the rest to savings.

[Bootsie]

I agree with Float On - go for the $100 parking. I've lived the life of on-street parking and having to move the car from spot to spot. How much is a parking ticket? And how much time are you willing to circle the blocks, remember to move the car, etc. I think $100 is a bargain for a spot.

I also agree about putting more toward debt, which is probably at a higher interest rate than the savings. Once you pay off the debt, keep it off and increase your savings amount.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Wow those are big numbers. OTOH I'd see why in certain circumstances they would be required.

Car Insr -110 - not actually unreasonable at all for an urban area IMO, especially if you have full coverage.
Cell Phone -110 - seems you could have a landline plus long distance plus a prepaid cell for less (maybe that would run you around $75). So, yes this seems high. Does this include an internet enabled phone and all that (iphone or the like)? I guess if you make tons of phone calls while away from home it might be worth it.
Internet -60 - seems high, but if you need the maximum speed ....
Gasoline -240 - definitely seems high. If you have a place right in the city center (and in a public transport friendly city too), why are you paying so much for gas? Do you drive a Hummer? Do you drive long distance every weekend to see elderly parents or for a long distance relationship or something? Is your job way out in the suburbs (if so, is it really worth living in the city center? I mean yes we do need to live somewhere that makes us happy, but this does seem a lot for gas expenses)
Food -300 (oh don't even ask me, I'm bad at this, I spend too much for food too :)). I hope for this price you're at least getting organic, free range, etc. food, for you certainly could be at this price (although maybe food is more expensive there than here)
Parking -100 think I'd pay for this in your situation just for the convenience
Rent -1475 high, however for a nice place, urban, city center, all utilities included, it's high but not completely ridiculous or anything. It might seem so for those in super cheap places but ....

[rjs0416]

Thanks for the advice. I've always made it a habit of ensuring that I never go below 2k in my checking account. Due to some required spending, I had to accumulate some debt. 1k a month would see it paid off in 7 months.

ApatheticNoMore: The cell phone is required for work, where I require unlimited data for email and 800 minutes to toss between personal + work use. I wish my office covered it :-( The Internet is required at highest available speed since I work with remote asset management. I can't get around not having a fast connection without seriously impacting work productivity when working from home (awesome, because I save gas money when I do) ;-)

The gas cost is a 30 mile commute one way to work (2 gallons a day). I drive an Altima, which is pretty fuel efficient. Your analysis is correct. I live in the city because I'm happy in the city. I've tried living in the suburbs, renting for $575 a month. I was miserable.

I can perhaps take the cell phone plan down to $90 by cutting out some minutes, but I'd have to track my current usage since I recently canceled my house phone.

The advice on switching savings/debt is great. I never even took that into consideration. Perhaps I'd like to build a little 2k nest egg in savings before I do that, though, to give me some emergency spending.

[Stella]

One thing I might consider is experimenting with car free living the first couple of months. Get the parking spot and all, but see if you really need a car. If you are living in the city center you may be better off just renting a car or using one of those car sharing services in the long run. I haven't been to Boston in about 15 years, but it struck me as a pretty easy place to live car free. And no offense to Bostonians on this board, but driving there made me nervous. The streets are narrower and there are a lot of aggressive drivers. YMMV of course.

[rjs0416]

Stella, I have a 35 mile commute to work with no option for transit. I do wish, though, that I was not the only employee at my company living in Boston. If I weren't, carpooling would be a major plus. I tried looking for work in the city, but it's really competitive and, as a result, income is often not as good in my field. It sucks. When living in the city, I am essentially car-free on the weekends. The only time I use it is for work.

[rjs0416]

As for your Boston driving comment... you get used to it. The running joke in Boston is that the only reason there are bad drivers is because people who don't live in Boston decide to drive in Boston.

[Float On]

Boston people are nice! I was visiting while in college in the 80's and assumed the 3rd Street Bank parking garage we used was on 3rd Street. Only when we went to look for our car did we realize there was a 3rd Street Bank on about every corner. We had mounted police and all the passer-bys helping us track down our car. Left a fun memory!