New Budget Spreadsheet, what'd I miss?

[Bster13]

Here it is

I've been asking friends who live the traditional sticks and bricks life, as well as nomadic lifestyle to have a look and give feedback on my budget as I've never been on the road to know where costs really stand:

- Line items I may have completely missed.
- Line items I may be off when considering cost (high or now).

In the spreadsheet I depreciate bigger ticket items like tires, vehicle, laptop, cell phone as I think people don't account for them eventually needing replacement.

This spreadsheet is the "Cadillac" version as it has items I could cut out as well as significantly lower (like cellular data plans, entertainment, misc., vacation/flights, cheaper healthcare plan, etc.), but I wanted to have something high to aim for when planning for retirement on the road.

I plan to rock a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as it seems like the right combination of reliability, ground clearance (7in), MPG, stealth ability in cities, and true air conditioning when desired.

Thanks!

 

[vanman2300]

Wow! After downloading the file my keyboard went berserk! Anyway, I think that spreadsheet is very extensive which I like. There are a lot of items you can shave down quite a bit so you're not burdened with making the money to support it all. My budget is 700/month for example. One of the huge items is healthcare insurance and that looks pretty low to me if you're going for the best plan. However, if you can get on Obamacare and you make less then 20k/year it only costs around 60/month for a middle of the road plan. There are other areas you could shave off expenses but depending on your funds etc it's a decision only you can make.

Thanks for the spreadsheet I think I will make use of it as a model to see where my expenses really are at.

 

[GotSmart]

That has a lot of things on it.  

By careful budgeting, it can be reduced a lot.  

I can not even conceive on having a lot of those expenses, much less things you have missed.   :-/

I feel old.  

Anyway, by budgeting high you will build up a good safety net quickly.

 

[Bster13]

That has a lot of things on it.  

By careful budgeting, it can be reduced a lot.  

I can not even conceive on having a lot of those expenses, much less things you have missed.   :-/

I feel old.  

Anyway, by budgeting high you will build up a good safety net quickly.

By nature, I always try to spend less than I have as a head game of sorts.  I guess I am just being overly cautious.... leaving your job is a pretty big decision afterall. 

 

[Bster13]

Wow! After downloading the file my keyboard went berserk! Anyway, I think that spreadsheet is very extensive which I like. There are a lot of items you can shave down quite a bit so you're not burdened with making the money to support it all. My budget is 700/month for example. One of the huge items is healthcare insurance and that looks pretty low to me if you're going for the best plan. However, if you can get on Obamacare and you make less then 20k/year it only costs around 60/month for a middle of the road plan. There are other areas you could shave off expenses but depending on your funds etc it's a decision only you can make.

Thanks for the spreadsheet I think I will make use of it as a model to see where my expenses really are at.

As for Affordable Care Act costs, the cost depends on the amount of subsidy you receive, and the amount of subsidy you receive depends on the income you either make from working or from retirement accounts you draw on.  So if I really want to live it up, and draw big income, then your subsidy goes away, and your heathcare plan costs goes up. It's a game to play for sure.

I thought I had priced out a relatively expensive platinum plan just to be sure, but I'll recheck.  Thanks!

 

[highdesertranger]

why can't I move around, in the budget I can only see to line 23. highdesertranger

never mind I figured it out.

 

[rvwandering]

It looks good to me. You have a lot of room to cut down on your spending if you need extra cash.
The only thing I see missing is fuel for cooking and heating which might not be something you need with your diet and vehicle choices.

 

[Bster13]

It looks good to me. You have a lot of room to cut down on your spending if you need extra cash.
The only thing I see missing is fuel for cooking and heating which might not be something you need with your diet and vehicle choices.

Thanks for having a look.  I currently live off Soylent (a powder meal replacement) and salads, so I'm hoping I can continue with the same with no need for cooking or refrigeration.  As for heating, the Toyota Hybrid vehicles have this thing called "ready Mode" where the car kicks on the engine only when needed for heating or a/c, otherwise running off the batteries.  The engine is different than regular gasoline engines and is very efficient (http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2015/01/how-it-works-2016-toyota-tacomas-atkinson-cycle.html) so overall with this cycling and the engine being efficient, it shouldn't burn a lot of gas or be noisy.  We'll see!

 

[Mobilesport]

Laundry mat
Propane
Water
Ice
Batteries
House batteryreplacement
Battery charger replacement
12 volt freezer fridge replacement
 solonoid replacement
Furnace or heater replacement
trash bags

 

[Bster13]

Laundry mat
Propane
Water
Ice
Batteries
House batteryreplacement
Battery charger replacement
12 volt freezer fridge replacement
 solonoid replacement
Furnace or heater replacement
trash bags

I budgeting for loads of laundry, but not laundry detergent.  I'm not sure if I can fit it in my RAV4 (anyone tried the Tide pods?  Is there an alternative?) or what the cost of small packets of detergents at laundry mats would be?  Never done it.

I don't believe I'll need propane as the engine will provide heat and I don't plan on cooking with my meal replacement meals.

Batteries hopefully will be covered in the misc. expenses, but good call.

House battery replacement... very good call.  I'd like something like this: https://macaloney.blogspot.com/2016/11/installation-of-lifepo4-prius-house.html  But I'm unsure of the cost at this time.

Not planning on refrigerated food.

Trash bags... I get the feeling a lot of the country does not hand out plastic bags anymore.  In the Northeast they are still all over the place, hrmm....

 

[gcal]

Here it is

I've been asking friends who live the traditional sticks and bricks life, as well as nomadic lifestyle to have a look and give feedback on my budget as I've never been on the road to know where costs really stand:

- Line items I may have completely missed.
- Line items I may be off when considering cost (high or now).

In the spreadsheet I depreciate bigger ticket items like tires, vehicle, laptop, cell phone as I think people don't account for them eventually needing replacement.

This spreadsheet is the "Cadillac" version as it has items I could cut out as well as significantly lower (like cellular data plans, entertainment, misc., vacation/flights, cheaper healthcare plan, etc.), but I wanted to have something high to aim for when planning for retirement on the road.

I plan to rock a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as it seems like the right combination of reliability, ground clearance (7in), MPG, stealth ability in cities, and true air conditioning when desired.

Thanks!

Only thing I did not see was barber/hairdresser. or Imight have just missed it.

 

[Almost There]

Trash bags... I get the feeling a lot of the country does not hand out plastic bags anymore.  In the Northeast they are still all over the place, hrmm....

This summer the area where I'm at has started charging for bags. I priced out buying small garbage bags and figured out that it was way cheaper to pay the grocery store the nickel for some of theirs than it was to buy a package.

When I shop now, I figure out how many bags I'm going to need until the next shopping trip and buy accordingly...not for how many I need for the groceries.

I also figured out that some stores have better bags for garbage than others. Since I'm shopping there anyways, I get them from there and then skip the cheap ones from W/M.

Cost per week of recycling the shopping bags - about 15 cents (3 bags per week), you may get by on less.

 

[Bster13]

Only thing I did not see was barber/hairdresser. or Imight have just missed it.

GREAT observation... perhaps one of the benefits of going bald early in life is that I have not paid for a haircut in 10 years.     These days I use a safety razor and buy razors for <$0.10 a razor that shave my face and head a few times before needing replacement.  It's one thing I think is an advantage while living the vanlife as it's easier to shave and wash my head than wash hair me thinks.

 

[Bster13]

This summer the area where I'm at has started charging for bags. I priced out buying small garbage bags and figured out that it was way cheaper to pay the grocery store the nickel for some of theirs than it was to buy a package.

When I shop now, I figure out how many bags I'm going to need until the next shopping trip and buy accordingly...not for how many I need for the groceries.

I also figured out that some stores have better bags for garbage than others. Since I'm shopping there anyways, I get them from there and then skip the cheap ones from W/M.

Cost per week of recycling the shopping bags - about 15 cents (3 bags per week), you may get by on less.

Eating a product like Soylent doesn't have me in a supermarket all that often and I wonder if I'll run out of plastic bags for my daily trash / poop needs.  Can you just want into a supermarket and pay 5 cents a bag and purchase nothing else?

 

[Bster13]

https://smile.amazon.com/Tide-Gentl...5&sr=8-1&keywords=laundry+detergent+tabs&th=1

Am I nuts or do these tabs/pods take up as much space as a bottle of traditional detergent?  Maybe opt for concentrated detergent to save space?  Maybe the benefit of these tabs/pods is spill risk in the vehicle?

 

[Almost There]

Spill risk and also as the quantity goes down, so does the storage space needed for it. A bottle takes up the same amount of room whether it's full or has one load left in it. The bag of pods can be squished in to odd shapes if needed, not so with the bottle.

I'm hoping my favorite brand of laundry detergent comes out in pods soon so I can switch to them.

It's also easier to just take into the laundromat however many pods you need rather than carting the whole bottle in with you.

I have the leftover area above a wheel well and below the top of the bed set aside as a laundry hamper...it's 38" long (length of wheel well) by 12" wide by 12" =/- deep. The top hinges so that it lifts towards the center of the bed.

When it's full it's time to do the laundry...

 

[Cheli]

Very detailed budget. I see a couple areas you could probably shave a little more off but especially the blog. You can do a Wordpress blog for free but even if you did Wordpress and hosted it on your own domain you only pay your hosting which can be as little as $10 a month, you wouldn't pay $50 a month for hosting.

 

[Bster13]

Very detailed budget.  I see a couple areas you could probably shave a little  more off but especially the blog.  You can do a Wordpress blog for free but even if you did Wordpress and hosted it on your own domain you only pay your hosting which can be as little as $10 a month, you wouldn't pay $50 a month for hosting.

Thanks Cheli.  I definitely could do a free wordpress.com blog, but if I got my rear in gear and thought I could make a few bucks in advertising, I'd have to pay for hosting.  I briefly looked here: http://www.interstellarorchard.com/2015/05/26/an-introduction-to-travel-blogging/ for general costs of a fulltimers blog, but obviously I got my wires crossed and perhaps having a full blown blog doesn't cost as much as I thought!

 

[GotSmart]

Laundry ~~~

I have a large gym bag that I keep a fresh change of clothes, a couple towels, and laundry pods / dryer sheets  in a storage bag.  Also a bunch of quarters.  My dirty laundry goes into a plastic tub.  You can also use a duffel bag.  

Once a week I hit the shower / laundry.  I shower first, then wash all the dirty things at once.  No wet towels sitting for a week molding. I also use that trip to shop, dump trash, restock my water, and run other errands needed.   After that I hd another 6 days off until the next laundry day.

It runs me about $10 a week for shower / laundry.

 

[Bster13]

Laundry ~~~

I have a large gym bag that I keep a fresh change of clothes, a couple towels, and laundry pods / dryer sheets  in a storage bag.  Also a bunch of quarters.  My dirty laundry goes into a plastic tub.  You can also use a duffel bag.  

Once a week I hit the shower / laundry.  I shower first, then wash all the dirty things at once.  No wet towels sitting for a week molding. I also use that trip to shop, dump trash, restock my water, and run other errands needed.   After that I hd another 6 days off until the next laundry day.

It runs me about $10 a week for shower / laundry.

Are you using something like Planet Fitness to shower that is paid for outside that $10 / week?  The $10/wk is strictly laundry or you're paying for a shower at a truck stop?