I live in Central Ohio. Rent is extremely cheap. I pay about $500 a month. $300 a month wouldn't be an issue. I was spending about $100 a week at the craft beer store (all for home consumption). And then going to the bar 3-4 nights a week that usually ran about $50 a night. x 4. Maybe my main issue is that I don't like cheap booze?
Oh, Jesus, the list of things I wasted money on? Here's a few, I can think of off the top of my head that were a complete waste: Alcohol Cigarettes Law School Relationships I would like to say that I don't have any 'frivolous' expenditures, like CD's, expensive hobbies, etc., but the above listed hobbies have pretty much guaranteed that I can't afford any frivolous hobbies. Fuck me.
Yeah, I stupidly ignored the concept of going out, I was always drinking with roommates, and it was usually two or three craft beers followed by whatever swill we had bought for drinking games or boxed wine.
Booze, as many others have said. Cigarettes have also eaten up a good chunk of my money. And cigarettes don't even get you cool stories, or make you super sexy to the ladies. So they are probably the biggest waste in my life. I have been playing Magic The Gathering, and I rarely spend over $100 in a month on cards, but when I think about the fact that I started playing almost two decades ago I realize it does add up to a pretty significant amount of money. Luckily clothes are a gigantic pain in the ass for me to find, so I could never really be a clothes/shoes whore.
It's so funny to see all these stories about the cost of booze and how we wish we hadn't spent all that money. I concur with everybody here...the math truly does make you cringe. But then I think about my 20s, right when I got out of college. The best part about that was actually having money and being able to spend it how I chose. I would GLADLY go back and relive those days - rationing binges over rent. It was a part of life...and it was awesome. I'm a bit older than most of the people on this board. All I can say is just wait until you are 30 and/or are married and/or are trying to invest/save. It fucking sucks. I make 5 times as much money as I used to and I sure as hell ain't saving it all. I look at my credit card spending each month with my wife. It's fucking absurd to think that we spend almost $1,000 a month on grooming/feeding/kenneling our dogs. My utility bill is $300 a month. Cell phones, cable, and internet...$400. Groceries - almost $500...for just 2 people. And we don't even have kids. All I'm saying is, don't regret the $ spent on having a good time. Years from now you'll think, man $800 a month on drinking - I used to be a cheap fucking date.
Speaking as a poor person, I don't know whether to give you a high five or punch you in the face for spending $500 a month on groceries for two people. What the fuck are you eating? Free range, gold plated babies? Focus: Computers. More specifically computer parts. When I lived in Hawaii, I would routinely upgrade the shit out of my desktop machine for no better reason than to raise my 3DMark score and play games at eye bleeding resolution. Then I turned 26 and started caring about other shit like getting laid and finding a job in a shitty economy.
That's honestly about what we spend on groceries and I'm a cheap ass motherfucker. If you think about it that's only about $8.33 per person per day for groceries, that's really quite good assuming they eat most of their meals at home. Now on the other hand if they're spending $500 a month on groceries, buying lunch everyday and going out to eat for dinner three times a week, yeah, that's splurging, but I would guess most of you fuckers spend a lot more than $8.33 a day on your food if you're honest about it.
Cars. I've owned so many cars & motorcycles (33-34 cars) and always feel the need to do shit to them. It got really bad when I was buying new cars to modify and taking the hit a year later when I sold it or traded it in. I think the worst one was a Mustang Cobra I bought new in 04. Dumped probably $10-12k into it and didn't get virtually any of the money back out. All told, I've "wasted" tens of thousands of dollars on parts. Spoilered for the car idiots who might actually care. Spoiler If you name it, I had the mods done to this car. Yanked out the turd independent rear suspension and put in a built solid axle. Ported blower, nitrous, bigger heat exchanger, injectors, CCW track rims etc etc etc. 561 rwhp 666 rwtq. Fucker was fast though.
Booze is still my number one expense. I have impulse control issues. $400 bar tab on a Monday night? Sure, why not. But in the old days... a weekend's partying might cost me about $1k. I was earning about $600/week. Then I'd live on ramen and bread and fairy kisses for 2 weeks. Rinse and repeat. Fortunately or unfortunately, the scene I was in dried up, and my budgeting got more or less under control. Oh, and I managed to blow just shy of $2k in a Vegas strip club once.
This also applies to me. I've bought countless games and accessories that I didn't need. Hell... I've bought games because I wanted them at the time, but never got around to playing them for whatever reason. I'll look at the game on my shelf 6 months later, have absolutely no desire to play it and wonder what I was thinking when I purchased it. And speaking of blowing money on video games... I just bought a PS3. I've actually started a spreadsheet because I want to see exactly how much money I spend on the console, its accessories and games.
I purchased a ps3 in the hope it would convince to go out and party less on a weekend, thus saving hundreds of dollars I'd be spending on booze, taxi ride home, entry fees etc. It didn't work. I'd just play it during the week and find myself still going out on the weekend anyway.