Please rate my monthly budget, please share yours and help me optimize better

[ddf92156]

Hi,

I was just hoping for a monthly budget discussion for a family living in Mumbai region. How much we all spend and how we can improve upon it. I will start with mine. I am living in Navi Mumbai and have a family of 5. Three daughters below 10 years of age and husband wife working.

Here is what I spend (monthly):

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EMI's (on house and car loan). : 40 K

Full time stay in house help : 25 K

Part time help for sundry work : 8 K

Electricity : 25 K

Gas/Phone/Internet. : 5 K

Day care (2 Kids) : 20 K

School fees/etc (2 Kids) : 20 K

Maintenance/Prop taxes. : 20 K

Food/Groceries : 25 K

Car Fuel/Maintenance : 15 K

Eating out/Entertainment : 15 K

Doctor Visit/Emergency : 8 K

Other maintenance/Misc : 14 K

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Total : 240K

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I guess as Kids grow older we may be able to optimize on day care and not spend so much on stay in help. However this may get partially offset by increased school fees.

I think I can pay off my loans in another year.

Electricity in another area I am looking to save on.

Is there any other way we can reduce our expenses. This basically leaves not much for a planned vacation.

Living seems expensive especially in Mumbai with utilities, property taxes, society maintenance/ loan or EMI, car or travel taking bulk of your expenses.

In my case this covers more than 40% of my expenses and there is nothing I can do to reduce it.

Another 30% is on Kids care and education which may get reduced as they grow older.

Anyway folks, do share your thoughts, details experience on how you all are able to manage your expenses.

 

[muffy]

@ddf92156 25k for Electricity are you paying for the whole building ?
Max 5-7K is normal but 25K in a city with small home is too much

Rest of others are like decent expenses which you should try to cutt off slowly slowly
You haven't disclosed your income that should be discussed to understand how much money you earn and out of that how much you spend

 

[alexa2008]

@ddf92156 That 25k electricity bill though!

 

[ddf92156]

@alexa2008 I know. Thing is we work from home so basically office AC gets consumed at home, plus house is a big 4 bhk with multiple ACs. Definitely trying to reduce this.

 

[bm2]

@ddf92156 Even then, are you using all the ACs at the same time?

 

[ddf92156]

@bm2 Sometimes all used to run at the same time. I had multiple people living the house, but I have fixed lot of these issues and have optimized it to a great extent. I am hoping to reduce the AC expense to 15K.

Actually part of the problem lies in the house orientation also. Its south facing, has a glass facade and gets all the sun. We knew AC bills would the problem, we just went with a good view. The extra AC cost just needs to get offset somewhere.

 

[alexa2008]

@ddf92156 Damnn! Even so.. Wow

 

[henry14]

@ddf92156 Food bills and eating out bills don't add up

 

[ddf92156]

@henry14 Can you please elaborate on this ? We try to to limit eating outside but still happens. Eating out has become very expensive. Today a decent restaurant bill is lie 3K plus, you go for movies twice a month its like 4K.

Let me know what I can minimize here.

 

[bm2]

@ddf92156 Groceries bill seems a bit expensive for a family of 2 adults and 3 children. But then it is understandable if you are buying gourmet ingredients/lots of fruits, vegetables/lots of mutton or fish.
You can try sourcing the first two from Vashi APMC to cut down your food bills. Just make a visit every 15-20 days and buy stuff in bulk.

 

[ddf92156]

@bm2 Yes. This is one area I have identified for us. We also have a stay in nanny/help which we treat her like a family member only. So its actually 3 adults, 3 children.

 

[bm2]

@ddf92156 Ah understood. You have already mentioned this in the post so apologies for not reading properly.

 

[alfielove]

@ddf92156 Reduce your salary to 40k a month, then you will automatically start budgeting your finances.

 

[doublej23]

@ddf92156 You can definitely cut back in help for sundry work( if it can be done by oneself), electricity ( definitely and must), fuel/car maintenance. Try public transport or use a two wheeler if possible whenever you are travelling alone. Also since you have a full time domestic help you can avoid daycare. But make sure you install CCTVs first. Trust no one but only your own. You can cut back of eating out which not only reduces your monthly expenses but prolongs your good health. Certain things such as cleaning your own bathroom/toilet, cleaning your car, ironing your clothes, buying certain everyday use items on bulk can over a period of time significantly reduce your overall expense.

 

[kingmaker22]

@ddf92156 Start planning your investments/savings also.

 

[ddf92156]

@kingmaker22 Yes I invest in mutual funds via SIP. Investments and savings are covered for.

 

[yclaire01]

@ddf92156 You can rent a 2 bhk for less than 20k and skip emis and taxes. A car loan will go away in a few years, so that is manageable . Your electricity bill will automatically go down. 15k for car petrol? Why is that? You can save on house help, day care if your wife is not working. Eating out and entertainment can be reduced.

 

[ddf92156]

@yclaire01 Thanks. Car expenses can go down as we have multiple cars. I am exploring a smaller rental accommodation and sell the current house and move the capital into mutual funds and equity.