Age and Income Driven Spending

I recently pointed out that there are about 112 million blogs out there in the so called "blogosphere".  Of course, many are of dubious value, but some have redeeming qualities.

The U.S. government "Bureau of Labor Statistics" which I have used in other posts, provides data on how Americans live.  But it is sometimes difficult to extract the information. In an a nation consumed with the "10 second" sound bite, some information simply cannot be disseminated in that time period. Of course, we all have 10 minutes for Tom Skilling's analysis of the weather - go figure!

Here is a site which provides a useful calculator. It provide you with the means to compare your spending with that of your peers, based upon your age. Have fun!    BLS - Age and Income Driven Spending

Where Does our Money Go?

The information is from the Consumer Expenditures Survey of the U.S. Department of Labor April 2009. It applies to the average consumer, who is 48.8 years old, is part of a family comprised of 2.5 people, has 1.3 wage earners and owns 1.9 motor vehicles. 67% of the consumers are homeowners.

You can use this to compare to your own expenditures:

Housing 34.1% = $16,920, split as

• 20.2% or $10,023 for shelter,
• 7.0% or $3,477 for utilities, fuels and public services,
• 2.0% or $984 for household operations,
• 1.3% for housekeeping supplies,
• 3.6% or $1,797 for household furnishings and equipment.

Transportation $8,758, split as

• 6.5% or $3,244 for vehicle purchase,
• 4.8% or $2,384 for gasoline and motor oil,
• 6.3% or $3,130 for other transportation expenses.

Food = $6,133, split as:

• 7.0% for Food at home $3,465 and
• 5.4% for Food away from home $2,668.

Pensions and social security tax = 10.1% or $5,027.
Healthcare = 5.7% or $2,853.
Entertainment 5.4% = $2,698.
Clothing apparel and services = 3.8% or $1,881.
Cash Contributions 3.7% = $1,821.
Education = 1.9% or $945.
Miscellaneous = 1.6% or $808.
Personal Care = 1.2% or $588.
Alcoholic beverages = 0.9% or $457.
Tobacco 0.7% or $323.
Life Insurance and other personal insurance = 0.6% or $309.
Reading 0.2% = $118.

Total spent = $49,638.


References:
1) U. S Dept. of Labor Consumer Expenditure Survey = http://www.bls.gov/cex/
2) Visual Economics "How the average U.S. consumer spends their paycheck?" http://tinyurl.com/nrsvvl