How Much Are Your Monthly Bills?

So, how much are your monthly bills?  Do you know off the top of your head?

We talked on the morning show today about the fact that because these days so many of our bills are automatically drafted out of our bank accounts, you might not have a true picture of what your expenses and bills are month to month.  I mentioned that because of that situation, I created a spread sheet so that I'm able to keep track of it all.  Probably a little over the top, but that's me.

It's also easy when creating a spreadsheet such as mine, to forget about some of the small things, like eating out, groceries, entertainment and gas.  If I'm being totally honest, I actually, when I created the sheet, forgot  to include my car payment.

An online bill pay service DOXO has done a report, factoring in ten bill categories, including mortgage; rent; auto loans; utilities; auto insurance; health insurance; cable and internet; mobile phone; alarm and security; and life insurance.  On average, the typicla US household spends $24,032 a year on these expenses.  That's up 6% from last year, which amounts to about a third of 2021's median U.S. household income of $70,784.

Shelter (rent) is up 6.7% year-over-year.  The price of electricity is up 15% year-over-year.

These rankings are based on the 50 largest cities, based on the number of households.

They've also broken the numbers down by most expensive and least expensive cities.

San Jose, California  is $3,248 a month

New York, New York is $3,059 a month

Boston, Massachusetts is $2,963 a month

San Francisco, California is $2,946 a month

San Diego, California is $2,946 a month

Detroit, Michigan is $1,634 a month

Cleveland, Ohio is $1,655 a month

El Paso, Texas is $1,675 a month

Albuquerque, New Mexico is $1,687 a month

Memphis, Tennessee is $1,689 a month.