Spending Question

We spend about 15% of take home pay on groceries (including school supplies, dog food, laundry soap, etc).
We put about 10% of take home pay into investments, but also have an additional 5% of gross that goes into TSP, plus the agency match, and a payment into an employee retirement account.
We just added our 2nd child to the karate program our older child has been in for years, and so we are paying about $250/month for karate lessons for two and piano lessons for one. They don't have any other clubs or expenses really. That may change one day soon, though, as one is in middle school these days.

Dave Ramsey has a LOT of great advice. Much of it we already tried to adhere to even before we took the class. Very wise about a lot of things and a great way to jump start getting out of debt and saving for the future, which both contribute to keeping "Murphy" away....

There are so many variables on groceries- it depends on what you eat(organic vs. non) and how many people are in your household. We have certain brands/items that we are very loyal to. We save about 10%, and invest a lot into home improvements. For kids activities, they are so expensive- we spend about $400/mo on activities when I add it up!

I used to spend $800-$1000 on groceries per month for a family of 4, but I joined Coupon Sense, and I spend about $200-$300 less per month! My kids do one sport per season (about $75 per child) and one other activity (piano and chess)...about $130 per month.

We spend about $1200 a month on all food and household stuff, including vitamins. We save about $200 a month and I'm not sure about activities and stuff. We have 5 kids and we homeschool so we spend a lot on curriculum... Dave Ramsey is awesome. I read his book a couple of times. I still have a ways to go but I'm getting their in regards to our finances. We're trying to become debt free.

I consider myself a very frugal mom. I save about 50% on my major grocery shop. I have a list of websites (blogger sites) where I find coupons and free stuff. I would be happy to send you that list. ____@____.com

You're going to get a HUGE range on this one. Up here in Seattle I spend about $600 a month on all grocery and household items (cleaners, lightbulbs, etc.)... but when I was in the midwest I could get the SAME stuff for $200. If I didn't have to watch what I was spending on household stuff, I'd spend about a grand.

Savings... we don't right now *exactly*. Most of our extra money goes into paying my tuition, or home remodeling... which are 2 very different ways of saving (for increased income potential for moi, and home equity -we have a fix'er'upper house that will probably net us at least an additional 50% if not double what we paid for it, depending on the market). The some little bits each month get stashed for loss of employment (to pay our mortgage), school stuff for kiddo (we homeschool), the OSF (Oh Shoot Fund... for things like car repairs, etc), and travel $. It depends on how much is left over after paying our bills, so it fluctuates.

$100 - $150 a month for activities.

We spend about 20 % on groceries
We currently save 10%, though the first half of this year we were saving 15% (we don't save in general, we save with specific goals ie, preschool,property tax,vacation. One thing we need to get in order is our rainy day fund!)
My kids are young, the oldest goes to a part time preschool and her tution is 1.5 % of our income.
I may spend an additional $50-$100 a month on kids activities.