Hello! As a follow-up to my prior post, I am providing my current monthly budget. It has been refined over the last six months as I've adapted to how medical school changed our spending estimates. Keep in mind that my budget is for two people as I live with my fiancée and we have combined our finances.

How should this factor into your views on my budget? Looking at some quick numbers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average single person spends about $48,000 annually and the average married couple spends about $76,000 annually. That means that expenses for two people living together with combined finances are about 1.6x what they would be for a single person, on average.

Moreover, when looking at my budget please consider the fact that we live in a MCOL (medium cost of living) area. Budgets in very urban areas like Boston or San Francisco will of course be drastically different.

Here's my basic budget:

Rent: $1,415

- This is for a one-bedroom apartment in a great area. There were definitely cheaper reasonable apartments available

Groceries: $535

- Almost entirely done at Costco and Aldi's

Savings: $200

- For residency applications and in-person interviews, plus the occasional vacation. Funded entirely through checking account bonuses, savings account bonuses, and credit card sign up bonuses

Restaurants: $150

- For when we're too tired to cook or have that special craving for Chick-Fil-A minis

Personal Care: $150

- This category includes toiletries (toilet paper, toothpaste, paper towels, shampoo), haircuts, and the like

Utilities: $120

- Our apartment provides free internet, water, and sewage. The rest (i.e. electricity) are in this category

Entertainment: $120

- Movies, videogames, visits to museums and botanical gardens, etc. fall into this category

Car Insurance: $100

- In reality, it's $600 semi-annually, but we put the money into a separate account

Car Maintenance: $90

- Like car insurance, this is not an actual monthly expense but rather is put into a separate account. Includes car wash membership in the winters to clean the undercarriage of salt and prevent rust

Student Loans: $86

- My fiancée has some student loans from her undergraduate degree. We have her enrolled in the Graduated Repayment Plan to keep monthly payments low until we're dual income during my residency and can eliminate the loans quickly

Misc. Shopping: $70

- Categories not covered elsewhere. i.e. new curtains

Gas: $70

- For vehicles. Includes trips to Minneapolis

Medical: $50

- For the parts insurance doesn't cover, plus over-the-counter medicines like tylenol or pseudoephedrine

Emergency Fund: $50

- Modest monthly contribution to our emergency fund

Subscriptions: $30

- Includes yearly Costco membership, as well as yearly subscription to the financial management app we use

Dry Cleaning: $15

- This will come as a surprise to no one that I have to wear a suit sometimes, and those suits need to look good and stay looking good

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Total: $3,251

- Divided by the 1.6 number cited above, that would be roughly ~$2,032 a month for an individual ($24,382 a year)

Happy to answer any questions on why we settled on certain amounts, or on how we went about making a budget. We could definitely trim down certain categories, but as we have an income from her job, we're able to be a little less frugal. Something I do want to mention is that our monthly emergency fund contribution is lower than it otherwise would be, as our emergency fund is already established (3+ months living expenses). However, the main reason we have an emergency fund is in case Mrs. Macrophage loses her job. If your income is from loans (and therefore not prone to potential job loss), you could definitely get away with a smaller emergency fund. I would still highly recommend having at least $1,000.