Do you plan to spend more or less money in 2011?

[lulu]

My plan is to spend less on non-necessary items (like eating out) but to save for a big trip to visit my dad in Chile for Christmas, which should hurt a little considering I'm traveling with 2 kids. We don't spend on hotels so that's a relief.
Other than that not much will change, I'm pretty frugal.

[998fbird]

Crone if you can afford to spend the money, please do so and enjoy your life. I watched my father live his life with that kind of behavior and he could have made himself much much happier w/o it costing a significant amount of money. And I tell you from experience, he couldn't take it with him and I'm grateful for what he left me, but I still wish he had spent more of his money on himself and been a happier person.

As far as my spending plans I hope/plan to spend less, but am not sure that life will cooperate.
I recently moved and several things came up that needed to be taken care of and I bought a couple items to make life comfortable. The items were purchased on credit w/o interest and I am working to my plan to get everything payed off 'on time'.
My goal is to be aware and careful with my money...

[startsmart]

I plan to:

1) Save more
2) Spend more

which is feasible because I will

3) Earn more

I've more than doubled my income in 4 months so it's imperative that I direct lots of that to savings and debt reduction but continue to grow my freelance job into a business. I need to invest in the business for that to happen.

Still, in 2010 I
*went to Europe for 10 days
*bought an e-course and 6 months of coaching
*bought an antique car
*traveled around CA quite a bit for family and work

2011 plans include:
*work related travel to Colorado
*vacation to Caribbean
*working trip to NYC (hopefully 2 weeks)
*continue to make payments on antique car
*incorporate my business and hire more assistants
*summer roadtrip/working vacation

[NastyWoman]

My plan is to save the same as 2010 plus the 2% SS tax reduction. With one of my "babies" getting married I don't think I will be able to spend less. However, I got a very good raise toward the end of 2010, so I should be able to cover the additional cost for that through the increase.

Keeping my fingers crossed and my wallet closed.

[sccdf]

My daughter starts college. We will spend more in general but less on ourselves.

[Deleted]

Spend about the same, save more- I've been paying off the HELOC we tapped to buy our car over 3 years and it will be done in March. That will free up $600/month. Typically we spend some of my bonus on work on the house but this year there's not anything major that needs done, so we may save more of that, too.

Our out-of-pocket medical will go up. My employer increased our share of the health insurance premiums by 5.5%, which isn't bad, but then DH (who uses docs and prescriptions more than I do) noticed that copayments were higher on services and prescriptions compared to last year. I checked our on-line benefit information and everything has gone up. Per person/per family deductible has gone from $100/$300 to $300/$900. Max out of pocket has gone from $3,000 per family to $4,500. In-network coverage has gone from 85% to 80%. The impact is a 33% increase (the employee was paying 15%, now we pay 20%). Generic prescription co-pay was $7 and now it's $10- almost a 50% increase. I know that compared the uninsured, we're bessed, but the percentage increases are pretty bad.

[Deleted]

Spend more, almost twice as much more, lol. I am taking two $2000 classes this year plus my $22205 wedding (I have paid $3600 of that $22205 this year). We spend about $20000 for living expenses per year.

[TrixAre4Kids]

About the same as last year for me, maybe a little less.
2010:

• new 95% efficiency furnance ($5800)
  
• medium vacation ($500)
  
• big vacation ($1500 - FF miles/hotel/car only, tickets were paid in 2009)
  

2011:

• assessment for new roofs ($3000-5000 estimate out of pocket)
  
• new dishwasher (depending how the roofs go ($1000)
  
• medium vacation ($500)
  
• medium vacation ($500)
  

[Agatha]

Let me see:
In 2010
:-[New roof.....................................$5,000
:-/New central heat and cooling.....$3,000
:(New transmission.......................$1,800
::)Truck taxes and title...................$500
>:(Knee surgery..............................$10,000 (lost wages not covered by disability)

In 2011
:-/Plumbing....................$2,000
Emergency Fund.........$10,000

Beyond all that I really don't know. There have been a number of things I've been wanting to do but after last year I sometimes think I will just squirrel it away. Something will come up.

[ohmomto2boys]

We will be spending less in 2011 than 2010 because our oldest son will start kindergarten in August!!! Can't wait - he is looking forward to it too - he just doesn't realize why mommy & daddy are so excited.

[kimber45]

not planning on spending more money, but I know we will owe on income taxes this year

[Gardening Grandma]

We will probably spend more in 2011. We did take a pricey trip last fall, but we need to replace the shower pan in the master bathroom and we want to re-carpet the bedroom; there's also a landscaping project that I really want to complete, so that will probably total as much as the trip.
DH is getting a "raise" in March - he'll start collecting SS, so that will help. I'm hoping we can trim back our withdrawal from the retirement accounts.

I already know we'll owe income taxes, so it's looking like 2011 is gonna cost more than last year.

[Waffle]

I don't think I have a plan.

I have a fuzzy goal of needing to build up an emergency fund. Hopefully, as I become more involved with these boards, I'll be able to develop more specific plans.

[commuter]

We will probably spend more this year. We are off to a big start by updating our kitchen this month. Nothing over the top, but we are excited about it. The timing is good as people are available to do the work.

[tcu2003]

We'll spend more. We're moving this Spring to a branch office in a different state, so we'll have to sell our house and buy a new one. Other than that, most of our spending should be similar to last year.

[dcmetrocrab]

Spend more. I've decided to loosen the reins on my budget and gave myself an allowance raise. Been doing pretty good so far, already made a $250+ dent buying clothes.

[dcmetrocrab]

Oh yeah, I don't really count this, but my car just got a new clutch to the tune of $1700+. Yes, it is studded with semi precious jewels.

[MN-Investor]

More! Definitely more!

My poor 14 year old car has reached its limits. Or I have. One or the other. It needs new brakes, a new exhaust system, and, most likely, a new transmission. My DH is the type who wants to fix all these things himself. But he doesn't have the time. So I am buying a brand new car this year. It may be a RAV4, like I'm currently driving. But, I swear, if my DH complains one more time about having to adjust the seat (I'm 5'5", he's 6'3"), I'll buy a Lexus just to have the feature where the seat & mirror settings are remembered with the individual key used!

[goabby]

I'm planning to save a lot. I'm planning to buy a little house or a condo in a couple of years.

[The J]

Both. My savings is done as a percentage of income. Since my income went up, that means the amount I save will go up. My bills haven't gone up much, so the amount of remaining income I have has. I'm planning several trips this year, plus possibly replacing the carpeting in my condo (might do laminate throughout a lot of it, if I can get approval from the board).

[secret1122]

I will definitely spend more and save more. I do that every year. The more I save, the more I am able to spend. There shouldn't be any new expenses coming up anytime soon. Hopefully no surprises.

[doxieluvr]

We plan to spend less and pay off more. We have tons of credit card debt that I would like to see knocked in half by the end of the year.