Time and Money, Circa 2011

Is it me or does it seem like in our adult lives, we never have time, money, and energy? When we're first getting started, we have time and energy but no money. Once the kids arrive, we have money and energy but no time. Then, once the kids have finally gone, we have time and money but no energy.

Well, it's hard to quantify energy, but it's fun to talk about allocations of time and money, something I've done every couple of years now. (Go here and here for previous versions.) Here are my rough estimates for the present day, for our family of two kids and two jobs:

TIME
Sleep 30%
Work 30%
Kid errands (bedtime, meals, shuttling) 10%
Religious (personal prayer, church meetings) 5%
Adult errands (paperwork, chores, house) 10%
Adult fun (dates, leisure, exercise) 10%
Family fun (zoo, play dates, horseplay) 5%

Kids are more independent, but there now seems to be more administrative stuff, so the fun portion is still tiny.

MONEY
Taxes 20%
Savings (retirement, college) 20%
Giving (church, charities) 10%
Mortgage/transportation 10%
Utilities (house, phone) 5%
Day care 10%
Groceries, personal care 10%
Home furnishing/maintenance 5%
Health care 5%
Leisure, discretionary 5%

Gotta love public education. Nesting means house-related expenses register as more than a blip now, while paying into health care makes that register as more than a blip now as well. Adding Amy's salary into the mix, without a commensurate increase in some categories, also changes some of the percentages.

It's fun to do this and see how allocations change over time. We'll see what 2013 (and beyond) brings.