How much did your expenses increase after your immigrant arrived?

[afoyoswa 178]

I was just playing around with my budget to try to forecast how the household expenses will change once Aaron gets here. A lot of costs won't change much or at all, such as housing, internet, and car expenses (I live in an area where you can get everywhere on foot or by public transit). But when I added up the costs that *will* change (health insurance, utilities, groceries, cell phones, and public transit), the difference between what I am spending now on these costs and what we will be spending once he arrives comes out to around 25% of my monthly take-home pay! Granted, I estimated the highest possible cost for the variable things (i.e. 2x the top of my typical range for groceries), but for example, my health insurance and dental insurance will triple in price when I change to the family plan.

I generally allot myself <20% of my take-home pay as spending money to cover groceries, entertainment, and other miscellaneous expenses, and put away most of what's left after fixed expenses (everything above), so clearly I will have to stop doing that at least until he is working. But I am surprised. I guess it's good that I had the sticker shock *now* rather than once he gets here, but...I feel like I earn a pretty comfortable living, but this is going to pinch a lot more than I thought it would. (And I will be so happy to have him near me that I won't mind a bit, just for the record.)

Were the increased expenses after your fiance/spouse arrived pretty much what you had projected, or more/less? What were the unexpected costs?

[Operator 1,927]

I honestly didn't see the increase in groceries like I thought I would even though I (we) am eating in much more often. Just be prepared to modify some of your spending habits and you shouldn't have too much trouble. Hopefully you have a plan for AOS.

[Teddy B 17,252]

One way you might be able to save some money is on health insurance once he starts working, assuming you have no other dependents. It is $50 cheaper per week for my wife and I to have separate single plans through each of our employers than it is for the both of us to be on a family plan.

[Caryh 5,206]

Were the increased expenses after your fiance/spouse arrived pretty much what you had projected, or more/less? What were the unexpected costs?

I wasn't worrying too much about the increased costs when she arrived. I knew she wanted to work and would be as soon as she could. It hasn't been until she's started working that I'm hoping the up and down variation is going to settle in. Wedding, all new clothes to handle winter, AOS, specialty foods, insurance insurance insurance, more new clothes when it warmed up because the washer and drier shrunk her old warm weather clothes, new car that allows her feet to reach the pedals, drivers training, unpaid days off work because I burned through all my vacation (biometrics, SSN, ID, drivers permit test, drivers license test, civil surgeon visit), there's a million things I'm not thinking of I'm sure. The bank balance dropped faster than I expected and the credit line went to work. With her working now the budget went from constantly over budget to a surplus. The food budget jumped much more than I guessed it would, but we eat darn good, I think I've put on 25 lbs since she arrived. She considers it her duty as a good wife to make me fat

Edited May 23, 2012 by Caryh

[Reyan 56]

I ended up spending a little more than what I had originally budgeted for, and most of it was on food. I'm fine with it, since I am eating healthier. Just as the OP, I had to pay more for health insurance, utilities, and cellphones (I never owned one before). I also set aside funds for the AOS and time off from work for the miscellaneous immigration appointments/errands.

My wife had to get a crown, so that was unexpected expense. We also brought her dog over, and I never realized how expensive and time consuming they can be. It was well worth it though, since my wife is a lot happier and never feels homesick (I asked her this). This journey is not cheap for most of us, so planning ahead is a great strategy. Our next journey is having children.

[Emmysaur 29]

I was just playing around with my budget to try to forecast how the household expenses will change once Aaron gets here. A lot of costs won't change much or at all, such as housing, internet, and car expenses (I live in an area where you can get everywhere on foot or by public transit). But when I added up the costs that *will* change (health insurance, utilities, groceries, cell phones, and public transit), the difference between what I am spending now on these costs and what we will be spending once he arrives comes out to around 25% of my monthly take-home pay! Granted, I estimated the highest possible cost for the variable things (i.e. 2x the top of my typical range for groceries), but for example, my health insurance and dental insurance will triple in price when I change to the family plan.

I generally allot myself <20% of my take-home pay as spending money to cover groceries, entertainment, and other miscellaneous expenses, and put away most of what's left after fixed expenses (everything above), so clearly I will have to stop doing that at least until he is working. But I am surprised. I guess it's good that I had the sticker shock *now* rather than once he gets here, but...I feel like I earn a pretty comfortable living, but this is going to pinch a lot more than I thought it would. (And I will be so happy to have him near me that I won't mind a bit, just for the record.)

Were the increased expenses after your fiance/spouse arrived pretty much what you had projected, or more/less? What were the unexpected costs?

On my first 3 months here we were doing just fine since I brought all of my savings with me. My husband was also living in this house rent-free for 6 months because the lender had so much trouble closing the house. They managed to close the house last month and our mortgage payment started this month. We are starting to feel the financial strain now. We just sent my AOS application so we are actually living paycheck to paycheck right now.

We didn't have to worry about health insurance though. I don't really understand how his insurance work. He have a really good insurance that covers almost everything and he didn't have to pay anything. I was added to his insurance without any problem too.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Wade<3Emmy

[Ben and Jill 37]

My health and dental insurance increased (once we were married ~ also the cost of the wedding was an added expense, but that should be a given...), grocery costs increased, and the only other added expense was Ben needed some dental work, some of which wasn't covered by our insurance. But, that's about it really. You only see the extra expense until they start working and once Ben started, it was great! We had extra money so I had to figure out what to do with it! LOL. I wasn't used to any extra income I was finally able to pay off some extra bills ~ it was most lovely. But, like you said...Aaron will be here and it won't matter! You'll be superfine.

Oh, and also the AOS expense - yikes! And if you take vacations together

Edited May 23, 2012 by Ben and Jill

[Xanax 349]

In terms of general expenses, these would be my guesses-

Groceries - I would say 1.5 x what you spend now.

Travel- Car/ bus/ taxi (not sure what you spend) - could be anything.

Water- 1.5x-2x what you pay now.

Gas (heating etc)- 1.5x-2x what you pay now.

Cell phone for your new hubby- 1.5x-2x what you pay now.

Insurance- 2x - 3x what you pay now.

Entertainment - 2x- 3x what you pay now.

Clothing - (your spouse might need more weather appropriate clothing depending on where he is from and where you will live)- Could be anything.

____

Once off payments-

AOS - $1070 (I think).

Drivers licence - depends on state.

Car (if you buy one)- depends what you buy.

I am sure there are more expenses, but they are the ones we have encountered so far!

Edited May 24, 2012 by BrittandDan

[Mr. Borkström 63]

Once off payments-

AOS - $1070 (I think).

One of the reasons my wife and I decided on the IR-1/CR-1 visa. It may not work out for everyone, but it's the path we chose.

[afoyoswa 178]

Thanks, everyone! This is all very helpful. I'm using the extra time I have on my hands right now, while I'm waiting for the paperwork to come through, to do all kinds of odd jobs to put away extra money for startup expenses once he arrives (including AOS & wedding), so those should be fine. But obviously, we're not going to want to dip into savings to make the monthly budget balance, so I'm trying to sort out where the extra money is going to come from until he is working (goodbye, 403(b) contribution?).

My health insurance coverage is amazing, and I doubt he'd get anything comparable for the price through his employer once he has one (although we'll compare when the time comes), so that's definitely not an area that we'll be economizing in. We'll no doubt find ways to cut back in other areas, but I want to make sure he knows that good health insurance is an absolute must-have here in a way it definitely isn't where he lives now.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I noticed you're from Massachusetts also. How long have you lived here?

Congrats on your upcoming wedding and good luck in your future together!

Edited May 24, 2012 by Teddy B

[AmyWrites 593]

My insurance will nearly double :-S Especially if I want to add maternity costs in case I get pregnant. Other than that, we might need a car, no public transport where I'm from in the States, and well car insurance, but I haven't checked for that. Thankfully russians don't eat anything I can't find where I'm from or that's expensive.

[Iyawo Ijebu 157]

Excellent topic, have learned quite a bit from reading others responses.

I don't expect to have much changes in my expenses until we become a party of more than two. Those little criters sure cost a lot.

I am lucky in the sense that Sarafa is on the same wavelength in terms of establishing a presence back at home, we would like to start building a home back in Nigeria and starting a business branch there. That's our main goal.

We will continue to live in my condo so expense for that is the same, I don't have cable only antenae so it's free and I get HD too (I am trying to get off the grid - lol), my unlimited internet fees will not change, I think food will actually go down since we have the same cultural diet (and she hates the idea that I go out to eat so much), I foresee electricity to go up at least in the first few months that she will be home while we process the immigration stuff, cooking gas may go up due to cooking more at home, water and trash are paid for by my association, I work for a hospital and I am already on a family plan with my 4 children from previous marriage so no increase to add her, car insurance will for sure go up since she will be a new driver. What will go down is the federal/state tax

One slight concern for me is that she wants to go into business (already set up and developing an ecommerce site for her- no activity until work permit of course) so I have to come up with start up money.

Like the OP, I have been squirelling away money from doing odd jobs, selling stuff that I have hoarded over the years (mainly classic car parts).

PS: RebTel fees will be drastrically reduced too

[Blondie-CO 8]

You're one savvy & smart lady! Before my (now husband) arrived, I too created spreadsheets to forecast the increased expenses. What I found is that we spent about 2.5 times my normal budget (beyond fixed costs like rent) the first month he was here (eating out/cooking fancy/decorating/going to pubs with friends/travel). Since we did not have any kind of wedding, I guess you could say we planned to really enjoy a month long "honeymoon" in our hometown.

Since then, our budget has normalized -everything fits just within my paycheck each month. For recent graduates, we both have relatively healthy savings, so it's nice to not have to dip into them for living purposes until he gets a job.

We chose to not get health insurance for him between his arrival and him getting a job. My insurance through work is $57/month and to add him, it would be $400/month. We are young and healthy and didn't find it necessary to purchase health insurance for him during this state of limbo -but of course he will get it when he gets a job.

I didn't see any significant increase in utilities. My parents were gracious to allow us on their "Verizon family phone plan" so it's literally only about $60/month for both of us for data, minutes and unlimited text.

Including rent, food, insurance, utilities and "fun money" we spend about $2350 every month

Edited May 24, 2012 by Blondie-CO

[afoyoswa 178]

I noticed you're from Massachusetts also. How long have you lived here?

Congrats on your upcoming wedding and good luck in your future together!

Thanks! I'm in Brighton, and moved here for college in 2001 but then never left. How about you?

Fortunately, water and heat are included in my rent, so those won't change. My public transit pass is subsidized through work and his won't be, but the passes break even with 1 round trip 20 days a month, so I think it's a wise move to get him one. Given that he won't be earning for the first few months, I'd like to get as many of his routine expenses added to the budget and on autopilot as possible, so it will feel more like "our" budget and so that there won't need to be all that much cash changing hands. I am planning to sign up for an unlimited cell phone plan and get an automatically refilled transit pass for him so that at least he can communicate and get places without feeling like he's incurring extra household expenses. Then we can sit down and talk about what is left over after our fixed expenses are taken care of and what do to with it (eat out X times per week/month, try to keep groceries below __, save for ___ project, give ___ to ___, have ___ for each of us to spend on whatever we want each week/month, etc.). If we are setting priorities together from the beginning, I think it will be a lot easier to get started out on a firm footing that can be easily adapted to changing circumstances.

Our next journey is having children.

We very much want children as well: soon if possible. And of course it is tempting when we will already be on a family insurance plan, and I have all maternity expenses covered through my insurance and even paid maternity leave! But then I start to think about daycare costs, which come out to 50-100% of my take-home pay for many of the nearby centers in my area. <sigh>

PS: RebTel fees will be drastrically reduced too

Maybe so, or maybe not if he spends a lot of time talking to people back in Uganda! (Although I'm not sure it would be possible for him to talk to them as much as I [want to, and sometimes do] talk to him, plus we can use a cheaper carrier, so it might come out to be less.)

Edited May 24, 2012 by afoyoswa