What's your top 3 budget expenses?

[J_]

Top three expenses are:

Taxes (on capital) 52 %
Food 18 %
Housing 17 %

I live in a country which has a taxation on your savings-amount.
It is what it is, I do not complain.

[horsewoman]

First half of 2019:

1) Loan photovoltaic unit 26% (done last month, YAY!)
2) Taxes 21%
3) Housing and Shopping both each 10%
4) mobility, food, insurance each 7%

We need to get our shopping in check ASAP. What do we have to show for all this money!?

[take2]

Top three expenses are:

Taxes (on capital) 52 %
Food 18 %
Housing 17 %

I live in a country which has a taxation on your savings-amount.
It is what it is, I do not complain.

What country? Either your food/housing is really low, the tax is really high, or you have a lot of capital. I assume probably a combination of the three?

Also curious whether you would have the ability to shift your savings offshore to a different country that doesn’t tax it? A wealth tax in general doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m sure there are solid arguments for/against but it always seemed to me that it has a negative real impact on just driving people away.

Would you have a certain taxation point where it wouldn’t make sense to continue living in your country?

[J_]

@anesde
The Netherlands has this taxation. And I think DW and me have saved enough to grow old.
Food expenses are not super frugal, I think normal, focused on healthy eating, prepared from scratch.
My housing- (cash bought) costs (in two countries) are inclusive of re-taxes, maintenance(most DIY), insurance and utility costs, which I keep low.

Yes, I can move my main Domicile to Austria, which has no wealth tax.
But I have promised myself never to change country or home because of tax-reasons. I have seen countrymen who moved for tax reasons to Belgium or Curacao, where they seem unhappy and come to Holland as much as possible within the legal time allowed.

There are much more important reasons such as: feeling at ease, easy transport by bicycle, "Nature" within reach, my hobbies on/in (frozen)water (rowing, sailing, boating, swimming and cross country skiing) to choose the places to live.

[George the original one]

food
entertainment
insurance

House is owned, occupied by spouse & myself, and we're retired.

[Gilberto de Piento]

It's tough to compare expenses by category across posters not only because living situation varies but also because the categories vary. For example, I count my water, gas and electric bills in one category because that's what Mint does, whereas others may keep these separate.

Over the last 12 months:
1. Mortgage: 38% (Death Lock! )
2. Groceries: (not including alcohol): 12%
3. Taxes: 10% (this only includes property taxes and times when I have had to pay extra due to earnings where taxes weren't taken out)
4. Home Improvement: 6% (hoping this goes away soon)
5. Doctor: 5% (hoping this goes away soon too)
6. Bills & Utilities: 4% (water, gas, electric)
7. Auto Insurance: 3%