What's the average 'empty nester' budget?

Housing
The Empty-Nesters live in a comfortable home valued at $223,763 (which would cost them an estimated $1,025 a month if they rented) and spent $15,769 on housing in 2005. That included $3,076 on mortgage payments, $2,722 of which went to pay down the principal (about a third or 55-to-64-year-olds have the house paid off); $1,883 on property taxes and $1,692 on maintenance and repairs. Utilities burned through another $3,427, including a $1,255 electric bill, a $1,077 phone bill, a $402 water bill, and heating costs of $521 for natural gas and $172 for fuel oil.

Furnishings
Having the house to yourself is a great time to fix up one of the kids’ bedrooms as a home office or finally buy a new rug that won’t get ruined by messy offspring. So the Empty-Nesters spent $2,231 on new rugs, furniture, appliances and other “household equipment.” Household supplies (which for some reason includes postage stamps) came to $736. Household "operations" — which includes things like dry cleaning or computer repair — came to $689.

Food
With those hungry adolescents finally out the door, the Empty-Nesters are paying less on their grocery bill — $3,487 for food prepared at home. (The grocery bill for their neighbors, the 35- to 44-year-old Soccer-Schleppers came to $4,121. Across the street, the 45- to 54-year-old Teen-Frenzies spent $3,807). The Empty-Nesters like to eat out a lot, though, and spent $2,715 on “food away from home.” And they drank $454 worth of booze.

Clothing
With daughter Ellen Empty-Nester buying her own designer jeans, the couple’s clothing bill also fell — to $1,784. Esther Empty-Nester seems to like clothes shopping ($650) more than her husband, Nick ($397). Between the two of them, they spent $298 on shoes.

Transportation
The Empty Nesters have 2.2 cars in the garage, which set them back $8,908 a year to purchase, maintain, insure and keep filled with gas. About $3,750 of that represents the annual contribution to the sticker price of a new car. Gas and oil came to $2,100 and the insurance bill was $944. And $537 went to public transportation.

Health care
Not surprisingly, this spending category rises with age. By the time you hit the 55 to 64-year-old range, the average cost of health care comes to $3,410 a year. That includes $1,585 for insurance, $1,585 on medical services and $494 on drugs. (By comparison, your healthy, under-25-year-old kids paid just $704 for health care.)

Other
Entertainment — which includes everything from tickets to the movies to the cost of caring for a pet — set the Empty-Nesters back $2,429 in 2005. Other budget items include personal care products and services ($550); reading ($167); education ($733 — the kids must be finished with college); tobacco ($336) and “miscellaneous” $981.

Our couple's budget also included $1,595 for gifts, including food ($205) and clothing ($292).  And when all those bills were paid, they donated $1,960 to the charities of their choice.

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