Responsible Person in Today's Society

As I go through my budget today reviewing my monthly allocations to live what I consider a normal and responsible life in today's society has me thinking.  Am I living for myself or how others tell me I should live?  I want to be respected by family and friends, but at what costs? 

The dollar amounts used in this article are conservative for my area and for a family of four and the products and services listed are a combination of what I do budget for and also products and services that I should probably look into for the family.

Let's see, I need a house with all utilities and insurance for the home.  Two vehicles and each of them need insurance and fuel. The family needs to eat both in the home and dine out for morale and welfare reasons.  It's important to save for a rainy day and to invest for retirement.  I should probably get a termite bond to protect my investment and monthly insect treatments is important.  The flood insurance will be a separate policy from the homeowner's insurance.

What about healthcare?  How much do I need?  Well, we are young now but need to lock into a policy rate now to prevent higher premiums in a couple years.  What if a family member unfortunately suffers serious medical, dental, or mental ailments?  We should purchase life insurance on each other just in case of a tragedy.  Oh! we love pets.  There are necessities required for their well being.

That is a good list of products and services a responsible family should have.  I wonder how much all this costs, on a monthly basis?  Let's do a breakdown, all figures are in dollar amounts.

Mortgage - 800
Insurance
  Mortgage - 650
  Flood - 30
  Medical - 400
  Auto - 130
  Term Life - 75
  Termite - 20
Utilities
  Electric - 165
  Gas - 55
  Cable/Satellite - 100
  Telephone 50
  Cell phone - 80
  Internet - 55
  Sewer - 45
  Water - 40
Pest control  - 20
Auto payments - 650
Groceries - 500
Dining out - 160
Auto fuel - 300
Savings - 300
Retirement - 467

Monthly total =  $5092

Again the dollar amounts are conservative and the savings should be a certain percentage of your income and the retirement figure is the maximum IRA contribution for an individual.  But these figures fairly represent the costs for article.

This is just to live a basic responsible life without any bells and whistles.  Finances is the main stressor in a family's life.  Wow!