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A Breakdown of Your Monthly Budget?
"The purchase price of your home, car, or any other property would be relevant if you were to include an indication to where you were geographically, and how you felt it was in relation to the rest of the region. If you were to include the type of work you do I would group those accordingly. If you are part of a two (or more) income residence, handle that however you wish but make a note of it so I can better tweak the dataset.
With a decent dataset made available I would be willing to do some statistical analysis and make the charts / compiled data available for download.
If you are not already doing a breakdown along these lines it may be an eye opener for your own use (but share it here to help make the dataset larger, more accurate.)"
didn't we cover this topic last week?
keep track of your finances with software and get the big picture.
spend less on the things you are spending too much on. stop paying for things you don't need (you need all those cable channels? all those cell phone services? do you need a cell at all? are you paying fees for a gold card you never use? do you buy stuff like coffee and snacks througout the day? that shit adds up.)
try and put away a fixed percentage of your income every month.
eat out less, or not at all. learn to cook.
don't buy CDs, download them or "burn and return". learn to play an instrument.
cut up all your credit cards except one. Put that one in a block of ice in the freezer for emergencies. don't shop online unless you have equivalent cash in your wallet.
if you go out with your friends and spend a lot of money every time, find new friends (you'll have to do it anyway, since most people don't understand and they'll take it personally when you say you want to save money instead of going out).
live below your means. you'd be surprised at home much money you can save if you cut out unneccisary crap. you might have to change your lifestyle though, can you handle it?
- Mortage = $2950/month on my $400k loan. House in Massachusetts, just refinanced late last year.
- Car #1: $400/month, 2000 Volvo XC.
- Car #2: $200/month, leased Honda Accord
- Cell Phones: $80, T-Mobile family plan
- Comcast (cable+internet): $120 (includes movie channel package)
- Regular phone: $65 (Verizon)
- Electric : $80ish
- Oil heat: about 4 fillups a year, $350/per.
- Going out to eat: $150/month
- Food shopping: no budgeted amount but I can tell you I spent $400 in two visits over the past couple of weeks
- Student loans: none. Paid off when we got ahead on cash.
- Investments: $200/month into an SP index fund. Used to be $600, I cut back.
That's about all I can think of to itemize. Of course the last big budget item would go under "misc living expenses" and includes everything like special circumstances, travel/holidays/vacations, gifts, and so on, and usuaully ends up over $1500/month.Nothing special going into the baby's college yet, save for UPromise (loyalty program), holiday/relative money, and random transfers.
No special money going to retirement outside of the company 401k for both my wife and myself.
I'm pleased to say that we manage to keep an emergency savings fund of about $40k in the bank, too.
The purchase price of your home, car, or any other property would be relevant if you were to include an indication to where you were geographically, and how you felt it was in relation to the rest of the region. If you were to include the type of work you do I would group those accordingly. If you are part of a two (or more) income residence, handle that however you wish but make a note of it so I can better tweak the dataset.
And if you could also include your mother's maiden name and your social security number that would be great. kthxbye!
Well, lets get the ball rolling:
Per month:
$50 cigarettes
$70 gas/car stuff
$20 eating out
$470 food/grocery store type stuff
$120 Credit Card minimum payments
$90 Girlfriend's credit card minimums
$100 electric
$750 mortgage
$13 cell phone (emergency only 5 minutes free a month plan)
$45 Telco, 2 land lines
$150 Satellite, Starband Internet + TV
$50 school loan
Car insurance is about $1100 between myself and my girlfriend paid yearly.
Household is self/girlfriend/6 year old son
So yeah, I'm barely scraping by on my $36,000 a year job as a programmer/analyst. Most extra money goes to paying off credit cards, or for lawyer's fees relating to custody of my son.
My girlfriend is looking for work, she majored in hearing and speech disorders in college. I did not finish college, but I went for 4 years in CS/CIS.
Yes, I'm considering cutting back the satellite seriously.
...with the Slashdot anti-lameness filters.
State: Missouri
Profession: Low rung IT (helpdesk/support)
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Monthly post taxes income = ~$1700
(All costs in half since I live with my girlfriend (have fun calling me a liar or my girlfriend fat, kids))
Rent (house, not purchasing) = $350
Bills (including car insurance, electricity, gas, water, trash, cable, etc.) = $300
Car payment = $80
Car insurance = $110
Credit card/loan payments = $240 (picking off the last $2000 in debt)
Food = $100
Gas (car) = $80
Total monthly living costs: $1260
Where the rest of the money goes is a mystery, because I sure don't have it. Some goes to drinking/going out, some to computer parts when I get the urge. Medical insurance is $10 for full coverage pretax out of my check if you're interested.
I live in Nebraska, and everything is a hell of a lot cheaper than in Cali, for example. I am just a peon programmer, make $47k a year, yet I still feel like I am living the high life. Hell, I will be moving into a swank *NEW* house here in a couple of months I have already signed for.
;-)
BTW, what's a budget?
Wait a year after a DVD comes out to buy it.
Never go to the movies.
Avoid eating out at all costs.
Buy in bulk.
Save Save Save.
Being single helps I guess but I have no pity for people who jump into marriage and kids and wonder (whine) about always being poor. With all major decisions in your life it takes planning.
I have a strange arragenment - my job provides my housing, my food, my utilities, and my Internet access. I also get pretty good benifits since I am a government employee.
So here is a question: Suppose you were getting two paychecks a month ($1400 a month take-home) - What would you spend your money on?
Currently I pay $40/month on cell phone, $50/month on student loans, and put away $100/month in retirement (401k equivilent). I should kick the retirement fund up, and will do so in the next few weeks. I spend about $100/month on food (going out, snacks, so on...) I spend two weeks each summer in the Virgin Islands. I do some travelling, but I am pretty good about finding fares, so that is not a major cost on the year. That leaves me about $1000/month with almost no more bills.
I buy my share of tech gizmos and other toys, but feel like I could be doing more with the money.
So any suggestions?
(Oh, and to make you feel even better about my job - I have two weeks at Christmas, a week for spring break, and two months off every summer).
- (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
Here's my breakdown - it's a rough average I use to keep track of things, it's usually accurate within 10-15% on the variable items:
26 years old, single, Houston, TX market
quality midsize 1 BR apt near downtown 900/mo.
Electric/Cable/Net 250/mo.
Food (some shopping, maj. eating out) 400/mo.
Entertainment (mostly means drinking, clubs, movies, etc - things I can cut back on in a financial pinch) 500/mo.
Transportation (car maintenance broken down, gas for a very short commute, bus fares, etc) $120/mo.
Total: $2170/mo, which is less than half my monthly take-home pay - the rest goes to one-off expenditures, toys, savings, emergencies, etc. You'll notice the distinct lack of a car payment, and that I prefer to rent instead of pay mortgage. I don't believe in America's Credit/Debt System at all - it's a tool to supress people into coming into line with what the goverment and major corporations want out of them. I own my car (it's not hard to buy a car outright even on a low budget - find a clean used car from an individual), and I won't buy a house till my savings/investments add up to being able to purchase it in cash, which may be never. I firmly believe this is the way to go, but my opinion is in the minority.
11*43+456^2
The idea is that you have a set of envelopes representing each budget category, then you allocate money to each category when you get paid. It's all pretty automated. The software is, unfortunately, somewhat rough around the edges sometimes, but it works (and is much better than Quicken/Mac). Support is great.
Also, you can find a budget categories calculator at http://www.crown.org/Tools/budgetguide.asp . While it is Christian-based, the categories are not really much different because of that. (Which, unfortunately, may say something about the kind of "Christianity" espoused.)
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
18% (pretax) goes into a 401k retirement plan (3% matched by company).
10% (of the pretax amount, taken post-tax) goes into an employee stock purchase plan (which buys company stock at a 15% discount... so far, this has been a money maker, which is more than can be said for the 401k!).
That leaves about $2000/month in take home pay, after taxes.
$200/month of that goes into purchasing stock & mutual funds (direct deposit). $200 is transferred to my savings account (although I can spend it just as easy).
Phone bill - about $50. Electric $40-50, rent is 475 (small apt). Credit card (which covers food, gas, and most miscellaneous purchases) runs between $200-$1000 a month (usually 300-400 range).
Now and then, money goes to an IRA account, or my brokerage account (love them REITS!).
$100 a month from the ATM for clubbing, small purchases, hookers, alcohol, etc.
And I strongly recommend you use Quicken or MS Money. I used to balance my checkbook by hand, but Money is good at showing you where your money goes, your total networth, and shit like that. Warez it if you have to, or go with GnuCash, but use something.
My monthly gross : $5200
...and an unspecified amount on food and small shiney objects. I guess about $250 - $300/wk.
:-)
Wife's gross : $ 3600
We pay $1550 / mo in rent, shortly to become the same in a mortgage payment. After taxes, 401K contributions ($800/mo combined), and regular expenses we each put away about $800/mo in savings, with a trivial amount of student loans.
No car payments - one car, fully owned.
$80/mo cellphones
$40/mo landline (local and LD)
$100/mo cable and internet
$60/mo electricity
$80/mo gas (heat and cooking)
$21/mo Netflix!
$10/mo ReplayTV
$180/mo home and car insurance
Health insurance is cheap because one of us works for a local healthcare provider.
Income : $5200/mo (gross)
Taxes : $1500
Health Insurance : $150
Take home : $3550
Car Payment : 0
Car Repairs : $200 average
Car Insurance : $100
House Payment : $1200
Child Support : $400
Gas : $40
Eating Out : $400
Groceries : $400
Computer Toys : $250
Electric : $60
Gas : $80
Water : $80
Cell Phone $50
Land Line : $65
Cable : $50
CableModem : $50
Savings/401(k) : $0
Not sure where the rest of it goes.
about 18% gets taken out for federal taxes.
6% goes into my employee stock purchase plan
10% goes to my 401k
I forgot how much goes into state taxes.
out of my take home:
25% is my rent.
10% is utilities
6% is dinner out (enjoy life now)
10% is groceries
20% is car insurance, gas, maintenance (I'm lucky I'm female or my insurance would kick this up 9 % more)
10% is clothing and/or "toys" and/or other entertainment.
6% is medical bills
The rest goes into savings and IRA which would tell too much about my salary.
These are estimates, but I keep a rather close eye on my finances also. You should perhaps use some software (or spreadsheet) to keep track of your finances so you can find out where the money is going.
"Would you rather have a playstation addicted dork wearing a star wars t-shirt?"
My income is about $6500 a month.
I have no car and am single. I live in Portland (cheap compared to Bay Area, expensive compared to 85% of the rest of the country). I have a one bedroom apartment in the middle of nowhere. I work from home 365 days a year.
# Tax = $2100/mo
# Rent = $585/mo
# Electricity = $100/mo
# Phone = $100/mo (includes $69 DSL)
# ISP = $80/mo
# Digital Cable, Comcast, Basic = $55/mo
# Cable Internet (for my parents home) = $55/mo
# Groceries/Food = $400 (sometimes less sometimes much more)
# Entertainment (amazon.com purchases, video game purchases, MMORPG subscriptions, website subscriptions, pornography, computer hardware, etc): $800 (give or take)
# 401k = $1000/mo (half in fidelity contrafund, half in western asset management fund).
# Roth IRA = $250/mo
# Investments = $500/mo (minimum, into my scottrade account which I manage personally in individual stocks). I've been investing for almost three years with a total return of 32%. (I guess I'm just lucky, although I'm also very dedicated to the research I perform behind each trade).
If he cuts back on that, then he'll have to save *more* on retiring, thus cutting down on his quality of life.
This is a well established retirement cost-mitigation strategy.
income: $5,200 (variable)
car gasoline: $90
food: $300
rent (water, garbage): $500
dialup internet: $15
cable (with cable modem): $85
household heat (gas, winter): $200
electric (winter): $70
Gross Monthly: $6500
Mortgage: $1094 ($116,000 home)
Insurance: $115
Phone/DSL: $94
Dish: $85
Water: $64 (this is max, we have 2 reef tanks)
Electric: $250 (this is max, we have NO gas)
401k: $1020
Cell is paid by my employer and my wife and I own both our cars outright (I am not big on depreciating investments). We have about 15k in cash in the bank, 15 acres of farm land we are building a new house on (we own it outright, valued at about 30k) and about another 40k in stocks and bonds. We try to live on something like 25-35k a year, just in case, since my wife is in grad school.
Anywho, mortgage is $3,000 a month, $800 for food (kathleen can't cook for shit, so we have to order pizza twice a day). $2,000 for entertainment (eg, porn, drugs, hookers, etc).
Oh, yeah, I live in michigan, and work from home. If you can call it "work".
Here's mine. I hacked a web app that lets me enter expenses from wherever. This is over 250 days. "food" is groceries, "dining" eating out. "Rent" here is just property taxes 'cause I've been putting all my spare $ into my house for 16 years and paid it off, "health" includes insurance (and this year a costly visit to the E.R. after an accident, so it's higher than normal). My budget has looked pretty much like this regardless of how much I've earned from year to year. It also looked pretty much like this when I was living in Maui, renting a cheap room. Gas cost is low because I telecommute. I have never carried debt in my life except a home mortgage for a while. This table accounts for every penny I spent during these 250 days (can you tell I'm an INTP?). Hopefully needless to say, I don't have to work even a fraction of full time to maintain this lifestyle, and I don't really feel I'm missing anything (just got back from a month in New Zealand...; want to spend a month in France traveling around by rented barge via the canals--looking for travel partners to share the cost... anyone?).
/250d /yr
Category Spent
Dining 1062.86 4.23 1545.62
Water 167.74 0.67 243.93
Food 1954.51 7.79 2842.29
Fun 758.77 3.02 1103.42
Staples 108.97 0.43 158.47
Gas 259.58 1.03 377.49
Health 1500.91 5.98 2182.65
Garden 251.91 1.00 366.33
Internet 404.85 1.61 588.74
Misc 391.43 1.56 569.22
Utils 1286.10 5.12 1870.27
Rent 1272.52 5.07 1850.52
Auto 419.44 1.67 609.96
Computer 568.46 2.26 826.67
Travel 1011.39 4.03 1470.78
House 86.09 0.34 125.19
Total 11505.53 45.84 16731.55
Job: University (Master's) student
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Income:
Scholarships and assistantships: $6000 / 4 months
Canada Pension Plan (orphan/death benefit): $170 / month
Interest on investments: $30 / month
Expenses:
Groceries: $200 / month
Rent: $579.35 / month
Car: $30 / month
Telephone: $50 / month
High-speed DSL: $50 / month
RRSP Investments: $100 / month
Entertainment: ~$100 / month
Tuition: $2000 / 4 months
Books and other school fees: $500 / 4 months
Miscellaneous other expenses that I don't normally plan for but include here 'cuz they appear anyway: $1000 / 4 months
Net income every 4-month term: $6800
Net expenses every 4-month term: $7937.40
Note:
- I don't pay utilities, and I don't have cable.
- Groceries and the cost of living in Waterloo, Ontario is probably a lot less than many/most US cities
- I TA occasionally, which adds $3000 more to my net income, so I end up squeaking by on my meager lifestyle.
Interesting question. I'm a college student in Austin, Texas (hook 'em), and here's my monthly budget. I'd like to hear from other college students.
$450 rent
$100 utilities (phone, electricity, cable, internet)
$30 gas
$100 ATM withdrawals (usually spent on food)
$130 groceries and related
Living is expensive!
Are you some kind of body mod nut? That's a hell of a lot of staples. And just what are you stapling?
Dunno if you're serious or not so I'll answer straight: Staples = paper towels, laundry soap, stuff like that.
Job: Systems Programmer
Age: 24
Salary = About $5000 gross/month
Rent: 700
Car: 350
Car2: Done
Renter & Auto Insurance $150 (lead foot)
Utilities: $75
Phone: $35
Cellphone: $45
Cable/Internet: $90
Gas: $200
Food: $400
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Here's a breakdown of my costs, just for fun. Keeping in mind I'm a student, my prices are pretty irrelevant, so I'll throw in some other costs from other places. All prices are in Canadian dollars, because I'm lazy and sleepy. All costs are shared with roommate except where specified.
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Compared to other places in Fredericton, I'm really getting shafted - $130/mo for heat is absurd when half the places in town include it, as is $600 for a two-bedroom when I could rent a one-bedroom all-included for $300. That being said, I can go from my front door to my furthest class last semester within fifteen minutes, which means I can get up a half hour before class starts, shower, eat, and still be on time, though out of breath. That's really what I'm paying for. Oh, and the hardwood floors, quiet neighbourhood, etc. I'm not paying for the extremely small hot water tank though. I don't pay for transit because I can't afford a car, and public transit isn't worth paying for.
I lived in Montreal with a friend of mine, but lost my job whle I was on vacation, denying me the satisfaction of quitting when I got back. We did a lot of exploring the city, but there's a lot of things to do in Montreal without spending money. Eating, however, is not one of those things.
Montreal, Quebec
As for how this compares to other options in Montreal, as near as I could tell, it's fairly standard, give or take a hundred or two dollars, but keep in mind this is downtown Montreal we're talking about, not the West Island or anything like that.
I still recall most of my parents' finances when they lived in BC. Most notable is their place in Mission, rather expensive; nice, but you pay for it, and a bitch to heat.
Mission, British Columbia
Mission is a small town about 20 minutes from Surrey, BC, making Vancouver rather accessible. Still, it's a small town, built into a hill pretty much, with only one Tim Hortons, one
I just started getting my finances in order and I've purchased Mobile Money 2002 to help me get it together.
I'm single and live alone. I sold my car because I needed to cut back and work and home are each a 1/2 block from the same subway line...
Monthly:
$5490 Gross Income
$1173 Federal Taxes
$ 333 Social Security
$ 329 401(k) (+ $439 from my employer =)
$ 146 State Taxes
$ 78 Medicare
$ 70 Pre-tax subway cards
$ 50 Health Insurance
-----------------------
$3613 Net Income
$ 845 Rent
$ 800 Alimony
$ 600 Food
$ 500 Consumer Credit ($16,000)
$ 250 Live Music (cover charge/tickets)
$ 200 Beer/Cigs/Smokes
$ 175 Student Loan ($13,000)
$ 65 DSL/ISP
$ 50 Electric/Gas
$ 50 Cleaning service/laundry
$ 45 Cell Phone
$ 20 Netflix
$ 15 Land Line
Federal Tax was a guess since I just changed from 2 allowances to 0, so I'm not sure exactly what it'll come out to be. Occasionally, I'll buy some groceries or drink less beer and cut back on that part of things. Also, the Consumer credit just gets all the remainder and if it's not a whole lot, that's when I get motivated to cut back on drinks and expensive meals.
Once I get out from under the alimony, I plan to put most of it to that d4mn consumer credit and then the student loan.
I am living in Canada. To convert the dollar values in this post into American dollars, multiply by about 0.67.
Rent: $650 (one bedroom, 597 square feet)
Car payments: $313 (~$18 000 car, five year term)
Insurance: $150 (I am 29, no demerits, no accidents)
Power: $50
Cable: $100 (includes cable modem internet access which amounts to $60 of that because I require a business net feed)
Loan interest payments: $100 ($11 000 student loan remaining, it costs more on average to be a student in Canada than in the U.S.)
Loan principal payments: I'm trying to make $500 a month payments but it isn't happening at the moment.
Telephone: $50 (one cell phone, no land-line)
Alberta Health insurance: $44 per month
Extra health insurance: $50 - $100 a month, though I do NOT currently pay this.
I of course have other expenses such as food (I budget $60 a week for this which includes toiletries and the like), gas (I hardly drive since I work out of my home).
My income ranges from a low end of $5000 before taxes (current contract) to $8500 before taxes (two contracts, involves working overtime) to $15 000 before taxes (potential maximum I could earn in a month with the right contract). I put 45% of my income into a GIC in order to pay the Canadian government come tax time so reduce the numbers appropriately.
I am a software developer. Average salaries for a software developer employee here are about $55 000 ($36 850 U.S.) but as a contractor, I bill out between $30 and $100 Canadian per hour depending on the job.
We are both students in Boston, so our expenses are quite high. Here's my budget and her's.
My income (from parents): $818/month
Rent: $700
Electric: $20/month (my share)
Phone/DSL: $35
T-Pass: $35
The rest of mine goes towards food, which you can see- isn't much. She ends up helping out quite a bit, because my parents are in quite a bind finacially. I don't really want to take out loans to pay for Rent- because it's so damn expensive anyway. My apartment's total is $1400 for a really crappy 2BR/1Bath in Brighton, MA. I split it with a crazy guy. I'm moving in with her as soon as my lease is up. I want to sublet, but my landlord wants my security deposit for it- and i don't want to just throw that away for him to do paperwork. I normally end up getting about an extra 100 a month from my parents if they can spare it.
Here's her budget:
From Mom: 325
Other income:1201
Bills-
Rent: 825/month
Sprint Cell: $50
Credit Card: $40
Store Cards: @25
Cable: $25
Electric: $20
Phone/DSL: $40
subtotal: ~200
Groceries ~= 100/month
Medicines= $35/month
Lunches- $60
Clothes/etc- 100
savings- 50
dinners out- 120
She's decieded to scrap her phoneline and use her cell, and get Cable internet access.
Yea- I need a job, and i've got something in the works that could give me about 500/month if i play my cards right- without taking up all my time, and i have an interview at school next week for employeement on campus.
Tibbon
tibbon.com
So I made a few mistakes along the way, but here it goes:
Goals: To go back to grad or law school. Saving outside of the stock market.
make 3500/mo, take home 2775.
340 goes to rent (up to 380 next month) -- I have roomates. (will be down to one next month.)
80 in electricity (Way too high for the place I have and noone has a clue why.)
50 in cell phone
50 in gym (mistake! I don't go often enough, but I'm stuck in one of those forsaken contracts. DO NOT GET A CONTRACT WITH BALLY'S. IT IS NOT A CONTRACT BUT A LOAN. I GOT SUCKERED.)
100 in groceries
250 in dining out (getting better though. The problem is that this is one of my primary means of socialization.)
315 car (often will pay more off the loan - 2001 Prius)
170 insurance (going elsewhere next month!)
___
1355 / month
I usually have additional expenses such as music (up to 100/month, go go Cdbaby.com!) and various other entertainment. I usually save 600 or so a month.
The trick is going to be lowering the dining total and having more dinner parties instead of us all going out. If only everyone didn't have such finicky tastes...
The goal is to get enough to survive the first semester of law school... then I've got a fighting chance after that.
... Your expendatures will always equal your income plus $40.
There's so little difference between politics and jihad lately...
The promise of the industrial revolution was that man would have to do less work. I'm trying to live that: (format copied from an AC)
State: NY
Profession: Low rung IT (helpdesk/support)
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Monthly post taxes income = ~$1000
Rent (house, not purchasing) = $320
Bills (including cable modem, cellular phone, etc.) = $200
Car payment = $0
Car insurance = $0
Credit card/loan payments = $0
Food = $200
Gas (car) = $0
Total monthly living costs: $720
Believe it or not, I live in the middle of one of the most expensive cities in the world on $1000/ month. I'm not saving anything. I can't afford to go anywhere. I like my life.
You do not need money to have a good life.
There are no trolls. There are no trees out here.
Monthly Drinking Habbit - AU$600 (~US$400)
This is true -- you'd never be able to afford a house in CA on that kind of money, unless you want to live next to a meth lab in San Bernadino. In CA, $47k puts you over the hump of having your very own apartment without roommates, and maybe a late model car, if it's not too expensive. But own a home, or even a condo these days? Forget it.
But two people making $40k-plus, and sharing living expenses, that might do it. So get married!
Ain't seen anyone else like this yet.
:
...
Expenses
Board $200 p/m(At home with parents. This covers accom, food, internet)
Mobile phone $38 p/m
Car insurance $50 p/m
Petrol $80 p/m
Misc car expenses $50+
Entertainment $100
Then of course there is all that unpredictable stuff - car repairs (a string of those recently), wedding and birthday presents, uni expenses...
Income:
$variable
Sometimes my studies make it very difficult to work (I'm going to be a high school teacher) and I recently quit a $200pw job because it clashed with my teaching rounds. I do temp work when I can, and spent last weekend doing industrial cleaning at a cigarette factory.
I reckon I could live on $100 a week if I didn't have a car
I am not a lawyer but my sister is, so don't mess with me
We're fresh out of college. My GF makes about $35,000/yr and I make $55,000/yr plus bonuses. Unfortunately, that is barely enough to cover our expenses where we live.
... soon to be $70
Ok let's see:
Rent: 1850/mnth for a large studio (guess which northeast city I live in... sigh)
Transportation Pass: $63/month
Electricity: $30/month
Cable TV: $60/month
High Speed Internet: $40/month
Cell Phone: $60/month (no land line for me)
Misc Costs (eating out, food, etc): $1000/month
College Loans: [varies widely per month]
Then there's taxes, and the 401k and health care. But, fortunately, we don't have a car so we save on that.
Sure it's expensive living here, but we couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
- child support - 850
- Rent - 740
- tithe - 520
- groceries - 150
- utilities - 100
- insurance - 120
- internet - 70
- automatic savings deposit - 50
- telephone - 30
- cell phone - 25
- fuel - 25
don't keep track of what's spent eating out - but should.You're a liar and your girlfriend is fat! Oooh! What fun!
Wait... that wasn't fun at all... I feel cheated. Oh well.
Still a student at the uni, working part-time on campus doing IT grunt work. Here's a month for me.
Gross: $840
Taxes: $100
Rent: $240
Utilities (phone/internet/elec): $30
Car insurance: $120
Food: $100
Gas/laundry/misc: $50
Of the remaining $200 or so, I usually end up blowing about half on the latest Newegg deals or expensive computer parts that are supposed to be cheap after rebates. The rest goes to the bank where I try to save up for next years tuition.
Yes, it's kind of a minimalist lifestyle. Rent is cheap but the place is a dump with mandatory nazi-istic cleaning checks once a month. Internet is cheap but it's capped at 64 kbps. I survive eating lots of rice and soy sauce and kool-aid. I don't have a cell phone, don't eat out, go as long as I can on one tank of gas, and go to every moronic training class for work I can cause I can sleep through it and still get paid.
Still looking for summer employment to pay for school next year...
70 bucks - 1.5/384 ADSL - Downloading pr0n
50 bucks - 100 CDRs for burning Divx pr0n
50 bucks - monthly charge for the 15-some subscribed pr0n websites
200 bucks - wireless card / AP so I can surf pr0n in the bathroom / bedroom
35 bucks - replacement sheets for when I surf pr0n in the bedroom
80 bucks - Sprint PCS w/ unlimited USB Modem hack so I can surf pr0n while driving to work
90 bucks - for a new HDD to add to the pr0nStorageServer
125 bucks - Exclusive, non-Photoshopped Natalie Portman Elbow pr0n
Food? Raman Noodles.
So much pr0n, so little time... in fact, this post has taken up too much..
(fap, fap, fap)
Well now. Let's see here.
Currently, I work part-time in a damn BOWLOING ALLEY, because it's the only thing I could find right now. Anyway, I make about 400$/month after taxes. My wife makes about 1000$/month after taxes. Yep, we only net 1400$/month.
Anyway, the bills.
Rent: (2 bedroom apartment) 400$
Car: 275$
Car+Renter Insur.: 50$
Phone: Free (She works for the phone company)
1.5MBit SDSL: 9$ (See above)
Cable: 50$
Gas: 50$
Electricity: 75$
Food: 300$
Car2: 0$ (Repoed)
Credit Cards: 0$ (Closed due to nonpayment)
Misc: Everything that's left, about 200$.
Back in 2001, when I was last gainfully employed in my chosen field (IT) I was living it up. I made real good money, and spent it as fast as I got it. I had gotten used to an excessive lifestyle, got stupid. Digital cable + Satellite TV. Cable Modem AND DSL. A lot of money went out that I should of saved.
When the door closed on me, and I got laid off (I built an application and system monitoring system for 7500 servers, and when that was done, I was useless) it was a major shock to me. I had never thought that "it" would happen to me. That'd I'd be one of those unemployed people.
At first I turned my nose up at any job that paid less then 65k a year, now I'm in line for a possible tech support job that pays 15$/hr, and I'm willing, nay, HAPPY, if I actually get it.
Hell, I even decided to *gasp* go to college and get a degree or two and work on some certs.
I jumped on that Dot.Com wave and rode it like there was no tomorrow and no end. Chicago, Dallas, LA, Philly, I went where the money went.
Boy, do I ever regret it. I regret not going to college in the first place, and now here I am. Basically unemployed, preparing to file bankruptcy, 26, with a wealth of knowledge but no paper to prove it.
You live and learn though, I suppose.
And I'm waiting for the help desk job with bated breath. heh.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
I took home $6500 a month.
My house cost $250,000 (cheap where I live)--mortgage is $1400 a month
Yearly taxes for house =$6,000 ($500/ month)
Car Payment per month=$350
Insurance is $150 every other month
Broadband access=$50/mo
Groceries=$50/week
Wife is on disability.
So, I've made $0 a month for 1 year and 6 months. Savings are depleted.
If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
Go live in North Korea and throw away capitalism's shackles. Might want to wait until the talks this week are finished, because you wouldn't want to be bombed over there. Anyway, if you don't feel like becoming a communist, you can move over here to Norway, where the Socialist Party has recently grown to be the biggest party in Norway. But then you'd probably want to wait until the next election, because the current administration sucks. Some experts say that this administration is going to crash and burn this Spring, but it's uncertain what government may be installed, and it's likely that it'll be replaced by the Labor Party, which isn't very great. Anyway... Yeah.
Lalala
My philosophy is pretty much based on cash-flow. I never consider the adjustments to my bank account, just want I am earning compared to what I am burning. Meaning I know how much I make in a month, and I keep my expenses below that. Any extra goes into my "rain day fund" (aka "unexpected unemployment fund") and I start the new month with a zero balance.
I just think of it as:
Income - Expenses = Money Available to Spend (simple, yeah?)
For me, out of each $1000/month I was making, about $250 went to rent & utilities, $300 went to my car payment & insurance for the car. The rest was my variable costs, like entertainment (which I consider anything from CDs to dining out to new computer parts), but my gas was mostly fixed at ~$20/week (~$25+ recently), groceries at $75-$100/week (this part's not relative to my salary, but still a known expense). I also can easily run up $200/week in going out to dinner and bars. If it's a slow week, I head on over to Fry's on Sunday, hit the internet, or (gasp) leave it in the bank.
I put away $10k last year for retirement in a 401k, so that was pre-tax, and as I'm pretty young and single I don't really have to take much else out. My income doesn't change often, and neither does the taxes taken out, so I adapt to what after-tax money I have to spend. Now that I'm on unemployment, I won't go to the Fancy French restauraunt down town, I'll hit the Chinese take-out. It's not really that different. Sorry I can't offer you help on how to magically make money appear, but I don't get into reacurring expenses I can't handle (as you can see, the car expenses are high, but within my budget) - I'm not getting married anytime soon.
Kurdt
I'm not anti-social. Just pro-technology.
Due to living in a severely economically depressed area in the US, and due to my wife going to school, my budget is pitiful. Its enough to survive on in the short term, but not in the long term.
Roughly, each month, $1200 dollars comes in between me and my wife. Of that, $350 goes to rent a place that has several code violations. Phone is $40, Dialup is another $20, Food tends to be $120 (about $30/week), Auto insurance is roughly $90, gas is roughly $40, electric/heat tends to be $130 (its a northern, windy state), city utils tend to be $70, which leaves roughly $350 a month for the bills and expenses I'm not remembering, and for my wife's school supplies.
In short, I'm too poor to move, and the winter bills really, really hurt me.
Ah, the joy of being poor. The sad thing is, for this region, I'm lucky to have this job.
Oh, also please note the lack of health care, savings, etc. Can't afford the premiums, can't afford the deductables. If I'm sick, I go to work. I deal with an old pair of glasses that seem to be a tad too weak for my eyes now. I believe I had fractured part of my wrist last winter, but I just took aspirin for a few months.
As a footnote, this state wonders why everyone leaves for better jobs. I know that as soon as my wife is out of school, we're planning to leave.
I work part-time with an hourly wage of $13.75/hour. After taxes, this comes out to a net income of about $680/month.
Expenses (/month)
Rent: $370
Food: ~$100
Utilities, cable, internet: ~$50 (I live with 4 room mates)
Cell: $45
And then there are miscellaneous things, like CDRW media and what have you. Occasionally I have to pay something huge, like tuition, or I get a nice tax refund or something, but I'm pretty much breaking even right now.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
I am PhD student in CS at a large university in the midwest. I have two positions, an RA (research, not resident) and a TA.
Of $3200 gross income a month, I take $2900 home.
Here's the breakdown:
$ 645 Rent
$ 100 Electricity
$ 50 Home Phone
$ 40 Cell Phone
$ 46 Cable
$ 25 High-speed Internet
$ 25 Tap water
$ 25 Delivered water
$ 250 Direct loan payment
$1000 Credit Card payment
The rest gets blown on food (mostly dining out, but some groceries), entertainment, and god knows what else. I just realized I waste a ton of money. Thanks guys!
By most accounts I've seen in the last 5 years, Norway has the world's highest standard of living. And I'm sure it's a nicer place to live than most of the US, as long as you can stand the cold. Imagine a whole country that's like one big upper middle class village...
Age: 32
Marital status: Married
Children: 2 (4yrs + 0.5yrs)
Job: Application SE
Income: $US7700/month before taxes (for last year; it should be 5-10% higher this year)
Expenses:
Taxes: $US1300/month
Rent: $US700/month (3-room aptmnt, 62m^2)
Car insurance: $US60/month
Life insurance: $US120/month
Telephone: $US40/month
ADSL: $US40/month
Food+clothes+staples: $US1000/month (Lumped together b/c that's what I give my wife)
'Toys': Depends, but ~$300/month is normal
Drinking: ~$US100/month
Misc: ~$US200/month
-----
Total expenses: ~$3860/month
I save the rest. We're planning on buying a house, but it looks like it'll cost us around $US450K.
I'd be really careful about filing bankruptcy in your situation. Since your credit is probably just as fucked already, it might seem you should just wipe the slate clean. However, if you're still considering college, you might not be able to get college loans. If you can at all you'll need a co-signer, and you'll pay around 10% interest, instead of less than half that like everyone else these days.
I found this out the hard way. I could throttle the person who gave me some bad advice -- when I was exploring the bankruptcy option, I went to the financial aid office at the school I planned to return to (Cal Poly), in order to discuss the effects of bankruptcy on getting aid. No problem, she told me. I prodded and asked every question I could. She insisted there would be no problem at all.
Well, a couple of years later, I'm still unemployed, with a huge SallieMae loan at 9-something percent, and my mom's house on the line (which is her whole retirement). I get by, but the situation isn't pretty.
If I were you, I would do everything I could to avoid a bankruptcy now -- unless you have some other way of paying for school -- parents, etc. But if you can get help paying for school, you might be able to get help paying your bills now, too. It's better to be a dependent loser than to create some potentially huge, long-term problems for yourself.
I might have taken an entirely different course had that financial aid woman given me the right information. I'm not sure what I would have done, but I don't think I would have done a Ch. 7.
The bottom line is, whatever course you take, get some really good advice first. Find a good lawyer -- one who knows the landscape of bankruptcy court. If your case is simple, it will only be a few hundred dollars, well spent. Talk to a financial planner. Figure out what your college plans are. In short, come up with a long term plan, set some goals, and find out *exactly* what you need to do to achieve them.
Finally, don't go bankrupt for a few thousand bucks. That's just silly. Get a Greyhound ticket to a resort area, wait tables and sleep on the beach if you have to, but but don't do *that.* The saddest, stupidest thing I saw in bankruptcy court was some poor slob who did it for $700.
The US federal government also wants us to own a house. If you can come up with a 10% down payment, rent is usually about equal to mortgage on an equivilant property. Interest on your mortgage is deductable from your income, rent isn't. For the first couple of years your payment is almost all interest, very little is princaple. At tax time you get 28% of your mortgage payment back. It is a scam, renters with an equal income will pay more in taxes and hve nothing to show for it.
Free cell phone tracking
...for the part where you suggested he steal stuff: Don't buy CDs, download them or "burn and return"
Yes, the RIAA is completely out-of-line in its attempts to abolish fair use, and treat all its customers as criminals. None-the-less, what you suggest is not fair use by any stretch of the imagination.
How about this suggestion instead:
The question cannot be answered and is a symbol of objectivism.
DO NOT GET A CONTRACT WITH BALLY'S. IT IS NOT A CONTRACT BUT A LOAN. I GOT SUCKERED.
This is true. When you join a Bally's, you have to pay a fee -- this fee can be several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending upon where you live. Bally's will quite happily finance you the money to pay this fee over three years, at some pretty-bad-but-not-terrible interest rate. Your dues may be only, say, $15 a month, but you're paying an extra $50 a month on that original loan.
Depending upon your contract, you can get out of the loan if you can show "proof" that you moved more than x miles (most likely 24) away from the nearest Bally's. So contact your Aunt Gertrude (who you trust), get her permission to send a credit card statement to her, and use that as proof that you've moved.
However, Bally's is more or less nice, and if you travel a lot, it's good to always have one nearby most of the time. If you search on eBay, you'll find many people auctioning off their Bally's memberships, which is a deal -- you pay the transfer fee ($100), and whatever you bid on the auction, and you don't have to worry about Bally's loan. On the gripping hand, a membership can only be transferred once, so you won't be able to auction it off yourself.
YEah, and then there's the fact that EVERY other number he gave is a MONTHLY number. DUH.
Hint, folks: Yes, it's expensive to move houses. It's also expensive to move apartments. Security deposits, pet deposits, utility disconnect/hookup plus the cost of moving all your stuff. With a house you do actually come out slightly ahead after a number of years, even AFTER paying comission on selling it.
:-)
Unless you are changing cities, the only really expensive part of moving is the scam currently run by real estate agents across the country. Sure, way back in dark ages before computers, these people probably worked for their money. Now it's just a place for high-school drop outs to make a decent paycheck.
Do you really think that writing up a 1-paragraph description and taking appointments for people to see your house is really worth $5k, $10k, even $20k? Not a chance. They try to sell you on "we know the market" and "we can negotiate the best price!", which is a bunch of crap. Anyone with half a brain can figure out what their house is worth, and negotiating the price of a house is pretty damned simple. All of the complicated bits are taken care of by the lawyers anyhow. This is one of the rare situations where a lawyer is your friend
Now buying a house, that is where the agents really have a lock on the game. Literally. You can't get into most of the houses without going through an agent. Sure, there is a service provided here, but it's not worth nearly what they are charging. Hell, if I had paid my "buyers agent" $50/hour, I would have owed her about $3000, and she did a LOT of work to find us a house (as we were moving into a new city.) But what she actually got paid was closer to $7000. Yup, over $100/hour to drive me around and arrange for access to houses.
You can sell your home yourself to save a lot of money. Lot's of websites to help you out there. You'll get a lot of calls from agents who will try to sell you their services. Tell them you'll give them a fair, flat-rate of $2000 to sell your home, and they won't talk to you again.
The bulk of the $0's are due to my contract with my employer, and such things as housing and transportation being covered 100% by the corporation. I pay for utils on the apt. only...this means the bulk of my income is disposable. I guess I should also fess up and point out that I'm working in Asia for the time being, so things like taxes, at least at my salary point, are either not a factor or not paid by me.
There was a piece on NPR recently where several families were interviewed on thier income, lifestyle, and tax burden. All of the families ranged from $100K to $1 million per year income. All of the families said that they were middle-class...not upper middle just middle. All of them were "just paying the bills."
For the record...
24 year old Mechanical Engineer
$4,000/month income
$360 Tithe
$700 mortgage
$0 car payment
$80 car insurance
$200 utilities
$30 phone
$40 cell
$40 Dish (Dish PVR is great)
$500 groceries (for me, wife, and 3 kids)
$40 consumer dept
$70 student loans
$40 hospital for surgery while uninsured
The rest goes to dining out, one-time
expendatures, and savings.
Bear in mind, I have a roommate, which makes a lot of expenses easier.
Rent: $425
Cable: $33
Car: $545
Car ins: $70
LEC: $12
Investment: $250(thinking of raising it)
DSL: $35
PCS Phone: $40
CC: $250
Long distance/Electric/Heat/Gas/Water/AC: incuded in rent, or covered by my employer
Laptop pymt: $70
Food/gas: $300
This all comes out of $2700 net/month, and what is leftover is currently devoted to paying off some extra debts(CC, Car, laptop), travel, and investment.
37 yr old, married, no kids, Austin, TX. I'm a "senior consultant" at $65K, wife is a teacher at $35K. Let's see what Quicken has to say...
My take-home: $4000
Wife take-home: $2500
House payment + prop tax: $2,125 on a 6-year-old house. Worth $240K, $166K balance on mortgage. About to sell it.
Cable TV/Modem: 150
Car Payments: none, own both
Car Insurance: 100
Car Repair: 75
Life Insurance: 75 (500k on me, 250k on her)
Utilities: 500 (electricity, gas, water, sewage, trash)
Gasoline: 180 (two long commutes in gas hogs)
Food: 1000 (both groceries & eating out)
Phones: 200 (2 cells, home phone w/ fax line)
Books/Mags: 300
Pets: 75 (large dogs eat a lot)
Yard Service: 100
Kind Bud: 400
Tivo: 13
Web hosting: 20
Listen.com: 20
Savings: 700
The rest has gone to pay off credit cards (all paid off now!!!), various one-time expenses (we both have expensive hobbies), travel and the like.
We're in the process of selling the house and going downscale -- as you can see, there's a ton of fat in that budget.
Best advice I can give?
1) Don't have kids.
2) Don't use credit cards.
peace.
age: 23
state: MA
job: web application developer
monthly income (after taxes): $3000
rent: $750 (includes elec, heat, hot water, storage, parking)
ameridebt (pays my cards off): $220
dsl (speakeasy): $65
phone (verizon veriations): $60
car loan: $350
car insurance: $190
food: $360
netflix: $20
cell phone (sprintpcs): $55
web hosting: $20
which leaves me with about $900/mo to piddle away on dumb stuff. i needs me an ira.
what is this big fuss about eating out? It's a nice time to go out to eat. It's not some horrible tax you have to pay - it's an enjoyable way to spend time with your friends. What is there to "get better" about?
Of all the things to save money on, I would put food waaaay at the bottom of my list.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
1. Learn to balance your checkbook correctly
2. Spend less than you take in, and
3. Get a savings account.
I cannot stress that last one *enough*. While the first two are very important as well (and believe me, if you aren't balancing your checkbook, and you don't *know* where money is going - once you learn how or figure it out it will be an eye opener - you will also find out how many places *give* you stuff, and never take the money out of your account), that last one is a biggie - and is one I *wish* I had been told about when I was much younger and stupid.
Now that the time for getting tax returns back is here, if you are getting a refund, don't spend it - save it! If you can, live on ramen and macaroni for a while, and save as much money as you can (turn up the AC to higher levels this summer to save a ton - also, if you have a hot water heater, turn it down below 120 degrees). Don't buy frivolous things, learn to scrounge the trash. Stay home, and deal with what you already have, instead of buying more. All that extra money at the end of the month (after you have balanced your checkbook), transfer to the savings account. Build it up quick, and keep it for "just-in-case", or...
Buy a house! Ok, get a loan, and start paying it off - double up on payments, or pay the same amount twice a month (basically, you pay the same monthly amount, but pay half of it every two weeks, to cut down the owed interest) - build that equity, but plan to stay there for at least 10-15 years (otherwise, it isn't worth it), then if you want, use that equity to "move up" (either apply it to start a business, which is risky, but doable - or buy a "better" house - consider the first house a "starter"). Instead of flushing money into a rent hole, that money *stays yours* by applying it to property you gradually become the owner of (actually, you are always the owner, you just have a lien against the property by the bank that you pay off - the bank doesn't own the property, but if you break the loan contract, they can take it).
I wish I had known this a long time ago - I would probably be better off now. As it is, I have managed to get a house (in a month I will have been in it for a year now), have a savings account with a good sum of money in it (my wife and I saved for the down payment on the house, we paid that - and a year later have as much as we did last year in the account - we mainly use the money for home improvements and such). It has gotten to the point where any extra money (whether it is a bonus, extra leftover money, whatever), just gets stuck into the savings account. I have found that I have most of everything I want or need - I just don't have the urge to spend money left and right like I used to. That isn't to say I don't buy things I want to - that is the thing: when I need to or want to, I can - but I first think about the purchase, and decide whether I really need/want it, and if I do, then I get it - but I always try to spend as little for whatever it is as I can (but never sacrifice quality, better to spend more for better quality than to buy something that will break quickly)...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Location: Boulder, CO
:) ), but we don't run a balance so I saw no point in mentioning it.
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Occupation: Software engineer
Married no kids
I pull in $4600/mo and my wife pulls in about $600/mo for $5200/mo (post-tax)
PreTax:
$200 401k
$100 health/dental/vision insurance
$$$$$ taxes
PostTax:
$1050 rent
$1000 savings (aka an emergency fund, working on building an 8month emergency fund since I'm in the tech market)
$500 car payment
$175 car:$150 + renters:$15 insurance
$100 gas
$100 phone(landline + cell + long distance)
$100 electricity
$100 pets(food+litter+vet)
$100 household expenses(soap, shampoo, tp, etc)
$30 basic cable
$50 DSL
$400 food (groceries:$250 + eatout:$150)
$200 karate(me + wife)
$200 entertainment(movies, etc + electronic toys)
$250 vacations
$150 wifes tuition(she's going for her PhD)
You may note that there is no 'credit card' line, because most of this goes on the credit card (airline miles
The rest just goes to other things that come up in the month and varies so I don't really have a category for it. My wife and I actually just calculated this out last night in the book called The Motley Fools Money Guide and our percentages are either right on or below what they recommend.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
Single, 29, Toronto (costs translated to USD)
Total income/month: 0.00 (no income, no welfare, no UI, just savings)
Rent: 345 (shared 2-bedroom flat)
Internet and Cable: 62
Phone: 14 (shared)
Food: 138
Entertainment and Eating Out: 103
Occasional Expenditures (computers): 69 (averaged over multiple months)
Total is $730 USD ($1060 CDN), most months come in considerably below budget. Of course, Canadian programmers also make almost nothing compared to Americans, but cost-of-living is great.
Ok - after hearing about a zillion times how poor the military are, how under paid they are compared to the elite hackers ... I looked up and found this :
...
:
... answer (per the military pay calculator) : $37,324.08.
... pretty much the cheapest the military pays ANYBODY = $24,663.36.
http://dod.mil/militarypay/
Just for giggles, lets assume that instead of going to college for (4-6 years) I went into the Navy right out of High School (age 17.) Am 35 now, that is 18 years. Figure above average promotion for most of us, given most of us thing we are above average.
Click on Pay and Allowances.
Click on Calculator
Click on Open the Regular Military Compensation Calculator
Figure out how old you are, minus how old you were when you graduated high school. (18)
Figure E5 by year 8, E6 by year 10, E7 by year 12, and E8 after that.
Pick the town you live in.
Set your actual family size.
Put in your actual state income tax rate.
Click Calculate.
My results
Your Results - numbers are Monthly/Annual
Basic Pay $3,530.10/$42,361.20
BAS $242.81/$2,913.72
BAH + $988.00/+ $11,856.00
Cash Total $4,760.91/$57,130.92
Tax Advantage + $455.23/+ $5,462.76
Regular Military Compensation $5,216.14/$62,593.68
The tax advantage comes from your housing and food (BAH/BAS) allowances not being taxed. Add to this being able to retire at 47 with a lifetime monthly retirement check of $5170 a month indexed for inflation (meaning by age 65 the retirement check would be $8,800 a month, etc...)
Plus medical paid (for life.) And not worrying about being replaced by an H1-B.
Note this assumes life as an Enlisted Man, not as an Officer.
What about young punks, the guys right out of high school under 21? Figure 4 years in the military, make E5. Heck by age 21 I was still in college making about $5k a year
Ok, how about a first year kid, age 18, the year he graduates from high school. E1, 1 year of service. In Baton Rouge LA (one of the cheapest places in the USA to live) :
Something to consider.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Age 34, Single
NorthEast (NY)
Consultant: Helpdesk lvl 3
Take home: $4500/mo after taxes
Mortgage:$1200
Car: $500
Heat: $100
Elec: $100
Insurance: $200
Cell: $100
LandLine: $100
Cable: $80
CC debt: $200
Food: $400 (in and out, in mostly)
Gas: $50
Toys: $200
I think I figured it all out and I had a surplus of $1300/mo for emergency fund and misc toys.
Advice:
-Have a savings account.
-Dont pay bills until you have to.
-Spend less than you make.
-Buy a econo-car to save on gas.
-pay off all cc bills first, then go for car/house, etc...
...lest they control you!
Over the past few years I have gone from a single renter living from paycheck to paycheck to a married homeowner saving enough to buy up properties.
It's not really because my income increased. It always seems that no matter how much one earns one always spends just as much.
When my wife was employed we really started living beyond our means. Now that we've been living on one salary for the past year and half I have had several insights that I'd like ot share.
1. Manage your money. Balance your checkbook, use Quicken, MSMoney or whatever. Just make sure you know where your money is going. Only then will you have the power to control it.
2. Live below your means. If this means you can only go out once a week instead of three times then do it. Sell that Corvette and buy a more modest car. Don't buy new release anything (movies, games, hardware). I save 50% on these things by waiting 6-12 months.
3. When you get a pay raise have it paid into a seperate account that you don't touch. This will stop your expenses creeping up to match.
4. Debt is ok. As long as that debt is tied to an asset.
net income
home: paid up
car: $200, gas $40
phone: $20
mobile phone: 2x$10
insurances: $600/12 = $50
paper/mag: $15
food etc: $60+30*$3 = $150
total expenses /mo = $495
Some of the posts report over 100K incomes but don't say if that happens every year or is an extrapolation of their current month into the future. $8000/month means a lot more if you can do it year after year than if you only do it for one month and spend a year unemployed. Seems people in technology like to claim the 100K title as soon as they get hired only to get laid off next month. Hardly anyone who claims that is pulling it off year after year.