My Challenge was to live on California Minimum Wage for a year. I started March 1, so I'll be continuing until Feb. 28.
By living on CA Minimum Wage, I am limited to $1026 a month, after taxes. My monthly summary recap for December gives figures
here.
I had already been frugal, so I had already been saving plenty; I only counted increased savings on My Challenge; I compared spending to 2005.
In 2005, I spent $1592 a month average on all bills/needs/wants. (I have been tracking every penny in Quicken since 1998.) I'm actually living on less than half of my net income. The only exception I made was for world travel; I did go to Croatia and Bosnia and London for 2-1/2 weeks, and posted details of costs
here.
My favorite post about My Challenge is
here.
As of December 31, I have spent an average of $942 each month; I have spent less than my "allowed" $1026 because I have banked/budgeted for certain categories that aren't routine monthly bills, such as car repair. The $20 portion is that I spent $19.95 to purchase the YouNeedaBudget spreadsheet in order to keep track of My Challenge.
From the above recap post:
I spent $1592 a month last year. My Challenge savings are the difference, $1592-$1026= $566 times 10 months = $5,660.
Add to that $263 in “savings” and $24.48 in my emergency fund, I’ve saved $5,947.48. If I take out what I spend in Europe, $1809.64, which is not part of my Challenge, I’ve saved $4,137.84 living on CA Minimum Wage for 10 months.
(I've saved a lot more than $4,137.84 in terms of how much of my paycheck I'm spending; I consider "only" the $4,137.84 (so far) as Challenge Savings because it only includes increased savings due to My Challenge. )
Didn't know I was nominated; thanks, guys.