After paying off everything, how much do you have to your SELF?

[Savingmonster]

This might be a nosey question to some, but what the hell........ this is why I love this forum. I am just curious.

After paying for everything like:

1. Your Rent/Mortgage
2. Car Payments
3. Living expenses, etc
4. Kids if you have any
6. Savings, like EF, etc.


How much do you have to ur self every month on Average...

I checked my personal finance worksheet, it would be:

$1,190

This would be after depositing atleast $1,000 a month for EF.

I am seriously considering owning a CAR. With a Car my EF savings would be down to atleast $600 a month.

I would have $450 a month to myself.

[Savingmonster]

Ohh, I guess you can leave salaries as well..

Im, 62K.

[PrincessPerky]

heh, fun/car split $9.28 0.3% (of total net income)

that is directly out of my excell budget...

However I do have a 100$ misc. fund that can go to gifts, or a trip to discovery place, or whatever, and I have 500 for food which can easily cover one trip out a month. So it isn't like we never get fun (that would be last year...)

Plus overtime can help some months (like this month is a nice month)

Also 13.6% of our net is for 'wants' like
phone
net
Misc
church
autosavings
(again cut and pasted from excell)

The 'fun car split' heading (if you care)is beacuse we have a car, and we take the 'leftover' and 15% is his, 15% is mine, 70% goes to paying off the car. (as of this month.....previously it sat there..for a whole 2.5 months, beore that any extra one month was needed for next, nice raise in October, have I mentioned how wonderful it was/is?)

[boefixepa]

Hum, I guess I look at it from a different perspective. I don't deal with the 'what's left over' kind of thing. I look at it from how much can I get buy on. Everything else get's divided up to other locations. I'm always trying to widdle the amount down that I need. So for 'blow money - ie eating out, movies, whatever...I probably have about $100 a month. It's that I couldn't have more, just that I'm alright with this amount.

[project15]

My wife and I each get $400 a month (plus any extra gift money we get). Used to be $500, but we're trying to save for a down payment. We make about 82k gross. The $400 includes:

food (not groceries)
clothes
gasoline
miscellaneous
animal bills

It's getting a little tight for her since she likes her clothes, but I'm still basking in the money I got for Christmas.

[Bookie]

When all is paid and done, I have $225.13 a month for myself.

This covers meals out, incidentals, riotous living, and debauchery.

Anything left over at the month's end reverts to savings.

[Coleroo]

My husband and I make about 52k a year combined. We purchased our first house last march (house payment 675 / m), and have 2 new car payments (3 years each). We are putting $270 a month into my 403b, $75 a month into my roth, $200 / m in an EF, and will be putting 250 a month into Kevin's 401k when he's eligible in march. Right now all of our "extra" money is going strait to the remaining credit card balance.

Kevin gets $40 a week hush money to spend as he wants, but I dont take anything for myself (in exhange, if there happens to be something I want Im allowed to get it without asking - which i rarely do). So all in all I would say anywhere between $160 and $200 a month (this complete "blow" money - and not factored into the household budget for groceries, utilities, gas etc).

[LuxLiving]

Even paying off EVERYTHING as you say, we still wouldn't have all that much to BLOW if that is what OP is asking.

Why not? Because many things that we need don't come in a monthly bill format. We do save back for them monthly though, things like interior paint for the house that will need repainting next year, appliances that will eventually have to be replaced, club dues that lapse every three years, etc. We save back for them so when they are due or needful the money is there.

It gives a much different picture than thinking ....ok great no car payment anymore so here's 350.00 we can just blow. No - that car will have to be replaced at some point and the time to save back for it is NOW.

We allow ourselves a very small amount of blow money. And besides ALL of our money is used for our benefit for ourselves, except for the return of the tithe and if you are a believer that is also to your benefit.

[scfr]

Interesting perspective and completely different from mine! I actually think of ALL the household funds as "for us" (husband, pooch, and I) because regardless of what it is spent on it houses us, keeps us warm, feeds us, provides for our future, helps us get around, etc., etc. Even gifts and donations are really "for us" because they help us feel good about ourselves, build social relationships, and contribute to the world we are citizens of.

[vishenda]

Originally Posted by scfr

Interesting perspective and completely different from mine! I actually think of ALL the household funds as "for us" (husband, pooch, and I) because regardless of what it is spent on it houses us, keeps us warm, feeds us, provides for our future, helps us get around, etc., etc. Even gifts and donations are really "for us" because they help us feel good about ourselves, build social relationships, and contribute to the world we are citizens of.

I love your perspective, plus the last line you have here.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

nothing. too broke.

[Ima saver]

I agree with scfr also. We have about $800 for allowances between us, but we use that for other groceries, eating out, gasoline, any misc. purchases.

[Savingmonster]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

nothing. too broke.

Wow, come on, its not that bad is it?
What do you have to pay that leave you dead broke after you pay for living expenses every month?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Um, living expenses. Mortgage, utilities, tuition. Nothing. No money leftover, if anything we're in the red sometimes. I don't know how I make the money stretch. It just happens to be just enough.

[Fern]

After paying for all monthly essentials, which inlcudes an extra $400 monthly toward mortgage, I have roughly $600 left over to spend on discretionary optional stuff like: eating out, clothes or stuff for the house.

I made about $57K last year.

[Fern]

Oh, that also includes 15% taken from my gross to put into 401k./

[Savingmonster]

Originally Posted by Fern

Oh, that also includes 15% taken from my gross to put into 401k./

Ohh ok, sounds like you are in great shape, no car payments? How about Emergency Fund savings?