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Generally speaking, housing (rent/mortgage) should take up no more than a third of your monthly income. Next, put aside at least 10% of your income for savings. The remainder can be divided amongst your other bills. Some finance websites give figures of 5-7% for food and 10% for transportation.
Generally speaking, housing (rent/mortgage) should take up no more than a third of your monthly income. Next, put aside at least 10% of your income for savings. The remainder can be divided amongst your other bills. Some finance websites give figures of 5-7% for food and 10% for transportation.
I never trust those kinds of figures. First of all, $24K is a pretty low income, and no matter where you live, you are going to be in the lowest cost housing you can find that meets some fairly basic standard. That will almost certainly be over $600 a month including utilities, and the necessity for heating and/or AC can push that upward. A single person can eat on $100 a month only if very frugal and well practiced at keeping costs down. Most people can't do it for less than double that, which would be 10% of your $24K. Transportation will vary widely, and be almost nothing if you can walk to work. My cost of transportation is almost exactly zero, because I can walk to supermarket, library, etc., I don''t work, and I have never need to go out of town. The local bus is 50c each way, and I ride maybe once or twice a month. But a person with a 8-cyl vehicle that commutes ten miles each way in rush hour traffic and is under age 25 will pay nearly half his income for car payments, gas, insurance, etc. In some zip codes, car insurance alone might be over 5% of $24K.
The bottom line is that you "should" pay as little as you can get by with, constantly look for ways to reduce that without severely damaging your lifestyle, save the rest, and in rive years or so, quit and walk away from it all and take a leisurely trip around the world or something.
On your death bed, you will not regret anything you ever did---only the things you did not do.
I never trust those kinds of figures. First of all, $24K is a pretty low income, and no matter where you live, you are going to be in the lowest cost housing you can find that meets some fairly basic standard. That will almost certainly be over $600 a month including utilities, and the necessity for heating and/or AC can push that upward. A single person can eat on $100 a month only if very frugal and well practiced at keeping costs down. Most people can't do it for less than double that, which would be 10% of your $24K. Transportation will vary widely, and be almost nothing if you can walk to work. My cost of transportation is almost exactly zero, because I can walk to supermarket, library, etc., I don''t work, and I have never need to go out of town. The local bus is 50c each way, and I ride maybe once or twice a month. But a person with a 8-cyl vehicle that commutes ten miles each way in rush hour traffic and is under age 25 will pay nearly half his income for car payments, gas, insurance, etc. In some zip codes, car insurance alone might be over 5% of $24K.
The bottom line is that you "should" pay as little as you can get by with, constantly look for ways to reduce that without severely damaging your lifestyle, save the rest, and in rive years or so, quit and walk away from it all and take a leisurely trip around the world or something.
On your death bed, you will not regret anything you ever did---only the things you did not do.
I like what you said I do live below my means right now .
I try to cut at every corner
This is one of the best forums because everyone is saving money now because saving money is cool ! I have always lived a frugal lifestyle but its great to see others with their advice and tips...
It would be very hard to ever put aside money on $2000 a month income.
I bring home $2,000 - $2,300 a month.
I have a nice 1 bedroom apartment 8 minutes from work. I have 1 truck paid off, an ATV paid off and working on paying off my truck I drive daily now. I also help out my parents whenever they need any help and I still save $400 a month.
You don't have to have a large income to save money. You just need to know how to work your money. I know people around me that make almost twice as much as I do and they never have any money.
I make $2400 a month and I teach and have 3 kids. It is tough! The sucky part is I have 2 master degrees in education. Of course, some would say I am not very smart because I choose to make so little. And even though I am good at what I do and love the kids...they are right. I am going to switch gears a bit because it is crazy that I spend so many hours teaching and get paid so little. I can still find ways to make an impact in children's lives and not put my own family on welfare.
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