I have been blogging about saving money for almost two years, but now that I am self-employed (read: earning almost nothing), my attitude towards cutting expenses has taken a very real turn. My advice had better work, or else!
I re-did our monthly budget to see how everything would work relying solely on Hubby’s salary. But instead of tracking down every single penny, I stripped down our expenses and savings to the bare minimum. What is left is our discretionary income.
Here is what my monthly formula looks like:
Income minus savings minus necessities minus irregular expenses = discretionary spending.
Income: $XXXX
Savings: $833
Necessities: rent, gas, electricity, Internet service, cell phone service, gasoline (Hubby and I each get one full tank a month seeing how I work from home and he commutes on his bike), doctor visits, medicine, gifts and my newspaper subscription to the Sunday NY Times (which is on the chopping block)
Irregular expenses: car insurance, car registration, car repairs, dental visits, Christmas presents, magazine subscriptions, charitable donations… (more…)
