Millennial making 45k - how feasible does this budget sound?

[Anonymous]

I think babysitting is the ticket. We pay $16 an hour through chime and it all adds up quickly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2017 New Year's resolution is to get my finances under control. I'm starting off by looking at the cold, hard numbers. How feasible does this sound to you?

Paycheck (after 10% auto deduct to 401k) = about $2200

Fixed expenses:
Rent + utilities: $775
Health Insurance: $116
Blowouts: $148 (includes tips for extremely curly hair I can not otherwise manage)
Car Insurance: $80
Netflix: $10
Phone Bill: $66
Brad Traverse: $5
Dental Insurance: $28
Car Payment: $500 for next 8 months (actually $240, but trying to pay off aggressively)
Cash savings: $100

This leaves only $372 for all of my food, gas, misc expenses. I know this is going to be really tight.... but not sure what else to do. (And unfortunately according to my employee manual, I can't work a second job because I'm often needed to travel for work.)

I have young adults. If you are under 26 and your parent/s have employer group insurance or cobra and dental and are rated FAMILY [not single/couple] then go back on their health /dental plan. The family rate doesn't change by adding 1 person.

Skip the blow outs. Nothing wrong with curly hair! Your car insurance is low for your age-what company? DC/MD/VA?

[Anonymous]

Also-scrap netflix. Know anyone with amazon prime? Mom? Use that.

[Anonymous]

OP. that leaves nothing for the unpredictable expenses - car repairs, last-minute trip to see an old friend, new clothes and shoes every now and then, a random trip out to a bar, some sort of health emergency....

Check out a few months of spending to see what those add up to.

[Anonymous]

You should definitely babysit two Saturday nights a month. I pay $20 for two kids for a total of $80-100 per weekend. Are you near Arlington? Every time someone posts that they know a sitter there are at least 10 people who are interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2017 New Year's resolution is to get my finances under control. I'm starting off by looking at the cold, hard numbers. How feasible does this sound to you?

Paycheck (after 10% auto deduct to 401k) = about $2200

Fixed expenses:
Rent + utilities: $775
Health Insurance: $116
Blowouts: $148 (includes tips for extremely curly hair I can not otherwise manage)
Car Insurance: $80
Netflix: $10
Phone Bill: $66
Brad Traverse: $5
Dental Insurance: $28
Car Payment: $500 for next 8 months (actually $240, but trying to pay off aggressively)
Cash savings: $100

This leaves only $372 for all of my food, gas, misc expenses. I know this is going to be really tight.... but not sure what else to do. (And unfortunately according to my employee manual, I can't work a second job because I'm often needed to travel for work.)

I have young adults. If you are under 26 and your parent/s have employer group insurance or cobra and dental and are rated FAMILY [not single/couple] then go back on their health /dental plan. The family rate doesn't change by adding 1 person.

Skip the blow outs. Nothing wrong with curly hair! Your car insurance is low for your age-what company? DC/MD/VA?

Car insurance is USAA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. that leaves nothing for the unpredictable expenses - car repairs, last-minute trip to see an old friend, new clothes and shoes every now and then, a random trip out to a bar, some sort of health emergency....

Check out a few months of spending to see what those add up to.

I agree - the only thing I can think of to solve this is to babysit, and rather than paying $500 for the car payment, instead pay $240 and put the rest in my emergency fund. (Until I find a higher-paying new job.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should definitely babysit two Saturday nights a month. I pay $20 for two kids for a total of $80-100 per weekend. Are you near Arlington? Every time someone posts that they know a sitter there are at least 10 people who are interested.

I am in Arlington! Are there any sites you recommend looking for babysitting jobs on? (Besides Care.com, which I just joined.) When you look for a sitter, what do you use?

[Anonymous]

I'd do the math and see what the benefit is of you maxing out your 401k. It may make you eligible for government benefits like food stamps if the eligibility is based on AGI. You can always use the 401k later for a downpayment or education expenses. I'd try and get my AGI as low as possible.

[Anonymous]

If I were you OP:

I'd get rid of Netflix.

Find a cheaper stylist for blowouts and if I couldn't then I'd learn how to do my own hair.

Others may not agree but I too would try to pay off my car asap so the $10 for Netflix, I'd add it to the $500 car pymt. 8 months really isn't that long and I hate debt with a passion.

Do you expect a tax refund this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2017 New Year's resolution is to get my finances under control. I'm starting off by looking at the cold, hard numbers. How feasible does this sound to you?

Paycheck (after 10% auto deduct to 401k) = about $2200

Fixed expenses:
Rent + utilities: $775
Health Insurance: $116
Blowouts: $148 (includes tips for extremely curly hair I can not otherwise manage)
Car Insurance: $80
Netflix: $10
Phone Bill: $66
Brad Traverse: $5
Dental Insurance: $28
Car Payment: $500 for next 8 months (actually $240, but trying to pay off aggressively)
Cash savings: $100

This leaves only $372 for all of my food, gas, misc expenses. I know this is going to be really tight.... but not sure what else to do. (And unfortunately according to my employee manual, I can't work a second job because I'm often needed to travel for work.)

I have young adults. If you are under 26 and your parent/s have employer group insurance or cobra and dental and are rated FAMILY [not single/couple] then go back on their health /dental plan. The family rate doesn't change by adding 1 person.

Skip the blow outs. Nothing wrong with curly hair! Your car insurance is low for your age-what company? DC/MD/VA?

I'm pretty sure that once the OP qualifies to purchase their own insurance through an employer they are no longer eligible for their parents employer sponsored plan.

[Anonymous]

It's not a big item, but what is Brad traverse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not a big item, but what is Brad traverse?

Never mind- should have googled first, asked second.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd do the math and see what the benefit is of you maxing out your 401k. It may make you eligible for government benefits like food stamps if the eligibility is based on AGI. You can always use the 401k later for a downpayment or education expenses. I'd try and get my AGI as low as possible.

Food stamps for a single person making $45k??? GTFO!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd do the math and see what the benefit is of you maxing out your 401k. It may make you eligible for government benefits like food stamps if the eligibility is based on AGI. You can always use the 401k later for a downpayment or education expenses. I'd try and get my AGI as low as possible.

Food stamps for a single person making $45k??? GTFO!

It's 45-18k minus any other pretax deductions.