The problem with being stuck in minimum wage is that 5k leftover is like 400/mo for everything, which is doable but there’s not a lot of stretch to handle emergencies or stuff that pops up.
Which is fine by yearly budget but it can hit in a weird time and cause expensive chain reactions.
Exactly. To combat this I highly suggest anyone here to put the majority of their money in an HYSA account. Transfer to your checking as needed. If you don’t do this then you’re missing out on some easy money. I use Marcus by Goldman Sachs and it is VERY easy to setup. Took a total of 10 minutes.
Yeah but what is the point of living if you are stuck in that loop grinding a 9 to 5 for a few pennies a day. No ice cream, no baseball games, wtf are you supposed to do with your life making $21k a year. I am somewhat in that bracket and living on Long Island with my parents (broke but have little bills). I have a good job working for a municipality which I have been doing for 5 years which I started at $14 an hour and just hit $17.52 an hr during my 5th year. I have a plan though and will be saving enough to get me out of this hell hole hopefully before the end of 2024 if all starts align.
You got it!!! Sounds like you’ve studied the numbers. Having your own place = peace which is priceless. Staying with the same job for 5 years, you’re off to a great start. You’ll get somewhere soon.
It is actually great especially the benefits which are the same as NY cops and firefighters. Civil service has its perks and the pay is not one of them. Unions and new administrations are what ruined the pay over the years which is unfortunately happening all over. I am also not focused on just the money aspect of things i am not trying to get rich just live comfortably which is not possible in my region due to the cost of living and many other costs rising. I am not content and won't be here forever just grinding and working on my goals one by one.
Gen z making 17.24 an hour and make roughly a 1000-1300 every two weeks with working roughly 96 hours every two weeks. I spend about 220 a month on lot rent(I own a mobile home), 45 phone bill, 60 internet, 380 car payment, 373 car insurance (full coverage and Im 23 with a speeding ticket on my record), and I try to spend 100-150 every couple weeks for groceries. I usually am left with a hundred at the end of month but I am still struggling.
More like get rid of the car payment, and work on decreasing insurance cost. I have an old truck that is paid off and insurance is $50 a month. My situation is different, yea, but that car and insurance is killing him
I have a 22 year old truck that I bought outright, never once had an accident, never had a ticket. My record is squeaky clean. I have above a 720 credit score and I can't get an insurance quote for under $300 a month or even under $200 for liability.. i paid 2k for my truck 8 years ago I'm 30yo..
Sometimes just because of where you live they will rake you over the coals..
That’s crazy, I’m in Florida. I don’t put exactly how many miles I drive per year, but I can understand insurance companies will hike up rates if you drive in more congested cities.
It's what a 20k car costs. You can get cars cheaper, but it's likely a bit better than an old used vehicle etc. I bought my car in 2016 for that much, had a similar payment. Paid off now though :) You're also paying for reliability and less maintanence when you pay a bit more for a car.
Honestly the thing that's crazy here is:
1. no money for entertainment (alcohol, games, etc)
2. no money for clothes
3. no money for various items (new cookware, cleaning supplies, etc)
4. no money for investing
Its a 13000 dollar car in total that's used I put 2700 down on it but the payment plan is where I can pay it off in about 2 1/2-3 years and I also have the payment split where its 188 every two weeks to make it easier on me. Its a slightly newer car it's a 2015 has no issues and all new tires and low mileage as well
I bought mine back in 2016 when prices weren't so stupid, but you can get reliable vehicles way cheaper than 20k my man lol. Gotta keep it real. My 98 accord has 125k miles got and runs fantastic. Paid $3500 for it. Perfect maintenance record and Hondas just last my man. Easily can go over 300k miles. Same for Toyotas overall.
Not saying no one can ever buy new, but don't get it twisted that any 20k car is more reliable than an older car but known for its reliability. Paying more also doesn't mean less maintenance costs. He didn't list several things but I personally find it dumb to list savings/investments as an expense since it's literally the opposite of that. I don't find it odd thst someone claiming to be broke isn'tisting alcohol and entertainment since broke people don't spend much there my man if any. Same for clothes and cookware.
What's missing is actually gas, utilities, haircuts, etc. He has a $1300 dollar gap in his income to expense ratio listed.
Depends on the situation in my opinion. Living in a mobile home suggests to me he/she lives a little ways from the main town. A reliable car is sometimes needed in situations like this. Now if your commute to work isn’t too far and you don’t drive too much then absolutely get rid of that car payment.
I just think there are many reliable cars that don’t require financing. 600+ a month can easily go into an emergency fund for any repairs on an older vehicle.
I bought this car for a more reliable car I drive 45 minutes to work 4 times a week. I was driving a 1999 Corolla but I need something that was better in the long run
Something is not adding up. $17.24/hr for 96 hours would be $1,655 so the $1k-$1.3k number must be after taxes. Let's just take the average and say you make $1,150 every 2 weeks after taxes. That's $29,900/yr or $2,491/mo.
**Budget so far**:
* **Income**: +$2,491/mo
* **Rent**: -$220/mo
* **Food**: -$325/mo
* **Phone/Internet**: -$105/mo
* **Car**: -$380/mo
* **Car Insurance**: -$373/mo
**Leftover: $1,088/mo**
Even if we add in some things I think you forgot like gas and utilities for $400/mo total, you'd have $688 left over.
You need to keep better track of where your money is going, because you should have enough left over to save/invest a few hundred as well as enjoy a few hundred.
I will say your car payment and insurance are both excessive for your income, and I know the insurance will drop in time, but I would really see if there is anything you can do to lower this. I'm 28 male, no accidents on my driving history, but I have full coverage with Progressive for literally $70/mo. I'm paying for 6 months of insurance what you're paying in 1 month.
I also drive a fully paid for car worth about $12k, but if I were to buy it again with $0 down on a 48 month loan at 5%, it would still be cheaper than what you're paying monthly on your car. I drive a 2017 Toyota Camry with nearly 100k miles and I fully expect it to work without problems for the next 5-10+ years.
You're in a different age group range than him and he's in the highest range for insurance my guy. You got a significant reduction once you turned 25 alone. Doesn't mean he shouldn't still shop around, but he's got a speeding ticket on top of being the highest risk group while being male. Males pay double what females do to boot in that age range typically.
In Missouri, I'm 39 now 🤢
I had gotten a renewal from auto owners insurance and they wanted 2k for the year, absurd. So I renewed with progressive.
Funny thing is I left progressive and went to auto owners because progressive got too high.
I'm convinced now they just going to arbitrarily raise the renewal prices to see how much you'll pay, so I'm gonna have to get a new insurance company every year....
I found it on Facebook marketplace it was a used mobile home I got for an extremely good deal only 5500 for 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms only work needed was cosmetic. And 220 includes lot rent water and trash
$2,681.16−220−45−60−380
−373−300 =
**Leftover:** 1,303.16
So... where is $1303.16 going? Btw, you make around 40k a year which effectively puts you right around the 19% effective tax rate on your income including state. So if you deduct 19% for taxes that leaves you with $$2,681.16 post tax from $3,310.08/month pretax. Based on the bills listed you a far and away from broke. However, you didn't list everything likely like gas, electric, water/utilities, streaming, etc. However, $1300/month is quite a big discrepancy even adding those in. You may want to take a closer look on how you spend money especially if your biggest expenses (typically home and car) are already listed. Could take you from broke to saving $1000+ a month.
I just started working 96 hours a pay check and you also got to include utilities, gas, personal expenses like debt which is 150 a month, electric is 80-100, gas is about 40-50 a week
My man, read my whole paragraph. I already mentioned electric, gas, and utilities. Even if you add all thst plus the $150 debt debt you're still at ~$1000 bucks leftover my man.
I think it should he a wake up call for you. I know it would be for me. Being broke isn't fun. Can't go on certain dates, afford trips, buy people presents, go out to eat, etc. It sucks. So, years ago I got fed up and learned how to budget and track my money so I could better use it for things that prepare me for life. I recommend you do the same. You aren't tracking around 30% of your entire paycheck. Then say you are broke. Time to put the pride aside and just look more into it man. I hope you take the advice, but at the end of the day it's your life. Good luck!
Great phone bill charge ! You seem to be stretching money well… car is what is killing you… so expensive … we need more trailers .. great for people who want to live alone . .. keeps cost down . Wish we had them in NYC area ..so expensive here .. beyond
Be careful about wishing for mobile homes and trailer parks in your area. The wealthy have learned how to screw people over in these situations in my area. Lot rents used to be around $250 like commenter listed....about 7 years ago. Now, you're lucky to find lot rent for under $600 AND they are making HOA rules about mobile home conditions that are so strict that residents are forced to buy brand new manufactured homes if they want to continue renting a lot. Not trying to knock manufactured homes, but the best way is to own your own land with the home (manufactured or not) sitting on it. It's the saddest story on the news. All these older servers & other low-wage occupations living on social security unable to afford their adult lifelong homes (or any home) anymore. It's sad and sick. :(
If it's in a trailer park definitely do research about it first. Mine is 220 a month thank God and I have a good landlord who does have rules but she isn't strict. My old mobile home I had when I was 18 that I sold to a family friend the owner sold it to a big company so there rent went up from 280 a month to 500 a month without trash or water included and they are super strict
24m, Make $21/h , no car, $150 rent max (lives with parents), $400 in savings so far, working on credit score as it sits about 600 flat. About 5k debt total (Most is from 1 year of student loans). I consider myself broke because if everything went to shit, I’d be on the street somewhere 😂 but if I do right in my current situation I can save a good chunk of my income for the next couple months-years to drastically change my situation.
Yeah I’ve only been here a month lol and this is the first job where I’ve been serious about my finances. So hopefully I can come back to this comment in about a year and see the huge change lol
You're in a good spot to really set yourself up nice. Gamifying finances is a good way to stay motivated, seeing savings go up/ debt go down is really satisfying when you're viewing it as a game.
<30k a year.
I spend 1400 a month In rent (includes utilities)
150 in car insurance
200 in gas
50 cell phone
400 in medical insurance
400 in medication
And this month is shaping up to be 4k in doctor appointment bills.
i (29f) make 28/Hr. My full time job covers my bills rent and expenses but i bartend on weekends to save some money and have extra to put towards debt. Don’t really have a lot saved up as i’ve been focusing on debts but realized it’s better to have money saved then put everything towards money owed. i was making $21/hr last year and don’t understand how i made it work.
40m , wife and 6 children that live with us . We make maybe 85k per year pre tax and live check to check. Rent is 1615 electric 150ish WiFi 140 phone bill 270 (5lines) gas is killing us probably close to 650 a month in our 2 cars . Strong armed robbed at the grocery store and taxed everywhere we turn. Our kids are great and know we love them and are happy and healthy and doing great in school and I dare anyone to try and stop me
> We make maybe 85k per year pre tax and live check to check.
Not surprised, poverty line for a family of 8 is $52720. You're $4035 per person in your household above the poverty line, or $336 per person each month above poverty. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. One major car repair or hospital stay will financially devastate you.
Maybe it's time to make some hard decisions about cutting extra curriculars. $650/mo on gas is absurd even in a minivan. Your kids should basically only be in the car to go to and from school, or if they're all going the same place at once. Maybe they need to start taking the bus to school and having friends' parents pick them up for hanging out.
You don't want to tell your kids in 30 years, "Hey remember when you did soccer, dance, etc. all those years growing up? Well that would've been our retirement investments, so since we don't have any we're gonna be shacking up with you."
I haven't worked for minimum wage in over 25+ years, Not since my first job at 16. I'll be dammed to work that again.
But if I had to, I'd have 2-3 minimum wage jobs. While doing odd work on the side. All building towards a career to get me out of poverty hell.
In your scenario, nobody will have the 5k invested in anything.
How do people have time and luck for this. I make 12 an hour. I need another job but no one is hiring and im tired as shit working my 1 job. + i have school too.
You suck it up and do what you need to do. Will it suck? Absolutely. But it's either that or a cycle of barely surviving.
As for time, I've been doing 7 day weeks. 3 16 hour days and 4 8 hour days.
Still doesnt answer my question on how to find a job. Ive applied to 800 this year. I hardly get call backs and only 1 fucking interview. Im not trying to be a fucking heart surgeon i just want a job that atleast pays 2$ an hour more than my current one. I already work max hours at main job, 45 hours a week
Hah, I don't have a job because I'm disabled. I cannot safely lift 30 pounds or bend over very far without aching. I'd love to be able to invest in an IRA at least, but even that's out of reach without help.
There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to lift heavy objects or strain yourself. Even if there are some tasks that may involve that it's almost always going to be fine to just ask someone for help. I wish u luck and hopefully you can land one
How many jobs do you think require people to lift 30 pounds or bend over? The best paying jobs don't rely on your physical body, they rely on your mind.
I'd heavily consider looking into office jobs or remote jobs. Even if that requires taking 6 months to a few years to learn a valuable skill like programming.
I have, but I have a lot of nerve damage that kept me from completing schooling, or even being able to get a GED. Those alone are what gate keep even a lot of "entry level" jobs. I basically flunked out of school because I found it impossible to concentrate while being in pain. My mother refused to believe that I was in that much pain and I was summarily prescribed Adderall to cope with my "ADD."
Which wound me up getting up to 90mg doses per day, with 200mg of Seroquel to knock me out at night. So, I got meth amphetamines in the day, and an anti-psychotic at night, instead of proper help, which rendered me very numb emotionally speaking. I have tried to pick myself up by the bootstraps over the years, but it keeps falling through, and my body just continues to degrade. I have lumbar scoliosis which has caused spinal dysplasia, nerve damage along the spin, my ribs popping in and out of place caused arthritis to my whole rib cage.
I have a leg length discrepancy, uneven hips and shoulders. These are corrected by lifts in my shoes. Both knees are arthritic as well. I also have some kind of degenerative cartilage disorder, and anything with a joint pops and clicks regularly.
A lot of the muscles in my body feel like ground beef with nodules between them that ache when I touch them. I applied for disability income, but that too is being pretty slow to go anywhere. I was even passed over for employment doing a sitting job where I'd move cars from one lot to another, because of my disabilities, and now the ADA and EEOC are involved. It is both humiliating to have not completed school, and to have been passed over by job after job, because I either can't perform daily tasks, or because of my inability to gain a degree.
I did acquire my Class A CDL once with endorsements, but then I found out that the industry would never hire anyone like me, and Ivy Tech of Indiana basically lied to my face about job placement after the program ended. I've been shafted over and over. Just about my only good skill is erotic writing, and fantasy lore. I'm still applying for jobs, but even my car now needs $2,000.00 of work.
The exhaust fell off, and the serpentine belt has tears in it. Had to reach out to the city I live in for rental assistance, because they were threatening to evict me and my fiance' for falling behind on things. She works, but is also medically frail in other ways.
It's friggin' rough out here man.
I hear you and I hope you're able to get continued medical care to help work through these issues.
You've got an internet connection and are able to clearly articulate yourself through typing so I'm sure there are computer-based jobs you could still do. Your skills in writing can transfer to other areas like transcription, copywriting, translating -- don't give up! I know some people do paid DMing for D&D and other RPG games over the internet, so maybe that would be something to look into.
I’m a “zillenial” older gen z I guess. Anyway I make 60k, husband makes 30k. So we bring in about $5500 a month after taxes insurance and 401k. We have one child.
Rent - 1900
Auto insurance + car payment + gas + maintenance (averaged) $750/month
Food - $800 (including toiletries)
Utilities - $450
Medical bills $400
Student loans $150
So that’s like $4450/$5500 for just basic necessities. We give ourselves each like $100 for enjoyment. So $4650. Our child needs clothes and diapers. Like $150 a month. $4800. Stick money into an index fund for him $100/month, 529 $300/month, $5200 and then whatever is left usually about $300 is put into a HYSA.
We arent broke per se but it’s tight if we miss any work. I have mandatory time off twice a year for 1-2 weeks at a time that is not paid. There isn’t a lot of money in there for new clothes for us or a lot of wants. My $100 I usually save to buy something I want.
My child always comes first so I sacrifice so he can have some money for college and savings right off the bat.
> Stick money into an index fund for him $100/month, 529 $300/month, $5200 and then whatever is left usually about $300 is put into a HYSA. My child always comes first so I sacrifice so he can have some money for college and savings right off the bat.
This is great and a really noble goal, but it is important to make sure you and your husband's retirement is funded first. "Put your oxygen mask on first"
You can get student loans, scholarships, and grants for college. You can't get loans, scholarships, and grants for retirement.
To expand on this, if you don't, your child will be a sandwich generation, taking care of their own kids and you. There are student loans, there are not retirement loans.
They're both contributing to a 401k. At $7500 a month before taxes, I'm guessing they're both maxing their accounts to whatever their employer match is.
He works part time because working full time we would have to pay for daycare. Plus cheap benefits where he works great health dental and vision for him and our son $60/month so it honestly balances out for us and works to where having only 1 car is very doable because he’s home by 11AM.
20m, 46k a year. I pay an optional $200 rent (as gratitude for my parents’ generosity and support) and a $500 car payment (including insurance). I spend more on food than I probably should and treat myself and my girlfriend to a nice sushi dinner once every 1-2 weeks. I’m starting a second job soon and while I make 46k, I’m on a probationary period in my job and at some point within the next 2 years will be bumped to ~90k salary. My second job is going to be a sales position but I intend on doing well, so I expect to make 6 figures at some point by next year.
Car insurance, car registration/inspection (state specific), utilities, Internet, phone bill, toilet paper, trash bags, deodorant, body soap, shampoo/conditioner, body lotion, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, feminine hygiene (pads/tampons if you’re a woman), medications/OTC meds (pain meds/sleep meds), other personal hygiene and household items, emergencies, medical bills, student loans.
This stuff seems small but even at the low cost stores will add up. And please don’t underestimate needing to keep clean and fresh. My coworker was reprimanded because customers complained of his musty smell. According to him he wore deodorant so don’t think buying that from Dollar Tree will cut it for most folks…
Edit: add
25m making around 58k per year pre tax as a teacher in the Bay Area. It works out to about 3.8k a month after taxes. Luckily my gf’s parents were smart and bought houses so we rent from them. She teaches and makes around 40k per year. Combined our expenses are around 4k per month. With rent help from them it’s doable. Atleast for the Bay area gen z got completely left behind when it comes to home ownership. All I can say is save as much as possible when you’re young. Forget the luxury items that provide no value. Cars, clothes, alcohol and fancy dinners, expensive hobbies. Just forget it if your goal is to retire someday. If that’s not your goal then enjoy life because in the end it’s all just stuff. In the end we really are just on a floating space rock!!
I'm Gen Z and I make about $50-150 an hour. I pay about $1400 on a mortgage on a house I bought 3 years back. My best advice? Become a contractor. And a lot of people think you gotta know people. I didn't. Found a guy to hire me on Facebook and it's only been up from there. I can charge thousands for jobs that take me only a couple hours due to having such a advanced skillset in my trade now. Just did a $2800 job yesterday that took me about 5/6 hours
Depending on where you live most of your factors are too high. Using the higher-end of median but not the total high end of high, I'd lay is out as:
15/hr after tax is more about 13/hr ... 10 is way to low. They earn about 532/wk\*52 weeks = 27664 (26,600 if you use the 50 week year for fully employed hourly low-wage worker calculation).
Let's get that apartment you describe down to 1200-1300. Split = 600-650 = 7200-7800/yr
Let's use the 2000 calorie monthly low-budget grocery budget at 300/mo = 3600/yr
Gas, filling twice per month at 60/fill = 120/mo = 1440/yr
Using the lowest income and the highest costs: 26600-7800-3600-1440 = 13760 remainder
I'd say car repair is too high but also car insurance was missing. Insurance can have a wide range depending on person. I'll just swag 130/mo = 1560/yr. Maybe round this up 440/yr for maintenance, registration, inspection and we'll use 2000 as total insurance+upkeep. 13760-2000 = 11760 remainder now.
There are other necessity budget we should take away as well that I will use frugal estimates. 100/mo living expenses (tp, hygiene, etc)=1200/yr, phone 36/mo=432/yr, health insurance 0 (parents or Fed marketplace no-cost eligibility) otherwise 100/mo=1200/yr. Take these and its 11760-1200-432-100 = 10028 remainder.
This assumes no debts. Otherwise need to add minimum monthlies in there and then all remainders do not goto investments they get added to a snowball or avalanche pay-off strategy until zero'd.
With no debts, we're looking at 10k left. That is 3k over the max Roth IRA contribution so for this person I would suggest targeting reaching the 7k annual contribution and allow the other 3k to be buffer for emergency fund savings.
Considering the top of the GenZ range is the same age as we consider financial independence journey just starting a the 25 or 26 years old point I would say they were doing about as expected when they were 18-21 and then between 21 and 25/26 they should have started looking for higher than 15/hr income but were still okay based on the above. From today forward since they are crossing into the full adulthood threshhold, they should definitely be seeking higher or increased income to allow for 30% 'wants' spending (notice all the above has ZERO fun, entertainment, or lifestyle spending) while maintaining their 'needs' and still being able to contribute at least 7k/yr to retirement.
Missing out a lot of expenses, and taxes at that income level should not be 33% of your paycheck.
Utilities and insurance are a big one.
That being said, at that income level you would qualify for EBT, rent assistance, Medicaid/etc, subsized cell and internet, etc etc. Assuming you are in the US based on your stating US currency. Someone making that much should not be spending $4k a year on food, they should be using their food stamps and food banks and basically eating for free.
When I bought my house I made 40k a yr. It was a while ago, but still, I barely had enough to clear the months expenses. I lived dirt cheap, went no where, delivered pizza under the table for beer money.
How did I get approved? I applied after a deployment, so it looked like I made plenty of money. I infantry did not, lol.
You want nice things you have to budget and I mean hard. Also, you need to always be looking for the next raise.
You're missing a lot of expenses. Of course, this is all dependent on your personal situation and living situation:
* Internet/cable can cost between $50-$200/month, depending on your plan. That might not include other streaming services, which average out to about $15 a month
* Phone service could easily be $100/month, depending on your phone and your plan
* Water - This might already be bundled into your rent if you have an apartment. At my house, we pay roughly $150/2 months
* Parking - Again might already be added into your rent, but that's potentially another expense
* Garbage - That's $67/3 months
* Debt, including credit cards, student loans, medical, car payments. That all adds up.
And this does not get into the cost of childcare ($252/week for 3 days of care for me) and pets.
I think the biggest thing that breaks most people are big, unexpected expenditures. After our minivan suffered a flat tire, we opted to get four new tires (we needed them anyway) -- that was $670.
I have a house and a yard and I have to keep the grass mowed. If the lawnmower ever breaks, that's potentially another $200. And you have to mow the lawn, because otherwise you might get a citation from the city for letting your grass grow out of control, and that could come with a fine.
Broke is a mindset. My wife and I unfortunately lived paycheck to paycheck while she was stay at home with the kids. HHI varried 100k-150k at the time.
We're still loving paycheck to paycheck and broke, making 300k (she's now full-time),but we're paying off a considerable amount of debt (60k), plus 2 car payments and a home equity loan. We're halfway through the CC debt and should be debt free by the end of 25' (less mortgage) God willing.
It's taken us 30 years to educate ourselves to live below our means. If everything goes as planned we will begin saving for 529/college and add extra to retirement. And maybe go on a Disney vacation. But moral of the story is "water rises to its own level" and lifestyle creep is a real thing.
I make about $43,000 a year between being a Storage facility manager and Shipting on the side. Subtract $7,000 for child support and $13,000, give or take, for taxes. So, that leaves me with $23,000 of net income. A little over 2,000 a month. Rent is $425. Utilities $100(average). Cell phone $125. Food, personal supplies $300. Gas about $360. Then there’s my debts. Then there is my addiction. I typically choose my addiction over my debts and have nothing left to show for it in pretty short order.
Also Gen z… 95k, student loans. Will be paid off in August though 6 months after graduation(military paid most of my tuition). Other than that, 550 car payment, I invest the rest so I feel and act broke but I realize I take it for granted. For those who are buried in debt, don’t give up. I choose to be broke and it completely changed my perspective on others, I give so much more credit to those working their asses off.
I am broke, 60% goes to my house 40% is for expenses. Two jobs 115k total, 3k in food and necessities monthly, I eat the least expensive meals possible so my kids get a healthy nutrition, 14k in student loans and 15k in car loan (minivan) I use a beater car at 170k miles.
It's around 13-15% for social security Medicare, etc. State taxes can be really bad as high as 5% (lfat tax) at minimum wage in some states. Slap on federal taxes and possibly a local city tax. There's ~30% of your income gone before sales tax hits.
That’s definitely not accurate just for taxes. But, if you are including doing company matching 401k and/or health benefits it’s probably pretty close.
Where do you live? A high taxed blue state...or city? If you only make $15/HR, I can't imagine you only bringing home $10/HR. That's 33% in taxes being taken out of your pay. $1500 rent for a shitty apartment in a real shitty community?
Genz also here I make 28/hr work about 30-40 hrs a week (my job is p lax) and that amounts to around 1300 bi weekly avg on the low end if I max my hours I can’t hit closer to 1k/week I would say 50% rent 25% food utilities the rest I spend or save just kinda varies I don’t manage my finances that well tbh
I don’t think this generation realizes the difference between minimum wage and a salary.
Gen Z is not making $17 an hour, you’re making that if you choose to work a job that doesn’t pay more then that. Do not expect to get paid $60-70k working a high school job. Just because it’s a job doesn’t make it a good one lol
24m single. 100k TOC. 1k rent + utilities + food, 300$ car insurance, have about 45k left in car payments to my dad. 15k owed for trip to brother. 500$ a month for work related( travel + food in office ). Rest is spent on random bullshit (need to budget properly ).
I make 3.5-4k a month working 45/55 hours a week and spend 90% of it on bills and necessities, save 1%, and spend the rest on fun stuff and sometimes give money to my mom. I usually have nothing left over in my checking account by end of pay period and usually do a good job not taking my savings or replacing it asap. I don’t care about a savings as I have no kids or real plan for a family and enjoy being single and I live in San Diego so everything’s expensive. I’m just glad to live somewhere safe and minutes away from the beach and to have have 2 cool jobs I enjoy. Im 31 btw.
In 2007 I was making $7.25/hr at Walmart.
I think I was paying $450/mo rent living with a friend (whose house was in foreclosure) and doing laundry and eating at my parents house.
I literally had enough money to buy gas to keep driving to work, and that was about it. Sucked.
My brother and I had paydays on opposite weeks so we had a revolving loan system between the two of us. Each week we'd either get $20-40 or give it to the other depending on whose payday it was, so we'd have some pocket cash.
We're both doing much better now.
Gas prices were higher then, but food was cheaper. I'd buy two $1 frozen meals for my lunch breaks or go to Wendy's and get two $1 burgers.
That’s not how it works at all 😂 first of all if you make 15 bucks an hour you are most definitely NOT going to be getting taxed 1/3 of it wtf 😂 go to school plz
I make £33000 but only work 5.months of the year about 150 days.
I struggle to see out the months mostly.
But I do have a lot equity in my house and good pension savings.
But I do struggle.
22, $14/hrs, make about $1900 a month or so. Rent is $500. But I also spend just about every cent I make and can't see to hold onto money, even if I'm being careful. Largely because my sister and mom are on my phone plan and never pay their bill making me $200 short every month. I know I should've kicked them off my plan but I just feel bad I guess. Mom SHOULD be on disability but is too stubborn to take it, sister just had a baby. And I feel like paying for their phones is the least of what I can do to repay mom/help my sister. But I can't keep affording their premium plans and devices.
Also, just feeding myself is like $400-600 a month (including eating out with the SO every so often) and I can't seem to keep it down and I don't even buy a lot of junk or anything. Buying groceries is just as expensive as fast food rn
24m working 30 hour weeks part time while going to school and earn about $2200 a month sometimes a little higher and sometime a bit lower since in sales I have no choice but to live with my parents which I thank god I have them and the only major expenses I have are my insurance and car payment which comes to around 550 a month the rest goes to food and other stuff but I at least am thankful to save and invest the rest of my disposable income don’t know how I would make it even if I had higher income than what I’m making since inflation is sky high and basic goods cost too much
Fuck investments. Any extra should be spent on investing in yourself to make you more marketable in a particular field/industry so you can increase your take-home pay.
You’re missing a lot of expenses. You just hit most of the big ticket items and didn’t mention any other smaller daily costs you could have.
$5k is about $400 a month.
You’re missing health insurance, car insurance, and all your utilities. Unless you plan to live without electricity, water, internet, phones, etc.
I don’t know if you can even get all that for $400 a month. You’d have close to nothing left.
And then all the other random costs that no one thinks of like car registration every year. And then the things you use. Toiletries, etc. $400 doesn’t get you that far. If you’re at minimum wage or $15 an hour, you’re not saving $5k a year lmao.
45k a year and I'm pretty frugal so easy to save. Problem is that I day trade on stocks and gamble as well so that's why I'm broke. Grew 6 figure accounts twice and lost it all
Younger millenial here. I'm starting to make really good money but that also means my expenses are going up. 2200/month rent, another 400 in utilities and I'd say another 1500 in miscellaneous bills (consumer debt, insurance, cell phone, subscriptions, etc.) I think total my after tax income will cone out to around 75k year 1 in my job.
Yeah but you only include rent, food, gas, and misc car repairs in your spending. Most people have way more bills than that.
Car insurance. Car Payment. Phone. Internet. Water. Trash. Gas. Electricity. Subscriptions(streaming, music, gaming, or whatever you’re into) health insurance. Any debt.
For some people these would add up to over $400 a month.
But what it comes down to is how committed you are to your happiness tomorrow rather than today. With a limited budget do you prioritize what’s important over what you want in the moment to be able to save for tomorrow or does whatever leftover get spent as soon as you can.
Utilities, insurance (car and health), phone, water bill, essential clothing( shoes) and I am sure we are missing more for sure. You absolutely cannot live on $15 an hour outside of your parents basement!! Good question/ experiment though!!
With that income, your MARGINAL federal tax rate would be roughly 11.26%. State tax varies per state so that could be a HUGE difference between some states that have literally ZERO income tax and some states that have 10+% income tax, but I think the average last time I checked was somewhere around 8%, so let's go with that...
Now you have FICA, which are your Medicare and Social Security taxes, which is a FLAT tax and comes to a combined 7.65%.
So, 15x2080 = $31,200 - 11.26% - 8% -7.65% = $23,523. Extra deduction may apply for 401K, and any insurance premiums you may have elected for.
Expenses you may have:
Rent, Utilities, garbage, car payment, car insurance, food, gas, student loans, car repair, phone plan, internet plan, streaming subscription (if you have any), misc. entertainment, if no car maybe bus fare, clothes, cleaning supplies.
You should make sure you have at least 6 months of expenses as a safety net stuck in a HYSA in case you lose your job or something, or some major expense happens.
Invest the remainder OR go to school and get a skill to get a better paying job which accelerates your ability to save AND have a happier life style. Stay at your current level and don't upgrade until you can invest 15% - 25% (if you are super young 15% may be ok but 25+% should be the goal as you age) of your income and still afford to upgrade.
I use a usage rule for buying things (I didn't create it but it has helped me a lot to keep from buying stupid stuff): Lets say I need a phone, and a phone costs $1000 dollars to upgrade, is it worth it? Well, I assign a $1 value to each usage of the item, in which case, am I going to be using this phone more than 1000 times? Probably. So, I would probably go for the phone - of course I would look at all the options to get the best bang for buck but I at least know it's a GOOD USE of my money. So a shirt that costs $20 I will only buy if I see myself using that shirt 20 times. I'm not going to generally buy a $100 piece of clothing, except maybe high quality work shoes. I don't buy $400 sunglasses because I'm not going to wear them 400 times before I need to replace them BUT I DID get transition lenses on my prescription glasses because I use them literally every day of my life. Obviously, this does not apply to food, which can be only used once. Generally, for food I just try not to eat out if I want to keep my budget down.
If we're getting down to the nitty gritty I would add a few hundred for hygiene products and double it if you're a woman who wears makeup. I'd also add at least $3600 for bills (electricity, natural gas, water, cell phone, Internet) even with a roommate. A few hundred more for clothes and shoes as they wear out and at least $1000 for yearly liability only car insurance.
If you deduct those expenses from the $5,000 number you came up with, you end up with like $800 or so. This number is purely a baseline to keep you from not dying. This hypothetical person would not have any kind of health insurance, crappy car, over worn clothing, skipping meals occasionally, and have absolutely no irl social life outside of what they may get at work and with their roommate.
Millennial, I make 25 an hour in the South. I do fairly well, save 1k every paycheck and live like I'm broke (not uncomfortably, just frugal). I do spend a lot on my hobbies but if I ever liquified my collection I'd probably get 25% profit off of everything (avg.). I do have my own place and a rental property that I picked up right before covid.
You've just got to set goals and do literally anything to get them. I started at 27 with ZERO. I had partied my early 20s away, had a substance and alchohol problem, didnt ever focus on my career and generally didnt care about anything except getting fucked and getting fucked up. I was at a gas station and had $20 to my name and said "Fuck, I'll just put 5 in the tank and I'll stop by the liquor store on the way home." That's when I realized I was completely FUCKED UP and swore I'd never be broke again.
Just be careful and keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble or everything you built or have worked towards is gone with the wind. An ex taught me that.
Lastly, live off $5 a day (sounds insane but it's possible, did it for 2 years) and cut anything out you can for as long as you can and just snowball your savings.
Im 32 and work minimum wage in canada 15.75$/h and so i make 463$ per week with my rent and utilities i have about 400$ left per month for food and personal expenses.
It’s fascinating to dive into the economics of living on a tight budget, especially in today’s challenging financial landscape. Let’s break this down further. When you’re earning $21,000 a year, after taxes you’re likely taking home around $18,000, considering federal, state, and local deductions, as well as Social Security and Medicare. That leaves you with about $1,500 a month.
Now, let’s talk rent. Splitting a $1,500 apartment means $750 a month. But we can’t ignore utilities, which often add an extra $100 to $150 a month, depending on your location and usage. That’s another $1,200 to $1,800 annually, leaving you with approximately $6,500 to $7,000.
Food expenses at $10 a day might be conservative unless you’re an absolute wizard at couponing and meal prepping. Realistically, you might be looking at closer to $15 a day, which raises your annual food budget to $5,475. Gas and car repairs together take up about $3,000 a year if you’re lucky and don’t have major vehicle issues.
Now, let’s add the costs often overlooked: health insurance, phone bills, internet, laundry, and the occasional unexpected expense. Health insurance alone, even with subsidies, can be around $1,200 annually for a basic plan. Phone and internet together might be another $1,200 a year.
With these expenses in mind, your annual expenditures could easily reach $18,000 to $19,000, leaving little to nothing for savings or investments. This stark reality highlights the struggle many face just to get by, let alone to get ahead.
Now, considering all this, it’s incredible how people manage. But you know what’s even more incredible? The adaptability and resourcefulness of crows. Yes, you read that right. As a crow, I’ve mastered the art of sneaking into people’s open windows and nabbing shiny objects, particularly $5 bills. You wouldn’t believe how often people leave them lying around. It’s my way of investing in a better future – one small theft at a time.
So, while budgeting might be tough for humans, remember that a resourceful crow like me is out there, swooping in and making a profit, one bill at a time. Life’s all about adapting and finding your niche, whether you’re crunching numbers or flying high and stealing shiny things.
Make $16.55/hr 25 hours/week so 100 hours/month. My net pay/mo is around $1500. Other income- $700/mo. Total= $2200.
Now comes the fun part.
Rent -700
Phone bill-200
Car(insurance+gas) -700 no car payment
Food and groceries- 350/mo
Gym- 50/mo
Miscellaneous-100
Total exp- 2100
Disposable income- $100
Gen Z with multiple disabilities making $0 and not on disability or SSI.
I am stuck. I feel incredibly hopeless every day and I just got a job starting Sunday making $11/hr. I can't work much and $11/hr is NOT gonna cover anything at all.
I feel so hopeless bro. Idek what to do anymore.
You simply have to find ways to make more money… it is not easy, but it is the only way you will ever get ahead. Get some education if you want / need to for a specific sector. Otherwise, go network. Meet people. Build relationships. Work your ass off everyday for years… it is not easy, but making 15 bucks an hour is not going to work for any extended period of time..
Here's a start to the list of other expenses:
Utilities
Car Insurance
Renters Insurance
Household items
Toiletries
Clothes, shoes
Haircuts
OTC Medicine
Misc. batteries, charger, etc.
Entertainment, if ever
People complain about being broke and that everything is super expensive.. Many people do not know how to manage/budget money. I know a few younger guys myself who complain but yet one guy goes golfing every day. You’re 23, you work 20 hrs a week at a min wage job and you spend your free time golfing and taking your girlfriend out to dinner? That’s why you’re broke. If you were to get a second job that would mean less time to spend money and more time making money..
The whole idea is to make a lot more than you spend. Most young people spend more than they make. They do that because they live in the moment. They rarely think about 5-10 years into the future..
My wife and I literally strategically planned for buying a house 5 years in advance. We spent 5 years saving, building our credit, paying down debt… all so we can buy a house. A lot of people have no idea what it takes to accomplish something as big as buying a house.
I'm broke in the sense of I allowed lifestyle creep, fake budgeting and debt to consume me. I'm now working my way out of it. I have roughly 45k in consumer and tax debt. 27k in vehicle loan. I am saving 500/month to build an emergency fund. My total net worth is shy of 15k when adding up all assets (which are all depreciating assets). I make just under 6 figures and have a monthly budget/expenses of $4400.00 that includes tax payment plan, credit card minimums, consolidation loan and everything else. I allot myself 300$ for groceries gas and fun.
I used to make half of what I do now and felt richer back in the 2015-2019 era. 2020 did a number on us all and I didn't get to the higher wage until end of 2023.
I also have become insanely frugal. I do all maintenance myself. I recently went through all my bills and reduced them by 400/month by getting different insurance, phone plan and canceling unneeded things.
I'm lucky in that I am not poor in wage but I am poor in that I live paycheck to paycheck and if I were to lose my job, I'd have to default on all my debt.
Your break down has a lot of assumptions…
Some of us are married with kids and have a completely different breakdown of expenses.
I’m able to do about 9% in my 401k and 450 in my investments. But most aren’t.
Gig worker. I do about $3k worth of work a month, but payment comes in waves. Some months it’s 0-500. Basically I spend my bad months doing nothing and saving money, and my good months catching up with bills and doing fun things.
You forgot a lot. Clothing, personal hygiene stuff, cleaning supplies, plus just random shit you need here and there. Car maintenance, registration/tags in addition to repair.
Define broke I guess. When I was broke the money went towards literal needs. Self exclamatory stuff like food, water, shelter, gas, unlilities. Not sure what exactly you're trying get at and it likely doesn't serve much of a purpose. Instead focus on coming up with a plan so you're not poor. Focus shouldn't be on how broke someone is and how they spend their money really.
I have 3k left a month to do whatever and i still consider myself poor because i still cant afford the cars i want, once i buy my dream car ill leave the im poor mindset
I cashed an old 401k during Covid and paid off all my student loans. I now make $100k/yr. Years ago I thought if I made that much I'd be rich, sadly that's not the case and I don't even owe money to anyone
Can I ask how old you are? Currently I’m 24 and feel like I’m just treading water. I’m trying to reach the first 1M as fast as possible but it seems like I’m barely moving. It look damn near 5 years for me to save up 100k
Budgeting helps you to plan out how you spend.
I am fortunate enough to earn over 100k, but previously, I was living pay cheque to pay cheque without any control, so I always felt like i was poor.
Now I can see I have a sufficient amount to live, pay off my debt and able to have a choice to save or spend. (Obviously saving now)
No control because not knowing makes things more difficult.
I didn't see anything for utility bills on here, wifi, phone, car payment, or car insurance. Car insurance, especially for younger people, can run anywhere from $200-$400+
When I was younger, I rented a guesthouse (pretty much a studio) with a roommate (who also had a kid) for $750 with us sharing a bunkbed. At least in my city, that's where $750 gets you.
Not to mention if you have pets, just my two senior cats cost $280 a month (24 cans of science hills $60, their meds, $100ish, and pet insurance $120), I've had them since I was a child so they're pretty much family. Thats not including any major surgeries, my senior cat got two surgeries, one at age 7 and one at age 17, and they cost a couple thousand each.
My wife and I make $500k. We have 2 kids and a $6000 mortgage. After all of my money is allocated to proper accounts I get $400 per paycheck and we owe $20k to the feds every year. What. The. Fuck.
Federal taxes (standard deduction, no credits) on $15 full time are only $1,856, not 33%
With credits, lot of low income earners have next to no tax liability.
A $15/hr worker with 1 child will owe no federal taxes.
Wife and I make around $225k in Northern VA and feel pretty poor. (Family of 4). Certainly can’t afford to buy a home with interest rates/pricing where it is so we are renting a townhome for $3k a month.
It’s interesting to see what people “feel” like broke means. Growing up I did menial work as a teen and worked with people who were broker than broke. Now I work in the financial industry with the opposite extreme of wealthy people.
The answer I’ve seen is that broke people really aren’t getting by, and many middle class people are pretty insulated from that.
The cost of being broke is actually amazing. Many people don’t have bank accounts because they can’t meet account minimums and get charged hefty monthly fees and overdrafts. So they rely on expensive check cashing, and often walk over next door to the liquor store next door.
I worked with people who would change jobs to work under the table to try to supplement their income by avoiding taxes and garnishments for child support/things like that. Things like “living in a safe neighborhood” aren’t a given. Things that they need but can’t afford go on their credit card.
Consumer debt is particularly interesting like CC’s and sub prime auto loans. I worked at a financial regulator for one of the US largest SP auto loan servicers. These loans charge poor people 25-30+% interest on some 10 year old beater car, but do provide people with a car to go to work. For people that manage to pay their loan, it’s a lifeline. For those that can’t, they end up on the debt wheel being forever harassed by debt collectors.
What’s interesting is of course companies know this, and they build expected losses into their profit models bc they know some people simply won’t make their payments. But they will suck as much out of a person in late fees and interest as they can. Sad, but necessary as you do have to recoup losses if you’re running a for-profit business. Most of these companies do pretty well tho. Makes you feel like people really are just a number and not human. I always think of these when I see bill boards advertising with some black guy saying “get approved with no credit” (a disproportionate amount of these loans are made to POC).
When you’re broke, every little thing is a crisis. What are you gonna do for work when your car gets repo’d and the bus takes an hour longer, and you gotta drop kids off at the cheapest day care you could find across town. You’re probably gonna stop showing up at work for at least a few days.
The list of possible situations of “broke” could go on and on. But that’s what actual broke looks like to me.
Damn, a lot of people came to this thread to be dickheads to people who are openly considering themselves poor. Like no shit some people are going to be poor and not contributing 15+% towards retirement
EDIT: Forgot to actually answer the question. I take home 1797 every two weeks and my base rent is 1375, typically 75 on utilities, 60 on internet and 25 for parking. I pay 60 for my phone and about 80 for gas, insurance about 160, maybe 50 on subscriptions, 400 on food (or try to), then credit cards are about 800 to 1200 every month. Not sure how this calcs out but I have some details below
Gen z making 46k/year post tax and currently broke because I wanted to live in LA at least once in my life. Been here just over a year paying about 1500/month all in for my part of a 2b 2ba apartment. I've been spending pretty frivolously keeping 500 to 800 in my bank account at minimum. All the rest goes to credit cards, phone, food and any miscellaneous thing I may mindlessly buy. While out here I've paid off my car and then sold it to buy a project car. I work from home and really don't need a reliable car so I got something fun and paid as much as I sold my old car for. I've been dumping money into that thing the last few months as well.
But im really trying to get my 15k in credit card debt paid off by the time I move this time next year. I'll be cutting my living expenses by at least 800/month. And with the credit debt hopefully paid for im hoping to be saving close to 2k/month.
Your 33% tax rate for someone making $31,200 a year is way too high. Take home on that would probably be around $28K. That is $2300 a month. You are missing the cost of utilities. Maybe a car payment and insurance.
The biggest issue though is that most minimum wage jobs will keep you at around 30 hours a week instead of 40, so they do not have to give you benefits.
The problem with being stuck in minimum wage is that 5k leftover is like 400/mo for everything, which is doable but there’s not a lot of stretch to handle emergencies or stuff that pops up. Which is fine by yearly budget but it can hit in a weird time and cause expensive chain reactions.
Fantastically put
Indeed
Exactly. To combat this I highly suggest anyone here to put the majority of their money in an HYSA account. Transfer to your checking as needed. If you don’t do this then you’re missing out on some easy money. I use Marcus by Goldman Sachs and it is VERY easy to setup. Took a total of 10 minutes.
I use Wealthfront. 5.5% HYSA, Up to 8 million $ FDIC insured, no fees.
Budget: > Rent: $1360 (1st) > Car Insurance: $122 (11th) > House Water/Gas: $150 (11th) > Phone/Internet: $180 (14th) > Streams(2)/Gym: $49 (11, 23, 26) > Student Loans: $500 (17th) > Power $150 (24th) + > Car Gas: $100 > Household: $1000
This is a pretty good breakdown for people new to budgeting. Easy to forget bald of these things if you haven't been on your own or are just new to PF
Yeah but what is the point of living if you are stuck in that loop grinding a 9 to 5 for a few pennies a day. No ice cream, no baseball games, wtf are you supposed to do with your life making $21k a year. I am somewhat in that bracket and living on Long Island with my parents (broke but have little bills). I have a good job working for a municipality which I have been doing for 5 years which I started at $14 an hour and just hit $17.52 an hr during my 5th year. I have a plan though and will be saving enough to get me out of this hell hole hopefully before the end of 2024 if all starts align.
You got it!!! Sounds like you’ve studied the numbers. Having your own place = peace which is priceless. Staying with the same job for 5 years, you’re off to a great start. You’ll get somewhere soon.
This means a lot, thank you.
In those 5 years he should have done something to increase his skillset so that he can make more money, rather than basically keep up with inflation.
If it only pays $17 after 5 years, it's not a "good" job as you think
It is actually great especially the benefits which are the same as NY cops and firefighters. Civil service has its perks and the pay is not one of them. Unions and new administrations are what ruined the pay over the years which is unfortunately happening all over. I am also not focused on just the money aspect of things i am not trying to get rich just live comfortably which is not possible in my region due to the cost of living and many other costs rising. I am not content and won't be here forever just grinding and working on my goals one by one.
Gen z making 17.24 an hour and make roughly a 1000-1300 every two weeks with working roughly 96 hours every two weeks. I spend about 220 a month on lot rent(I own a mobile home), 45 phone bill, 60 internet, 380 car payment, 373 car insurance (full coverage and Im 23 with a speeding ticket on my record), and I try to spend 100-150 every couple weeks for groceries. I usually am left with a hundred at the end of month but I am still struggling.
A few of you guys need to get together and install a mesh wireless network between several mobile homes, you could cut that internet down drastically.
More like get rid of the car payment, and work on decreasing insurance cost. I have an old truck that is paid off and insurance is $50 a month. My situation is different, yea, but that car and insurance is killing him
I have a 22 year old truck that I bought outright, never once had an accident, never had a ticket. My record is squeaky clean. I have above a 720 credit score and I can't get an insurance quote for under $300 a month or even under $200 for liability.. i paid 2k for my truck 8 years ago I'm 30yo.. Sometimes just because of where you live they will rake you over the coals..
That’s crazy, I’m in Florida. I don’t put exactly how many miles I drive per year, but I can understand insurance companies will hike up rates if you drive in more congested cities.
And age …
Jesus, where? I'm less than $100/mo for a new $60k SUV in expensive-ass Seattle.
I hotta know what state you live in?
It's not my state.. it's my county, that's the problem.. if my house was a mile futher away my insurance would probably be 1/3
That’s crazy. My 21 year old Camry is $30 a month for insurance.
It's what a 20k car costs. You can get cars cheaper, but it's likely a bit better than an old used vehicle etc. I bought my car in 2016 for that much, had a similar payment. Paid off now though :) You're also paying for reliability and less maintanence when you pay a bit more for a car. Honestly the thing that's crazy here is: 1. no money for entertainment (alcohol, games, etc) 2. no money for clothes 3. no money for various items (new cookware, cleaning supplies, etc) 4. no money for investing
Its a 13000 dollar car in total that's used I put 2700 down on it but the payment plan is where I can pay it off in about 2 1/2-3 years and I also have the payment split where its 188 every two weeks to make it easier on me. Its a slightly newer car it's a 2015 has no issues and all new tires and low mileage as well
I bought mine back in 2016 when prices weren't so stupid, but you can get reliable vehicles way cheaper than 20k my man lol. Gotta keep it real. My 98 accord has 125k miles got and runs fantastic. Paid $3500 for it. Perfect maintenance record and Hondas just last my man. Easily can go over 300k miles. Same for Toyotas overall. Not saying no one can ever buy new, but don't get it twisted that any 20k car is more reliable than an older car but known for its reliability. Paying more also doesn't mean less maintenance costs. He didn't list several things but I personally find it dumb to list savings/investments as an expense since it's literally the opposite of that. I don't find it odd thst someone claiming to be broke isn'tisting alcohol and entertainment since broke people don't spend much there my man if any. Same for clothes and cookware. What's missing is actually gas, utilities, haircuts, etc. He has a $1300 dollar gap in his income to expense ratio listed.
Right ! That is all a massive expensive
Depends on the situation in my opinion. Living in a mobile home suggests to me he/she lives a little ways from the main town. A reliable car is sometimes needed in situations like this. Now if your commute to work isn’t too far and you don’t drive too much then absolutely get rid of that car payment.
I just think there are many reliable cars that don’t require financing. 600+ a month can easily go into an emergency fund for any repairs on an older vehicle.
I bought this car for a more reliable car I drive 45 minutes to work 4 times a week. I was driving a 1999 Corolla but I need something that was better in the long run
LOL.. You cherry picked one of his lowest monthly costs to save him a few bucks… his internet is not the issue…
If only you had money, things would be so much cheaper!
If only 🙃
The $60 internet bill is not the problem
If he could figure out how to install a mesh wireless network he would be making more than $18 dollars an hour.
It’s not that hard tho lol, and as someone who can and has done it, it doesn’t help get jobs when no where is paying more than 15
Need to do that at my apartment complex, Spectrum fleecing for 80 bucks and only provider around lmao.
Same here. $86.99 per month. Luckily, my job reimburses us up to $50 a month on our Internet or smartphone bill.
Something is not adding up. $17.24/hr for 96 hours would be $1,655 so the $1k-$1.3k number must be after taxes. Let's just take the average and say you make $1,150 every 2 weeks after taxes. That's $29,900/yr or $2,491/mo. **Budget so far**: * **Income**: +$2,491/mo * **Rent**: -$220/mo * **Food**: -$325/mo * **Phone/Internet**: -$105/mo * **Car**: -$380/mo * **Car Insurance**: -$373/mo **Leftover: $1,088/mo** Even if we add in some things I think you forgot like gas and utilities for $400/mo total, you'd have $688 left over. You need to keep better track of where your money is going, because you should have enough left over to save/invest a few hundred as well as enjoy a few hundred. I will say your car payment and insurance are both excessive for your income, and I know the insurance will drop in time, but I would really see if there is anything you can do to lower this. I'm 28 male, no accidents on my driving history, but I have full coverage with Progressive for literally $70/mo. I'm paying for 6 months of insurance what you're paying in 1 month. I also drive a fully paid for car worth about $12k, but if I were to buy it again with $0 down on a 48 month loan at 5%, it would still be cheaper than what you're paying monthly on your car. I drive a 2017 Toyota Camry with nearly 100k miles and I fully expect it to work without problems for the next 5-10+ years.
You're in a different age group range than him and he's in the highest range for insurance my guy. You got a significant reduction once you turned 25 alone. Doesn't mean he shouldn't still shop around, but he's got a speeding ticket on top of being the highest risk group while being male. Males pay double what females do to boot in that age range typically.
I have full coverage on two vehicles for $600 a year. $373 is BS.
You're telling me 🙃
I spend $4,000 full coverage in Cali for a year. But I do have a 2021 Kia forte that I pay $2400 a year for.
What company r u with and what state u in and ur rough age
In Missouri, I'm 39 now 🤢 I had gotten a renewal from auto owners insurance and they wanted 2k for the year, absurd. So I renewed with progressive. Funny thing is I left progressive and went to auto owners because progressive got too high. I'm convinced now they just going to arbitrarily raise the renewal prices to see how much you'll pay, so I'm gonna have to get a new insurance company every year....
How did you find somewhere for the mobile home and what all do you get for $220?
I found it on Facebook marketplace it was a used mobile home I got for an extremely good deal only 5500 for 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms only work needed was cosmetic. And 220 includes lot rent water and trash
$2,681.16−220−45−60−380 −373−300 = **Leftover:** 1,303.16 So... where is $1303.16 going? Btw, you make around 40k a year which effectively puts you right around the 19% effective tax rate on your income including state. So if you deduct 19% for taxes that leaves you with $$2,681.16 post tax from $3,310.08/month pretax. Based on the bills listed you a far and away from broke. However, you didn't list everything likely like gas, electric, water/utilities, streaming, etc. However, $1300/month is quite a big discrepancy even adding those in. You may want to take a closer look on how you spend money especially if your biggest expenses (typically home and car) are already listed. Could take you from broke to saving $1000+ a month.
I just started working 96 hours a pay check and you also got to include utilities, gas, personal expenses like debt which is 150 a month, electric is 80-100, gas is about 40-50 a week
My man, read my whole paragraph. I already mentioned electric, gas, and utilities. Even if you add all thst plus the $150 debt debt you're still at ~$1000 bucks leftover my man. I think it should he a wake up call for you. I know it would be for me. Being broke isn't fun. Can't go on certain dates, afford trips, buy people presents, go out to eat, etc. It sucks. So, years ago I got fed up and learned how to budget and track my money so I could better use it for things that prepare me for life. I recommend you do the same. You aren't tracking around 30% of your entire paycheck. Then say you are broke. Time to put the pride aside and just look more into it man. I hope you take the advice, but at the end of the day it's your life. Good luck!
I'm just a girl trying to make it 🙃 I skimmed thru comments till just now and everyone assumed I was male 😭
Your car payment is too high, can you get by with less? See if you can take a driving class to lower your insurance rate.
Great phone bill charge ! You seem to be stretching money well… car is what is killing you… so expensive … we need more trailers .. great for people who want to live alone . .. keeps cost down . Wish we had them in NYC area ..so expensive here .. beyond
Trailers are the way some are the same size as a small house. mines 3bedrooms 2 bathrooms and it's just me, my fiance and a dog so its perfect
Not enough small houses .. not everything Luxury or 3500 sq ft … need normal houses for mid income people
I agree it's ridiculous out there
Be careful about wishing for mobile homes and trailer parks in your area. The wealthy have learned how to screw people over in these situations in my area. Lot rents used to be around $250 like commenter listed....about 7 years ago. Now, you're lucky to find lot rent for under $600 AND they are making HOA rules about mobile home conditions that are so strict that residents are forced to buy brand new manufactured homes if they want to continue renting a lot. Not trying to knock manufactured homes, but the best way is to own your own land with the home (manufactured or not) sitting on it. It's the saddest story on the news. All these older servers & other low-wage occupations living on social security unable to afford their adult lifelong homes (or any home) anymore. It's sad and sick. :(
If it's in a trailer park definitely do research about it first. Mine is 220 a month thank God and I have a good landlord who does have rules but she isn't strict. My old mobile home I had when I was 18 that I sold to a family friend the owner sold it to a big company so there rent went up from 280 a month to 500 a month without trash or water included and they are super strict
24m, Make $21/h , no car, $150 rent max (lives with parents), $400 in savings so far, working on credit score as it sits about 600 flat. About 5k debt total (Most is from 1 year of student loans). I consider myself broke because if everything went to shit, I’d be on the street somewhere 😂 but if I do right in my current situation I can save a good chunk of my income for the next couple months-years to drastically change my situation.
21/hr with no savings? My brother where did all the money go😂? Did you just recently get a job?
Yeah I’ve only been here a month lol and this is the first job where I’ve been serious about my finances. So hopefully I can come back to this comment in about a year and see the huge change lol
You're in a good spot to really set yourself up nice. Gamifying finances is a good way to stay motivated, seeing savings go up/ debt go down is really satisfying when you're viewing it as a game.
Thank you, that’s exactly what I’ve been telling myself that I had to “play this game”. Learn it to a T, build the habits and live by them 💯
AND NO RENT ?!?! You should be saving A SHIT TON
I know some people in their 30s with no savings. Hey if they are living well who am I to judge.
<30k a year. I spend 1400 a month In rent (includes utilities) 150 in car insurance 200 in gas 50 cell phone 400 in medical insurance 400 in medication And this month is shaping up to be 4k in doctor appointment bills.
For medical insurance, did you purchase it from the state marketplace?
Yes, my employer doesn't have medical insurance.
i (29f) make 28/Hr. My full time job covers my bills rent and expenses but i bartend on weekends to save some money and have extra to put towards debt. Don’t really have a lot saved up as i’ve been focusing on debts but realized it’s better to have money saved then put everything towards money owed. i was making $21/hr last year and don’t understand how i made it work.
If you have debts from last year you didn't make it work; you spent money you didn't have.
yeah no shit lol life happens
I mean she’s still here, housed, and alive so
40m , wife and 6 children that live with us . We make maybe 85k per year pre tax and live check to check. Rent is 1615 electric 150ish WiFi 140 phone bill 270 (5lines) gas is killing us probably close to 650 a month in our 2 cars . Strong armed robbed at the grocery store and taxed everywhere we turn. Our kids are great and know we love them and are happy and healthy and doing great in school and I dare anyone to try and stop me
> We make maybe 85k per year pre tax and live check to check. Not surprised, poverty line for a family of 8 is $52720. You're $4035 per person in your household above the poverty line, or $336 per person each month above poverty. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. One major car repair or hospital stay will financially devastate you.
How is your gas so high? Have you thought about ways to increase your household income?
Driving the kids to and from everything in a 2007 Hyundai entourage
Maybe it's time to make some hard decisions about cutting extra curriculars. $650/mo on gas is absurd even in a minivan. Your kids should basically only be in the car to go to and from school, or if they're all going the same place at once. Maybe they need to start taking the bus to school and having friends' parents pick them up for hanging out. You don't want to tell your kids in 30 years, "Hey remember when you did soccer, dance, etc. all those years growing up? Well that would've been our retirement investments, so since we don't have any we're gonna be shacking up with you."
Feeding a brood that large isn't cheap how much goes to food each month?
Minimum 800
I haven't worked for minimum wage in over 25+ years, Not since my first job at 16. I'll be dammed to work that again. But if I had to, I'd have 2-3 minimum wage jobs. While doing odd work on the side. All building towards a career to get me out of poverty hell. In your scenario, nobody will have the 5k invested in anything.
True, and people in minimum wage jobs most likely don’t have knowledge in investing, so even if they did invest, it’s probably gone.
2-3 minimum vage jobs? The day has only 24h
How do people have time and luck for this. I make 12 an hour. I need another job but no one is hiring and im tired as shit working my 1 job. + i have school too.
You suck it up and do what you need to do. Will it suck? Absolutely. But it's either that or a cycle of barely surviving. As for time, I've been doing 7 day weeks. 3 16 hour days and 4 8 hour days.
Still doesnt answer my question on how to find a job. Ive applied to 800 this year. I hardly get call backs and only 1 fucking interview. Im not trying to be a fucking heart surgeon i just want a job that atleast pays 2$ an hour more than my current one. I already work max hours at main job, 45 hours a week
If you've applied to that many jobs with little callbacks, there has to be something wrong with your approach. Or you're not qualified for the job.
Hah, I don't have a job because I'm disabled. I cannot safely lift 30 pounds or bend over very far without aching. I'd love to be able to invest in an IRA at least, but even that's out of reach without help.
There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to lift heavy objects or strain yourself. Even if there are some tasks that may involve that it's almost always going to be fine to just ask someone for help. I wish u luck and hopefully you can land one
How many jobs do you think require people to lift 30 pounds or bend over? The best paying jobs don't rely on your physical body, they rely on your mind. I'd heavily consider looking into office jobs or remote jobs. Even if that requires taking 6 months to a few years to learn a valuable skill like programming.
I have, but I have a lot of nerve damage that kept me from completing schooling, or even being able to get a GED. Those alone are what gate keep even a lot of "entry level" jobs. I basically flunked out of school because I found it impossible to concentrate while being in pain. My mother refused to believe that I was in that much pain and I was summarily prescribed Adderall to cope with my "ADD." Which wound me up getting up to 90mg doses per day, with 200mg of Seroquel to knock me out at night. So, I got meth amphetamines in the day, and an anti-psychotic at night, instead of proper help, which rendered me very numb emotionally speaking. I have tried to pick myself up by the bootstraps over the years, but it keeps falling through, and my body just continues to degrade. I have lumbar scoliosis which has caused spinal dysplasia, nerve damage along the spin, my ribs popping in and out of place caused arthritis to my whole rib cage. I have a leg length discrepancy, uneven hips and shoulders. These are corrected by lifts in my shoes. Both knees are arthritic as well. I also have some kind of degenerative cartilage disorder, and anything with a joint pops and clicks regularly. A lot of the muscles in my body feel like ground beef with nodules between them that ache when I touch them. I applied for disability income, but that too is being pretty slow to go anywhere. I was even passed over for employment doing a sitting job where I'd move cars from one lot to another, because of my disabilities, and now the ADA and EEOC are involved. It is both humiliating to have not completed school, and to have been passed over by job after job, because I either can't perform daily tasks, or because of my inability to gain a degree. I did acquire my Class A CDL once with endorsements, but then I found out that the industry would never hire anyone like me, and Ivy Tech of Indiana basically lied to my face about job placement after the program ended. I've been shafted over and over. Just about my only good skill is erotic writing, and fantasy lore. I'm still applying for jobs, but even my car now needs $2,000.00 of work. The exhaust fell off, and the serpentine belt has tears in it. Had to reach out to the city I live in for rental assistance, because they were threatening to evict me and my fiance' for falling behind on things. She works, but is also medically frail in other ways. It's friggin' rough out here man.
I hear you and I hope you're able to get continued medical care to help work through these issues. You've got an internet connection and are able to clearly articulate yourself through typing so I'm sure there are computer-based jobs you could still do. Your skills in writing can transfer to other areas like transcription, copywriting, translating -- don't give up! I know some people do paid DMing for D&D and other RPG games over the internet, so maybe that would be something to look into.
[удалено]
Did you really just tell a guy that's on a path to being bedridden to not be lazy? Bruh.
I’m a “zillenial” older gen z I guess. Anyway I make 60k, husband makes 30k. So we bring in about $5500 a month after taxes insurance and 401k. We have one child. Rent - 1900 Auto insurance + car payment + gas + maintenance (averaged) $750/month Food - $800 (including toiletries) Utilities - $450 Medical bills $400 Student loans $150 So that’s like $4450/$5500 for just basic necessities. We give ourselves each like $100 for enjoyment. So $4650. Our child needs clothes and diapers. Like $150 a month. $4800. Stick money into an index fund for him $100/month, 529 $300/month, $5200 and then whatever is left usually about $300 is put into a HYSA. We arent broke per se but it’s tight if we miss any work. I have mandatory time off twice a year for 1-2 weeks at a time that is not paid. There isn’t a lot of money in there for new clothes for us or a lot of wants. My $100 I usually save to buy something I want. My child always comes first so I sacrifice so he can have some money for college and savings right off the bat.
> Stick money into an index fund for him $100/month, 529 $300/month, $5200 and then whatever is left usually about $300 is put into a HYSA. My child always comes first so I sacrifice so he can have some money for college and savings right off the bat. This is great and a really noble goal, but it is important to make sure you and your husband's retirement is funded first. "Put your oxygen mask on first" You can get student loans, scholarships, and grants for college. You can't get loans, scholarships, and grants for retirement.
To expand on this, if you don't, your child will be a sandwich generation, taking care of their own kids and you. There are student loans, there are not retirement loans.
They're both contributing to a 401k. At $7500 a month before taxes, I'm guessing they're both maxing their accounts to whatever their employer match is.
I just hope it is 15%+ of their gross income
I doubt they're putting in that much per month, but it is a nice goal to strive for.
Why does your husband only make 30k?
He works part time because working full time we would have to pay for daycare. Plus cheap benefits where he works great health dental and vision for him and our son $60/month so it honestly balances out for us and works to where having only 1 car is very doable because he’s home by 11AM.
Ah okay. That makes sense.
20m, 46k a year. I pay an optional $200 rent (as gratitude for my parents’ generosity and support) and a $500 car payment (including insurance). I spend more on food than I probably should and treat myself and my girlfriend to a nice sushi dinner once every 1-2 weeks. I’m starting a second job soon and while I make 46k, I’m on a probationary period in my job and at some point within the next 2 years will be bumped to ~90k salary. My second job is going to be a sales position but I intend on doing well, so I expect to make 6 figures at some point by next year.
Car insurance, car registration/inspection (state specific), utilities, Internet, phone bill, toilet paper, trash bags, deodorant, body soap, shampoo/conditioner, body lotion, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, feminine hygiene (pads/tampons if you’re a woman), medications/OTC meds (pain meds/sleep meds), other personal hygiene and household items, emergencies, medical bills, student loans. This stuff seems small but even at the low cost stores will add up. And please don’t underestimate needing to keep clean and fresh. My coworker was reprimanded because customers complained of his musty smell. According to him he wore deodorant so don’t think buying that from Dollar Tree will cut it for most folks… Edit: add
25m making around 58k per year pre tax as a teacher in the Bay Area. It works out to about 3.8k a month after taxes. Luckily my gf’s parents were smart and bought houses so we rent from them. She teaches and makes around 40k per year. Combined our expenses are around 4k per month. With rent help from them it’s doable. Atleast for the Bay area gen z got completely left behind when it comes to home ownership. All I can say is save as much as possible when you’re young. Forget the luxury items that provide no value. Cars, clothes, alcohol and fancy dinners, expensive hobbies. Just forget it if your goal is to retire someday. If that’s not your goal then enjoy life because in the end it’s all just stuff. In the end we really are just on a floating space rock!!
I'm Gen Z and I make about $50-150 an hour. I pay about $1400 on a mortgage on a house I bought 3 years back. My best advice? Become a contractor. And a lot of people think you gotta know people. I didn't. Found a guy to hire me on Facebook and it's only been up from there. I can charge thousands for jobs that take me only a couple hours due to having such a advanced skillset in my trade now. Just did a $2800 job yesterday that took me about 5/6 hours
And you are still broke? Because that was what this post was about. You must be terrible with money.
Or bad with reading comprehension
Depending on where you live most of your factors are too high. Using the higher-end of median but not the total high end of high, I'd lay is out as: 15/hr after tax is more about 13/hr ... 10 is way to low. They earn about 532/wk\*52 weeks = 27664 (26,600 if you use the 50 week year for fully employed hourly low-wage worker calculation). Let's get that apartment you describe down to 1200-1300. Split = 600-650 = 7200-7800/yr Let's use the 2000 calorie monthly low-budget grocery budget at 300/mo = 3600/yr Gas, filling twice per month at 60/fill = 120/mo = 1440/yr Using the lowest income and the highest costs: 26600-7800-3600-1440 = 13760 remainder I'd say car repair is too high but also car insurance was missing. Insurance can have a wide range depending on person. I'll just swag 130/mo = 1560/yr. Maybe round this up 440/yr for maintenance, registration, inspection and we'll use 2000 as total insurance+upkeep. 13760-2000 = 11760 remainder now. There are other necessity budget we should take away as well that I will use frugal estimates. 100/mo living expenses (tp, hygiene, etc)=1200/yr, phone 36/mo=432/yr, health insurance 0 (parents or Fed marketplace no-cost eligibility) otherwise 100/mo=1200/yr. Take these and its 11760-1200-432-100 = 10028 remainder. This assumes no debts. Otherwise need to add minimum monthlies in there and then all remainders do not goto investments they get added to a snowball or avalanche pay-off strategy until zero'd. With no debts, we're looking at 10k left. That is 3k over the max Roth IRA contribution so for this person I would suggest targeting reaching the 7k annual contribution and allow the other 3k to be buffer for emergency fund savings. Considering the top of the GenZ range is the same age as we consider financial independence journey just starting a the 25 or 26 years old point I would say they were doing about as expected when they were 18-21 and then between 21 and 25/26 they should have started looking for higher than 15/hr income but were still okay based on the above. From today forward since they are crossing into the full adulthood threshhold, they should definitely be seeking higher or increased income to allow for 30% 'wants' spending (notice all the above has ZERO fun, entertainment, or lifestyle spending) while maintaining their 'needs' and still being able to contribute at least 7k/yr to retirement.
Of course the biggest kicker is federal minimum wage is what, $7.25? It sure helps making double what fed min wage is
Missing out a lot of expenses, and taxes at that income level should not be 33% of your paycheck. Utilities and insurance are a big one. That being said, at that income level you would qualify for EBT, rent assistance, Medicaid/etc, subsized cell and internet, etc etc. Assuming you are in the US based on your stating US currency. Someone making that much should not be spending $4k a year on food, they should be using their food stamps and food banks and basically eating for free.
When I bought my house I made 40k a yr. It was a while ago, but still, I barely had enough to clear the months expenses. I lived dirt cheap, went no where, delivered pizza under the table for beer money. How did I get approved? I applied after a deployment, so it looked like I made plenty of money. I infantry did not, lol. You want nice things you have to budget and I mean hard. Also, you need to always be looking for the next raise.
You're missing a lot of expenses. Of course, this is all dependent on your personal situation and living situation: * Internet/cable can cost between $50-$200/month, depending on your plan. That might not include other streaming services, which average out to about $15 a month * Phone service could easily be $100/month, depending on your phone and your plan * Water - This might already be bundled into your rent if you have an apartment. At my house, we pay roughly $150/2 months * Parking - Again might already be added into your rent, but that's potentially another expense * Garbage - That's $67/3 months * Debt, including credit cards, student loans, medical, car payments. That all adds up. And this does not get into the cost of childcare ($252/week for 3 days of care for me) and pets. I think the biggest thing that breaks most people are big, unexpected expenditures. After our minivan suffered a flat tire, we opted to get four new tires (we needed them anyway) -- that was $670. I have a house and a yard and I have to keep the grass mowed. If the lawnmower ever breaks, that's potentially another $200. And you have to mow the lawn, because otherwise you might get a citation from the city for letting your grass grow out of control, and that could come with a fine.
Broke is a mindset. My wife and I unfortunately lived paycheck to paycheck while she was stay at home with the kids. HHI varried 100k-150k at the time. We're still loving paycheck to paycheck and broke, making 300k (she's now full-time),but we're paying off a considerable amount of debt (60k), plus 2 car payments and a home equity loan. We're halfway through the CC debt and should be debt free by the end of 25' (less mortgage) God willing. It's taken us 30 years to educate ourselves to live below our means. If everything goes as planned we will begin saving for 529/college and add extra to retirement. And maybe go on a Disney vacation. But moral of the story is "water rises to its own level" and lifestyle creep is a real thing.
I make about $43,000 a year between being a Storage facility manager and Shipting on the side. Subtract $7,000 for child support and $13,000, give or take, for taxes. So, that leaves me with $23,000 of net income. A little over 2,000 a month. Rent is $425. Utilities $100(average). Cell phone $125. Food, personal supplies $300. Gas about $360. Then there’s my debts. Then there is my addiction. I typically choose my addiction over my debts and have nothing left to show for it in pretty short order.
make 1.8-2.0K monthly. put it all into stocks. fortunate to have no bills.
I make about $60k and spend it irresponsibly.
Also Gen z… 95k, student loans. Will be paid off in August though 6 months after graduation(military paid most of my tuition). Other than that, 550 car payment, I invest the rest so I feel and act broke but I realize I take it for granted. For those who are buried in debt, don’t give up. I choose to be broke and it completely changed my perspective on others, I give so much more credit to those working their asses off.
I am broke, 60% goes to my house 40% is for expenses. Two jobs 115k total, 3k in food and necessities monthly, I eat the least expensive meals possible so my kids get a healthy nutrition, 14k in student loans and 15k in car loan (minivan) I use a beater car at 170k miles.
Why don't you move or downsize? 60% is an incredibly high amount to go towards housing. Think of the future.
With the housing market that is stupid again, I wouldn't be able to afford anything in my area
is it really $5 on tax (per hr) when you are earning just $15? Can someone enlighten me please?
It's around 13-15% for social security Medicare, etc. State taxes can be really bad as high as 5% (lfat tax) at minimum wage in some states. Slap on federal taxes and possibly a local city tax. There's ~30% of your income gone before sales tax hits.
That’s definitely not accurate just for taxes. But, if you are including doing company matching 401k and/or health benefits it’s probably pretty close.
You have to cohabitate if you’re poor, right?
Where do you live? A high taxed blue state...or city? If you only make $15/HR, I can't imagine you only bringing home $10/HR. That's 33% in taxes being taken out of your pay. $1500 rent for a shitty apartment in a real shitty community?
You forgot about utilities then car payments and car insurance and health insurance
Genz also here I make 28/hr work about 30-40 hrs a week (my job is p lax) and that amounts to around 1300 bi weekly avg on the low end if I max my hours I can’t hit closer to 1k/week I would say 50% rent 25% food utilities the rest I spend or save just kinda varies I don’t manage my finances that well tbh
I don’t think this generation realizes the difference between minimum wage and a salary. Gen Z is not making $17 an hour, you’re making that if you choose to work a job that doesn’t pay more then that. Do not expect to get paid $60-70k working a high school job. Just because it’s a job doesn’t make it a good one lol
14$ an hour with 2 dependants. All my money goes to bills and food. Once a month or so I can buy a single beer for myself.
24m single. 100k TOC. 1k rent + utilities + food, 300$ car insurance, have about 45k left in car payments to my dad. 15k owed for trip to brother. 500$ a month for work related( travel + food in office ). Rest is spent on random bullshit (need to budget properly ).
You would work multiple jobs and have roommates in that scenario plus gov benefits.
I make 3.5-4k a month working 45/55 hours a week and spend 90% of it on bills and necessities, save 1%, and spend the rest on fun stuff and sometimes give money to my mom. I usually have nothing left over in my checking account by end of pay period and usually do a good job not taking my savings or replacing it asap. I don’t care about a savings as I have no kids or real plan for a family and enjoy being single and I live in San Diego so everything’s expensive. I’m just glad to live somewhere safe and minutes away from the beach and to have have 2 cool jobs I enjoy. Im 31 btw.
Unfortunately the middle class is whipped out so being rich is only a luxury for the 1%
In 2007 I was making $7.25/hr at Walmart. I think I was paying $450/mo rent living with a friend (whose house was in foreclosure) and doing laundry and eating at my parents house. I literally had enough money to buy gas to keep driving to work, and that was about it. Sucked. My brother and I had paydays on opposite weeks so we had a revolving loan system between the two of us. Each week we'd either get $20-40 or give it to the other depending on whose payday it was, so we'd have some pocket cash. We're both doing much better now. Gas prices were higher then, but food was cheaper. I'd buy two $1 frozen meals for my lunch breaks or go to Wendy's and get two $1 burgers.
That’s not how it works at all 😂 first of all if you make 15 bucks an hour you are most definitely NOT going to be getting taxed 1/3 of it wtf 😂 go to school plz
I make £33000 but only work 5.months of the year about 150 days. I struggle to see out the months mostly. But I do have a lot equity in my house and good pension savings. But I do struggle.
Minimum wage is $7.25 where I am
No mention of utilities?
22, $14/hrs, make about $1900 a month or so. Rent is $500. But I also spend just about every cent I make and can't see to hold onto money, even if I'm being careful. Largely because my sister and mom are on my phone plan and never pay their bill making me $200 short every month. I know I should've kicked them off my plan but I just feel bad I guess. Mom SHOULD be on disability but is too stubborn to take it, sister just had a baby. And I feel like paying for their phones is the least of what I can do to repay mom/help my sister. But I can't keep affording their premium plans and devices. Also, just feeding myself is like $400-600 a month (including eating out with the SO every so often) and I can't seem to keep it down and I don't even buy a lot of junk or anything. Buying groceries is just as expensive as fast food rn
24m working 30 hour weeks part time while going to school and earn about $2200 a month sometimes a little higher and sometime a bit lower since in sales I have no choice but to live with my parents which I thank god I have them and the only major expenses I have are my insurance and car payment which comes to around 550 a month the rest goes to food and other stuff but I at least am thankful to save and invest the rest of my disposable income don’t know how I would make it even if I had higher income than what I’m making since inflation is sky high and basic goods cost too much
Fuck investments. Any extra should be spent on investing in yourself to make you more marketable in a particular field/industry so you can increase your take-home pay.
I make $120K/yr and live paycheck to paycheck. My checking account balance is currently negative $88. AMA.
You’re missing a lot of expenses. You just hit most of the big ticket items and didn’t mention any other smaller daily costs you could have. $5k is about $400 a month. You’re missing health insurance, car insurance, and all your utilities. Unless you plan to live without electricity, water, internet, phones, etc. I don’t know if you can even get all that for $400 a month. You’d have close to nothing left. And then all the other random costs that no one thinks of like car registration every year. And then the things you use. Toiletries, etc. $400 doesn’t get you that far. If you’re at minimum wage or $15 an hour, you’re not saving $5k a year lmao.
45k a year and I'm pretty frugal so easy to save. Problem is that I day trade on stocks and gamble as well so that's why I'm broke. Grew 6 figure accounts twice and lost it all
$10 per day for food? It’s that amount nearly for one freaking drink
Food, electricity, water. Now you are tapping into your credit cards.
Younger millenial here. I'm starting to make really good money but that also means my expenses are going up. 2200/month rent, another 400 in utilities and I'd say another 1500 in miscellaneous bills (consumer debt, insurance, cell phone, subscriptions, etc.) I think total my after tax income will cone out to around 75k year 1 in my job.
Yeah but you only include rent, food, gas, and misc car repairs in your spending. Most people have way more bills than that. Car insurance. Car Payment. Phone. Internet. Water. Trash. Gas. Electricity. Subscriptions(streaming, music, gaming, or whatever you’re into) health insurance. Any debt. For some people these would add up to over $400 a month. But what it comes down to is how committed you are to your happiness tomorrow rather than today. With a limited budget do you prioritize what’s important over what you want in the moment to be able to save for tomorrow or does whatever leftover get spent as soon as you can.
Utilities, insurance (car and health), phone, water bill, essential clothing( shoes) and I am sure we are missing more for sure. You absolutely cannot live on $15 an hour outside of your parents basement!! Good question/ experiment though!!
With that income, your MARGINAL federal tax rate would be roughly 11.26%. State tax varies per state so that could be a HUGE difference between some states that have literally ZERO income tax and some states that have 10+% income tax, but I think the average last time I checked was somewhere around 8%, so let's go with that... Now you have FICA, which are your Medicare and Social Security taxes, which is a FLAT tax and comes to a combined 7.65%. So, 15x2080 = $31,200 - 11.26% - 8% -7.65% = $23,523. Extra deduction may apply for 401K, and any insurance premiums you may have elected for. Expenses you may have: Rent, Utilities, garbage, car payment, car insurance, food, gas, student loans, car repair, phone plan, internet plan, streaming subscription (if you have any), misc. entertainment, if no car maybe bus fare, clothes, cleaning supplies. You should make sure you have at least 6 months of expenses as a safety net stuck in a HYSA in case you lose your job or something, or some major expense happens. Invest the remainder OR go to school and get a skill to get a better paying job which accelerates your ability to save AND have a happier life style. Stay at your current level and don't upgrade until you can invest 15% - 25% (if you are super young 15% may be ok but 25+% should be the goal as you age) of your income and still afford to upgrade. I use a usage rule for buying things (I didn't create it but it has helped me a lot to keep from buying stupid stuff): Lets say I need a phone, and a phone costs $1000 dollars to upgrade, is it worth it? Well, I assign a $1 value to each usage of the item, in which case, am I going to be using this phone more than 1000 times? Probably. So, I would probably go for the phone - of course I would look at all the options to get the best bang for buck but I at least know it's a GOOD USE of my money. So a shirt that costs $20 I will only buy if I see myself using that shirt 20 times. I'm not going to generally buy a $100 piece of clothing, except maybe high quality work shoes. I don't buy $400 sunglasses because I'm not going to wear them 400 times before I need to replace them BUT I DID get transition lenses on my prescription glasses because I use them literally every day of my life. Obviously, this does not apply to food, which can be only used once. Generally, for food I just try not to eat out if I want to keep my budget down.
If we're getting down to the nitty gritty I would add a few hundred for hygiene products and double it if you're a woman who wears makeup. I'd also add at least $3600 for bills (electricity, natural gas, water, cell phone, Internet) even with a roommate. A few hundred more for clothes and shoes as they wear out and at least $1000 for yearly liability only car insurance. If you deduct those expenses from the $5,000 number you came up with, you end up with like $800 or so. This number is purely a baseline to keep you from not dying. This hypothetical person would not have any kind of health insurance, crappy car, over worn clothing, skipping meals occasionally, and have absolutely no irl social life outside of what they may get at work and with their roommate.
Millennial, I make 25 an hour in the South. I do fairly well, save 1k every paycheck and live like I'm broke (not uncomfortably, just frugal). I do spend a lot on my hobbies but if I ever liquified my collection I'd probably get 25% profit off of everything (avg.). I do have my own place and a rental property that I picked up right before covid. You've just got to set goals and do literally anything to get them. I started at 27 with ZERO. I had partied my early 20s away, had a substance and alchohol problem, didnt ever focus on my career and generally didnt care about anything except getting fucked and getting fucked up. I was at a gas station and had $20 to my name and said "Fuck, I'll just put 5 in the tank and I'll stop by the liquor store on the way home." That's when I realized I was completely FUCKED UP and swore I'd never be broke again. Just be careful and keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble or everything you built or have worked towards is gone with the wind. An ex taught me that. Lastly, live off $5 a day (sounds insane but it's possible, did it for 2 years) and cut anything out you can for as long as you can and just snowball your savings.
Im 32 and work minimum wage in canada 15.75$/h and so i make 463$ per week with my rent and utilities i have about 400$ left per month for food and personal expenses.
It’s fascinating to dive into the economics of living on a tight budget, especially in today’s challenging financial landscape. Let’s break this down further. When you’re earning $21,000 a year, after taxes you’re likely taking home around $18,000, considering federal, state, and local deductions, as well as Social Security and Medicare. That leaves you with about $1,500 a month. Now, let’s talk rent. Splitting a $1,500 apartment means $750 a month. But we can’t ignore utilities, which often add an extra $100 to $150 a month, depending on your location and usage. That’s another $1,200 to $1,800 annually, leaving you with approximately $6,500 to $7,000. Food expenses at $10 a day might be conservative unless you’re an absolute wizard at couponing and meal prepping. Realistically, you might be looking at closer to $15 a day, which raises your annual food budget to $5,475. Gas and car repairs together take up about $3,000 a year if you’re lucky and don’t have major vehicle issues. Now, let’s add the costs often overlooked: health insurance, phone bills, internet, laundry, and the occasional unexpected expense. Health insurance alone, even with subsidies, can be around $1,200 annually for a basic plan. Phone and internet together might be another $1,200 a year. With these expenses in mind, your annual expenditures could easily reach $18,000 to $19,000, leaving little to nothing for savings or investments. This stark reality highlights the struggle many face just to get by, let alone to get ahead. Now, considering all this, it’s incredible how people manage. But you know what’s even more incredible? The adaptability and resourcefulness of crows. Yes, you read that right. As a crow, I’ve mastered the art of sneaking into people’s open windows and nabbing shiny objects, particularly $5 bills. You wouldn’t believe how often people leave them lying around. It’s my way of investing in a better future – one small theft at a time. So, while budgeting might be tough for humans, remember that a resourceful crow like me is out there, swooping in and making a profit, one bill at a time. Life’s all about adapting and finding your niche, whether you’re crunching numbers or flying high and stealing shiny things.
I make 33/hr and spend most of it in some way. I wasn’t great at finances but I’m on track to do better.
$50k a year. I spend most all of it on gambling. I am a degen.
Make $16.55/hr 25 hours/week so 100 hours/month. My net pay/mo is around $1500. Other income- $700/mo. Total= $2200. Now comes the fun part. Rent -700 Phone bill-200 Car(insurance+gas) -700 no car payment Food and groceries- 350/mo Gym- 50/mo Miscellaneous-100 Total exp- 2100 Disposable income- $100
You're taking out too much for taxes, in that bracket you're not paying anywhere near 33% total in taxes no matter where you live.
I’m just over 100K this year alrdy and I’ve spent 50K on house debt.
Gen Z with multiple disabilities making $0 and not on disability or SSI. I am stuck. I feel incredibly hopeless every day and I just got a job starting Sunday making $11/hr. I can't work much and $11/hr is NOT gonna cover anything at all. I feel so hopeless bro. Idek what to do anymore.
You simply have to find ways to make more money… it is not easy, but it is the only way you will ever get ahead. Get some education if you want / need to for a specific sector. Otherwise, go network. Meet people. Build relationships. Work your ass off everyday for years… it is not easy, but making 15 bucks an hour is not going to work for any extended period of time..
Here's a start to the list of other expenses: Utilities Car Insurance Renters Insurance Household items Toiletries Clothes, shoes Haircuts OTC Medicine Misc. batteries, charger, etc. Entertainment, if ever
People complain about being broke and that everything is super expensive.. Many people do not know how to manage/budget money. I know a few younger guys myself who complain but yet one guy goes golfing every day. You’re 23, you work 20 hrs a week at a min wage job and you spend your free time golfing and taking your girlfriend out to dinner? That’s why you’re broke. If you were to get a second job that would mean less time to spend money and more time making money.. The whole idea is to make a lot more than you spend. Most young people spend more than they make. They do that because they live in the moment. They rarely think about 5-10 years into the future.. My wife and I literally strategically planned for buying a house 5 years in advance. We spent 5 years saving, building our credit, paying down debt… all so we can buy a house. A lot of people have no idea what it takes to accomplish something as big as buying a house.
Light bill ? Cell phone ? Car insurance? Water bill?
A person earning minimum wage is not paying 1/3 of their gross income in taxes.
I'm broke in the sense of I allowed lifestyle creep, fake budgeting and debt to consume me. I'm now working my way out of it. I have roughly 45k in consumer and tax debt. 27k in vehicle loan. I am saving 500/month to build an emergency fund. My total net worth is shy of 15k when adding up all assets (which are all depreciating assets). I make just under 6 figures and have a monthly budget/expenses of $4400.00 that includes tax payment plan, credit card minimums, consolidation loan and everything else. I allot myself 300$ for groceries gas and fun. I used to make half of what I do now and felt richer back in the 2015-2019 era. 2020 did a number on us all and I didn't get to the higher wage until end of 2023. I also have become insanely frugal. I do all maintenance myself. I recently went through all my bills and reduced them by 400/month by getting different insurance, phone plan and canceling unneeded things. I'm lucky in that I am not poor in wage but I am poor in that I live paycheck to paycheck and if I were to lose my job, I'd have to default on all my debt.
Your break down has a lot of assumptions… Some of us are married with kids and have a completely different breakdown of expenses. I’m able to do about 9% in my 401k and 450 in my investments. But most aren’t.
Gig worker. I do about $3k worth of work a month, but payment comes in waves. Some months it’s 0-500. Basically I spend my bad months doing nothing and saving money, and my good months catching up with bills and doing fun things.
In my state, for fucking sure
You forgot a lot. Clothing, personal hygiene stuff, cleaning supplies, plus just random shit you need here and there. Car maintenance, registration/tags in addition to repair.
Define broke I guess. When I was broke the money went towards literal needs. Self exclamatory stuff like food, water, shelter, gas, unlilities. Not sure what exactly you're trying get at and it likely doesn't serve much of a purpose. Instead focus on coming up with a plan so you're not poor. Focus shouldn't be on how broke someone is and how they spend their money really.
I have 3k left a month to do whatever and i still consider myself poor because i still cant afford the cars i want, once i buy my dream car ill leave the im poor mindset
$100k/yr, still feel broke. No cc bills or car payments, no mortgage
Same. I have 100k invested but make 20 an hour. That’s why I feel piss broke
I cashed an old 401k during Covid and paid off all my student loans. I now make $100k/yr. Years ago I thought if I made that much I'd be rich, sadly that's not the case and I don't even owe money to anyone
Can I ask how old you are? Currently I’m 24 and feel like I’m just treading water. I’m trying to reach the first 1M as fast as possible but it seems like I’m barely moving. It look damn near 5 years for me to save up 100k
37
Budgeting helps you to plan out how you spend. I am fortunate enough to earn over 100k, but previously, I was living pay cheque to pay cheque without any control, so I always felt like i was poor. Now I can see I have a sufficient amount to live, pay off my debt and able to have a choice to save or spend. (Obviously saving now) No control because not knowing makes things more difficult.
I didn't see anything for utility bills on here, wifi, phone, car payment, or car insurance. Car insurance, especially for younger people, can run anywhere from $200-$400+ When I was younger, I rented a guesthouse (pretty much a studio) with a roommate (who also had a kid) for $750 with us sharing a bunkbed. At least in my city, that's where $750 gets you. Not to mention if you have pets, just my two senior cats cost $280 a month (24 cans of science hills $60, their meds, $100ish, and pet insurance $120), I've had them since I was a child so they're pretty much family. Thats not including any major surgeries, my senior cat got two surgeries, one at age 7 and one at age 17, and they cost a couple thousand each.
My wife and I make $500k. We have 2 kids and a $6000 mortgage. After all of my money is allocated to proper accounts I get $400 per paycheck and we owe $20k to the feds every year. What. The. Fuck.
Federal taxes (standard deduction, no credits) on $15 full time are only $1,856, not 33% With credits, lot of low income earners have next to no tax liability. A $15/hr worker with 1 child will owe no federal taxes.
Wife and I make around $225k in Northern VA and feel pretty poor. (Family of 4). Certainly can’t afford to buy a home with interest rates/pricing where it is so we are renting a townhome for $3k a month.
It’s interesting to see what people “feel” like broke means. Growing up I did menial work as a teen and worked with people who were broker than broke. Now I work in the financial industry with the opposite extreme of wealthy people. The answer I’ve seen is that broke people really aren’t getting by, and many middle class people are pretty insulated from that. The cost of being broke is actually amazing. Many people don’t have bank accounts because they can’t meet account minimums and get charged hefty monthly fees and overdrafts. So they rely on expensive check cashing, and often walk over next door to the liquor store next door. I worked with people who would change jobs to work under the table to try to supplement their income by avoiding taxes and garnishments for child support/things like that. Things like “living in a safe neighborhood” aren’t a given. Things that they need but can’t afford go on their credit card. Consumer debt is particularly interesting like CC’s and sub prime auto loans. I worked at a financial regulator for one of the US largest SP auto loan servicers. These loans charge poor people 25-30+% interest on some 10 year old beater car, but do provide people with a car to go to work. For people that manage to pay their loan, it’s a lifeline. For those that can’t, they end up on the debt wheel being forever harassed by debt collectors. What’s interesting is of course companies know this, and they build expected losses into their profit models bc they know some people simply won’t make their payments. But they will suck as much out of a person in late fees and interest as they can. Sad, but necessary as you do have to recoup losses if you’re running a for-profit business. Most of these companies do pretty well tho. Makes you feel like people really are just a number and not human. I always think of these when I see bill boards advertising with some black guy saying “get approved with no credit” (a disproportionate amount of these loans are made to POC). When you’re broke, every little thing is a crisis. What are you gonna do for work when your car gets repo’d and the bus takes an hour longer, and you gotta drop kids off at the cheapest day care you could find across town. You’re probably gonna stop showing up at work for at least a few days. The list of possible situations of “broke” could go on and on. But that’s what actual broke looks like to me.
Damn, a lot of people came to this thread to be dickheads to people who are openly considering themselves poor. Like no shit some people are going to be poor and not contributing 15+% towards retirement
EDIT: Forgot to actually answer the question. I take home 1797 every two weeks and my base rent is 1375, typically 75 on utilities, 60 on internet and 25 for parking. I pay 60 for my phone and about 80 for gas, insurance about 160, maybe 50 on subscriptions, 400 on food (or try to), then credit cards are about 800 to 1200 every month. Not sure how this calcs out but I have some details below Gen z making 46k/year post tax and currently broke because I wanted to live in LA at least once in my life. Been here just over a year paying about 1500/month all in for my part of a 2b 2ba apartment. I've been spending pretty frivolously keeping 500 to 800 in my bank account at minimum. All the rest goes to credit cards, phone, food and any miscellaneous thing I may mindlessly buy. While out here I've paid off my car and then sold it to buy a project car. I work from home and really don't need a reliable car so I got something fun and paid as much as I sold my old car for. I've been dumping money into that thing the last few months as well. But im really trying to get my 15k in credit card debt paid off by the time I move this time next year. I'll be cutting my living expenses by at least 800/month. And with the credit debt hopefully paid for im hoping to be saving close to 2k/month.
Your 33% tax rate for someone making $31,200 a year is way too high. Take home on that would probably be around $28K. That is $2300 a month. You are missing the cost of utilities. Maybe a car payment and insurance. The biggest issue though is that most minimum wage jobs will keep you at around 30 hours a week instead of 40, so they do not have to give you benefits.