[USER]

How much do you have extra after all bills are paid? With no overtime for my husband we have about 3000$ extra in a month once our 4600$ in bills are paid. Is that a lot?

A little? That has to purchase gas, Grocery’s, dog food (150$ a month). All extras. We have 4 kids.

Should I be able to put money into savings with that amount extra? trying hard to buckle down and pay off credit cards and such.

And boost credit.

[Lisa]

Get a small, pocket-size little notebook for yourself and your spouse. Track every dime you spend for a month.

Sit down weekly or at the end of the month and categorize these expenses and then rate them either “absolutely necessary”, “optional”, etc. and be honest about it because the bag of cheetos at the gas station is not absolutely necessary.

Take a long, hard look at where it’s all going. Talk about each line item. Is there a way to eliminate it or do it cheaper?

You don’t ‘have’ to have pizza on a Friday night just because you’re in the habit of doing that. Buy the ingredients and make one at home or make ‘bread pizzas’ with a jar of pizza quick and some shredded mozzarella and some seasoning.

Some recommended reading to pick up at the library (for free): ‘The Complete Tightwad Gazette’ by Amy Dacycyzh and ‘Your Money or Your Life’ by Joe Dominguez.

[Sloan]

I have a similar budget and if you have that much extra I would recommend making sure your maxing out your 401ks

[Tommy]

3 grand a month after bills I think it’s pretty good. I’m single and have no kids. I have about $4,500 left over after bills.

I have zero debt. Always looking for ways to cut more spending and increase income.

[Shlomo]

Do both. Pay off the debt and save. If you have 3k extra put 2k towards the debt and the rest to savings.

You don’t want to get back in the hole.

[Tanya]

I wouldn’t consider it extra if it is paying for gas, groceries, and other expenses. Do you know how much you spend on those things?

They should be part of your budget. I don’t consider only my fixed expenses as my bills. Filling bellies and getting to work are necessary expenses.

What else are you not counting in ‘bills’?
My 1st step in creating a realistic budget was to track all of our expenses.

I wrote down every single penny we spent on a blank calendar page.

I could see what we spent for the month and then created categories to track how much we spent in fixed expenses; mortgage, car, insurance, utilities, and variable expenses; groceries, eating out, gas, etc.

Then I made a list of expenses that don’t happen every month, real estate taxes, home owners insurance, birthdays, etc.

I could see where our money was going and decide where I needed to cut and tried to see what bills I could lower.

Now you have a budget and realize where your ‘extra’ money is going and see how you are actually doing.

[Jude]

If you develop a budget you will be able to answer your own question. Examine your purchases and learn some frugal tips to help you stretch your dollars.

This will allow you to pay off your credit cards (which I would do as soon as possible) then develop a savings fund for future expenses and an emergency fund.

Yes, $3000
Seems like plenty of money to cover groceries and gas and dog food.

You could probably spend no more than $1500 a month on these items and still eat great.

[Anisa]

I’ve been at points in life with $1000 extra a month, no extra, and currently $200 extra, $3000 I see as a lot.

Save $ for some short term and long term goals.

[Guy]

In today’s economy… 7,600.00 a month is very good. With 4 kids and today’s grocery bills, I doubt you spend 150.00 a month.

We’re four adults and we spend anywhere from 160.00 to 250.00 a week.

It depends on the week and what we need. Unless your getting government assistance.. but with an income of 7,600.00 a month, I doubt you qualify for any assistance.

[Author]

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