Eric asked me where I can cut back my expenses. I was actually working on this issue as he was posting this question. (It’s been a slow morning at work.)
The chart below shows where my money from each paycheck is going and underneath there are some comments.
| Where? | Pctg | Â Paycheck Amount | Â Monthly Equiv | |
| Sav: Roth IRA | 10% | Â Â Â Â Â 153.85 | Â Â Â Â Â 333.33 | |
| Sav: 401(k) | 4% | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 61.01 | Â Â Â Â Â 132.18 | |
| Sav: Vacation Fund | 3% | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 50.00 | Â Â Â Â Â 108.33 | |
| Sav: Relocation Fund | 3% | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 50.00 | Â Â Â Â Â 108.33 | |
| Total Save | 21% | Â Â Â Â Â 314.85 | Â Â Â Â Â 682.18 | |
| Bill: Rent | 26% | Â Â Â Â Â 396.00 | Â Â Â Â Â 858.00 | |
| Bill: Taxes | 20% | Â Â Â Â Â 305.04 | Â Â Â Â Â 660.92 | |
| Bill: Utlities | 9% | Â Â Â Â Â 138.46 | Â Â Â Â Â 300.00 | |
| Bill: Car | 9% | Â Â Â Â Â 138.46 | Â Â Â Â Â 300.00 | |
| Bill: Food | 6% | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 92.31 | Â Â Â Â Â 200.00 | |
| Bill: Insurance | 5% | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 82.78 |
     179.37 | |
| Total Spend | 76% | Â 1,153.05 | Â 2,498.28 | |
| Unassigned | 4% | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 57.28 | Â Â Â Â Â 124.11 | |
| Total Paycheck | 100% | Â 1,525.19 | Â 3,304.58 | |
This leaves me only 4% to spend on incidentals, so I don’t have a lot of flexibility. In fact, looking at the numbers, I’m not quite sure how I’m making this work.
My Emergency Fund ($4,000 in ING Direct plus my past contributions to the Roth IRA) is fully funded.
The numbers don’t include overtime or the small income from web design and hosting. Those go directly into savings as well.
Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published June 13, 2005. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 2 comments }
Most times that I try to run numbers on my income and expenses, it doesn’t actually work. On paper, it never seems to work. And yet, somehow, in reality it does work. Not that I’m complaining, but oftentimes life has a way of working itself out.
Great chart: filling it in, I’m pleased to see another confirmation that my finances are about where I want the to be. Thanks for posting that!