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How Much do you Really Need?

So I’ve been digging through my budget and recent expenses, and I decided to come up with the amount of money I would need, bare minimum, to meet my current expenses. This comes with a few assumptions of course, namely:

  • I am debt free
  • Still have enough to save 100$/month for an emergency fund and at least 100$/month for investing/retirement.
  • Have benefits at the job I am working at
  • 25$ a week in spending money

Doesn’t sound too daunting eh? I plugged the numbers in and here’s what popped out:

I’d need $16,080 after taxes in annual income.

Wow! That was a lot less than I was expecting! There are of course a number of factors that go into this low figure. My girlfriend and I only have one car (2 seems to be the standard..but I think cars are black holes when it comes to money), I don’t have any kids, I rent, etc. Still, It’s a fun exercise. Take a look at your month to month expenses and see what you come up with. Be sure to put in a comfortable cushion (200$ a month for me), and you’d be surprised what you can actually live on in terms of income.

-Xias

2 Comments on “How Much do you Really Need?”

  1. #1 TUCOS - The United Clans of Shump » As Time Passes….
    on Nov 25th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

    […] Finances: I’ll need alternate sources of income, and I want to be able to have money left over at all times. If you read me over at TFC, you probably know that I’m making headway in this area. I’ll need enough to still be able to save once I leave the cubicle (desk, SEI doesn’t believe in cubicles). I also need to finish up eliminating my student loans. Once that is done, I can live off this much. […]

  2. #2 Retire in Your 30s and Mainstream Media
    on Dec 5th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

    […] the couples mentioned in the article, the Kaderlis family, lives on $24,000 a year. Now, I can live happily on that, but most of my siblings/friends would equate that to living in poverty. Where does that fall on […]

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