A Time to Save – Part 5

Part of the reason I got so carried away with these scenarios is it reflects where I am financially right now. Sometimes it helps you figure out your own situation if you advise a hypothetical stranger. It’s been a while since I laid my budget out bare for the public, so here goes.

Let’s start with my current assets:

Checking/EF: $1822.04
HSA: $3074.19
Business Investment: $3993.57 (total capital investment) [$1500 (easily accessible), $500-800 approx. (assets that could be liquidated), the rest is mostly intangibles]
Savings: $600.02
Roth IRA: $2105.82

Now on to income:

Currently, I make $295/wk at my current job, and I’m paid twice a month.
I pay myself $145/mo from my home business. I also get a $50/mo gas card from my sister to drive her son to school.

However, my $295/wk job is closed 4 weeks per year, so I need to knock those weeks off in addition to the 2 weeks per year I usually knock off to account for sick days and holidays. So ($295 x 46 + $145 x 12 =) $15,310 is my estimated gross income. However, not all of that goes straight to my pocket.

TN doesn’t have a state income tax, but quora estimates I pay about 12% of my income in taxes ($1837.20). That may be a little high in my case since I take advantage of some pre-tax savings/expenses, but it is close enough for budgeting purposes.

So if I average out my income, my monthly budget should be $1122.73.

Now my expenses:

I do have health insurance through the ACA marketplace. It’s Bronze level, so not the best, but I decided to go with a level where my stipend would cover the full premium. With my home business, I put $100/mo pre-tax into an HSA and have Dental Insurance for $34.28/mo. (I'm treating the HSA as an expense because I view it as part of my insurance to cover medical expenses.)

I drive my parent’s old van, which is on permanent loan to me so I can take my nephew to school and get to work. But it’s a slowly crumbling vehicle.

The $50 gas card covers most of driving, but I often end up putting another $20-$40 per month depending on how social I am or how many weekend events I’m doing.

I'm now contributing $200/mo to cover my vehicle insurance and phone bill (both are part of family plans) a .

I buy my own clothing, hygiene items, and a portion of my own food, but these expenses are relatively low, so I tend to lump them in with my entertainment budget into a “spending” allowance. (I’ve been allowing myself $200/mo. or $40/wk.)

I also tithe based on my net income. So about $110/month.

Summary

Income: $1122.73

Expenses:
$ 34.28 Dental
$100.00 HSA
$ 20.00 Gas
$200.00 Phone/Car Insurance/etc.
$200.00 Spending
$110.00 Tithe
$664.28

$1122.73 - $664.28 = $458.45 Remaining

I’m 35, so trying to get more serious about my retirement account, but I also don’t have a sufficient emergency fund (it comes close if I add all the accounts I could draw cash from, but I’d rather not do that.)

So I’m dividing the remainder this way:

$100.00 IRA
$350.00 Emergency Fund

Once upon a time, it made sense to keep my EF and Checking in the same fund, but doing this budget has made me realize that reason doesn't still hold, so I'll be separating these funds soon.