[Petwrenny]

Ouch
120 m² here and i´m at 350€ warm !

Well this is Düsseldorf, the third most expensive city in Germany right behind Munich and Hamburg.

[UltraSearchs]

I've been spending more than I am earning for the past 3 years. Damn, I need a real job. Not much chance of that for the next 4 years though.

I know how you feel and can symphathize, given my $370/month student loan payment (which isn't that bad I guess if you think about it, but still).

[CealialactBek]

I've been spending more than I am earning for the past 3 years. Damn, I need a real job. Not much chance of that for the next 4 years though.

Real jobs are for schmucks. Real men get free healthcare, work crappy jobs, have boatloads of kids with some trailer trash woman, and spend their money on smokes and beer and never have money for their bills.

I

[Siuchingach]

Rent - $900
Food - $200
Liquor - $1400
Lube - $600

[LClan439]

I know how you feel and can symphathize, given my $370/month student loan payment (which isn't that bad I guess if you think about it, but still).

I want to do pediatrics. It's a crime that it's the lowest paid medical profession.

[pouslytut]

Rent - $900
Food - $200
Liquor - $1400
Lube - $600

You buy alcohol for 1400$ every month? o.O

[Gedominew]

I make sure that I have at least 1K USD in my checking account at all times. Anything above that either goes into the market or paying off large purchases such as my last three debaucherous months of:

1. Trip to Brazil (3500USD)
2. Trip to Vegas (2100USD)
3. Computer stuff (5870/SSD/i7) (1200USD)
4. Road bike (900USD)
5. New Clutch for the car (1200USD, dammit)
6. MacBook PRO (1200USD)

My living expenses are minimal, except the 150-250USD I spend on food a week (I eat all natural/mostly organic).

Other notable expenses are:

1. 70USD - gym
2. 85USD - cell phone
3. 450USD - car payment
4. 210USD - car insurance (DAMN DUI!!!)

[u8MmZFmF]

(I eat all natural/mostly organic).

Fag.

Monthly expenses as follows:
1650 rent.
300 lunch (midtown)
200 groceries
89 metrocard
200-300 rare book acquisition
400 savings
100 loan payment
200 asian craigslist masseuse
?? misc

[indocrew]

I have divided some non-per-month bills to match with per-month.

Rent 220 €
Electricity 18 € (36 € per 2 months)
ADSL (Internet) 30 €
Water 20 € (240 € per year)
Basic home insurance ~7 € (~ 80 € per year)
Food 150 €
Other 50 €

The social insurance institution? (KELA) pays about 170 € from my rent. Social welfare office pays my electricity, water, rest of the rent, basic home insurance and then gives 417 € per month to cover other expenses like food and stuff.

I can save about 150 euros per month while being unemployed.

[gennickO]

To the OP, you should be paying off debt rather than saving. Once you have a little buffer for emergencies (say a month's expenses), your primary objective should be debt capital repayment.

As the house is paid for, me and the missus put £1,000 each month into our joint account to cover the following monthly costs:

Council tax £200
Gas £55
Electricity £35
Water £60
Cable (phone, internet and TV) £80
Petrol £200
Food £400
Life insurance £20

The account is "swept" down to a balance of £500 a few days before we pay in, meaning the excess is automatically transferred to a savings account, roughly £1,000 pcm. That money is then used to pay annually recurring costs:

Car insurance: £2,500
Car maintenance: £2,000
House insurance: £500
TV licence: £145
Plus holidays, stuff for the house and then weekends away for weddings etc is already "pre-paid".

Most of our spending is done on my AmEx and I usually settle this outside of the house stuff unless she's been on a shopping spree.

[WFSdZuP3]

To the OP, you should be paying off debt rather than saving. Once you have a little buffer for emergencies (say a month's expenses), your primary objective should be debt capital repayment.

As the house is paid for, me and the missus put £1,000 each month into our joint account to cover the following monthly costs:

Council tax £200
Gas £55
Electricity £35
Water £60
Cable (phone, internet and TV) £80
Petrol £200
Food £400
Life insurance £20

The account is "swept" down to a balance of £500 a few days before we pay in, meaning the excess is automatically transferred to a savings account, roughly £1,000 pcm. That money is then used to pay annually recurring costs:

Car insurance: £2,500
Car maintenance: £2,000
House insurance: £500
TV licence: £145
Plus holidays, stuff for the house and then weekends away for weddings etc is already "pre-paid".

Most of our spending is done on my AmEx and I usually settle this outside of the house stuff unless she's been on a shopping spree.

very good system you have there old bean, very similar to me.

I used to know a bloke who was saving up to pay off a debt, I always said to him, dude, just pay the debt off first because you'll get stung by the interest, basically he would pay the minimum allowed,yet transfer a couple of hundred quid into his saving to save up and pay the loan off in one big lump.

[PNCarl]

very good system you have there old bean, very similar to me.

I used to know a bloke who was saving up to pay off a debt, I always said to him, dude, just pay the debt off first because you'll get stung by the interest, basically he would pay the minimum allowed,yet transfer a couple of hundred quid into his saving to save up and pay the loan off in one big lump.

Even if you have debt you should save as well. If you don't and an unexpected bill / purchase comes up then you're in even more debt.

[WFSdZuP3]

Even if you have debt you should save as well. If you don't and an unexpected bill / purchase comes up then you're in even more debt.

well, I don't know how you can have an "unexpected" bill/purchase tbfh

unless you mean to impulsively decide to go to Germany to look at the wunderland giant train set imporium

[gennickO]

Even if you have debt you should save as well. If you don't and an unexpected bill / purchase comes up then you're in even more debt.

It's a commonly held belief, but there are two options:

1) pay off debt and service "surprise" with more debt
2) pay off less debt, save and service "surprise" with savings

You are invariably worse off in situation 2 due to relative interest rates.

[PNCarl]

It's a commonly held belief, but there are two options:

1) pay off debt and service "surprise" with more debt
2) pay off less debt, save and service "surprise" with savings

You are invariably worse off in situation 2 due to relative interest rates.

So say I'm paying off a loan at £400 a month and saving nothing but my car engine blows up and I need to spend £500 on it I should then get a credit card to pay this bill? I appreciate that there might be a small interest advantage in this, but I'd rather save £100 a month and pay off £300 a month to the car loan. I don't really have much experience of having large debts tbh.

[WFSdZuP3]

So say I'm paying off a loan at £400 a month and saving nothing but my car engine blows up and I need to spend £500 on it I should then get a credit card to pay this bill? I appreciate that there might be a small interest advantage in this, but I'd rather save £100 a month and pay off £300 a month to the car loan. I don't really have much experience of having large debts tbh.

you just carry on furnishing your own life style with debt mate [yes]

what I would do in this situation is, pay as much off of my credit card as possible whilst none of these "unforseens" are lurking and then if needed make a payment with the credit card whilst the same month making sure I keep up a payment whilst ensuring I slap a larger payment into the credit card the following month.

[gennickO]

So say I'm paying off a loan at £400 a month and saving nothing but my car engine blows up and I need to spend £500 on it I should then get a credit card to pay this bill? I appreciate that there might be a small interest advantage in this, but I'd rather save £100 a month and pay off £300 a month to the car loan. I don't really have much experience of having large debts tbh.

You generally don't get a choice with loans, I (and the OP) am talking about unsecured credit card debt. The interest savings themselves can run to hundreds of pounds per year.

[Gedominew]

The best method to paying off debt is in consolidate to a single source (multi-sourced debt is one of the biggest culprits to bankruptcy) and to pay in bulk payments, as frequently as possible. Instead of 100 to Capital One, 125 to HSBC, 75 to Best Buy and 100 to Tim's Rhinoplasty; consolidate it to 400 to a single source. You will probably get a lower cumulative interest rate as well.

Also, match up the frequency of your payments with the frequency of your income. If you get paid twice a month, split your monthly payments in half with each paycheck. That way you only allow interest to compound for half of the time, while still paying the same amount. This method can shave a surprising amount of interest off of the total.

Using QD's scenario, technically Option 2 is worse financially, but there are things in life that can not be bought on credit (drugs, whores, down payments). Throughout my early career, I have been paying off college credit card debt whilst still saving. Now that I am nearly done with the debt

[Petwrenny]

well, I don't know how you can have an "unexpected" bill/purchase tbfh

unless you mean to impulsively decide to go to Germany to look at the wunderland giant train set imporium

Dont be a ****, your car could break down, the washing machine could break down, the [...] could break down etc...

One should always have at least a 1000€ or something like it on the bank in case something urgent needs more than 50€.

[somamasoso]

One should always have at least a 1000€ or something like it on the bank in case something urgent needs more than 50€.

should be far more, because you don't want to end up having to buy a stopgap solution

I try to keep 1 monthy salary for emergencies and another one for big ticket items, despite having a significant free cashflow each month.