Budgeting and saving 1.1k a month, how good is it? (funds, rent)

[shadowyman]

Hello all,

I'm budgeting my expenses and planning to save about 1150 a month. How reasonable is that? How should I use this money?

Thanks!

[ukrkoz]

reasonable in relationship to what? What is your take home and reasonable, justified expenses? If you make $2500 cash on hand, and spend $1000 on rent food etc, saving $1150 is likely a noble attempt. If you take home $7000, and want to save $1150 - who you trying to fool?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by shadowyman

I'm budgeting my expenses and planning to save about $1150 a month.
How reasonable is that?

If you're making $11,500 per month... then it's about right.

How should I use this money?

Wisely.

[shaner23]

Originally Posted by MrRational

If you're making $11,500 per month... then it's about right.

I'm confused about this statement. What constitutes the right amount of savings per your salary?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by shaner23

I'm confused about this statement.
What constitutes the right amount of savings per your salary?

The long answer is what works based on your plans/goals and capacity.

But rather than reinventing the wheel for everyone... the short answer:
Financial Rules of Thumb
9 Handy Financial Rules of Thumb | TIME.com

[snowdenscold]

What do you mean by "save" ? Is this including 401(k) contributions? Pure non-retirement extra savings? What is it?
And as others have asked, how much do you make a month? A saving amount w/o context is not very helpful.

[shadowyman]

My bad. My take home check is 5150 (excluding bonus, other income, etc)

Here's the breakdown of the expenses:

1600 rent
40 tv+internet
50 pge
45 phone
180 food/groceries (byo)
200 personal
15 rent insurance
1000 help parents
0 transportation
120 misc cuts etc


Left: 2000 + (9000 already saved) (My bad I calculated it wrong the first time)

[duster1979]

Do you have an emergency fund now? If not, put it all in a money market or passbook savings account until you have six months of expenses saved. You could put part of it in a short-term CD, but make sure some is in a more liquid account.

After that, work primarily toward your short-term savings goals (car, vacation, house down payment, kids' college fund, etc) while putting some in long-term investments.

Once those goals are met max out your retirement investments and put the rest in mutual funds.

[snowdenscold]

Do you get a 401(k) through work? Does your employer have a match? Are you already maxing that out (since it wouldn't show up in take-home pay) ?

[BigCityDreamer]

I agree you should be reaching the maximum matching contribution from your employer in your 401k. Deduct more if possible. NEVER throw away free money - especially when it can lead to such high returns over the long term.