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Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: thelongrun on February 02, 2015, 08:52:13 AM

Title: Yahoo "Finance" strikes again!
Post by: thelongrun on February 02, 2015, 08:52:13 AM
Here's the painstakingly detailed budget of a couple that earns nearly $15,000 a month
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-painstakingly-detailed-budget-couple-150000656.html (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-painstakingly-detailed-budget-couple-150000656.html)

The article is as good as it sounds, here are some excerpts:

In 2014, they brought home an average after-tax household income of $14,735 a month.

The three rows of loans are payments towards the couple's $54,000 of student loans (they have $14,000 left).

They also contribute to retirement through 401(k)s, the contributions to which are deducted from their paychecks. At the end of the year, McManus adds that money back to their income number, "because technically that's income that gets taken out." Their Roth IRAs are currently inactive.

The purple categories, starting with "car care," are where McManus' budgeting strategies really start to shine. All six of those are lines for what he calls "save spending," meaning money that's put into savings to be designated for those purposes in the future.

If he spends a little more than he saves, McManus explains that he doesn't panic. "I'm okay with monthly swings, even large negative ones," he says. "My 'savings' pot is typically no less than $7,000, providing me with plenty of buffer even if I have no other reserves..."

"For all of 2014," he continues, "we spent $324.22 more than we made. In December, I check where we're at for the year, which is typically on the positive side (earned more than we spent) and allocate the delta to one of my 'savings' pots."

"It makes me confident that we can plan for things. I'm able to track our retirement savings, and that also gives me comfort knowing that from everything I read, we save way more than most people.
Title: Re: Yahoo "Finance" strikes again!
Post by: slugline on February 02, 2015, 10:31:23 AM
McManus family, right? Feel free to join in on the existing discussion:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/antimustachian-wall-of-shame-and-comedy/new-budgetary-tool-'save-spending!'/

The article you saw was syndicated from another site.