I budget our expenses at $3429.68 a month. That's $41156.16 a year. After payroll deductions, I've been getting on average $4324 a month or $51886.19 a year. That's after my 5% contribution to my employeer retirement. Then the $11k to IRA pretty much covers where the rest goes. As my income goes up, I'll put more in.
I've gone over my expenses quite a bit, and I don't see how I can really cut them down too much. A lot of those expenses aren't really expenses as much as saving for rainy days. My monthly break down is:
$250 Car Replacement
$250 Home Maintenance/Repair
$100 Car Repair
$360 Tithing
That's $960 a month, $11,520 a year that I'm not really "spending". Yeah, I could save less for my furnace breaking, but with a 15 year old furnace, that's probably not a good idea. I don't have to tithe $360 a month, and I'm sure my IRA would thank me for not tithing, but it's a priority in my life that I've made, and I feel it's justifiable. In other words, if all of my plans come together and I get the $7815 gross increase in wages this year, I'll be able to save most/all of it. I don't think I could save much more without getting income from somewhere else.