please help me manage my income?

Question

I make $600.00 per week

Answer 1

Mail it to me.

Answer 2

So you make $2,400 per week gross. Find out exactly what your monthly take-home pay is. The reason you want to work with monthly income versus weekly is because practically all your bills are going to be paid once a month. So let's say your monthly take-home (net) pay is $1,920.

Grab a piece of paper and start writing down all your monthly obligations. Use a short label, and write the amount. When you're done, you'll have a budget.

It'll look something like:

Housing pmt: $800
Water & Sewer $30
Electricity $90
Gas $200 (yeah it can easily be that much, depending on your commute. Keep track of how often you have to fill up, and how much you typically pay)
Car payment $300
Car insurance $80
Car maintenance & Repairs $50
Groceries $200
Cell phone $40
Add those up and you have $1,790
Entertainment = what is left is $130 per month. That's not much more than $30 a week.

You see? Money just doesn't go very far. After you pay your car off (if you have car payments, that is), you'll have an extra $300 in your budget. My car is a 1997 model, but it's been paid off since 2000.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and it won't do any good to go through this exercise if you don't stick to your budget.

Answer 3

Well, you could start by finding a good book on setting up a budget, then learn to live with in. But it's really not that hard.

Take what you bring in, minus deductions, that will give you your disposible income, or what you have to spend.

Take a look now at what needs to go out, like your rent or mortgage payments and things like utility bills, phone etc.

Then you need to eat, set a reasonable limit, I would recommend for the next month just go out and do what you would normally exept keep all receipts, even for that coffee you bought. You should see a pattern, can you eat in more, take a lunch from home, where can you save???
Set a small budget for clothes, you need them to work and things like prescriptions and medical bills which often get missed.
If you have a car, what are those payments? gas, insurance etc. would it be cheaper to take the bus or a taxi than maintain a car...?
You need to identify what is going out in an average month.
I like to set aside some for savings, and I do it first into a savings account, if you don't get into this habit something will sidetrack you somewhere and there simply won't be the funds to take care of it.
Once you are pretty sure you have all your expenses listed, just take a look at the bottom line, money in versus money out, is there some left over????
And watch credit cards, pay cash when you can or pay them off at the end of the month, interest, even low interest will kill you, do not let credit card debt tempt you.....
This is not rocket science, just take the time to do the legwork, then learn to live within the budget. And take time to have fun once and a while, set up a vacation fund, blow money once and a while on something for you. I know you can do it...

Answer 4

That's really hard to say because I don't know where you live or your standard of living. 600 a week where I live would be really good so I don't know why you could have any problems. Ultimately what I do is print off a calender from my computer or yahoo or whatever. I highlight each payday. I then have a seperate list of all of my bills- rent, utilities, cell phone, gas, car payment, insurance, etc, and what days those bills are due. I then figure out on which payday I need to pay each bill by. So if I get paid on the 5th and my car payment and rent are due on the tenth the on the 5th I write those bills down. Then I use online bill pay because its convenient. As soon as I get paid I make all those payments online so they are taken care of right away and I have whatever is left to spread out between food and spending money until next payday (also try to put a little away for savings-even if its 20 bucks a paycheck.) I know it sounds like a lot of work, but once you make your initial list of bills and set up your bills online, it only takes about 5 minutes to figure out the month. Good luck! Managing money is really important because you never know what you may need in the future and you can't afford to ruin your credit!

Answer 5

http://www.debtproofliving.com/
The above is the website for the Christian author, Mary Hunt, who has written several helpful books such as "Debt-Proof Your Marriage" and "Live Your Life for Half the Price."

One of the most helpful things you can do is track your money by writing down every expenditure and all income. Then you can see clearly what comes in and where it's going out, which will help you plan.

Unfortunately, the best plan still requires self-discipline, but don't give up when you are less than perfect--everybody is! Just keep trying.

http://www.crown.org/
Crown Financial Ministries is a Christian financial counseling organization which you might also find helpful.

I don't know whether or not you have cable t.v., but there is a secular show I enjoy watching called "Til Debt Do Us Part," in which the host, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, helps couples who are mismanaging their money to get on a better track.
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/ShowsPage.aspx?Title_ID=93097

Answer 6

What you make is not the problem, it is what you spend. You don't mention that. So, let's say it is your first payday, and you have no bills. If you believe in tithing at church, then that is first 10%. Then start a savings account, 1/3, start a retirement account 10%. Decide on the silly spending ( movies, cigerettes, ice cream, restaraunts, etc.) The rest is bill paying money, live within your means. Don't spend more than you make. Good Luck!

Answer 7

Before taxes ? or after ?
Limit your rent to 25% of your take home . ( get into a share rental )
Sock another 25% into savings to get out of the rent trap sooner than later . When it gets over $5K , start putting the overage into a stock brokerage (do your homework for free on yahoo finance)
That leaves you 50% for transportation , clothing and groceries .

Good Luck

Answer 8

You need to list your other weekly or monthly expenses so we can get an idea of how much you have left to spend/save. Do you have rent? Car payments? Loans?

Regardless, you should try to save as much as you can in a 401K if your company offers one and have a separate savings or investment portfolio.

Answer 9

:o Dude Go here: http://www.helpmewithmyFinaces.com