My take home pay is about 3600 per month...what is the highest amount of bills (total) that I should be able to actually afford, including mortgage payments, car payments, car insurance, and utilities? I currently spend approximately 400/mo on groceries, and about 250/mo on gas.
2007-12-19 14:43:54 · 4 answers · asked by thechick 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
You should make an excel spreadsheet and think of all the monthly cost that will occur within a month. Then you should have a good idea of what you can afford. The costs of living will never be the same every month. Making sure you save money each month extra costs that you won't be expecting.
2007-12-19 14:50:59 · answer #1 · answered by QTPIE 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about 10% for savings, 10% for retirement, 28% of gross for mortgage, maybe 6% for car payments (not much, I know). I'd figure out every way to reduce costs and live on less if you want to buy a house sometime.
2007-12-19 17:53:33 · answer #2 · answered by Katherine W 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The absolute maximum is $3500.oo per month.
But you need to save for retirement so
$2700.oo per month (=75%) maximum spending +
$900.oo per month (=25%) minimum savings
2007-12-19 14:57:28 · answer #3 · answered by red riter 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
$2950 per month. Anything above that and you are in trouble...in addition to your groceries and gas.
2007-12-19 14:55:07 · answer #4 · answered by BAM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋