I spend way too much money

[Bereta_Eder]

you spend 100 on alcohol a week.... you surpass me

[Japher]

100 bucks is nothing. It's the video games, pick one and stick with it!

Or get a girl friend who will take you to diner and buy you food and split the rent

[KrazyHorse]

Holy ****, Jon.

Assuming you take home ~1380 a month:

400$ rent
75$ utilities
60$ cell phone
160$ car insurance + gas
200$ food (I generally come in under this, but budget 200$ anyway)

895$

You now have 450-500$ to spend on whatever the **** you want every month. That includes eating out, drinking out, drinking at home, going to see movies, buying clothes, buying video games etc. Call it 16$ a day. 100$ a week. If you spend more than 100$ a week on nonessentials then you're ****ing up.

[duke o' york]

Definitely $100 a week. You want to be able to save some. Are you already making student loan repayments?

$60 cell phone though?

[KrazyHorse]

I pay that (including all fees and taxes)

If I didn't need to make unlimited calls to Canada it would be 10$ less.

[KrazyHorse]

That includes 450 minutes daytime and unlimited nights and weekends

[Jon Miller]

400$ rent
60$ cell phone
>75$ utilities (see water bill thread), probably over 100$
100$ car insurance + gas
------
~40$ MMOs?
~450$ food?

I am not sure what I take home.. probably a bit under 1380 a month (but not much)

I am not making student lain repayments (have been taking more out!)

Jon Miller
(figure eating out is 10-25 a meal, and I eat out most meals...)
(1ish meal a day)
(I have been trying to eat in more often recently.. might make my budget better.. I think eating at home I spend 4$ a day)

[lightblue]

Yup learn to cook Man, I wish I could out every day

[KrazyHorse]

MY FOOD BUDGET DOES NOT INCLUDE EATING OUT

EATING OUT IS A FRIVOLOUS EXPENSE THAT YOU TAKE FROM THE SAME PLACE YOU TAKE DRINKING AND VIDEO GAMES FROM

Two giant problems:

1) you eat out too much (I eat out maybe 1-2 meals a week, and generally they're fairly inexpensive 5-8$ meals)

2) You booze too much, and the booze you drink is too expensive. Cut down on drinking out and cut down on the quality of your home liquors (if you're going to guzzle booze it's best to guzzle cheap stuff)

[Tingkai]

Re: Re: I spend way too much money

Originally posted by Flubber
Spending over 25% of your earnings in ALCOHOL??? Hell man drink at home and get toasted before you go out at half that price

Spoken like a true Newf.

[Tingkai]

At 20g, you'll be lucky to get by. Most Canadians would be in the same spot.

If you really want to save money, cut up your credit cards, put 10% of your pay cheque into a savings account and never touch it, then try to live off the rest.

You won't be able to do a lot of stuff that you like to do, but you'll have to learn to live within your means.

Either that or don't worry. And frankly I've taken the don't worry approach.

[KrazyHorse]

20g isn't too bad if you're living like a graduate student. Which is what Jon is supposed to be doing.

[Jon Miller]

in undergrad I lived on next to nothing

I never ate out, bought anything (but a couple video games a year, and ~100$ on books twice a year?), never went anywhere

I sort of wish I had...

right now I am thinking that I should have then.. but that spending all the money now (doing things that decrease productivity) is not the solution

and KH is right, grad students are suppose to spend all their time studying.. except once a week or so where they go out and get really drunk off cheap booze...

JM

[loinburger]

When I was living on 12-16K a year I ate out (ordered a pizza) maybe once or twice a month. Macaroni and cheese isn't that difficult to make.

I never went out drinking, except for the occasional kegger where they'd charge you a couple bucks for a cup. The rest of the time I'd get drunk at home before going out and/or sneak the booze in with me.

Meeting my budget was never a problem.

[Tingkai]

I ain't saying that he's not making enough. I'm just saying that if he's making 20g then it is not suprising that he's not saving money. And if he is a grad student, he's making an investment in his future, presumably, earning less now in the hopes that he'll make more in the future.