How to Survive on Minimum Wage: Week 1
American Pharoah may have won the Triple Crown this past weekend, but I think that I won the Triple Crown of Starkville. I began a new big-girl job (ahem, internship), didn't burn down the house cooking (only went out for dinner once) and stuck to my budget successfully!
Before I left, my dad and I sat down to work some excel magic and create a wondrous excel worksheet (which I can't seem to figure out how to upload so you can also view it #macyprobs).
I'll lay it out for you.
I took what I started with in my bank account: $456.71
Created a column for each week I will be working
Multiplied my hourly rate ($7.25) by how many hours I worked that week.
Then subtracted from the gross paycheck the 11% Federal, 7.25% Fica, and 5% State to get an estimated net paycheck. I also added rows that were not manipulated by any taxes for any babysitting or odd jobs I get since they don't hold out taxes.
This week I worked roughly 43 hours so I expect about a total earnings of $237.04
Once I had a total earnings, I subtract each amount spent that week.
I decided to have 5 categories of expenses and for each expense set an amount that I could spend each week.
Rent: $375/ month (this includes water, gas, electricity, etc)
Savings: $25
Food: $40
Gas: $25
Entertainment: $15
Other- this is basically anything else that I couldn't find an appropriate spot for. Since I am in the process of getting all my paperwork together for study abroad, this will probably consist of postage, money orders and copy paper.
These added up would be Total Expense
I subtracted the Total Expense from Total Earnings to have a Weekly Cash Flow
Then subtract the Cash Flow from the beginning amount to have an end amount or what is available in my bank account! Easy peasy. I like the excel sheet, because it allows me to play with it. So if I got wild at the farmer's market one week and went over my allotted amount for food I can see how it ultimately affects the end amount and I can see where I can spend less to keep to my budget.
So this week:
Cumulative: $456.71
Hours Worked: 42.6
Gross Paycheck: $237.04
Federal: $33.97
Fica: $22.39
State: $15.44
Total Earnings: $237.04 (I had no other source of income this week)
Rent: $375
Food: $32.68
Gas: $20
Entertainment: $9.70
Weekly Cash Flow: -$200.34
6/7/15 End Amount: $256.37
Keep in mind this only accounts for times that I use my debit card, not cash. There were a few times I used cash this week. Margaret invited me out to Dave's a Starkville favorite for drinks and trivia one night with friends, I spent about $10 there. Then I bought a Sunday paper this past Sunday, because I don't have a daily subscription to the local paper here and there's always coupons on Sunday (saving money is my favorite thing!)
Before I left, my dad and I sat down to work some excel magic and create a wondrous excel worksheet (which I can't seem to figure out how to upload so you can also view it #macyprobs).
I'll lay it out for you.
I took what I started with in my bank account: $456.71
Created a column for each week I will be working
Multiplied my hourly rate ($7.25) by how many hours I worked that week.
Then subtracted from the gross paycheck the 11% Federal, 7.25% Fica, and 5% State to get an estimated net paycheck. I also added rows that were not manipulated by any taxes for any babysitting or odd jobs I get since they don't hold out taxes.
This week I worked roughly 43 hours so I expect about a total earnings of $237.04
Once I had a total earnings, I subtract each amount spent that week.
I decided to have 5 categories of expenses and for each expense set an amount that I could spend each week.
Rent: $375/ month (this includes water, gas, electricity, etc)
Savings: $25
Food: $40
Gas: $25
Entertainment: $15
Other- this is basically anything else that I couldn't find an appropriate spot for. Since I am in the process of getting all my paperwork together for study abroad, this will probably consist of postage, money orders and copy paper.
These added up would be Total Expense
I subtracted the Total Expense from Total Earnings to have a Weekly Cash Flow
Then subtract the Cash Flow from the beginning amount to have an end amount or what is available in my bank account! Easy peasy. I like the excel sheet, because it allows me to play with it. So if I got wild at the farmer's market one week and went over my allotted amount for food I can see how it ultimately affects the end amount and I can see where I can spend less to keep to my budget.
So this week:
Cumulative: $456.71
Hours Worked: 42.6
Gross Paycheck: $237.04
Federal: $33.97
Fica: $22.39
State: $15.44
Total Earnings: $237.04 (I had no other source of income this week)
Rent: $375
Food: $32.68
Gas: $20
Entertainment: $9.70
Weekly Cash Flow: -$200.34
6/7/15 End Amount: $256.37
Keep in mind this only accounts for times that I use my debit card, not cash. There were a few times I used cash this week. Margaret invited me out to Dave's a Starkville favorite for drinks and trivia one night with friends, I spent about $10 there. Then I bought a Sunday paper this past Sunday, because I don't have a daily subscription to the local paper here and there's always coupons on Sunday (saving money is my favorite thing!)
If you have any tips on how to save money and live cheaply, please let me know!
#macyprobs
Comments
Post a Comment