How much money left over each month?

**edg126** · 07-06-2014, 06:46 PM

It depends on the month for me, a few months out of the year I have about $800 left over, but most of the time it's 0. When I have extra money I add it to my emergency fund or pay down my mortgage (I have a low interest rate, but have to pay pmi, so trying to get that removed).

My savings workflow is:

1) max out 401K
2) max out ESPP
3) sell ESPP right after purchase goes though, replenish emergency fund with sale
4) if emergency fund is full, max out roth
5) pay down mortgage to pay off pmi early
6) rebalance what step I'm on with my wife's payroll deductions
7) invest extra left over money into 3-fund portfolio

I'm around step 3, my EF is 15K, I'd like to be at least 40K, but I'm 32 with 2 young kids and it's been slow getting the ball rolling.

**mhoffmei** · 07-06-2014, 06:54 PM

Thanks for the response. Very helpful to hear what other people are doing.

**feh** · 07-07-2014, 07:00 AM

Originally posted by mhoffmei View Post

I'm curious how much money people have left over at the end of each month after retirement savings, college savings, monthly expenses, house payment, debt payments etc...

This also would include already having an emergency 6+month savings in place. So basically you've got everything covered that you want to be saving for, how much is still left over each month.

$0

Anything not spent gets invested for retirement.

**bjl584** · 07-07-2014, 07:07 AM

Pretty close to $0.

Every dollar has a purpose more or less. I might have an extra $100 or $200 some months that ends up dumping into my general savings account, but I have my budget figured out pretty well to the point of having $0 "extra" money at the end of the month.

**97guns** · 07-07-2014, 07:37 AM

with no retirement savings contributions my monthly expenses are my living expense and 2 mortgages, im able to save $3700/mo, provided no unforeseen expense.

**autoxer** · 07-07-2014, 07:47 AM

I also don't have anything 'left over', but I do have a series of goals similar to edg126. When cash flow improves, I bump up my after tax brokerage contribution.

Max out 401k
Max out Roth IRA
Contribute to after tax brokerage account (my early retirement fund)
Contribute to 529 college savings account

**MonkeyMama** · 07-07-2014, 08:04 AM

$0

If I had money leftover, I would work less. 100% serious.

When we first graduated college and we were saving for a house and for kids and so on it was all very nebulous and we were saving entire second income. Which I think is probably more common the younger you are and the more unclear your final goal is. That you would have money that feels kind of "leftover".

Retirement has been our primary financial goal since since buying our "forever house" and having kids. It's a big goal so anything and everything "extra" is now thrown towards that goal. More income would just mean a sooner retirement, for us. I'd say our end goal is much more clear, with age. & thus, we are less likely to have "extra money leftover" that isn't clearly spoken for. I also admittedly have a few more financial pressures with kids, a spouse at home with kids, a house, etc. Feels like there is always something big (but very specific) to save up for.

**rennigade** · 07-07-2014, 09:25 AM

According to quicken...I have $354 left over from the last 12 months of calculations. I probably missed a couple expenses...so I would be willing to bet its closer to $200 left over from the past year.

I dont compute my 401k contributions at all in this mix..I do however include my Roth IRA contributions as an "expense." So thats approx $450/month as an added expense...which Im just paying myself. Anything else thats left over typically goes into other investment accounts.

The only reason I play it like this is because I have enough money in my savings account where im not really touching it anymore...and its well above a 12 month emergency fund. Actually Im about to pull out a bunch and start dumping it into some vanguard funds each month. I have too much in savings right now.

**moneysma** · 07-07-2014, 12:52 PM

As with others, I have $0 left over at the end of the month. When I get paid, I transfer money into savings first and then live on what is left over.

In more detail, I put money into:

solo 401k
roth ira
taxable account

When my income fluctuates, I simply cut back on eating out and discretionary spending.

**phantom** · 07-08-2014, 05:49 AM

We throw $2100 into general savings every month even though our emergency fund is well past the point where we consider it to be fully funded. The money will eventually go towards things like home improvement projects, cars, vacations, and flexibility for when we start having kids.

I agree with MonkeyMama that having nebulous savings goals leads to a lot of "leftover" money. In the next few months, we'll be tapping into our savings for building a shed and for our last big pre-kids vacation. But, beyond that, I couldn't tell you when we'll need how much of the money we're saving. Our cars both have enough years in them that I can't say when we'll need to replace them. Our home improvement wish list includes things like finishing a basement and adding a patio, projects we haven't even fully defined let alone priced. I don't know exactly when we'll have kids or how much the transition from no kids to kids might cost. Once we have kids, I expect our extra savings to drop, both because of an increase in expenses and a potential drop in income. For now though, we're building up our liquid assets while it's easy to do.

**Permanent Temp** · 07-08-2014, 07:11 AM

Zero has well. I would just make sure every dollar was going somewhere savings, retirement etc. My hours are way down so now its zero but for the reason that there is not enough money left over to save anymore. Plus the last two I had lots of stuff on the credit card. As of Sunday I didn't need my credit card for anything and haven't used it. Won't be using it again until further notice.

**johnt78** · 08-22-2014, 03:36 AM

It should be $0 if you are budgeting correctly. Increase your savings if you have that much left over...or apply that to debt. No sense having a balance on anything if you have extra $$$.

**Tabs** · 08-22-2014, 04:50 AM

I am pretty much the same way at $0.

I have more buckets to fill than I make. The more money I make, the more buckets I can fill. Retirement, bills, emergency fund, car, taxable investments, etc. etc.

It would be a pleasant problem to have if I were to run out of buckets, but I don't think that would happen as my taxable investment bucket technically has no size limit.

**bigdaddybus** · 08-22-2014, 06:22 AM

After the monthly bills are paid (mortgage, vehicles, near max 401K contributions, daycare, food, utilities, cell, kid activity fees, fuel, and all insurance) I put approximately $4300 in savings per month.

I dont have monthly contributions for our 4 college funds (Coverdale ESA accounts) or Roth IRAs but the last couple years we have maxed them all with lump sum payments.

Far cry from my PVT2 pay in the ARMY when my wife and I were first married. ($933.30 a month)+ housing allowance. We couldn't hardly save $5 a month back then.

How much money left over each month?