- rent - utilities (gas/electric/internet) - Phone bill - Credit card paying (yes, I know, I know. Working on it) - Student loan payoff - insurance (Not currently but have in the past) - food - laundry
That covers most of it, I think. I'm pretty bad at keeping a budget (but I'm getting better), mainly because I don't receive a regular paycheck; my monthly income can swing between $200 and $1200, which is not fun let me tell you. I'll echo the conscious use of a savings account (I have one and a Keep the Change policy with BoA, which adds up surprisingly quickly).
One thing that I'm particularly bad about and haven't seen mentioned here; talk to someone knowledgeable (tax accountant or similar) about what you can do to minimize tax payments. Saving deductible receipts can go a LONG way to decreasing your tax costs, and depending on what you do just about anything can fly as a "business expensve" (since I'm in theater, movies/Netflix/shows all count as "research", lunches while at work are "business lunches", etc.). Again, I'm pretty bad at it right now but you can save a significant chunk if you do it right.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2011-03-22 07:24 pm (UTC)- rent
- utilities (gas/electric/internet)
- Phone bill
- Credit card paying (yes, I know, I know. Working on it)
- Student loan payoff
- insurance (Not currently but have in the past)
- food
- laundry
That covers most of it, I think. I'm pretty bad at keeping a budget (but I'm getting better), mainly because I don't receive a regular paycheck; my monthly income can swing between $200 and $1200, which is not fun let me tell you. I'll echo the conscious use of a savings account (I have one and a Keep the Change policy with BoA, which adds up surprisingly quickly).
One thing that I'm particularly bad about and haven't seen mentioned here; talk to someone knowledgeable (tax accountant or similar) about what you can do to minimize tax payments. Saving deductible receipts can go a LONG way to decreasing your tax costs, and depending on what you do just about anything can fly as a "business expensve" (since I'm in theater, movies/Netflix/shows all count as "research", lunches while at work are "business lunches", etc.). Again, I'm pretty bad at it right now but you can save a significant chunk if you do it right.