Start a Budget
When you get a job and move out of your house, you are going to have to pay for everything by yourself. The first thing you need to do is make a budget. This is easiest to do on a salary income because you have a set amount of money you will receive for each paycheck. With hourly or commission, you will have to estimate your income and budget.
How to Work a Budget
You will have to subtract all your expenses from your budget and hopefully end up with a positive number, preferably zero. In my opinion, the best thing to do with leftover money is to put it into a savings account or go into your retirement. That way, if you forgot to take out money from your budget for retirement or savings already, you will be prepared if something goes wrong.
Expenses
There are three different types of expenses. They are called fixed, variable, and discretionary. These will all come out of your budget.
Fixed
A fixed expense is the easiest to subtract from your budget. Each month your fixed expenses should never change. You know how much each fixed expense will cost and so you know how much money you will lose ahead of time. A fixed expense will always, or should always, be already planned for.
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Variable
A variable expense changes. You know you'll have to pay for it, but you don't know how much. Most of the time you can assume how much it will cost, but that prediction may not always be right. If you go over your budget with your variable expenses then cut money on discretionary expenses.
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Discretionary
A discretionary expense is not a need, it's a want. This is something you chose to pay for. You will have to assume how much you will spend and stick with that number. If you are only spending $100 a month on eating out, don't spend more than that. If you are in the negatives on your budget, this is the expense to cut.
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