Brin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brin_bellway) wrote2019-07-04 10:08 am
brin_bellway) wrote2019-07-04 10:08 am
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(no subject)
[maybe cw: poverty?]
I've decided to institute an entertainment budget. People tell me I ought to live a little, and I *have* been thinking they have a point. It took me a while to think of a budgeting mechanism that I could justify to the more anxious/miserly parts of me, but I think I've done it.
You know how one of the standard pieces of financial advice is to keep six months' living expenses in a savings account? Somewhere liquid and risk-free, so you know it's always there if you need it?
I'm going to use the interest from that as my entertainment budget: the interest on my savings account, up to the first $7,500 of principal. It has a reasonable cap: if I have *more* than $7,500 in my savings account, only the interest from the first $7,500 counts towards this. It scales with my level of financial security: if I have *less* than $7,500 (it's about 2.5k right now), the budget is lower, but not nothing. It scales with inflation: as living costs rise, the amount of principal needed to have "six months' living expenses" rises proportionately.
On June 30th I received my interest for the month: $6.13. Some would say that doesn't sound like much, but that's about three trips to the bakery.
I've decided to institute an entertainment budget. People tell me I ought to live a little, and I *have* been thinking they have a point. It took me a while to think of a budgeting mechanism that I could justify to the more anxious/miserly parts of me, but I think I've done it.
You know how one of the standard pieces of financial advice is to keep six months' living expenses in a savings account? Somewhere liquid and risk-free, so you know it's always there if you need it?
I'm going to use the interest from that as my entertainment budget: the interest on my savings account, up to the first $7,500 of principal. It has a reasonable cap: if I have *more* than $7,500 in my savings account, only the interest from the first $7,500 counts towards this. It scales with my level of financial security: if I have *less* than $7,500 (it's about 2.5k right now), the budget is lower, but not nothing. It scales with inflation: as living costs rise, the amount of principal needed to have "six months' living expenses" rises proportionately.
On June 30th I received my interest for the month: $6.13. Some would say that doesn't sound like much, but that's about three trips to the bakery.
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