1st Paycheck of March

Andrew brings home about $860 each paycheck after taxes, 401k, and insurance (I am so, so, so glad that we finally have insurance!!! Not so happy about the $212 taken out per month, though). In addition, he brings in an extra $250 from one weekend of Navy Reserves, per month.

So $860 x 2 = $1720 + $250 = $1970 or so per month of income.

Out of the $1720, we pay $500 a month ($250 per paycheck) to my mom for rent/utilities and to cover my $25 a month cell phone bill (I'm still on her plan). We also have $108 (his cell phone ($55), Netflix ($16), and storage building rent ($37)) in bills per month. I pay my car insurance (around $55) out of my 'allowance' of $240 a month, leaving me with about $95 per paycheck of spending cash. Andrew (theoretically, anyway) has an 'allowance' of $95 per paycheck, as well.

1720
-500 rent
-240 my allowance
-108 bills
-190 Andrew allowance
____
$682 ($341 per check)

That $682/month goes towards groceries, eating out, any necessary gifts, pet expenses, gas, and savings.

[Are you still with me after all of that? ;)]

Andrew is hoping to put that extra $250 per month straight into savings. Whatever is left from the $682 will go into savings, as well.

So far this month we've spent a bit more than we would have liked to on pet expenses (nearly $100 this first check alone). Andrew's saying that he's going to forego this allowance and put that $95 into savings. I'm not so selfless, unfortunately. I've already spent part of mine: $25 on a vintage bag from eBay and $13 on a Japanese memo pad (one of my obsessions). We've also eaten out a few times already.

So, as it stands right now, we have $244 left til the next paycheck for everything (including Andrew's allowance). Not so good, eh? Luckily, he's out of town for a month for a job training class, so we shouldn't be eating out as much nor getting as many groceries.

We shall see.