This realization got me thinking: what if we could actually have a solid system of identifying and differentiating between our needs and wants? Just think about all the money we would save and how valuable such a system would be?

There are several different templates you can use when trying to determine what is a need and what is a want. Below, I list a few of my favorite. If you put these together you will come up with a complete system for weeding out all those expenditures that should never see the light of day. It works for me when I implement the system, and I know it can work for you too!

The 5 Basic Needs

There are, in my mind, five basic needs that everyone has when it comes to their financial household. Let’s consider each of them:

1. Food. Without it, we starve. Food is a basic necessity and should be budgeted for generously. Don’t try to skimp on your food allocations as eating healthy is an important part of your life. And yes, healthy food is expensive. Keep your food budget well-funded throughout the month and you won’t starve at the end of the month!
2. Shelter. You need a roof over your head. Shoot for basic shelter, nothing ridiculous in relation to your income.
3. Utilities. Sit down and try to list all the things you do that require electricity. If your electricity went out, you’d have a more difficult time washing your clothes, checking your email, or even finding your pants to put on in the morning! How about water? Water is the liquid of life, and you need it. There are several other “utility” type expenses, and you can consider them needs.
4. Clothing. Walking around naked isn’t fashionable. Sorry. You’re going to need some basic clothes to survive in your social circles. Make sure to budget for replacement clothes for when your current wardrobe falls apart.
5. Transportation. For some of you this means a bicycle. For others, this means a modest car. Try to stay away from car payments, as they can cripple your financial situation. However, you’re going to want a vehicle that’s reliable and not breaking down on you every 5 minutes.

The 30 Day Rule

This template is one of the best for wiping out impulse purchases. When you pick up something that you want to buy, and you know in the back of your mind it might be a want, put it down and write a note to yourself to consider the purchase again in 30 days.

After the 30 days is up, ask yourself if you still want it. If the item (or service) was an impulse purchase, you probably won’t want it anymore. Great! You just saved yourself some serious cash!

“What Function Does This Serve In My Life?”

I’ve wanted an iPad ever since Steve Jobs held one in his hand for the first time on stage. I’ve wanted one badly. But the question I always have to ask myself is: “What function would an iPad serve in my life?” And that’s where I come up blank. I have a laptop, I have a desktop, and I have a smartphone. Seriously, do I really need another computer in my life? Probably not (aka, No). That doesn’t take the want away, but it does help me to not to purchase one.

You can ask yourself the same question in your particular situation. What function does the thing you want so badly play in your life? Better yet, does something you already have meet those needs?

If you apply these templates to your life and truly try to determine if what you want is truly a need, you’ll be in better fiscal health. Trust me, these ideas work!

Here are some pieces of information that will help you get on the right track. Remember, once you start a budget (here are free budget worksheets), you’ll save money and more than likely increase your income (you’ll realize you might need more money, and find a better paying job)!

Things To Gather

In order to write a successful budget, you have to gather key pieces of information (plus a few other things). Here are a few items I collected when I recently rewrote my budget:

1. Your Combined Gross Income

When you are trying to make your next budget, you’re going to have to know how much you are making with pretax dollars. Why? This gives you an accurate view of where your money is going. Some jobs have more tax dollars coming out than others, and you’ll need to recognize this as you develop your budget. For example, if you are part of the waitstaff at a restaurant, you might find that your tips are taxed at a higher rate than your base pay. This will also give you a great idea of what your income is before retirement and health expenses come out.

I suggest looking at your combined gross income if you’re married. This will give you an accurate picture of your household income pretax.

2. Your Combined Net Income

This is probably the most important part of your budget planning. Knowing exactly what you have to work with from your actual post tax paycheck will help you determine how much you have to spend for next month.

Take your net income and use it to divide up your budgeting categories. How much would you like to spend on food, shelter, lights, clothing, and transportation? How about your fun money? How much would you like to spend on entertainment?

Use the zero-based budgeting method when you are allocating your net income. That means that you should spend every dollar on purpose before the month begins.

Again, your combined net income includes all your sources of income, even from your spouse. This is considered your “household” income that you have to spend.

3. Your historical spending on your bank account’s website.

When you are writing your budget, you may want to look at your historical monthly spending. In fact, please do look at your historical monthly spending! Your expenses are a huge part of your budget, and if you don’t know what you have been spending in the past, how do you expect to control future spending?

Pull up your expenses on your online bank account and start writing out what you were spending in your budgeting categories. Also, make sure you look at your monthly expenditures as a whole. How much are you spending per month?

4. Write a comparison of your spending with your income.

When you know how much you were spending and how much income you had coming in, you can more accurately right a budget. Once you have a good comparison between your spending and income, it’s now time to put that information to good use: change your habits!

5. Gain a strong will to do the right thing and get on track.

When you’re trying to budget for the first time, make sure that you be reasonable. Look at your spending … is it extravagant? Make the necessary cuts wherever you can. Maybe you have already made cuts or can’t cut your expenses any more … find a way to raise your income!

There you have it! Those are the essentials of budgeting, but in order for them to be successful, you have to do them! Get started today!

Alternative Summer Fun Ideas

1. Buy bicycles for you and your family.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. I thought you said these were going to be low cost alternatives!” Allow me to make my case for bicycles. You see, find great deals on bicycles from eBillme for very low prices and get cash back.

Bicycles can last a very long time and provide years of enjoyment. Not to mention you will great exercise and feel energized for the rest of the day. It’s amazing what a good, long bike ride can do for your health.

Some of you already have bikes, but they are collecting dust in the back of your garage. Take them out and get some good use out of them! You’ll love it once you get back in the habit, I promise!

2. Make your own popsicles and save money!

There’s nothing like a cold refreshing treat to end your summer day. But if you go to the grocery store and buy popsicles, you’ll probably end up spending a little more than you should.

Instead, invest in a popsicle mold. You can find them online and get some great use out of them! Buy some concentrated juice, mix it with water, and you have your low cost popsicles! If you’re willing to spend a bit of extra money, try adding some fresh fruit such as peaches or blueberries! Yum!

3. Pack a lunch and go on a picnic!

It can be tempting during the summer time to go shopping and hit a restaurant at the end of the day. Instead, pack your own lunch/dinner and go to the park! Bring a frisbee or card game. You’ll have fun, and save some money at the same time!

It’s a great idea to invite some friends to go with you you haven’t seen in a long while. They’ll be thrilled you invited them, and you’ll get to catch up on their lives. This is a great alternative to going to the movies with your friends. Sitting in a theater, you can’t really learn more about what is going on in their lives.

4. Read a good book in your lawn chair.

Soak in some sun and wisdom from your reading list. Grab a good book and take it all in outside! Seriously, this is one of the most peaceful things you could do. And while you’re at it, grab one of those homemade popsicles you have in the freezer!

Search eBillme for your favorite books. You’re sure to find something that will be a great read!

What Are Your Ideas?

I know I can’t be the only one with low cost summer ideas! Many of you out there have already been using some great principles to get your costs down this summer, and we want to hear from you! Here are two options you have to get your voice heard:

1. Leave a comment on this post below.

Get the conversation started. Leave a comment below with your favorite summer savings tips. There are a lot of great ideas out there, and we want to hear them from you!

2. Write a guest post for John’s site.

I have a blog over at TheChristianDollar.com. Feel free to stop by and write a guest post with your ideas. Read my guidelines for submission, and you could be featured on the blog!

I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you. Have a great day, and enjoy the weather!

Photo by whitneyinchicago

But you might be surprised to find out your lifestyle probably has inflated to a certain degree over the years. Through small changes, a few budgeting categories might have crept up on you.

How To Review Your Expenses

Here are a few ideas on how you can do a full review of your expenses and find some ways to save money!

Method 1: Calculate the amount of your actual bills and fund your expense categories appropriately.

This is the best way to find an exact figure for your expenses in several budgeting categories. For example, if you have an insurance category, take the total of all your insurance policies for the year. Divide that amount by 12 months, and place that amount in your insurance budgeting fund. It might be a good idea to pad that fund with some extra money so that if several bills come due at the same time, you won’t be low on cash.

This is a great method as it ensures that you are maximizing every dollar you have. Instead of throwing a high-dollar amount into your insurance fund, you’re being intentional about how much you’re putting in there. And that, friends, will allow you to put the extra money towards other goals like paying off debt or building your emergency fund.

Method 2: Look at historical expenditures and see where you can make cuts.

Look at your checking account and explore some of the areas you spent your money in the past month. Are all of these expenses warranted? Should you have spent the money you have in the past month?

What many people find is that expenses “sneak” into their checking account. You know, the little things like that trip to the taco hut or clothing you bought at the mall. All of these things add up!

Pull Both Methods Together and Compromise

By using both of the above methods in reviewing your expenses, you can create a better budget. A compromise needs to occur between your historical spending and your actual bills. I’m sure you’ll find that your historical spending will be higher (if not significantly higher) than your actual bills. That’s simply because expenses will creep into your budget (after your regular bills) that you didn’t originally intend.

I recommend reviewing these differences with your spouse or accountability partner. They’ll give you great ideas for making the budget work appropriately. They’ll also help you keep track of expenses! Don’t rely on your opinion alone to develop your new spending plan!

Expenses Aren’t the Whole Story . . .

Sometimes, it’s not enough to lower your expenses . . . especially if you’ve been budgeting for a number of years. If you’re a long-time budgeter, you know that you have your expenses down just about as far as they can go. In your case, you need to do something else. Do you know what it is? You need to raise your income!

One of the best ways to raise your income is to get a second or “side” job. There are many opportunities for work out there if you know where to look! Even if you don’t have a college degree, there are jobs for you! Don’t give up. You can do it. Raise your income and you’ll be in the perfect position to create a gap between your income and expenses. With that gap, you can throw extra money toward getting out of debt, building your emergency fund, and more!

Photo by lowjumpingfrog

Don’t believe me? You might argue that you are paid on salary or by the hour, not commission. But when it comes down to it, you’re working on a commission. Why do I say this?

Your Income is Effective When You Are

The only reason you are staying employed is because you are effective in what you do. You can accomplish things, get things done, and produce results for the company you work for. Because of this, the company gives you money. This sounds so similar to commission, doesn’t it? That’s because it is commission! Well, essentially it is.

Sometimes even producing results because you care will result in a promotion in the company. Whoa! See, your hard work paid off!

Business owners understand the idea of commission; they live it every day! If they don’t produce results for their customers, their profits plummet. They understand that they must provide excellent customer service and premium products in order to survive. The cumulative effects of individual employees result in either a gain or loss.

The Ingredients for Success

Whether you’re looking to be more productive at work as a small business owner or as an employee of a large company – yes, whatever your situation – here are a few ingredients for success that will help you make more money than you do today.

1. Consistent behavior.

If you want to produce quality results, you’re going to have to be consistent. Deliver the highest quality possible while sticking to your commitments. Your boss or customers will take notice and reward you.

2. More sleep, less play.

This might seem obvious, but it is one of the most difficult ingredients to swallow. Instead of staying up late at night watching television, it might be smart to get to bed earlier. Sleep deprivation can have devastating consequences on you and your ability to work.

3. Get a grip on your personal life.

When you’re under control in your personal life, you’ll be under control in your professional life as well. People aren’t half wreaks! Usually they have their stuff together or they don’t. Recognize that your home life needs to have a solid foundation in order to get done the things you’ve committed to at work.

4. Keep an eye out for profound opportunities.

If you’re looking to make more money at work, you have to be on a constant lookout for opportunities. Get involved in company sponsored events. Learn more about your customer’s needs. Do your customers want a satisfaction guarantee? Then give it to them! Ask other businesspeople what has made them successful in their endeavors!

Most importantly, when you see opportunities in front of you, write them down so you don’t forget! It can be easy to lose out on significant increases in income when you have no way to keep track of your ideas. Whatever you do, do NOT rely on your head to hold all your reminders. The brain isn’t built that way. Write it down, and review your ideas and opportunities on a regular basis. Create an excellent to do list system.

You Can Be More Productive!

Yes, you can be a more productive person. But it boils down to YOU! You are responsible for getting work done and taking action. In order to be successful you must DO what you’ve committed to. People who are more productive naturally make more money than other people. They find an abundance of opportunities that they can take advantage of.

If you’re looking for more on how to raise your income, check out: 3 Tips to GREATLY Increase Your Income. Meet us in the comments and tell us your thoughts!

Photo by borman818

1. Cash Reserves

Having cash in the bank is very important to your financial wellbeing. It allows you to be flexible to whatever life throws your way. Emergencies happen, and sometimes they happen in the thousands of dollars.

Build an emergency fund worth 3 to 6 months of your household expenses. If you have multiple streams of income, you may choose to cut your emergency fund down to 3 months worth of expenses. If you feel financially unstable, build it to a full 6 months worth.

2. Multiple Income Sources

Another element of financial security is having multiple income sources. Think about it. What is more worthwhile? Having one job where you spend all your time or multiple jobs that you spend equal portions of time on? If your sole job fails, you won’t have anything to rely upon but an emergency fund and your ability to land a new job.

Having multiple income sources is all about diversification. You know that you should diversify your investments, likewise, you should diversify your sources of income. This doesn’t mean that you have to obtain four 10-hour per week jobs. It just means that you should at least have a primary job and a secondary job (even if they differ in revenue).

3. Insurance

If you truly want to be secure in your financial situation, there are a few types of insurance you will need:

• Health insurance. Medical issues are one of the leading causes of bankruptcy, and you can’t always depend on your cash reserves to pay for large medical bills. Find health insurance through your employer, or shop privately if you must (employer-based health care is typically more cost effective).
• Term life insurance. If you have family, you’ll want to protect them from the possibility that something unexpected and tragic may happen to you. If you generate income for your family, make sure they are covered with good term life insurance.
• Homeowners or renter’s insurance. Protect your valuables and be sure to purchase enough insurance to cover damages that may occur from theft, trees falling through your home, fire, flood, or other types of unforeseen circumstances. Remember to modify your insurance to fit your individual circumstances.

There are several other types of insurance available, but these are usually the type the people miss or skimp on. Don’t be caught without a significant amount of insurance!

4. Comprehensive Budget

Another huge part of your financial security is your ability to produce a budget. Budgeting isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely necessary! How do you produce a comprehensive budget? Here’s how:

• Identify how much income and expenses you have. You can do this by looking at previous bank statements or finding the amounts on old receipts. Then, allocate your income to spend less than you make!
• Figure out your long term goals. What are some worthy financial goals you have in mind? Do you need to save up for college? Raise your income to support a baby that’s on the way? Build investments to help with retirement? Whatever your goals are, write them down and figure out what your next action steps are.
• Review your budget every month. This monthly review is crucial to be able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, and will help you adjust your budget according to new goals going forward.

5. Long Term Financial Plan

Going hand in hand with your budget is the creation of a long term financial plan. One suggestion is to try Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps, something that has been time tested and worked for countless of people.

Overall, your financial plan needs to have “after I do this, I’ll do this” statements. This focused intensity will keep you on track and be a cornerstone of your financial security.

Photo by blmurch

Anybody who has ever been on the envelope budgeting system has been through this before. Of course, because food is a necessity for life, we take money from another envelope to fund our need. But does it stop there? No. This should be an indication that we need to review the entire budget and make some changes.

Your Many Resources!

The main question we are trying to uncover is if you need to raise your budget because you’ve been misbehaving with money or if you need to raise it because there is a legitimate need. If you can be honest with yourself, you’l be much better off when making these decisions. There are several different resources you have at your disposal when trying to determine if you should raise your budget. These include:

• Friends and family. Those who are closest to you can be honest and tell you if you are being reasonable or not. Explain to them you want their full opinion and you don’t want them to hold anything back. Is it possible for you to cut expenses before you take the leap to raise your budget?
• Local statistics. You can find out how much on average people spend in your state, city, or county by doing a simple internet search. I’ve even seen detailed information about how much people spend on groceries, transportation, etc. Don’t underestimate this one! Oh, and while you’re at it, check out the inflation rate of goods in your area. This will give you a great idea if your spending is truly warranted or not.
• Past spending analysis. You can learn a great deal by pulling up your bank’s online checking service and reviewing your spending history. What’s in there that you shouldn’t be spending money on? Moreover, are there entire stores or places you shouldn’t be spending your money? What geographical locations are mere money traps (did somebody say casinos)?

These three resources will help you answer the question of whether you need to raise your budget.

How To Raise Your Budget

I’m a big fan of the gradual approach to raising your budget. Don’t give yourself endless amounts of money in an account when you have trouble controlling your spending. Start gradually.

One might wonder how much they should raise their budget by to start. A 5 to 10% increase might be appropriate, but every situation is different. If you were living on peanuts for several years, you might opt for a higher percentage. If you’re rich and are spending like crazy, maybe you don’t need to raise your budget in the first place.

Last Thoughts

I don’t know about you, but when I want something I try and justify purchasing it. I’ve become more effective over the past few years at curbing this destructive behavior, but I can’t say I’ve been perfect.

And that’s my point. You won’t be perfect in how you spend your money. You’ll make mistakes, so learn now how to forgive yourself. But the most important thing is to learn from those mistakes and shop smart by saving money wherever you can.

Before you jump right into raising your budget, take some time to figure out how you might cut your spending before hand. You’re much better off trying to curb your spending than raising your budget.

When was the last time you’ve had to raise your budget? Was it a necessity?

Photo by AMagill

My step-father was the first to introduce me to the concept of investing. He encouraged me to get a Roth IRA, something that I started funding at a very early age. I’m so thankful for that lesson, it’s something that I’ll never forget.

However, my parents believed that it was important to build credit – something so many Americans believed when I was growing up. In fact, today many people believe that building your credit is an important part of financial well-being. Perhaps even you still believe this!

I became weird – financially, that is.

After I encountered the teachings of Dave Ramsey, I become weird. I no longer wanted to carry a credit card, take out loans, or be unintentional with money – all weird things.

Another thing that was weird – I started saving money. I was saving money in unusual ways:

• I would skip eating out a million times a month in order to watch my checking account grow.
• I would get more excited about seeing the value of my portfolio go up than I would about the possibility of buying a new car one day.
• I would see how low I could make my expenses and stretch myself to the limit.

Dave Ramsey was like the last piece of the financial puzzle, and without his teachings I know I would be in credit card debt up to my eyeballs.

What did you learn from your parents?

We all grow up learning about the world from our parents or guardians. They give us a lens through which to see the world. It’s never perfect, but it helps shape us into who we are today.

Today, readers, I challenge you to rethink what you know about money. Start from the ground up and consider some important topics:

• Think about how morality should play a role in our personal finances.
• Think about how non-conformity might be a good thing – and being different can lead to advancements in our personal lives and other’s lives.
• Think about the presuppositions that you might have grown up with, and challenge them!

Perhaps one of the most important questions we should ask ourselves is if we should teach our children what we’ve been taught. A friend of mine wrote a great article on children and how they are like sponges – soaking up financial lessons from their parents every day.

What are we going to teach our children? Are they going to be a credit card generation? Are they going to be a generation that passes commonplace financial advice down to the next generation?

Try this: Make a list of all the financial teachings your parents taught you. That’s right! Go grab a piece of paper and pen and write out everything you can remember being taught. Were you taught to use credit? Were you taught to save? Were you taught to give? Whatever it was, write it down. Then write a paragraph or two under each teaching about your current thoughts on the matter. This will help you process your current beliefs.

Rethink everything – live debt free!

The eBillme message is one of hope. The idea of shopping debt free isn’t new, but it’s one that needs some more “spreading around.” Teach your kids to use cash instead of credit. Cash is a great alternative to using credit, and you’ll have a visual reminder of when you are running out of money.

So, what did you learn about money growing up? Meet us in the comments!

Photo by Carly Jane1

Be sure to check out John’s post on How to create a healthy checking account.

Benefits of a Healthy Checking Account

There are some great tips in there, but today I’d like to discuss a broader topic: how to have a healthy checking account. Having a healthy and well-funded checking account is the key to:

• Ensuring you never overdraft.
• Ensuring that you have enough money stored up for unexpected emergencies.
• Ensuring transfers of money in and out of your account don’t have to be on paydays.

Creating a Healthy Checking Account

There are a few basic steps to bring your checking account from the hundreds to the thousands. Let’s discuss these steps in detail:

1. Make a budget. There are several ways that you can make a budget, but just make sure that you do it! It’s the key to living debt free and ensuring that you don’t overspend and go into debt – and that your checking account stays properly funded.
2. Store part of your savings in your checking. Have some savings built up? Transfer some of that over to your checking to ensure you don’t overdraft. For many, $1,000 to $2,000 will be sufficient to ensure an overdraft doesn’t occur. Remember, it is very likely that your checking account has the same protections against fraud as your savings account. Plus, if you use eBillme for your online shopping you’re sure to help protect yourself against transaction fraud.
3. Don’t auto-pay bills you’ll forget about. One of the major downfalls in a financial plan can be the auto-payment of your bills. For those bills you frequently forget about, keep a note on your calendar to pay reoccurring bills several days or a week ahead of time.
4. Check your account often. It’s always a good idea to know how much is in your checking account. We currently reconcile our transactions once a week but check the account every 1 to 2 days. Every family will be different, but whatever you do, don’t just check it once a month! You’ll find yourself wondering where your money went and won’t find nearly as many ways to improve your finances.

What does it feel like to have a healthy checking account?

I can’t even begin to describe the peace that can be felt when you have a stable checking account. Perhaps you’ve had trouble sleeping at night, arguments with your spouse, or can’t seem to focus on your work. When you have a healthy checking account, many of those problems seem to just melt away.

It’s truly incredible how many difficult situations can be traced back to personal finance. Whatever you’re going through, ask yourself how large of a role money is playing in your problem. You might be surprised with what you come up with.

Try this: make a list of the top three things that are weighing on your mind. What are they? Write them down on a piece of paper. Now, how many of those things are related to your finances being out of balance? This is a great way to find out how many of your troubles are due to poorly managed finances.

Some last thoughts . . .

If you’re ready to change everything about the way you do finances, you’re going to need to make a budget and pay careful attention to your financial situation. But you can’t do it alone. If you’re married, get your spouse on board. If you’re single, find someone to hold you accountable. You can do it. Just don’t do it alone!

Looking for budget friendly family activities? Check out Camping: What to buy and what to borrow.

But all of that boils down to one major principle. It’s one that you’ve probably heard before, but may need to be reminded of to excel your financial position. Are you ready? Here it is:

“Live on less than you make.”

Simple? Isn’t it? Well, actually it isn’t always simple. In fact, it’s easier said than done.

Today I’d like to show you a few ways to live on less than you make. You may have mastered one element of the financial equation, but not the other. Let’s take a look.

Income and Expenses

There are two things you must master in order to excel in your personal finances. The first thing is your income. As Dave Ramsey says, “Your income is your most powerful wealth-building tool.”

If your income is lacking, try these things:

• Get a second part time job. You can deliver pizzas, mow some lawns, or wait on some tables. Whatever it is that you’d like to do, DO IT!
• Step out into your dream job. Sometimes you simply need a career change, and getting a second job won’t cut it. If you’re demotivated at work, get motivated by NEW work! Ask yourself what you do for fun, and how you can turn that into your job.

If your expenses are out of control, try these things:

• Make a list of all your expenses and take action! Start with those expenses that are highest in amount, moving down to those that are lowest in amount. Then ask yourself if you can eliminate any expenses near the top of the list – the most expensive ones – and save yourself some money! Don’t forget to remove all the lower expenses that are sapping your cash flow too!
• Use the envelope budgeting system. Customers of eBillme understand that using cash is the best way to pay for items. The envelope budgeting system does just that and allows you to see exactly what you’re spending. You’ll feel the pain as you hand over cold hard cash to the register attendant.

Income – Expenses = Financial Shovel

To dig yourself out of a hole, you’ll need a shovel to fill in the dirt. The hole represents your debt or financial goals yet to be realized, and the shovel represents how much money you have left at the end of the month so that you can reach your goals faster.

To calculate the size of your financial shovel, you’ll need to minus your expenses from your income.

First determine exactly how much income you are bringing in every month. If this number varies, take an average of the past 3 to 6 months of income history. Then find out how much you’re spending every month (you should know this amount by looking at your budget).

For example, let’s say your income is $3,000 per month and your expenses are $2,100 per month. $3,000 – $2,100 = $900. $900 is the size of your financial shovel.

You could use this $900 to pay off debt, build your emergency fund, or throw toward any other large financial goals you have coming down the road.

No New Non-Mortgage Debt!

By living on less than you make, you’re pledging to not go into debt. Isn’t living on more than you make going into debt?

Make a pledge today to never go into more non-mortgage debt. That’s right, student loans, car loans, and credit cards all need to be eliminated. If you feel the need to get a 15-year fixed rate mortgage (as long as it isn’t more than 25% of your take home pay), that’s probably acceptable – but even that isn’t living up to the live-on-less-than-you-make standard.

Do you live on less than you make? What’s your standard of appropriate financial living? Tell us about it in the comments!

Photo by alancleaver_2000

Looking for ways to earn money while you shop – check this blog post out!