what do you have left at the end of the month?

Free talk

since many of us have anon temp accounts i figured i would try poling povertyfinance to better understand what we are all working with here. Age, education, job, debt monthly payment, and what do you usually have left as a baseline every month when no surprises pop up?

(I ask because I'm currently rebuilding after a disaster and basically, even though I take home 650 to 700 a week, I can't seem to save at a meaningful rate to catch up. it's impossible. I have a strict budget and after necessities my baseline savings is right around 650. but I always end up needing something. new tires, car taxes, two cavities, cellphone is overheating and crashing. I run into something that costs AT LEAST 200 every month that cuts into my baseline savings.

I assume many of us are in the same boat. it isn't that I'm not performing a middle-class job. I just don't have pay where it needs to be to save 1000 a month. even if I did... 12,000 a year is awfully slow for a savings rate. $6000 a year is even worse and that's the max I could hope for. this isn't even including retirement.

i can't save for a vacation, a new car or replacement parts fund, emergency fund, home down payment, and retirement saving 6000 a year.

Posted Aug 31, 2026, 2:19 AM UTC

750
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