She Makes $7,100 a Month and Has $100 in Savings (Full Budget Breakdown), by Inspired Budget | Allison Baggerly on YouTube. 25 min 2 s.
- Video length
- 25 min 2 s
- Time to do it
- 1 hour
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Add up your take-home pay for the month from every source. Use the amount that actually lands in your account, not your salary before tax.
List fixed expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, phone, subscriptions and minimum loan payments. These stay roughly the same each month.
Estimate variable costs like groceries, fuel, eating out and kids' activities. Check last month's statement so the numbers are real, not guesses.
Subtract fixed and variable costs from income. What is left is the money you can send to savings and extra debt payments.
Write every debt with its balance, interest rate and minimum payment. Keep paying the minimums on all of them while you work on one.
Build a small starter emergency fund first, often around $1,000, before sending extra money to debt. That keeps a surprise repair off a credit card.
Pause new sinking funds until the emergency fund is full. One finished account beats five half-filled ones.
List debts smallest balance first for quick wins, or highest interest rate first to pay less overall. Pick one order and stick to it.
Choose one goal and send all spare money there until it is done, then move to the next.
Tips and common mistakes
Spreading spare cash across five savings goals leaves all of them short, so fund one at a time.
Keep debt minimums in the fixed section so a tight month never causes a missed payment.
Update the numbers every month, since income and bills rarely stay flat.
For 529 plans and IRAs, check contribution limits and tax rules with a tax professional; this is general education, not personal advice.
Questions
Should I save or pay off debt first?
Put a small starter emergency fund in place first, then send extra money to one debt while paying minimums on the rest. Build the larger fund once that debt is gone.
How big should my emergency fund be?
Three to six months of essential expenses is the usual target. Start with a smaller amount you can reach in a few months.
Do I need a spreadsheet?
No. A simple sheet or app with rows for income, fixed costs, variable costs, savings and debt works fine, and paper is fine too.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
