My Very First Budget Experience

My Budget Story

My story is similar to many of the other immigrants.  My Mom and I immigrated to the US in the early 90s.  We received public assistance for the first few years.  However, unlike many of the other Russian Jewish immigrant girls I got pregnant at 17 and became a single parent at 18.  I had to work through college and take care of my Mom and my Son.  It was tough but it helped me learn how to be smart with money.  After years on food stamps and living in the ghetto of Corona, Queens I learned how to maintain a very tight budget.  After graduating from St. John’s I got a job with the US treasury as a junior auditor.  It paid very little (low $40,000 but was great for me) after a few months 9/11 happened.  I was downtown and the events of the day.  The fact that life is unpredictable became even clearer that day.

Within months I determined to buy my first home (in my early 20s at the time).  I felt like I was buying at the top of the market.   But I was not.  When I bought my home I realized that there were a number of expenses that have to do with home ownership that were not there when I was a renter.  Nevertheless, I made it work.  I was never late with my payments and even got a car of my dreams (leased).  I was a single parent, with my Mom and my Son, a mortgage, real estate tax payment, insurance and a car lease.  WOW!  All of this on a junior level treasury agent salary…  I had to be a budget guru!

When I was leaving treasury to work in the private sector and negotiated my salary my new manager asked me: how do you even afford to live here in New York?!  My answer was BUDGET!

Before buying my home I reviewed all my possible sources of income.  There weren’t many.  I only relied on my salary.  Then I looked at my possible mortgage payment, taxes, insurance and the costs of commute to NY from Long Island (monthly LIRR ticket was over $250!!!)

My Budget after buying my 1^st Home:

Source	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Category Total
Salary	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	4,125	49,500
Other Income	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
													49,500
Expenses
Mortgage	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	1,705	20,465
Credit Card & Student Loans	382	382	382	382	382	382	382	382	382	382	382	382	4,584
Utilities	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	3,000
Medical	450	450	450	450	450	450	450	450	450	450	450	450	5,400
Tele-Communication	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	1,500
Work Related Commute	350	350	350	350	350	350	350	350	350	350	350	350	4,200
Food	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	3,000
													42,149
401K	413	413	413	413	413	413	413	413	413	413	413	413	4,950
Discretionary Expenses	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	500	2,150
Remaining	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	(300)	251

As you can see it was VERY tight.  However, I was responsible with my money and even managed to put away money into my 401k, which was matched by my employer.  So instead of saving 10% of my salary I got to save 16%.