Where does the money go?
As I'm known to do every so often, I created a spreadsheet and tracked nearly every dime I made and spent in a pay period. I hadn't done this in a while, and, although I had my suspicions, the results shocked even me. Here are my expenses, broken out by percentage. Note that the percentage is over 100%, meaning I had to draw on savings. This is obviously not a typical budget, but it is not very far off nonetheless:
Income tax: 26%
Medical expenses (insurance, dental & medical co-pays, etc): 26%
Retirement savings: 4%
Utilities: 27%
Grocery: 10%
discretionary: 8%
Short term-loan repayment: 12%
Notice that 52% of my check is gone before I ever see it (Income tax and payroll deductions for heatlh insurance). Another 27% goes to utilities, which admitedly is a bit high for several reasons (the heat wave, some charges on my phone bill that were put there fraudulently and will be credited back, etc). But these things do happen fairly regularly.
Note that I didn't break out expenses for gasoline. This is because I use very little. I ride a motorcycle 7 miles to work, and that's about it other than short errands.
The important thing to note is that my budget has to be fairly average (middle class). I make decent money, I have 2 kids, and I'm debt free. But I'm being strip mined by 2 expense categories, taxes and health care. And this of course doesn't count property tax, sales tax, etc.
There isn't much that can be done at this point about either one. I will be attempting to find cheaper insurance in the form of a Health Savings Account (HSA) shortly, however I have one child in braces and another not far behind. And, I'm running for state office to help lower taxes, so I'm doing all I can.
It seems the world today has no problem with saddling up the working family man and riding him into the ground. Not only am I paying huge expenses to support a welfare state, and insurance that's sky-high mainly because of excessive government involvment (and people who are insulated from actual expenses because of insurance), but I support 2 kids as well (I have full custody and currently am not receiving any child support).
Having said all that, there are those on the left who can do nothing more but try harder to pick my pockets. They don't see anything morally wrong with forcing me to contribute to their charity (the welfare state) when I can't even afford to pay my own bills much of the time, largely because of the welfare state in the first place.
It's time that the working class cast off the shackles of guilt trips and stood up for ourselves. We're pulling the load of an entire nation, and are made to feel guilty when we say enough is enough. Well I'm saying it now: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. It's time for an overhaul of our tax and spend (or borrow and spend as the case may be) government, and our wildly out of control health care system.
Will you take a stand, or will you cower at the threat of a guilt trip from the left?
Income tax: 26%
Medical expenses (insurance, dental & medical co-pays, etc): 26%
Retirement savings: 4%
Utilities: 27%
Grocery: 10%
discretionary: 8%
Short term-loan repayment: 12%
Notice that 52% of my check is gone before I ever see it (Income tax and payroll deductions for heatlh insurance). Another 27% goes to utilities, which admitedly is a bit high for several reasons (the heat wave, some charges on my phone bill that were put there fraudulently and will be credited back, etc). But these things do happen fairly regularly.
Note that I didn't break out expenses for gasoline. This is because I use very little. I ride a motorcycle 7 miles to work, and that's about it other than short errands.
The important thing to note is that my budget has to be fairly average (middle class). I make decent money, I have 2 kids, and I'm debt free. But I'm being strip mined by 2 expense categories, taxes and health care. And this of course doesn't count property tax, sales tax, etc.
There isn't much that can be done at this point about either one. I will be attempting to find cheaper insurance in the form of a Health Savings Account (HSA) shortly, however I have one child in braces and another not far behind. And, I'm running for state office to help lower taxes, so I'm doing all I can.
It seems the world today has no problem with saddling up the working family man and riding him into the ground. Not only am I paying huge expenses to support a welfare state, and insurance that's sky-high mainly because of excessive government involvment (and people who are insulated from actual expenses because of insurance), but I support 2 kids as well (I have full custody and currently am not receiving any child support).
Having said all that, there are those on the left who can do nothing more but try harder to pick my pockets. They don't see anything morally wrong with forcing me to contribute to their charity (the welfare state) when I can't even afford to pay my own bills much of the time, largely because of the welfare state in the first place.
It's time that the working class cast off the shackles of guilt trips and stood up for ourselves. We're pulling the load of an entire nation, and are made to feel guilty when we say enough is enough. Well I'm saying it now: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. It's time for an overhaul of our tax and spend (or borrow and spend as the case may be) government, and our wildly out of control health care system.
Will you take a stand, or will you cower at the threat of a guilt trip from the left?
posted by Jason E. Peck at 7:41 AM
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