Kollel Budgeting

[Tuna Baygel]

When making a Budget with my wife for our year of Shana Rishona we came to this conclusion.
We will not be supported together we will be earning $2600 a month I will be tutoring and she will be working as an English teacher in the afternoons.
Our expenses are as follows
Rent including all utilities-$1100
Grocery's-$120 a week = $480
Car insurance-$111
Gas and tolls-$100 (two tanks)=$400
Total being $2191
The extra will be for stuff that come up Ex. Dry cleaning)
I Have a car from When I was a Bochur
We both have cell phones from when we were single
I plan on applying for Jersey care (as of now I am still on my family plan)
Are we missing anything?

[TimT]

Shaitel appointments, occasional dinner out

[churnbabychurn]

Yes. Food stamps! HEAP! WIC

But only with kids

[gavhaller]

As someone who just finished shana rishona as well, it's important to remember to have funds set aside to go out. Especially when your busy all week and don't have much time, a nice dinner out once in a while can really help.

I don't know if you need wifi, but keep that in mind as well.

Love the username, btw.

[@Yehuda]

Wow, that's really cheap rent. Lakewood?
Wow, that's really cheap car insurance.

Enjoy your parents health insurance until your 26.
You should look into renter's insurance especially to insure the ring, assuming it's real . In NYC I paid about $130 for a year of coverage and we unfortunately needed it recently. B"h we had it though.

[AnonymousUser]

Tzedakah, medical expenses not covered by JC, clothing, auto maintenance (e. g. oil changes etc.), various home supplies (toiletries, disposable paper goods, etc.).
As income you can also count any points/miles you plan on accruing and selling.

[bubble347]

Wow, that's really cheap rent. Lakewood?
Wow, that's really cheap car insurance.

Enjoy your parents health insurance until your 26.
You should look into renter's insurance especially to insure the ring, assuming it's real . In NYC I paid about $130 for a year of coverage and we unfortunately needed it recently. B"h we had it though.

Can you elaborate on the process. What insurance? What happened? Was the claiming a smooth process? I have been looking in to this for quite some time and have been getting mixed reviews regarding claims being paid out smoothly.

[moko]

Wow, that's really cheap rent. Lakewood?

that's what I pay in Brooklyn,  though I had to give up on the luxury of 9 ft ceilings for 7 ft ceilings of my basement but at the end of the year when I have an extra 12k in savings it's worth it.

[@Yehuda]

Can you elaborate on the process. What insurance? What happened? Was the claiming a smooth process? I have been looking in to this for quite some time and have been getting mixed reviews regarding claims being paid out smoothly.

I just wrote up my story, but I figured it would be more useful in this thread.

[Mordyk]

When making a Budget with my wife for our year of Shana Rishona we came to this conclusion.
We will not be supported together we will be earning $2600 a month I will be tutoring and she will be working as an English teacher in the afternoons.
Our expenses are as follows
Rent including all utilities-$1100
Grocery's-$120 a week = $480
Car insurance-$111
Gas and tolls-$100 (two tanks)=$400
Total being $2191
The extra will be for stuff that come up Ex. Dry cleaning)
I Have a car from When I was a Bochur
We both have cell phones from when we were single
I plan on applying for Jersey care (as of now I am still on my family plan)
Are we missing anything?

missing this
http://www.torahzone.com/tzedakah.htm

[ahecht37]

Wow i don't know how you got such cheap rent and insurance in brooklyn!

also you are missing lots of misc items (besides the ones mentioned earlier) such as makeup, shaitel appointments, (life insurance?) parking/speeding tickets, (vacation?) random things for your house such as picture frames and etc. there are also lots of Halacha things that you will need to pay for

[smee123]

-Housing- Rent/mortgage & taxes
               Utilities-gas/electric/water/internet
               Insurance
               Maintenance/upkeep(ex. lawn) & repair
               Phone

-Health-    Insurance (set amount)
                Co-pays, RX & deductibles (vary's)

-Car-         Ownership
                Insurance
                Gas
                Repair & maintenance
                AAA
                Tolls & parking
               
-Tuition      Cost (set)
                 Add-ons (ex. supplies)
                 Tutor
                 Camp
                 Baby sitter
                 
-Taxes
-Masser
-Food
-Life insurance
-Phone's
-CC Annual fees
-Toiletries
-Clothing
-Gifts
-Extras (Ex...eating out, chol homoed, splurging on stuff)
-Religious (ex. lulav)
-The inevitable "other"

[CS1]

When making a Budget with my wife for our year of Shana Rishona we came to this conclusion.
We will not be supported together we will be earning $2600 a month I will be tutoring and she will be working as an English teacher in the afternoons.
Our expenses are as follows
Rent including all utilities-$1100
Groceries - $120 a week = $480
.....
Are we missing anything?

$20 per day of food for 2 people (Shabbos is not included; eat by mishpacha). That's an avg. of $3.33 per meal per person...

[skyguy918]

$20 per day of food for 2 people (Shabbos is not included; eat by mishpacha). That's an avg. of $3.33 per meal per person...

I assume you're saying his number is too low. I just checked my mint account, and found that I averaged ~$500/month for food. That's with 2 kids (albeit both young - under 3), staying home most Shabbosim and some Yomim Tovim, and even having company sprinkled in occasionally. It includes infrequent going out to eat. We don't budget our food expenses at all (ie it's not like we're intentionally suppressing spending)

I'm other people have vastly different experiences, but my point is that if someone is trying to make a budget and stick to it, it's not crazy to limit food expenses to something like $480/month. You won't go hungry, that's for sure.

[gavhaller]

I'm going to get slammed for saying this-

I wouldn't worry too much about maa'ser right now. I've been told by many people that it's only imperative that you give ma'aser on whatever is left over after all your expenses. Doesn't seem like you'll have that much considering you need to budget.

[TimT]

I'm going to get slammed for saying this-

I wouldn't worry too much about maa'ser right now. I've been told by many people that it's only imperative that you give ma'aser on whatever is left over after all your expenses. Doesn't seem like you'll have that much considering you need to budget.

"Many people" as in rabbonim ?

[Super Speed]

Many Rabbonim hold if you're in kollel you need not give Maaser.

[ckmk47]

Giving tzedoko builds character.  It builds empathy and a sense of responsibility.  It's a good habit to get into even, especially, when things are tight.
It's not a benefit long term to save a few dollars on tzedoko now.

[yakov116]

Giving tzedoko builds character.  It builds empathy and a sense of responsibility.  It's a good habit to get into even, especially, when things are tight.
It's not a benefit long term to save a few dollars on tzedoko now.

Ok. There are Rabbonim that hold that you only have to give massir after personal expenses. Since massir is on profit and profit is after expenses.

[CS1]

I assume you're saying his number is too low. I just checked my mint account, and found that I averaged ~$500/month for food. That's with 2 kids (albeit both young - under 3), staying home most Shabbosim and some Yomim Tovim, .....but my point is that if someone is trying to make a budget and stick to it, it's not crazy to limit food expenses to something like $480/month. You won't go hungry, that's for sure.

true, but one steak, a box of cereal and 2 bottles of orange juice are the whole day's allowance for 2 people.