When you have say... $187.00 left over after bills, do you A) spend it, or B) save it?

[notfred]

Haha, "left over".

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Toasthead
Dude if all I had left over after paying my bills was 187 bucks I would be terrified! You need to make sure you have a 3-5 month buffer ( enough to pay all bills for 3-5 months) before you go blowing it on stuff you dont need!

I think 5-7 months is a better plan, but many people are unable to maintain that. The key is then once you get this buffer you can buy anything you want at anytime without ever having to wait until payday. As long as you keep your balances in a 5-7 buffer, you never will worry about money again in your life (worries such as "will this check bounce", "will I be able to afford that", "this bill can be a few days late", or "I cannot buy this until payday", etc). The stress reduction itself is worth it...