What does your budget look like?
Hello!
I am curious to know what either 1st or 2nd year analyst budgets look like. It would really help if you could give a detailed breakdown of your expenses and expected costs of specific things.
Also, location does not matter. Just curious to see what each individuals looks like.
Thanks!
I don’t have any
From a couple years ago: Rent: 1175 Utilties: 50 Food: 200 Transportation: 250 Miscellaneous: 200 Total monthly spend: $1875 This was in an expensive non-nyc city as an IB analyst
You must have had free food at work and not done anything but work or sleep.
Correct. Plus free hobbies.
Made about 90k after taxes that year and spent 25k. Luxury USA lifestyle while saving&investing over 70% of take home pay. I'd call that a success, American Dream!
After tax spend:
Rent: $2175/mo (1BR, justoutside NYC)
Parking: $195/mo (same)
Transportation: $100/mo (outside of this current situation)
Utilities: ~$100/mo (Edit:~200 adding Cable+nternet)
Rest: ~$2000/mo
Not a first year Analyst, and I don't keep track of the detailed spend. My concerns are the top-line bank account number and the CC bill that the "rest" basically all lands on.
So in my case I live in NYC so everything is expensive.
Monthly take home: ~$5k (after taxes) Savings: ~$2,700 401(k): ~$100 Insurance (health/dental/vision): ~$80 rent + utilities: $1,250 food/coffee: ~$500 Random shit: ~$300
Few notes: 1. I decided to not spend a lot on rent as I work ~14 hours/day so I just go home to sleep. (yes, I have roommates). 2. As soon as I start receiving matching contribution from employer I will increase 401k allocation significantly 3. I'm not on a very strict budget so there are months where I spend more/less on different categories of spending but I do always aim for $2,500 monthly savings at a minimum.
There's a psychological aspect here. Watch out about listing savings and 401k in the budget--That implies that they can be variable, and makes it easier to justify cutting them. If there is a way to make these automatic given items before thinking about the budget then it can be easier to win.
is that salary typical for S&T? 60k post-tax seems a bit low no? Is this a BB?
Pretty typical 85k base. He probably hasn't gotten his bonus yet
Yea, that's on an $85k base. NY BB.
I'm not including my signing bonus nor my end of year bonus (which I have obviously not gotten yet).
Bro what are you doing only contributing 1.4% to your 401k?
As I mentioned, I still don't get any matching. So until that happens, my focus is on building up my emergency fund as well as having some cash on hand that I can invest as opportunities arise or simply save.
Will significantly increase my 401k allocation during my second year, once I start getting employer matching.
Other than that, the other benefit would be tax deferred contribution. Which really might or might not be a benefit, as taxes might be higher by the time I take the money out (up for debate). I could pay taxes up front and invest it now at lower fees. It's the same thing as having an IRA vs roth IRA. Pick your poison. Without employer matching, the 401k is nothing special.
Is that $500/month food spend after daily bank food stipends?
How do you guys typically track your finances? Mint? Excel? Something else?
In my case, I don't earn a lot nor I have a lot of different expenses. So I just worry about meeting my monthly savings goal/paying rent, which I consider to be fixed expenses. The rest sort of falls in line.
As my expenses/income grow over time, I will probably take up mint or some other finance app in order to always have a go-to place to monitor my finances.
Pen & Paper, Excel... whatever works best for you
Mint isn't bad - I haven't spent much time, probably the issue, with it but I always hated how transactions show up - it's always a mess and half the time doesn't categorize transactions correctly. I'm sure there are power users who can tell you how to actually use it effectively.
I keep it simple - setup savings transfers (incl. 401k and HSA), and whatever hits my checking account is free to spend. No more, no less. That gives me a rough estimate point for how much I can spend. That's all for now. I'm sure it will get worse eventually, with a family and all that.
Non-NYC, but expensive city.
Rent: $1,750 (shared 3bdrm w/ parking) Utilities / Cable: $150 Food / coffee: $350 Other monthly bills: $150 Misc: $3k
I go to a decent restaurant 4-5 times a month. Go out to bars 2 times a week. Ski frequently in the winter and golf every weekend from spring - fall.
Some of you guys seem like you have no fun. I am still able to save $3k/month and also max out 401k from my base.
I agree but you also make almost 2x as much base salary as others who responded according to your budget.
Boston?
i spend 70% of my after tax salary on drinking, partying, and gambling. The rest I waste.
3rd yr associate at an EB in NY:
Monthly take home pay: $9.1k (after taxes and 401k contribution of $1.6k per month) Rent: $3.2k (1BR in a luxury building) Recurring monthly expenses: $250 (utilities, wifi, amazon, HBO, netflix, Headspace, etc) Coffee + Lunch: $300 Food/Entertainment: $1.6k* Savings: $3.75k**
*mostly includes weekend seamless/eating out, Ubers out on weekends, bar tabs, and gambling losses
**balance at the end of the month, obviously fluctuates throughout the year. Over the past year I've put away 45k from my paycheck. lower monthly total around the holidays/summer, higher in the dead of winter. Usually spend 2%-5% of my bonus then bank the rest. Not included in this breakdown
did you ever thinking about getting a mortgage? you already pay a sum for rent
My monthly budget for the first 2-3 years in NYC went roughly like this (after building up an emergency fund):
$1.4K in rent (roommates, shitty apartments in good locations (Chelsea, West Village, etc) $120 metrocard $1K restaurants/bars $140 squash club junior membership $200 social/charity events $300 clothing, random stuff
Was still able to max the 401K, gradually invest a bit on the side, and not have to touch the bonus (went straight to investments). Yes, I probably could have saved more, but I think by spending a bit more and having an active social calendar allowed me to not go crazy, plus I built a strong network of folks I can call on for basically anything (one even got me the intro to my first buyside gig post-banking), which is way more valuable than what little I could have saved up on an entry-level salary anyway.
What are some examples of the social/charity events you attended? I would like to get involved in something post-covid
St. Jude has good events if they ever update this site.
https://www.stjude.org/get-involved/find-an-event/new-york.html
I went to one event on a yacht with friends and it was $150 to attend and it was open bar and everything - was awesome. The boat did a lap around Manhattan. The proceeds went to charity.
+15K monthly paycheck after 401k
-10K savings
-2.5k rent + util (Studio)
-1.5k family support
-1k food + entertainment
As an Analyst in SF -
$2.5k rent $1k food / travel $1k to my parents basically 0 FCF
As an Associate in NYC - $2.45k rent $1k food / travel / actually having a life $1k to my parents saving about $2k a month.
I don't budget, but I do track my expenses pretty religiously.
1st year Analyst at a MM in LCOL city: Take home pay: ~4,600
Rent & Utilities: $900 (cheapest unit in a brand new building, 5 min walk to work)
Car Insurance and gas (rarely use): $135
Gym: $185 (my only current hobby)
Lunch/Groceries: $85 Eating out/bars/alcohol: $400
Clothes: volatile but averages $250
Everything else: $250 Total: ~2,300
Expecting expenditures to increase in my 2nd year as I will likely move to a nicer apartment and hopefully be able to take a vacation. I have also only been going out 2 nights/mo because I've been getting absolutely crushed. I also expense a lot of food including weekends. Of course I would rather pay for my own food and be able to enjoy my weekend...
Only 900 for a brand new building 5mins from work makes me die inside. You're livin' the good life.
i use mint. I am living with my parents until I move in a couple of month so no rent. here is mine.
net pay: $4,134 (after~700 in 401k and 127 metro card) savings account: 2K gym: 59
entertainment/shopping/weekly brunch/drinking/ food/amazon/ everyday lunch: the rest I have many credit cards so I try to balance if I spend too much in one month, I spend less in the next. most of the times, I get carry over from past month. I am starting to invest $150 a month. actually now that I wrote it down, I realized I might be spending too much
1 yr AN in high COL city (not NY or SF) Net ~4.9k / mo after 401k. 1850 rent + utilities, 500-700 groceries/food, and the rest is spent blacked out at a bar or on dumb shit. I’ll save my bonus not my salary
Reading through this thread, does no one here have any student loans or credit cards? Seems like student loans would be a big chunk of someone's budget
This is in a MCOL city working in CMBS/RE, only working around 50 hours a week. All numbers are per month
Gross = $4,583
Taxes - $1,018
Pre-tax benefits (parking FSA, medical/dental insurance) - $338
Maxed out 401k contribution - $230
Rent - $658
Car payment + insurance (bought my affordable dream car because prices rare stickshifts are going up and I'll be able to enjoy it and not lose money to depreciation) - $529
Student loans (totally forgot about them because most are in federal forbearance) - $53
Net Cash Flow after all of my major expenses ~ 1,750.
Other reasonably large expenses = gas (v8 lol), food & drink, dog-related expenses, utilities.
All in all I'm not saving a crazy amount because I'm not going to have kids (vasectomy soon once I find my new primary care doctor, last one was stupid religious), and I'm already maxing out my 401k to get my company match.
So glad you are getting a vasectomy. Your genes are worth passing on.
So are most peoples'
Mortgage ~6K / mo
HOA ~500 / mo
Food / misc / ~1K / mo
Recurring small expense ie netflix / utilities ~300 / mo
Prop tax escrow ~1.5K / mo
Mortgage are tax deductible so this helps a lot. It's also forced savings in a way
wow nice you must have a baller house
No car payments?
Bought my daily driver and weekend cars in cash. Probably should've gotten a loan given low interest but this was a year ago.
If you break out the service fee's / insurance etc. it's about 1K a month for the two combined.
$2190 rent (2bed 2bath luxury building)
$3000 food / gym / fitness gear
$1000-1500 misc expenses
Rent split with a roommate? That's ridiculously cheap for a 2br luxury building
That’s total rent - I don’t have a roommate and live in a LCOL area.
How do you spend $3k a month on food and the gym in a LCOL? That’s impressive.
Yeah I just consume a large amount of calories and it adds up. I get UberEats a lot as well. Plus my fitness gear just wears down or stuff breaks.
Monthly when I was an AN1 in NYC:
Take home after tax and 401k: $4800
Rent: $2100 (studio a few blocks from work - wanted to live by myself and not spend time/money on commute)
Student loans: $1500
Utilities: $140 (electricity, gas, internet)
Food: $600 (after comped dinners/some weekend meals - would usually order out)
Miscellaneous: $300 (going out, travel, household needs, etc.)
AN1 year was a grind so I didn't do much outside of work. Barely stayed afloat because of student loans. I used my entire bonus to pay off student loans so as an AN2 I could afford a gym membership, went out more, and started putting a nominal amount into savings. Didn't really start saving until after my AN2 bonus paid off even more loans. I expected that most of my income after rent for the first few years would go towards loans anyway, and the comfort of having my own place, no commute, and ready-to-go food was worth it.
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