Physician Assistant $5600 monthly July Paycheck Budget | Carol Ann’s monthly budget - July 2024 

I had mine at $5,000 while I was paying off my car (otherwise was debt free), and was able to pay that off aggressively. Now I'm debt free so building my emergency fund up to $10,000 before I start saving for a house down payment.

You're doing great Carol! I agree with most of the commenters here, $1000 is not enough. Your salary is large enough, and your expenses are small enough that you can pay off debt & put money in savings. The fact that you have $1700 LEFT OVER after budgeting is proof. I watched your Mom's video telling how her car accident lead to her bad back, work problems and then her debt. You know all too well that things can happen, and having money set aside will let you breathe and plan, not panic and make bad decisions. Hope you have a great weekend and good work week ahead.

$1000 dollars is step 1, then you are supposed to attack your debt and then build up your emergency fund. I’m lucky enough to be retired with no debt so it does not apply to me. Good Luck, you are doing really well so far. 💜

I followed Dave Ramsey & only had the $1000 in emergency, but since things hit the fan I went back & upped my emergency fund to $5000.

"Crazy over there...i mean Daisy" 🤣

Hi Carol Ann! Appreciate you sharing with us!

Your instincts are right on. Dave Ramsey's $1,000 emergency fund is designed for moderate income people swimming in debt and feeling hopeless. You can comfortably put aside substantial savings while paying off the car and those student loans and should indeed be stressed counting on less than one week's take home pay .

I followed the baby steps, definitely changed my life. The $1000 emergency fund it's not enough. My employer closed suddenly while I was getting out of debt and $1k was not nearly enough money.

Great video. I use Libby and listen to book more now than music. Love it. 😍 On the EF I think people should do what they think they need or can due at the time. Budgeting is personal and changes fitting to everyone differently so watching you and watching Dave is so helpful to create one’s own style. Thanks for sharing. Love you and your mom’s videos. 💞

You're correct. It's probably a good plan to have a FULL MONTH of expenses or a full month of salary in your savings. Beyond the $1000. Do you have any plan to do so? You'd probably have that with $450 saved a month beyond everything else. Great video! 🙂

I recently watched Dave Ramsey and he addressed the issue around the $1000 EF. He said $1000 EF was never enough back when he created the BABY STEPS but a short term goal and to add more when they are in a better position and don’t have debt hanging over them. Too many people nowadays don’t even have $100 in a bank account after bills and everything else is paid so I think saving a $1000 is a hard thing but not impossible over time and is a great accomplishment for those who have a low income. I think you are doing a great job with your budget and are on track to being debt free in no time. Give yourself some grace on the EF. The more you pay off debt the more money you will have to put towards your EF and other goals. Good luck

Aww yeah! Good morning!!!!!! I got paid todaaaaayyyyy so it's a good day haha two days early!!!!

I agree with your thoughts regarding the EF. The one thousand got you thinking about what’s enough/how much is enough, which is exactly why he wants you to start with the $1000, to kind of get you going. You could look at your leftover $ every month and decide to split it between extra debt payment and EF. Temporarily, you could throw the whole amount per month at the ER, until you’re comfortable with the amount in your EF. Then, moving forward, split the leftover between debt and the EF. The $1,000 is really meant for people who don’t have a pot to pee in and in debt, as a starter EF to help cover unexpected bills/emergencies. It gets people to prioritize saving for the rainy days. You have a lot of flexibility in your budget because of the income you’ve worked so hard to achieve 🎉 Great job!!! 🎉🎉🎉

Took a while, but saved 6 months of living expenses....after debt paid off. In your case, maybe up to $7500. A/C on car is 2000-3000 depending on the degree.

Great video Carol Ann. Congratulations on paying off Best Buy🎉. Have a great weekend.

Great video ❤ thanks for filming Carol Ann and I am like you I don't think $1000 is enough for emergency fund either I would do $8,000

Nowadays the$1000 that Dave recommends doesn't go as far. I think $2000 would be better for a baby emergency fund

Complete 100 envelope challenge, which comes out to $50,50.00.. you can also do a 20,000.00 challenge in one year, which is 400/month for one year. When those are completed, put them in savings also. I really encourage you to pay off your debt while you have such a good income. Ccs-almost paid S.L.-van be garnished Car-nit as much.

I do 3 months of total expenses including the wants, not just needs, for my emergency fund. I think $1000 was ok when expenses were lower,but not realistic these days. But it’s really a calculation based on your earnings and individual expenses. I regularly contribute to a high yield savings account and transfer to an extra mortgage payment every $1500 over my goal. It’s worked well for me, but it took many years to be disciplined about not touching the money unless it was a true emergency. When I was really broke I had to cut my debit card so I could only access it during business hours by making an extra trip to the bank. With your credit card debt gone, I would probably up my emergency fund too.

I keep a 3 month emergency fund at a minimum. Smart move on saving at least 1 month. Work your way up to 3 months and then just focus on your debt. I’ve seen some people split their left over cash after bills into half to debt and half to emergency fund until you fully fund it, then going fully to debt. Just another option!

Yes, an emergency a small during this time with inflation , $3000 minimum to start! My better half had a major vehicle repair and it cost us $2200!

I'd increase the emergency fund now that your credit cards have been paid off, Best buy was the last one right? Personally I'd pay the minimums on everything else for a few months and get the EF up to the 3 months of expenses. I bet you could find another job pretty quickly if you had to and it shouldn't take you long to save up another $6k or so. Then I'd switch back to aggressive debt payoff.

I disagree with Dave Ramsey re the $1000. I'd prefer to have 6 months worth of expenses saved then put all and above to debt repayment.

$1,000 is such an arbitrary number. I get that it's supposed to be a motivator to get out of debt faster, but it leaves you one major expense from getting into even more debt. I think your idea to save 1 month's expenses makes more sense as a starter emergency fund. My husband and I have always aimed for around 6 months saved, but we've never had large debt amounts (we've only ever had small car loans or my small grad school loan, which are either paid off or almost paid off at this point).

I try to keep adding to my Emergency, i don't have a limit. I do like to have a $1000 cash emergency on hand if i can.

Good morning Carol and! Love that you woke up to a bunch of kisses and Zumiez! Proud mom of six Chihuahuas in love when my dogs will snuggle and give me kisses to wake me up! Thank you for sharing your financial journey with us 1:57

Yeah this is not a tight budget, so if she really wanted to she could just up the savings with another 1k in one go, or put in the savings just one month of all expenses like Anthony o Neil says.

3 months of bills/necessities is a good start for emergency fund. Maybe set aside $500/month for that until it gets funded.

BTW I do not follow Dave Ramsey anymore. I cannot agree with most of what he says. I prefer the advice from The Budget Mom.

With your occupation I would not doubt you have seen families get turned upside down in a moment due to an accident. I'm all for increasing your EFund. It needs to be enough so you're not anxious over the balance. This channel is one of my favorites!!

You could make a line item in the budget to gradually add to the savings till its at 3 months of expenses.

Feel free to up the emergency fund. Dave wants you to get out of debt as quickly as possible. That's why it's so low, then u up it to 3-6 month emergency fund. So it does get better. The $1000.00 emergency fund isn't a feasible fund, and it isn't supposed to be. I would up it to a bit more just bc prices now are different then they were.

My goal is to save 12 months of paychecks. I should have it completed in about 10 years, since I don't have a lot leftover each month 🙂 If I get a raise during that time, then the goal increases. When do you have to start paying your student loans? I noticed you didn't budget for them...

I am definitely a Harry Potter fan. I usually read the series a couple times a year

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

Great budget Carol Anne! I am hoping to go to PA school in a few years, so I have my $1000EF but I would dip into my school savings if I needed to. I save about $1000/paycheck into that fund so it's growing fast. I don't want to delay school any more than I need to though, so I am as frugal as possible.

Carol your doing an awesome job keep saving 💃🏻💵💵🌷

I've reread Harry Potter probably 100 times. My favorite is Goblet of Fire.

Carol Ann..you mentioned you pay $360.00 annually for your cell service..is this with Mint Mobile? How is the service?

I have a 2017 Kia soul and it’s so good on gas!

Just curious. Do you celebrate little wins to keep the motivation up? I find I need little things to look forward to weekly. ..to break up the monotony and a little reward.. Nothing spectacular. It works for me so just wondering.

Your a student again, what are you goung for

6 months of savings for me!

As far as I am concerned, most of my funding sources through sinking funds, emergency fund, and getting years ahead, not months! My emergency fine no matter how big it is is just going to continue to be getting money because that’s just making me feel comfortable. Three up to six months emergency funding source for all things housewives is not enough for me and I know that Dave Ramsey says 3 to 6 months expenses, I’m going for a full year and then after that, I’m restarting it again I would like to see myself between three and five years ahead, which is a huge undertaking since a single month is 5000 for me that includes inflation and a few other things. That means I would need 60,000 per year times three years or even up to five years long-term savings don’t touch it lol I have two of my six Chihuahuas that are special-needs. One has severe epilepsy and the other one has a severe stage five heart murmur and only has one eye. At any given time any of my six Chihuahuas could have a massive emergency so my pet funding source never stops either! In fact, I don’t think any really of my funding sources will ever stop with the exception of Uber rides and the reason I take that is because I’m blind, and my husband is currently overseas. 19:51 19:54 20:02

$1000 back in 1980 (back around when Dave Ramsey started) had the purchasing power of $3810 today thanks to inflation. And some things like housing or food have been disproportionately affected in cost. I personally did a 6 mo emergency fund before I started paying off my debts. That’s one of the few things I disagree with Dave Ramsey on. He comes out it from the point of you that some thing like half of Americans cannot even handle a $400 emergency, so having $1000 for that segment of people would be a major improvement, but I don’t think it’s good overall advice.

I would do it dave ramsey way, at least until you pay off your credit cards and car, then i would do EF, since you don't need to pay student loans immediately. believe me, interest is way too big to play with it. and you have your mom, and if something happens, you two would find money in no time for any emergency

No, 1000.00 isn't enough. I had a medical issue a few years back, and even though I had insurance that covered it I still ended up with a hefty bill to pay. It was $10,000.00+ ( I don't know the true amount) and what's worse I am no longer able to work a normal job. I have money coming in every month from the state I live in, but it isn't even half of what I was making when I worked. It does help with my current expenses, but no, $1000.00 is not enough for an emergency.

❤❤ new here

Are you gonna closeout June budget?

I agree with Dave Ramsey’s idea with having some savings for an emergency. But $1,000 in today’s economy, it’s an outdated number.

You and your mom do such an amazing job. You’re going great increasing savings and working on the debt. Such inspiration to myself and others!

Great job Carol! You do what makes you feel comfortable for the emergency fund while tackling your debt. 😊💙💚

I vehemently disagree with Dave Ramsey on most things but for sure on the size of a starter emergency fund, particularly for a single woman. You’re smart to refocus on that and getting to $2500 or $3000 as an interim fund while paying off more of your debt is a great idea.

Step 1 is $1000 to start but after you attack your debt then you build it up, I have $1000 sitting to the side, but $5000 for my emergency fund then I have other savings.

I do same with leftover gas money …. Easiest way to get ahead in car repair sinking fund 😀

Im new 2 saving and paying debt im a house hold of 3 me and 2 kids i believe a 1000 is a good start but not enough

Carol your so funny Audible and Apple Family yes emergency’s do come up like my parents AC units stopped working and my parents are retired 20,000.00 for two new units 🙏🏽

Great job and Great video Carol Ann

You are a few cents off for your left over at the beginning

Awesome job Carol.

Great job

I think increasing your EF is a great idea. I know you can get to that $3,000 super fast once that Best Buy is out of the way and with as much rollover as you tend to have. Once you Gazelle Intensely reach the $3,000, you can slow it down by putting just $500 increments per check. So you can focus on your car. I’d loooooove to see how fast you could pay that car off. It’s a total inspiration because I’m trying to pay my car off… (but I don’t have a great income like you lol) Loooove you videos!! 🫶🏼