This isn’t meant to be a normative budget–this is just the way things are, more or less, right now. Some stuff can and oughta be deferred. Other stuff makes me money. Budget doesn’t include debt service–just the cash need that I have each month. as of 12/22/2007for now I’ll put it online. These are hard costs. This isn’t a “budget” this is a list of expenses that I have as things are without radical change.

Mandatory Recurring Bills

1. Housing: $1300
2. Internet: $26.00
3. Cell Phones (H + Me) $105
4. Vonage: $30
5. Car insurance: $71.
6. Health insurance: $336 (comes out of my checks, but that’s the cash net)
7. Electric: $125
8. Gas: $45 (not on budget–this seems to be about as high as it gets)
9. Trash: $24
10. Water: $25
11. Car Payment: $230 (included here because it would be gone if not paid)
12. gym membership/Heather: 68

$2335 Cash/month: $27k/ year to have basic living done

Other Household Expenses:

1. Food: $550/month
2. Co-Pays: $55
3. Gasoline: $250/month
4. Clothing: $250/month (must be doubled–can be deferred

Total: $1175/month: 14100/year

Debt Service:

1. Student loans (me) $21,500/140 month
2. IRS: $23,000: $600/month + Refund. each year.
3. 401k loan: $310/month
4. Misc “weighty” debt acquired: 7k. Not being served until other stuff is gone, daddy, gone.

$740 * 12 = $8880

Business Expenses:

1. 900/month: staff stipend.
2. Lunches/70/month

Total: 970 * 12 = 11640

Totals: 27,000 + 14100 + 8880 + 11640 = $61260 cash. Expenses are $5135/month. This requires a pretax income of 85k-90k+/- to make it. That is an exhausting lifestyle–having that as a base and having to go up from there. Blah. Earning 85k (7k month) +/-) requires the overhead. The Staff Stipend and the Health insurance come out pre tax, and can–to a point–be floated. The student loans can be ditched without much of a penalty, but that’s not the behavior I want to model.

Serious change needs to happen.

Having that kind of overhead to live is not fun–it creates a grind because even if we had $75000 in the bank, we’re only looking at 13 months +/- to be able to survive. The answer is not–as Tim Ferris says to give up the glass of red wine and defer your lifestyle. The answer is to think different:

1. What can we do to cut expenses in a radical way?
2. Can we get someone else to pay for us to live?
3. Can we leverage our intellect to change the game?
4. Can we cut big expenses? Saving on food doesn’t matter much, but changing our spending does?
5. Can we sell something on an iterated basis to make us money?

This isn’t a solution that we can “Simple Dollar” our way to the end–while I really like many things about being a mortgage broker, there is nothing unique or novel about that job. I like the freedom, and it’s something that can easily be outsourced. I can build a system in 6-12 months that teaches this, and focus on another source of income….without being tethered to the job.

Chris Johnson is a thinker, taker of risks, and writer. His blog: GenuineChris.Com talks about creating insane personal success through radical transparency.