Knowing your baseline monthly income can help you escape the baller-to-broke cycle.

You know the one…leave werk with a handful of cash feelin’ baller so you go out to brunch, buy yourself a cartful of new hoe clothes online but somehow despite all that cash you’re short on rent so you have to go into werk even when you really need a self-care mental health break.

So how do you figure out exactly how much you need to make per month/shift to cover all your costs?

Tally up all the places your money NEEDS to go to cover your bills/expenses each month.

1. Start with FIXED recurring expenses or bills that are the same amount every single month (not including discretionary spending): Rent, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone bill, gym membership, internet, savings
   
2. Next list all your fluctuating monthly payments: gas, groceries, utilities
   
3. Last list all your discretionary spending (these are items you could cut if it came to it): Netflix, Spotify, monthly subscription boxes, spending for eating out and shopping.

When you total all of these up you have the total you need to cover all your expenses (baseline monthly income) AND you can see how much your life costs.

Is it more than you thought? What can you do to lower it?
Look at discretionary spending, negotiate down fixed monthly payments, etc.

It’s easier to break down what you need to make each month/shift you werk when you know how much you *actually* need to make.