I was recently approached about a position which had a mixed bag for compensation. Take-home pay would be one-third lower, but total compensation would end up 50% over my current total comp. I used the opportunity to try to sketch out a rough budget to see what would have to go if I did have my take-home drop by a third each check.
It was a bit of an eye-opening experience. Realistically, I'm one of the fortunate ones who would be able to withstand a hit that large per check. There are some elements I'd have to modify about my lifestyle, but most of those involve "mad money" or disposable income. Those elements wouldn't vanish from my lifestyle, but would be drastically curtailed.
I've got a couple of things that would help mitigate that reduction. My Kia is scheduled to be done being paid off by May 2022. My HVAC loan is a large chunk of cash each month, but will be done by end of January 2023. I've got three large expenses coming up in March, April, and June, but nothing major planned for the rest of the year.
Realistically, I'm considering trying to live with this budget for the next two months out of curiosity. The money that I'm not going to be spending will be split in two: half going to my emergency savings account, and the other half going towards my largest bills.
