Comments on: Do You Know Your Daily Salary? Use it to Better Understand Your Money

By: Invest It Wisely

Invest It Wisely — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Good thing that you mentioned after-tax income, as your salary is not really what you think it is

The trick also works well the other way around; “If I only invest a snack a day, I could be putting away hundreds of dollars a year!”

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I do it like Tamara to motivate myself when working seems terrible. When I look at how much I get (after taxes but including insurance benefits and pension match), I can see I actually have it pretty cushy. I’m just there eight hours, and even if it’s sometimes incredibly boring and sometimes frustrating/impossible, that’s more money in one day than I know how to earn or save any other way, such as selling books or making bread instead of buying it.

And I get to have it every single week day including holidays, vacation, and sick days (and even when it’s not boring or frustrating but fun, satisfying, productive, or otherwise awesome). I really shouldn’t be whining. And I really should be appreciative of all that easy money and save a bunch of it while I’m still lucky enough to be getting it.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@ Austin

Fair enough, but I like knowing what I make in a day, not what I have to spend in a day. When I look to buy something I like to thing how many hours I have to work, or how many days I have to work to pay for that item.

By: Austin @ Foreigner's Finances

Austin @ Foreigner's Finances — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@ Tamara

Austin here – author of the post.

I agree that dividing by 22 is more accurate for a true how much you make a day when you work. However, I like dividing by 30 because it doesn’t matter if it’s Tuesday or Sunday, you know you have x amount for that day.

By: Carol

Carol — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve used this tip to help me control my spending. I find it’s helpful to not only figure out your daily salary, but a ‘daily free cash flow’ which would be your daily salary AFTER you subtract standard expenses such as rent, insurance, utilities, etc. This gives me a better idea of what spending each day I am comfortable with for items like eating out, clothing, entertainment, etc.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I think it would be more accurate to not divide by 30 (days in a month) but by 22 (average work days in a month) to really see what you are making in a day.

By: Khaleef @ KNS Financial

Khaleef @ KNS Financial — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Great tip! This is something that I’ve tried to do over the years – mainly when deciding whether something is worth my time. But using your daily rate to put purchases into prospective is great as well!

By: youngandthrifty

youngandthrifty — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes I find myself thinking like “oh that’s only one days’ pay”, but then I realize it’s one days pay BEFORE taxes, so after taxes, it’s really one and a half days pay.

It’s hard to remember the little things- but good idea to do so, spending has to be justified. =)

Nothing like that hard earned dollar. =)

By: Jake Stichler

Jake Stichler — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been doing this for a while. Making $10/hr sucks, but it sure makes it pretty darn easy to figure out how much I make in a day, or how long I need to work to pay for something.

By: Rainy-Day Saver

Rainy-Day Saver — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Great way of looking at things! Certainly makes you reconsider frivolous purchases.