Comments on: The Life Pie

By: make a mobile website

make a mobile website — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:04:15 +0000

expand on what the blogger was saying….

above all make it informative.don’t give upyou need to do this a few times on the same blog to be noticed. once you’ve done several posts, then contact the blogger through their contact us page, asking them if they’ll publish your…

By: Money worries! - Page 3 - BabyandBump

Money worries! - Page 3 - BabyandBump — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:10:27 +0000

[...] forget about things that get paid annually like insurance/MOT when you do your analysis! I found Gail Vaz-Oxlade's website to be a brilliant resource for learning to budget and live within your means. I never did the [...]

By: 6 Ways To Improve Your Finances

6 Ways To Improve Your Finances — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:58:55 +0000

[...] than you make. Check out my friend Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s pie chart for budgeting, which shows you how much you should be spending in each main [...]

By: Jeannette

Jeannette — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:02:08 +0000

Hi,

I’m on a fixed pension income and was wondering if the Life Pie works the same way. I do not have debt and sometimes use my savings to purchase things, or for dental purposes. Can you give me a guideline? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

By: Paula

Paula — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:33:58 +0000

Hi Gail!

Step 4 in your building a budget…. % of net or gross income? These Life Pie %s…. % of what exactly?

Thanks!

By: Jacqueline Spathelfer

Jacqueline Spathelfer — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:34:48 +0000

hi gail,
i love your show.
i have been watching your show for a few years now and one thing i have noticed is that you do not have any single moms on your show. i am a single working mom and would want some financial guidance, even tho i do not have a husband to share my expenses with, i would like some positive guidance on financial planning.
how could i go about doing that?
thank you for your time.
jacqueline spathelfer

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:32:15 +0000

The latest issue of Money Sense magazine May/June 2011 did the same pie ratio as part of their “Debt University” section. Interesting, they mention that housing cost should be 32% of Pre-Tax income (that’s a huge difference!!!)

By: melisse

melisse — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:39:31 +0000

Gai:
I love your show. I am very fortunate my mom and dad had a very large family and they were very open and honest about the money they had and didn`t have. They did not spend money they did`not have . I live by their guidelines. I work with a woman, I find it very frustrating she has major money issues, and she does not mind sharing all her issues with me. She is a mother of three small children, who have everything and more. I have told her about your show, she would be a great candidate. She has all the excuses in the book , her favourite word is but,`BUT , but it was on sale, but I had a coupon, But I didn`t have time to prepare so we had to eat out. Never ending excuses. Her husband is getting ready for retirement but no where near being prepared.I feel like I need to help emotionally but I am at loose ends to my resources. Her family needs your help.
Please advise me.

By: Stacey

Stacey — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:02:01 +0000

We live in an old home that needs lots of repairs. Where would we fit this into the pie chart? Our housing is at about 36% right now due to very high utility bills (which is why we need repairs done)
Thanks for your time

By: Sara

Sara — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:44:46 +0000

Hi Gail,

I saw an episode of Til Debt do us part that my mom had Tivo’d and I was inspired, as I have been trying to learn to budget for years, yet have never found a way that made sense until now….my question to you is my income is always fluctuating (I am a waitress and I just started recently as a massage therapist) I have found budgeting very difficult because I never know how much I am going to make week to week. Sometimes I make more than I think and sometimes I make less. I have been struggling to make ends meet my entire adult life (I’m in my 30s) because I was never taught about money and now that I am a single parent, I now know that I need to do something drastically different so that my daughter does not repeat the same mistakes…

By: Stacy

Stacy — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:09:06 +0000

Does a cell phone payment (if that’s your primary phone) count towards housing expenses or life? Thank you for your wonderful advice!

By: Gail

Gail — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:05:19 +0000

id, what an interesting question… if you’re making extra mortgage payments, you need to stick that under “mortgage payment”. I know it’ll skew the “housing” amount, but that’s actually what you’re doing… taking your housing “costs” up.

By: id

id — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:23:40 +0000

Gail,

Where does the extra mortgage payment fit into the life pie?
Does it go under housing or debt?

By: Jewel of Toronto

Jewel of Toronto — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:08:14 +0000

Hi Gail, is 10% for savings really enough? I’ve used calculators that estimate that my husband (who does not have a company pension) should be saving anywhere from 25% to 33% of his salary in order to retire comfortably.

By: suzypatootie

suzypatootie — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:28:01 +0000

I also appreciated this. We did our first budget recently and while our housing and transportation slices were nicely slim according to the pie, our Life slice was almost double what it ’should’ be – due mostly to the very high cost of quality child care in our city. It is nice to know that won’t be the case forever. There’s the ‘now’ pie and the ‘future’ pie and sometimes that just has to be the way it is…