[yona26]

How much money should I have in my bank account?
I am 28 living in manhattan, Earn $46000 a year. Working for 2 years. Rent is $750 plus utilities is another $200. Bought a car for $10000 last year. Car insurance is $200 a month. Living expenses are $700.. food, dog, clothes, gas, etc.
Approx?

[ChihuahuaMomma]

Those are not all of your living expenses, they are always things here and there, food, cleaning, other utilities. No one can tell you how much money you should have. Make a realistic goal and budget for yourself and stick to it.

[yona26]

How much money should I have in my bank account?
I am 28 living in manhattan, Earn $46000 a year. Working for 2 years. Rent is $750 plus utilities is another $200. Bought a car for $10000 last year. Car insurance is $200 a month. Living expenses are $700.. food, dog, clothes, gas, etc.
Approx?

Additional Details
No health insurance. Car in manhattan I drive to work. Livng expenses is different every month.. anybody in nyc that has an idea?

[ChihuahuaMomma]

So then you should have a different amount in your account every month... there is no set amount that you should have. I'm sure everyone else will tell you the same.

I always got into the habit of putting 10% of my check into savings, so that I know it's there.

[morgaine300]

I think a better question is how much should you not be spending? Knowing how much you just want in your bank account doesn't mean you should go out and spend the rest. And how much is in just a bank account isn't the same as how much you could be investing.

There's one rule of thumb that you should have set aside approximately six months worth of expenses before you do anything else. I agree with Chihuahua that there's probably other expenses. The vast, vast majority of people spend money on things they never know about. Even if they know their main expenses, little bits and pieces of "insignificant" money can start disappearing very easily.

Multiply everything out and see how much you should have left based on what you told us. If you've had that job and those expenses for two years, then you should have made $92,000 and spent $44,400. That leaves $47,600 minus the $10,000 car, leaving you $37,600. Do you have that much money? It's a rare person who would have that much left over after two years. (Not to mention that $22K a year in New York sounds awfully cheap.) You also didn't mention any car maintenance or repairs. (And, WOW, that's high car insurance! Is that a New York thing?)

Keep track of everything you spend for a couple of months. Including the piddly stuff - it adds up. Don't forget to tack on the more occasional expenses. Then you'll be able to see what the six month's worth of expenses is. Then get yourself some insurance... Someone at your income level can afford a good insurance plan. Hard to believe someone at that income level doesn't have insurance at work, unless you're self-employed. Either way, you can maybe get into the group plan at work if you pay for it, or get into a self-employed group plan. You'd be able to pay a lot of medical expenses on your own, but maybe not something catestrophic. (At the very least, put some away specifically for that. I noticed you didn't even mention medical expenses at all. You can do the official health savings plan and get yourself a little tax break, although sounds like they might be trying to get rid of that.)

Then decide where you might be able to cut back. At that income level, living by yourself, and at your age, this is a GREAT time to start saving for retirement. The growth difference is so huge when you start younger like that, and it's worth maybe giving up a little now to put as much aside as you can. Definitely take advantage of a 401K at work, an IRA, or a SEP or Keogh if you're self-employed. Get yourself another little amount off taxes.

Speaking of taxes, is that $46K your take-home? If not, then leaving off your taxes, which would be a nice chunk, would be a major blunder in figuring out your finances.