One of the reasons that I’m keeping this blog as anonymous as possible is that I’m going to talk about my budget numbers in detail. I’m always insanely curious about other personal finance bloggers’ budgets (plus the fact that no-one I know reads this blog*) so I figure I’ll go full hog and spill the sordid details of my own.
First up, our income. My husband’s salary is €1726 per month. He got a raise that will take effect in January (so our first month with the raise is February), and I’ll post that number when it happens. I am on maternity leave until mid February, and get €922.04 per month. After February I’ll be on parental leave, and receive my money from the CAF, or Family Allowance Fund, and it will be about €750 a month. I also receive €422.81 from the CAF in family subsidies, and this number shouldn’t change when I’m on parental leave. We receive partial reimbursement for childcare costs, anywhere from 30 to 50% of what we’ve paid, although I’ve never been able to work out the formula they use for determining it. Finally, we are reimbursed for medical expenses, at about 100% on average.**
Our anticipated income for January 2008 is €3137.27, including a Christmas check for €150 from my in-laws, which we will deposit into our vacation fund. I didn’t include any medical reimbursements however, because I don’t know how much those will be.
Up soon- our fixed expenses!
*Who am I kidding? No-one reads this blog!
** Yes that’s right, 100%. And a doctor’s visit costs €27, for which we receive €27 from the government and our private insurance. And we don’t pay anything for prescriptions. I admit it, this is one of my favorite parts about living in France.
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