Michael West Financials · Worksheet
Your first paycheck, line by line.
Grab a real pay stub. Copy each number into the blank next to it — no math required, just reading. Then look at how little of "gross pay" actually reaches your account, and decide where the take-home goes.
1 · Copy these off your pay stub
Gross pay the big number — what you earned before anything came out
$ Federal income tax usually the largest single deduction
$ Social Security + Medicare often labeled FICA or OASDI/Med
$ State income tax blank in a few states — Texas is one
$ Other deductions health insurance, retirement, anything else
$ Take-home pay what actually landed in your account
$ 2 · Where does the take-home go?
Split the take-home pay from box 1 into three jobs. They should add back up to your take-home.
Today money bills and things you need this month
$ Tomorrow money saved or invested before you can spend it
$ Flexible money wants — yours to spend, guilt-free
$ 3 · One thing that surprised you
Do this again next pay stub. The numbers settle into a pattern, and the pattern is your budget. Based on the First paycheck lesson.