JF, No, it's like it cost you 75% of your take home pay just to live (rent, food, etc), and you can do what you want with the other 25%. Discretionary, get it? And 25% of the Federal budget is a lot more than "there isn't much left".
Funny you should mention that, because I've finally gotten around to dividing up my household expenses to "mandatory" and "discretionary." However, I have a much tighter definition of "mandatory" spending. It's basically any type of spending that, if I forgot about it, would lead to Mr. Repo Man coming by my home. That includes utilities, mortgage, car payments, etc.
Therefore, all of my food, grocery, and gas expenses are "discretionary." I could have just as easily designated those expenses as "mandatory" based on the fact that I got to eat and get to work. But that wouldn't make sense, given that I also go out to dinner at times and drive to other places besides work and the supermarket.
The point of all this? It all depends on what your definitions of "discretionary" and "mandatory" are.
Tenchusatsu |
