# Case: Dana's 12-month budget > A budget for the self-employed, built on a tutor's year: real income, taxes set aside first, a salary from a buffer that survives the summer, the cushion, and a test against a weaker year. - Course: [Personal Finance: Budget, Safety Cushion, Debt and Investing](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance.md) - Module: How to live on irregular income? - Lesson 16/32, ~29 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/twelve-month-plan-case ## The pieces on the table **Alex Tutor:** You're still helping Dana, and it's time to put her year on one page. **Dana:** I have all the pieces now: the year, the taxes, a salary, the cushion. I want them on one page for October to next September, so I stop deciding every month. **Alex Tutor:** Then we start from the year, as always: a budget for the self-employed is built on twelve months, not one. Nobody knows next year's lessons, so last year is the forecast, and the plan says so out loud. **Dataset (CSV):** [Dana's income, October 2025 – September 2026](https://productovi.com/datasets/personal-finance/twelve-month-plan-case/dana-income-12-months.csv) Klasna pays 500 UAH per delivered lesson, before taxes. Used as the forecast for October 2026 – September 2027. - `month`: Month - `lessons`: Lessons delivered - `income_uah`: Paid by Klasna, UAH, before taxes **Sofia:** 430,000 before taxes, 35,833.33 a month on average. Taxes at 6% plus 1,902.34 a month come to 48,628.08. **Alex Tutor:** So the number everything else rests on is what is left after taxes. > **Exercise:** On the forecast (last year repeated), what does Dana's year leave **after taxes**? Income 430,000 UAH, taxes 48,628.08. Round to kopiykas. ## One payment day, step by step **Alex Tutor:** Every Klasna payment lands in the buffer. The same day, 6% of it goes to the tax account. On the 1st, the month's 1,902.34 joins it, and 28,000 moves to the spending card as salary. **Dana:** And my 10% rule for the cushion? **Alex Tutor:** With a salary it gets simpler: 2,800 of every salary moves to savings on the 1st, and in June the spring surplus from the buffer tops up the cushion. On last year's pattern that is 33,600 plus about 41,400, more than 10% would give. **Sofia:** And after each quarter the taxes are paid from the tax account, not from anything else. > **Exercise:** Put the flow of Dana's money in order, from a Klasna payment to the quarterly tax. ## The cushion by June **Dana:** Will the cushion reach six months before the summer? **Alex Tutor:** Count it. 53,400 today, 2,800 a month from October to May, and the 40,000 deposit in March: 115,800 by the end of May. Six months of essentials is 138,614.04. **Sofia:** Then in June the buffer's spring surplus, 41,434.26, goes in, and the cushion passes six months. **Alex Tutor:** By 18,620.22, if the year repeats. That extra is the first money with no job yet: a goal, or investing, later in the course. > **Exercise:** By the end of May 2027 the cushion holds 115,800 UAH. In June the buffer's spring surplus of 41,434.26 is added. By how much does the cushion then **exceed six months of essentials** (138,614.04)? Round to kopiykas. ## A weaker year **Dana:** And if next year is worse? Fewer students, a hard winter. **Alex Tutor:** Test it: every month 20% lower, same salary. The buffer, starting from zero, goes negative in December and ends the year 35,468.08 down. 28,000 is too much for that year. **Sofia:** But the April review would catch it: about 10,268 in the buffer instead of the planned 65,164. **Alex Tutor:** Right, though December would already hurt. Starting the buffer with a small reserve, or a slightly lower salary until the spring proves itself, keeps the cushion out of it. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** with a 28,000 UAH salary, a year in which every month is 20% weaker would leave the buffer, started from zero, above zero all year. ## A yearly budget calendar: four dates **Alex Tutor:** Rules change too. As of 2026 the contribution follows the minimum wage, and how long the military levy lasts is not settled. So January is for checking the tax numbers. Check the current rules, ideally with an accountant. **Dana:** January for taxes, April and October for the salary, June for the cushion. The 20th after each quarter for the contribution. **Sofia:** Four dates a year instead of a decision every month. **Alex Tutor:** That is the whole point. This is education, not tax or financial advice; the plan is a model Dana adapts to her own numbers. > **Exercise:** Dana asks: "If by April the buffer is far behind plan, what exactly do I change, and what do I leave alone?" Her plan: a 28,000 UAH salary, 2,800 of it to savings, and about 65,164 in the buffer by April. Answer in 2–3 sentences with numbers. ## Dana's plan **Dana:** Now write it all as one plan I can pin above my desk. **Alex Tutor:** The year in numbers, the flow of money, the salary and why, the cushion, the weak-year rule and the calendar. Short, with the numbers that matter. **Sofia:** A small table for the flow, then a few lines. **Alex Tutor:** Exactly. One page that replaces twelve monthly arguments with yourself. > **Exercise:** Write Dana's plan for October 2026 – September 2027. > **Key ideas** > > - Start from the year, as a stated forecast: 430,000 before taxes, **381,371.92** after (31,780.99 a month). > - On every payment day: 6% to the tax account at once, 1,902.34 on the 1st (as of 2026); a 28,000 salary to the card on the 1st, 2,800 of it to savings. > - The buffer peaks at 78,501.28 in May, the summer takes 37,067.02, and the surplus tops up the cushion in June: 115,800 by May plus 41,434.26 passes six months (138,614.04) by **18,620.22**. > - In a year 20% weaker the same salary drains the buffer from December and ends **35,468.08** down: a starting reserve or a lower salary until spring, and the April review, keep the cushion untouched. > - Four dates replace twelve decisions: January (tax numbers), April and October (salary), June (cushion), plus the quarterly tax deadlines. Education, not tax or financial advice. **Alex Tutor:** That closes the module: a year, not a month; taxes first; a salary from a buffer. Next module: where savings should live once the cushion is full. - Previous lesson: [Paying yourself a salary from a buffer](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/paying-yourself-a-salary.md) - Next lesson: [Inflation and the real rate of return](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/inflation-and-the-real-rate.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.