bendandsnack

Account Exec

Politicker

Arsonist

Executive

Do u budget off base?

Hey guys,

When budgeting in life, for ex when picking a new apartment, do you budget off your base salary or OTE?

I'm at a 40/60 split on commission. 3 months into being an AE & doing well so far but not enough that I'm seeing full commission yet.

Really I'm asking y'all to validate that I want to splurge on an apartment but still curious

🧠 Advice

24 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Always budget on base.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

Exactly.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

this is the way.

DefaultSalesDude

Executive

Director

If you budget off your base, you'll have more cheese to throw around when you want to. 1 big international trip, down payment on investment property, 8all... whatever. If your standard living is at OTE, you won't be able to splurge when you want and feel like a boss. You want to feel like a BO$$ don't you?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

ok so the worst thing you can do is splurge on a reoccurring cost like living expenses. unless you can pay for a full year all at once. and even then its risky.

if you want to splurge because you have cash thats fine, just make it something you buy ONE time. not something you have to spend money on every single month.

Budgeting off your base is 100% critical if you want to have ANY sort of financial freedom.

this is the #1 reason I got out of financial services and into Saas, the ability to achieve a high base salary. That has been a game changer for my family

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

To add to this, the only situation I have ever included a commission into my budget was if I had a book of business that I made a minimum on monthly. This is basically part of salary though.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yeah that is a good exception that I would also consider somewhat salary.

bendandsnack

Politicker

Account Exec

that's my situation as well, I get paid out monthly on customers over the next 2 years. thanks!

cashmachine

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

okay i gotta say i disagree here. depending on how deep you’re “splurging”, getting a nice apartment will help better your quality of life & overall mindset (abundance vs scarcity). yes you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew, but stretching a little can make up for itself by driving/motivating you to keep pushing further. otherwise, what’s the point of making the cash to begin with?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i wouldn't disagree with you completely. Yes a nicer place to live will improve your quality of life.

But if you cant afford to pay for it every year thenn its not going to help you in the long term.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Always budget off base. Budgets are meant to be consistent. Commission is never consistent.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Don't over lever. Live off base. Splurge off commission.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

Budget off base. The commission is all gravy my friend

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i love gravy.

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

Professional Day Ruiner

always budget off of base. If your base salary can't cover your bills, what happens when you have a bad month or quarter?

Commission is for the luxuries in life. Booking a trip, going out to eat, investing, saving extra for a rainy day.

I fell into that trap awhile ago of budgeting including my commission. Never been more stressed in my life.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Sounds like we all agree and aren't giving you that validation you were hoping for.

Maybe that swanky apartment can wait until you've been able to leverage into a better base. Best of luck!

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Base.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Always live off base. Commission is for investing and fun.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

I budget off of base, but have a two income household. We budget to be even on our combined bases, taking out 401K and taxes. The extra is all our commish, stock comp, and bonuses. That extra money is what goes towards the large investments and whatnot.

KingofGIF

Politicker

That is the best part of sales - budget on the base and crush quota to feel like finding money in the pocket of your old jeans, but lots. This is not fin advice.

Smilesndialz

Politicker

SDR

Budget for base salary, not every month is the same. The base covers the bases, commission is for hopes and dreams.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

The only thing I will add to the comments of "Budget solely off of base" went you do get a huge commission check that doesnt mean you should splurge it all. One look on LI and you see the layoffs going on. No one is invincible to layoffs.

....However, do enjoy the commission check. Treat yourself to something nice just try to do in reason

SaaS_Man

Executive

BDR - MANNY

Base is expenditures plus 20% leisure. Commission should be used for things like savings, needs, small wants like a nice Omega or Tag watch. If you live outside your base, you’d better be closing small deals. Or getting that pipe in line to close the whales.

the_sonk_master

Opinionated

Account Manager

I’ve always been under the mindset of assessing degrees of risk when making any kind of decision, the benefits of going off your base is that you know it will always be there. If in the event things come to a screeching halt in terms of performance, it won’t be a question of “Do I keep the lights on or put food in the fridge?” since you’ve budgeted your essentials off a fixed rate that your making. To the point that others have been making, if your commission has been fairly fixed and you know what it’ll be consistently (ie getting paid out by customers consistently over the next 1-2 years, I’d consider that fixed revenue at this point) but if there is a high degree of variability then I’d still caution to base your essential spending on your base salary

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bendandsnack

Do u budget off base?

24 comments

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