Last updated on July 1st, 2025 at 02:48 pm
Disposable Income and Discretionary Income may be very similar in meaning to the ear, but there is a huge difference between the two terms, and it is very important for you to know the difference.
It is especially important to know the difference when you are saving for college, or to buy a new car, or to save enough for a down payment to buy a house, or to simply plan for a vacation.
Understanding the difference between these two terms can also help you with identifying some weak spots in your spending habits and your income.
I like keeping things simple, so here it goes:
Disposable Income: is the cash you have left over from your paycheck AFTER TAXES.
Discretionary Income: is the cash you have left over from your paycheck AFTER TAXES and also AFTER PAYING AND FUNDING ALL OTHER NECESSARY EXPENSES, such as rent, mortgage, groceries, utility bills, clothing, gas for your car, emergency funding, funding for retirement, etc.
Discretionary Income can also be described as FUN MONEY or THROW AWAY MONEY, which is what we here at CashBox247 are most focused on helping YOU to grow.
By starting your Affiliate Marketing business you certainly have the potential to increase your discretionary income (FUN MONEY) and secure your financial future.
Many of us rely solely on our jobs and our paychecks to secure our financial futures, and that’s OK, but when you work for someone else, unfortunately, you are not in total control of your income, in fact, you are not even guaranteed an income.
You may have a well funded 401K or a growing ROTH IRA, (and if you don’t, start one) but those are money products that you do not have immediate access to without substantial penalties.
To clarify, I am not an opponent of having a job, not even close.
In fact, a job, in addition to earning a paycheck to pay the bills, is what allows us to socialize, meet people, make friends, network, and create relationships.
A job is a wonderful thing, but I will say this to you, that a job is not guaranteed, and in this climate, you should never rely on your job as your sole source of income.
The job market is so volatile that you can walk into your job at 8:00am, and by lunch time, be laid off.
If you were laid off, it would be good for your mental health to know that you had your own online business that you operate from home, generating a little bit of money, that you can immediately (now that you don’t have a job) begin to work on full-time and grow.
Imagine not having an online business, and finding out that you have been laid off, your mental health would immediately go into a tail spin, I mean, what are you going to do to pay the rent on the first of the month.
No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow, but in my view, I think it would be best for everyone to at least start to familiarize themselves with affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing gives you the wonderful opportunity to promote your best products and services online and for you to get paid if someone happens to click on your link and make a purchase.
But it does take time to cultivate an audience and build traffic to your website, blog, or social accounts.
Give yourself a good head start while you have a good paying job and your mind is clear, and prepare for the unexpected, because I can tell you, there is nothing worse than trying to start a business and try to make it profitable with debt collectors hounding you day and night.
We share a lot of information about affiliate marketing on CashBox247 to help you to build you discretionary bucket, but if you want to get a fast start, we recommend Wealthy Affiliate. Click Here to Learn More.
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