Disposable income
Disposable income is the amount of an individual's total
income left after , plus any
transfer payments (grants) received from the
government or elsewhere. This income is available to be "disposed of" as either spending or saving.
Another concept that is often confused with disposable income is
discretionary income. This is equal to disposable income
minus the cost of the fixed expenses of life (such as rent/
mortgage, food, car payments, insurance, etc.). It is income that can be saved or spent on goods and services
wanted, not
needed. Unfortunately, the definition of discretionary income is fuzzier than that of disposable income, making it harder to measure.
People that are living at or below the
poverty line have no discretionary disposable income.
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Household consumption expenditures*
A simple discretionary income calculator -- even though this says it's measuring "disposable income," using the economist's language, it's discretionary income.
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US Bureau of Economic Statistics - Chart of American Disposable Income
