Disposable Income

Disposable income is what's left after tax — the money you actually have available to spend or save. Economists use it as the headline measure of household spending power, and it's the base for savings-rate statistics. Note the trap in the everyday use of the word: 'disposable' does not mean 'spare'. Rent, food and utilities all come out of disposable income. The money genuinely free to allocate is discretionary income, which is a much smaller number.