[thejazzman]

This isn't true. And while you're welcome to disagree with me, I've never seen anyone refer to it this way outside of this HN thread.

The Oxford dictionary states "income remaining after deduction of taxes and other mandatory charges, available to be spent or saved as one wishes."

Mandatory charges, to most people outside of this HN thread, are their bills and other common expenses. Mortgages, utilities, school and incomes taxes, etc are considered mandatory charges.

I'm not saying this to argue with you. Ya'll are welcome to interpret it how you like. But if you don't consider this perspective, you are going to misunderstand what other people intend to express when they use the term disposable income.

[insane_dreamer]

that may be what "mandatory charges" means to you, but it's not what it means in economic data.

mandatory charges are "mandatory" in the sense you are "mandated" by the gov to pay them; besides taxes these include social security contributions (some countries have more such "contributions"). The are no mandates (laws, regulations) that require you to pay for housing, food, education, etc.

[cloverich]

disposable vs discretionary income perhaps?

[insane_dreamer]

yes

I think the confusion is that _colloquially_ we refer to "disposable income" as meaning the money we can spend on things we want after we've covered all the essentials.