If you’ve never heard of Tax Freedom Day, it is defined as the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. This sum of all federal, state and local taxes divided by the nation’s total income determines the number of days required to reach Tax Freedom Day.

In 2019, Americans will pay $3.42 trillion in federal taxes and $1.86 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $5.29 trillion, or 29 percent of national income.

According to the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day for 2019 falls on April 16, or 105 days into the year.

Americans will have worked 42 days to pay federal, state, and local individual income taxes. Payroll taxes will take 26 days to pay, followed by 15 days for sales and excise taxes, another five days for corporate income taxes, and 11 days for property taxes. The remaining six days are spent paying estate and inheritance taxes, customs duties and other taxes.

Let’s take this concept one step further. How many additional earning days are required to fund various other obligations?

Beyond Tax Freedom Day, if you are planning for the future and saving the 20 percent you are encouraged to save toward your emergency fund and retirement investments, you will work another 73 days to cover this goal.

So 105 days to achieve tax freedom day plus 73 days to fill the coffers of your savings and retirement accounts puts you 178 days into the calendar year, or June 27, before you can start thinking about using any of your annual earnings for the things that might enhance your everyday life.

But wait! We haven’t discussed the cost of housing yet. As a widely used general rule in the mortgage industry, no more than 30 percent of your gross income should go toward housing costs. Rounded off, that adds another 110 days that is spent fulfilling your basic needs.

We are now down to only 77 days of the year whose earnings can be applied to all the other things in life. This includes such things as medical expenses, vehicle payments, credit card debt, helping to pay for your kids’ college tuition, or the annual family vacation.

Will you have anything left to redecorate your bedroom, or for going out to dinner every Friday (remember: there are 52 Fridays in a year)?

Rather than let the disappearing money get you down, focus on those things over which you have control and that can brighten your outlook for the future.

Certainly, your earnings are something you can control. It may mean working overtime, switching jobs or even taking on a second part-time position, but you do have some level of control.

In turn, your earnings have a direct relationship to the amount you pay in income taxes as well as those sales and excise taxes associated with your consumption habits.

Where you choose to live dictates the amount of property taxes you pay and can impact how much of your income is eaten up by mortgage debt and homeowners insurance.

Be disciplined in your spending decisions, including your contributions to (and smart choices regarding) institutions of higher learning for your children.

Focus on debt elimination so you can eventually realize better free cash flow that can be used for other priorities in the future. You can also make investment choices that maximize your tax efficiency.

Mike Ditka is quoted as saying, “Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.” He was referring to sports, but this also holds true in everyday life and in your personal finances.

Wendy Bennett is a senior financial adviser in Butler.