If you're trying to come up with a budget for your paycheck, just plan on the 75 hour minimum (minus taxes, uniforms, etc.) plus maybe half of what you think you might get from per diem. Don't depend on anything more than that yet. If you get more hours or a larger per diem check, consider it a bonus.

Along those same lines, the best thing you can possibly do financially in the next few years is to live one year behind your current pay rate. If you're making $29/hr and flying 90 hours per month, make your standard of living match $23/hr and 80 hours per month. Your life will be a lot easier, and if you have aspirations of going to a major airline in a few years, it will be easier for you to accept the pay cut for the first year.