What % Of Your Income Do You Spend on Expenses? (pay, rent, taxes)

[zdg]

Break it down by housing costs, transportation costs, food costs, utilities, entertainment, insurance, and other miscellaneous.

I continue to see all the stats of what people "should do" (like the idea that your housing should be 30-40% of your overall income) but I don't think most Americans actually fall into those "should" parameters.

For us:
Housing - 29%
Transport - 3%
Food - 12%
Utils - 3%
Entertainment - 12%
Insurance - 6%
Other (including savings and discretionary money) - 35%

All this is to set up the debate, which is...how much money "should" Americans be spending vs what "are" they spending and what causes the (what I assume will be) huge difference in those numbers.

[las vegas drunk]

I will show my expenses:

Rent: I pay $450 a month to share a nice , gated condo 2 miles east of the strip. This includes all utilities, Digital Cable and Cox internet.

Food, gas, beer, etc: $320 a month. I set a budget of $10 a day which covers all this. I spend the other $10 a week on gas.

Car insurance: $38 a month. I drive an old Ford Escort which I paid cash for, and only need liability insurance.

Internet for work: $30 via Clear internet. This really is a luxury that I do not need. However, I am a security guard who works overnights alone in an office building all night, and I get bored, so I use this to pass the time.

Savings: I have $500-$550 every month left over that I put into savings.

[zdg]

Ok, just for clarification, I'm not necessarily asking for raw #s, but rather %s.

[jtur88]

I know people that spend 90% on entertainment. I don't think that ought to be in there.

[texdav]

Define waht you call expenses as it vary so much from person to person.

[zdg]

I'll leave that up to the poster.

[Chatteress]

Since I'm working reduced hours at my job, here is my current breakdown:

Rent: 45%
Utilities: 10%
Food/miscellaneous: 20%
Health Insurance: 20%
Savings: 5%

[TKramar]

100%.

I work on a cashflow basis. I'll spend every dime I take in.

Most of what does not go to pay rent and utilities goes towards food.

[stan4]

Housing/utilities - 12%

Cars/insurance - 8%

Savings/401k - 35%

Taxes - 37%

Fun, food, gas, groceries, vacation - 8%

[Braunwyn]

Originally Posted by stan4

Housing/utilities - 12%

Umm...I couldn't be more jealous lol.

I have an excel spreadsheet that breaks it down for me in %. I really don't want to look at it. I'm sure housing and utilities is close to 35-40% right now.