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Am I the only one who thinks these 50/30/20 rules are too strict?
I tried the 50/30/20 budget for six months last year and it made me miserable. My rent alone in Austin takes up 45% of my income, so I had to cut out all my fun money. Has anyone else ignored that rule and made their own percentages work better?
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derekwalker18d ago
Oh wow, I never even thought about the take-home pay thing. That actually makes a ton of sense @jade618. I was definitely using my gross income and feeling like I couldn't make it work either.
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Wait, isn't the 50/30/20 rule supposed to be based on your take-home pay after taxes, not your gross income? That's a common mistake people make and it changes everything. When I first tried it I was including my pre-tax income and it made no sense, but once I switched to using what actually hits my bank account the percentages started fitting way better. For your situation in Austin though, 45% on rent is rough, I'd probably tweak the wants category down to 15% and put that extra 15% toward housing instead of trying to force the original numbers to work.
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