Is there good rule of thumb for allocating percentages for a personal budget?

Question

I'm building a personal budget and want to know if I'm out of line in some expense categories, for instance clothing, travel, etc.

Answer 1

There is a web site http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/ that offers a calculator for helping to determine what amounts of income should go for different types of expenses. Also on that page are articles on various matters such as "Investing in Stocks" and "Saving for College"

Answer 2

Well for me, the obvious rule of thumb for budget is to usethe amount of money you make. Don't spend more than you make. But if you do not work then I would suggest you simply write down all the list of things you spend on a daily basis. You will then be able to know how much you spend and can categorize them such as food, expense, bills, clothing, etc. When you have the figures, you can then decide to make adjustments within each month. Many months vary because people do tend to spend more on December thanks to Christmas. For me personally, I try to keep track of daily spending and each month I get an average on how I spend. From then on Im more conservative on what I spend because sometimes I spend money on stuff I really do not need. Try creating a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet to be able to help you track down your spending because I can give you a number, but each person has their own lifestyle and with each new lifestyle, they each have their own spending limit.

Answer 3

don't use percentage..

use number estimates and convert them to percentages later if you have to

percentages are good to make you aware of the balance of your spending categories, but that's all

don't complicate things

Answer 4

35% of your income should be available for savings.

I hope that helps you.