Breaking down the budget

[IntlSet]

Sorry to see so invasive, I'm just curious because money is a taboo subject among my friends so I never really have anyone to compare my own budget with.

What's the breakdown of your budget? You don't have to give figures.

As a college student, here's mine, on an average month:

Rent + Utilities: 40% (yeah, my rent is LOTS of money!)
Food: 20% (includes eating out with friends)
Entertainment: 10%
Clothes and Accessories: 20%
Savings: 10% (sometimes this doesn't happen!)
Edited to add gas: I spend about 5% on gas... now my figures are all off!

 

[Cristina]

Rent + utilities - 30 percent
Car payment + insurance - 30 percent (ouch!)
Food - 10 percent
Gas - 5 percent (wow, that's low, considering how much I drive everywhere!)
Entertainment/Shopping - 25 percent
Savings - I plan to start an IRA with whatever pay increase I get after my yearly raise, so saving for me hasn't really started yet :shame:

I jumbled entertainment and shopping into one, since I can't really figure out how much I spend on each. I don't spend a lot on food, since I bring my lunch to work, drink my morning coffee at work, and don't go out to eat too much.

 

[Tanja]

married with a child and a good earning husband (I work partime)
Rent+ utilities: 25%
Food: 20%
Entertainment: 10%
Cloths and Accessories:20-25%
Savings:15%
University fees (private)+ maid:5%

 

[fayden]

i practically have no expenses. all my bills total under 500 a month. because i still live with my parents! so everything after that, is play money for me.

 

[amanda]

my expenses are not that high...i'm still in school, so my parents pay for rent/car/gas/school expenses. i make about $125 a week at my job, and i keep that for myself and usually spend most of it on entertainment/food/clothes and bags. my weekly pay should go up soon, though. it's the end of best buy's fiscal year and they have cut expenses, which means cutting hours, but in march things should be back to normal and i'll make more.

 

[bethany]

I really have none except gas since I still live at home and my parents pay the car stuff. So I buy what I want with my job money, except I'm going to have to start saving soon (like next paycheck) for my own place and a trip overseas.

 

[helenNZ]

hmmm, i live with my brother and we basically split everything down the middle - apart from food.

apart from the normal day to day living stuff... i probably.... at the moment roughly spend about $500 in 2 weeks on anything that i need eg/ food, petrol, clothes etc... it might even be less than that coz i need to save! :cry: im being to hate that word!

 

[Mariah]

hmm...
i'm supposed to buy everything myself. well, that's how it would be if my dad had his way but my mom buys me like 1/2 of my clothes, shoes, purses, etc. so i have my money to do whatever with!

 

[Jeanna]

Gosh this is going to make me sound so spoiled and worthless. :shame: I'm not allowed to work, and I get a weekly allowance, 100% of which is for entertainment purposes, but I end up saving most. I use some of it for shopping money, but most of my bigger purchases are paid for and every new season I get extra shopping "bonuses." I live at home and am completely dependent on my parents and will be until I have a career (I want to be a doctor so it'll be a looooooong while). Even when I move out in the next couple years, they'll be paying for everything- condo, bills, living expenses...everything. My parents are adamant that I stay completely dependent until after all my education because they don't want me to worry about anything except doing well in school. :sad2:

 

[blushingbaby]

my situation is similar to Jeanna's...except the parent part is done all by my bf. he pays for everything my tuition, house bills and mortgage, my car, insurance, life insurance, phone bill, food and gives me money to fulfill my shopping/bag addiction each month.

i do help him out, run errands etc...so i don't feel completely useless. i used to work full-time during my undergrad degree (BA), but now i'm just concentrating on my education degree.

 

[IntlSet]

i'm lucky. i have really no expenses. my bf pays for everything my tuition, house bills and mortgage, my car, insurance, life insurance, phone bill, food and gives me money to fulfill my shopping/bag addiction each month.

I don't mean to be nosy, but what does someone who's still in college need with life insurance? It's just an honest question because I always thought people with life insurance were generally those with families.

 

[Noriko]

No expenses, 100% of my money goes to investments and shopping. After law school I'll move out and have 2394839483943 bills though

 

[blushingbaby]

I don't mean to be nosy, but what does someone who's still in college need with life insurance? It's just an honest question because I always thought people with life insurance were generally those with families.

we (my bf and i) both have policies...in Canada, i dunno if its the same in the US you can get locked in at a cheaper rate when you are younger (the insurance company sees you as healthier) so instead of paying $400-700/month on the policy (when i'm older), i only pay half and that's what i'll have to pay for the rest of my life/until the policy is paid off.

 

[mello_yello_jen]

Background info... college student with no current job (but I still have income from when I use to work), no car, and loving parents and family =)

Food (fast-food, take-out, sit-down) - 20%
shopping (and ex.stuff) - 55%
collectables (Stitch stuffed animals and whatever I see is cute) - 5%
My dog Rufus - 20%

 

[Tanja]

married with a child and a good earning husband (I work partime)
Rent+ utilities: 25%
Food: 20%
Entertainment: 10%
Cloths and Accessories:20-25%
Savings:15%
University fees (private)+ maid:5%

me being a mathematical idiot, :shame: it's about 35% for rent and 15-20% on cloths but not every months. It depends some months I buy more and other months I don't buy anything.