A budget only works if you can keep it. These guides start from take-home pay and keep the rules simple: the 50/30/20 split with dollar amounts at three incomes, how to adjust it when rent is high or debt is heavy, and how to compare cost of living between cities before you accept a job offer. Try the budget and planning calculators with your own figures. Start with the 50/30/20 budget rule.
Automating 10% of a $60,000 salary into investments reaches about $609,985 in 30 years at 7%. Here is how to set it up without relying on willpower.
Read more about Pay Yourself First: How to Automate Saving So You Actually Do ItAnnual costs add up to $6,540 in this example, which is $545 a month. Sinking funds turn surprise bills into planned ones.
Read more about Sinking Funds: How to Save for Irregular Expenses Without Wrecking Your BudgetIncome minus every planned expense, including savings, equals zero. Here is a worked $4,500 budget, the steps to build one and how to handle surprises.
Read more about Zero-Based Budgeting: Give Every Dollar a Job (With a Worked Example)Spend no more than 30% of gross income on rent, or $1,500 on a $60,000 salary. Landlords often want income of 40 times the monthly rent. Here is a more personal test.
Read more about How Much Rent Can You Afford? The 30% Rule, the 40× Rule and a Better TestA budget method simple enough to use. Here are the exact dollar splits for three incomes, what counts as a need, and how to change the ratios when rent is high or you are paying off debt.
Read more about The 50/30/20 Budget Rule: How It Works, and How to Adjust ItA job offer in a new city is only good or bad relative to what things cost there. Here is the simple ratio method, its limits, and how to turn it into a raise request.
Read more about How Much Salary Do You Need to Move to a New City?
