“Though I may not be meeting the guidelines exactly, I am using them to help me think about how I’m spending my money. And saving. It’s a good way to think about my money that I never really thought of before.”
Christy, Salt Lake City
Christy, Salt Lake City
The following suggestions are only guidelines, not absolute rules. Absolute rules have no “wiggle room”, where as guidelines have some flexibility so don’t take these guidelines too literally. It’s hard to make guidelines that apply to everybody. You all have different ages, income, expenses, et cetera. That is why we list these as guidelines, not absolute rules. On the other hand, we don’t want you to completely ignore the guidelines, as they are there to put you on a path. Violating a guideline is like walking on thin ice. The further you walk on thin ice (i.e. violate a guideline), the greater the risk you may fall through.
With that being said, the recommended guidelines are:
| Housing: | 35% (maximum) |
| Debt: | 15% (maximum) (with the goal of paying this off and putting this 15% to savings) |
| Transportation: | 15% (maximum) |
| Other | 25% (maximum) |
| Savings | 10% (MINIMUM)(can be used to pay off bad debt for a short term, 2 years or so) |