The 50-30-20 Budget

 One major rule I follow when making a budget is the 50-30-20 rule. 

• 50% of my net income goes to needs, i.e. food, gas, rent, aka the really important stuff. 
• 30% goes to wants, dining out, lottery, video games, etc. The moving fund is in this category.
• 20% goes to debt repayment and savings.

For debt repayment and savings, I assign percentages on a point system. The most important item gets two points, and everything else gets one.

For example, before I got my bonus, my most immediate debt was my credit cards (2 points). That was followed by my emergency fund (1 point) and my student loans (1 point). By this breakdown, 10% of my budget went to my credit cards, while 5% went to each of the other items.

Now as the items get paid off, the points shift down the list, and with less items, the percentages increase. Now the emergency fund (inching ever closer to three months) is two points, and the student loan payment is one point. By this breakdown, the emergency fund is 13% and the student loan is at 7%. 

There are some nuances to these percentages, especially when it comes to the moving fund and the student loans.