Hello r/FinancialPlanning !
I work full time (40 hours/week) and get paid $10/hour, bi-weekly. Pay day is the 10th and 25th, if that matters. I also take part-time night classes at my local community college (AKA Junior College, JuCo).
On average, I am receiving $636.40 net pay every two weeks. I'd like to get some suggestions as to what percentage of my check should go into savings.
I do not currently have a financial goal. I pay my father $525 a month ($250/paycheck for simplicity) for insurance, rent, and cell phone. All of my other expenses equate to an average of $280. I'm working on bringing that number down to $230 and eventually $200.
*I plan on transferring to a university, but I am privileged in the sense that most of my education will be paid for. The rest can be figured out later (natural procrastinator). I also wanted to get a car, spending $5,000 at most (looking more at $2,000-$4,000). Since my insurance rate would stay about the same, my fixed expenses of $525/mo would be about the same.
*So here's the monthly run down. Paid on average $1272.80. Fixed expenses total to $525. My variable costs total on average to ~$500 ($230-$280/week).
Weekly rundown: Paid +$636.40, Fixed -$250, Variable -$255
I really want to get at least $200 into my savings every paycheck. That equates to >33% of my paycheck. On average, I've put ~$180 in each paycheck, with my variable expenses budget normally taking the hit.
Is >33% too high of a percentage? Is it too low? What should my target percentage be? Should I separate savings money from "goals" money (i.e. Saving $3,000 for a car in one account, general savings in another)?
I know this is quite subjective, savings and all, but I'm looking for stability or a basis for budgeting paychecks later in life.
Thank you all for your time.
- - May or may not be relevant to your answer.
Submitted March 22, 2017 at 03:54PM by chrisseiden http://ift.tt/2noe8qd
