You just accepted your first job and you’ll be earning a gross income of $30,000 a year.
You live on your own and you are responsible for all expenses, including rent, car, insurance,
cell phone, utilities, entertainment, food, savings and miscellaneous expenses. You have to
pay 25% of your gross income in taxes.

Calculate your Take Home Pay:
With a gross income of $30,000 a year and a 25% tax deduction, what is your monthly net income?
(Remember this is what you get after taxes) You will use this number to start your budget.

Categorize Expenses:
Determine if your expenses are fixed or variable, and write them in the appropriate sections on the
table below.
Your expenses include:
Rent: 30% of net pay
Utilities: 10% of net pay
Car Insurance: 5% of net pay
Cell Phone: 5% of net pay
Occasional Spending: 10% of net pay
Savings: 10% of net pay
Food: 15% of net pay
Car Loan: 10% of net pay
Entertainment: 5% of net pay

Net Income: a month

Cost

Fixed Expenses
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
Variable Expenses
 $
 $
 $
Total: $

If this were your expenses in real life… what could you lower so that you could save more money?