how much should i spend on...?

the following percentages are roughly how much of your monthly net income should be spent on each category. good to know! :-P

• Housing: 20-30%
• Utilities: 2-10%
• Transportation: 2-5%
• Food and Personal: 12-25%

includes clothing, groceries, entertainment, dining out, dry cleaning, and hair cuts.

• Debt Repayment: 5-15%

if you spend more than 15% on these payments, you may need to make some budget adjustments.

• Insurance: 2-5%

for health, life, auto, and renter's/home owner's insurance

• Health Care: 5%

a resource for when insurance will not cover something.

• Savings: 5-10%

for unexpected expenses, emergencies, or vacations.

• Miscellaenous: 1-2%

this could include out-of-pocket expenses, convenience items, magazines, newspapers, and other small purchases.

[via http://www.spsu.edu/finaid/exitcoun/Budget.html.]

college cost reduction act of 2007

in case you don't already know, the house passed a college financial aid bill last month, which will give money to minority universities, lower interest rates, and increase financial aid, among other things.

some other tidbits the legislation includes:

• guarantees burrowers will not have to pay more than 15% of their income in loan repayments. caps annual payments at a percentage of a student's income
  
• increases federal loan limits
• provides up-front tuition assistance to those who commit to teaching in high poverty communities and high-need subject areas
  
• $5,000 in loan forgiveness for those who go into public service careers
  
• allows public servants to have their loan forgiven in 10 years
• invests over $500 million to minority institutions in the next 5 years
  

in order to pay for these perks for students, lenders will see cuts in payments to the government to guarantee them a profit in the student loan business.

but all i can say about this bill is... it's about time!

[via http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289013,00.html.]