Dave Ramsey Monthly Budget Percentages

When you are ready to start budgeting, you might be wondering what your monthly budgeting percentages should be. We use Dave Ramsey’s recommended monthly budgeting percentages, and adjust as needed for our debt payoff goals.

These monthly budgeting percentages are just a guide, and do not include debt payments. Debt payments will come out of your extra cash flow outside of your basic expenses. Obviously, the more you can crank down on your necessary monthly budgeting percentages, the more you will have to throw at debt.

GIVING 10% This is a personal decision, and as Christians, we believe in giving. I will say that while we are getting out of debt we don’t give the full 10%, but plan to once we are debt free. Even if you aren’t religious, or don’t give to a church, it can only help your happiness and prosperity to give a little money away to a good cause each month!

SAVING 10-15%

This will change depending on where you are at in your debt payoff or wealth building journey. We follow Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, and only have our $1,000 mini emergency fund until we are finished paying off debt.

Food 10-15%

Is this category not the BIGGEST budget buster for your family? The weekly grocery bill is always a struggle! Dave Ramsey’s food budget percentage is a great jumping off point, but I like to stick to a guide of about $100 per family member per month.

Housing 20-25%

Keep your rent or mortgage payment between 20-25% of your take home pay so your home feels more like a blessing instead of a curse.

Utilities 5-10%

There’s not much we can do about this category here, because we definitely need lights, water, and gas to run our homes. However, having too much house, can also mean your utility bills are much higher.

Transportation 10%

Small car repairs, gasoline, and oil changes are all inevitable as you operate your vehicle regularly. Stay prepared for these expenses so that you are not digging in to your emergency fund for an “unexpected” oil change.

Health 10%

Even if you have good health insurance, you will likely have some out of pocket costs like co-pays or deductibles. Set aside a little fund for out of pocket health costs (maybe a big fund if it’s cold and flu season!)

Insurance 10-25%

Assign a percentage of your monthly income to cover all of the important insurances such as Life, Auto, Home/Renter’s, and Health. Make sure you shop around to get the best possible deals so you can keep this expensive category as low as possible.

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