Budgeting Fun Facts

I started using a free budget-tracking program recently, called Mint. It operates on a freemium, so you can guess the number of not-so-subtle advertisements for Discover you see in there -- the price we pay for not paying. The system links up all of your accounts together so you can see a running total of all of your expenses and income in one place. The interface is kind of clunky, and the features aren't that useful to me (setting budget goals for myself so I can save for retirement?), so I really only use one tool: Trends.

Trends tracks what you're spending according to how you've categorized it, and churns out numbers and pie charts that are fun to look at. You can clearly see how I'm spending beyond my means -- but the numbers are telling!

Food: 24% of income
Education: 22%
Rent/home: 19%
Travel: 9.7%
MTA: 4.9%

Crazy, right? I'm not actively trying to change these figures (eating and learning are important!), but it's interesting nonetheless...

I've heard a stat that Europeans, on average, spend 30% of their income on food, while Americans typically spend 10%. I'm getting there! Though I'm sure the rent portion of things is lower, minus the education bit, too...