[BadlandZ]

There are a couple mentions of “pay off your debts.” But the only debt is a single student loan, one of the lowest interest loans going. I actually (mistakenly?) thought not having any credit card or other revolving debt was already a fairly good start.

The only other thing considered debt, $201 a month for TWO cars, isn't going to go away with a paid off. Cars don’t last forever. Even with paid off cars, that money would have to go into a "car fund" because it would be a couple years to save enough to buy completely modest used reasonably reliable vehicles.

About taxes, 25% was taken as a grand total of all withholdings, for federal, state, and local taxes, plus social security, disability, and all other withholdings. What would be a reasonable number?

I’ve spent a lot of time moving numbers around on a spreadsheet now, and honestly, it’s hard to find any percentages to change that would significantly improve other areas of life. My wife and have been looking at it for a while now, and it’s depressing no matter what numbers we put in.

I’d honestly like to see a budget with percentages and details like this for someone who earns $30k to $40k a year. How do they survive?

I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just trying to figure it out. And elsewhere there is advice that one should have an “Emergency Fund” of ~6 months pay, at this savings rate, that will take over 5 years.