Help me with budget

[peterj]

First of all I am 22.

Income 1600 a fortnight

Bills are 377 a fortnight thus includes car loan, cell, insurance.
Petrol 150

how much shouldi put into savings my problem is I freak out and put it all in there and I never feel like I am having fun. I want a new laptop on interest free so I don't fork out a lump sum but I am far too scared but I need one. I wantcto fix a dint in my car but I feel like I am wasting my money. I want to have fun but I dunno how!

[disneysteve]

You have a surplus of over $2,100/month. That's a huge amount of money at your age. Does the $377 include everything - food, housing, clothing, etc.? Are you currently contributing to a retirement plan of some sort?

I'd designate 20% of your gross, so $320/fortnight, for savings. Put 15% of that, or $240/fn, into a retirement plan. Put the remaining 5%, or $120, into other savings for short-term and mid-term needs like car repairs, home maintenance, vacations, etc.

Then live on no more than the remaining 80%. Give yourself an allowance for fun, entertainment, travel, whatever you enjoy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with spending money if you've got the money to spend and all of your current and future needs are being taken care of. Personally, 21% of my gross goes to savings and 50% of my wife's gross goes to savings. We live on the rest and I honestly don't much care how we spend it. As long as the bills are all paid in full each month, how the surplus gets spent doesn't matter. It could be on travel or dining out or casino gambling or collectibles or who knows what. The point is that we have a savings plan so that we know we are saving enough for the future and we can comfortably spend what remains and enjoy our lives today.

[Fizgig]

I agree with DisneySteve that breaking things down by percentages can make things easier.

His numbers are great but I've also seen this recommendation, based off of after tax income:

50% to needs (rent, utilities, gas, groceries, etc)
30% to wants (restaurants, toys like the laptop)
20% to saving/debt

Now, my personal opinion is that if someone has debt they should reduce the amount spent on wants, but these are just guidelines.

I contribute to my retirement with pre-tax income, so all of this is after retirement is taken care of. Since you sound like you're not in the US, I don't know if the strategies Americans use would apply to you or not.

If I were you, I'd save up for the laptop and pay cash.

Something that helps me is to set up different accounts with automatic transfers. I have a savings account and a "splurge" account that is funded with every paycheck. The splurge account is fair game to spend on anything I want, totally without guilt because I know the important things are already taken care of.

[disneysteve]

50% to needs (rent, utilities, gas, groceries, etc)
30% to wants (restaurants, toys like the laptop)
20% to saving/debt

If I were you, I'd save up for the laptop and pay cash.

I like that breakdown also. It has the 20% to savings that I mentioned and then divides the remaining 80%.

I forgot to mention the laptop. Absolutely pay cash. Don't finance it, even at 0%, because there is no reason to. You earn more than enough to make a purchase like that for cash.