My budget shows a monthly representation of expenses making $32,256 annually working as a full-time intern at Geller architecture firm. My budgeted expenses are broken down by category. The largest category is income taxes which consumes 29% of my monthly expenditures. The second largest is car expenses which includes car payment, insurance, and gas. My living expenses include groceries, data services, personal care (hygiene), and clothing. My home expenses and savings are approximately the same, but home expenses are $27.43 more. Home expenses include my mortgage (which I share with William Coley), insurance, real estate taxes, and utilities. The other category includes donations, miscellaneous (extra savings for random occurrences), and entertainment. My total savings are comprised of an ordinary savings account and a retirement fund. My smallest category is total debt. My only debt is of student loans from graduate school, which I pay $202.49 monthly.
I did not have a lot of discretionary income, but the little I did have I chose to spend on data services, donations, and entertainment. I chose to get 15 Mbps (megabits per second) of internet bundled with television services for $50 a month, but since I have a roommate I only pay $25. Separately I have cell phone service for $32/month. Every month I donate $10 to Cary Academy for all of the wonderful experiences I had there. For entertainment I bought a Wii U with Mario Cart 8 and a small television all with my roommate.
Sticking to my budget will be fairly easy because I have enough money in each category to both deal with unexpected events or expenses and be lenient when it comes to wants. I should not have to worry about buying a new book every once in a while because my entertainment budget has extra money each month- a Wii U is a onetime fee. Even through this leniency my budget will have to change drastically about five years out of graduate school, when I move from an Intern to an Urban Design Planner. My salary will be more than three times my current, so I will, even with the increased taxes, have much more money to use to shape my life.