conversation: User (sanfilsr): "Hello all,  \n\nI am fresh out of college and will need to start paying of my student loans. I am looking for some advice.  \n\nI currently make $25 an hour for 40 hours a week plus an additional 4 - 8 hours of overtime a week on average. I after taxes I estimated about 755 dollar paychecks not including any overtime.   \n\nIncome before taxes:  $4000/Month  \nAfter Taxes:          $3020/Month  \n\nExpenses:   \n\nRent and all utilities: $600/month  \nGas Estimate:           $300/month give or take $60 here  \nInternet plus Cable:    $120/month  \nFood:                   $300/month  \n\nThis leaves me with about $1700 left a month to invest/spend. I was thinking about putting $1000 to student loans I currently owe $30,000 at 4.67%. I was also thinking about stashing $500 a month towards emergency funds and saving the last $200 for entertainment purposes/Investments. What do you think I should do towards the last $1,700 a month or any investment ideas you have for some or all of the $200? "
  Self: "Does your employer offer a 401k plan with matching?  If so, you should contribute at least enough to get the full match, because that's free money.\n\nYou could also consider opening an IRA and investing within that account.  There's more info in the FAQs about that.\n\nDefinitely save up an emergency fund of 3-6 months worth of expenses.  Your student loans aren't at a very high interest rate, but I think if you can afford to make $1k monthly payments, that's a good plan.  "
  User (sanfilsr): "They do offer a 401k but I don't have the ability to start paying into until I have been with them for a month, they match I believe up to 35k a year, as well as having a pention for retirement. So is there a limit to how much I should put into a 401k?"
  Self: "Hmm, you should confirm what the matching policy is.  Most companies will phrase it like they do a 5% match, meaning if you contribute 5% of your pay to the 401k, they'll also contribute 5% of your pay to your 401k.  Your contributions as an employee are capped at $18k per year, not including the employer match."
  User (sanfilsr): "That makes much more sense I believe it's around 3%"
  Self: "Then definitely contribute at least that much to your company 401k.  It's free money, and it's good to start saving for retirement while you're young.  You may want to increase your retirement savings to 10-15% of your income after you pay off your student loans. \n\n\n\n"
  User (sanfilsr): "Thank you, is there a location with percents like that? For a general over view?"
  Self: "Are you asking about guidelines for budgeting your money using percents?  \n\nThe only other guideline that a lot of people follow is that you shouldn't spend more than 30% of your take home pay on your housing expenses (rent+utilities).\n\nOtherwise, you can't really say a good budget involves spending X% on food and Y% on entertainment because people have different priorities and needs.  A very high income person might spend 5% of their money on groceries, while a very low income person might spend 40%.   "
  