Nobody Likes You When You're 23

As Blink 182 said, "Nobody likes you when you're 23." I'd say that some people really do like me, especially BMO Harris, Great Lakes Higher Education, and Fed Loan Servicing. My auto and student loans consist of $896 from my monthly budget of approximately $1,500 a month. I have given approximately 40% of my money just to my two student loan payments since I have been using mint.com last August.

My budgeting probably seems to go against every financial planning rule out there, but actually I'm not too far off base. According to the 50-20-30 rule I'm doing decently well, even with my numerous loans. Feel free to read up on the theory here http://www.doughroller.net/budgeting/is-the-50-20-30-budget-a-good-rule-of-thumb/ and here https://www.mint.com/budgeting-3/the-minimalist-guide-to-budgeting-in-your-20s.

If 50% of my budget is "Housing, food, transportation, and utilities fall into this category" (Mint.com) then my gas and food would fall into this category. The theory will work for anyone, but it depends on how your categorize your budget. For me, I am still living at home with my family. As you'll see by my budget, this is how I am able to make it work. I consider my two student loans and my car loan to be "necessities." They are bills I HAVE to pay.

They are:
Student Loan - $175
Parent Plus Loan  - $361
Auto Loan - $360
Totaling $896

Some Notes: I pay the Parent Plus Loan, because my parents cannot afford it and it is my education. I also am paying slightly extra on my own Student Loan and about $100 extra on my auto loan.

The 20% for Financial Obligations is what I consider my savings and my credit card payment. I save about $185 towards multiple goals. I split it up between my emergency fund, a new car (eventually I'll need this), and an end of the year reward. My credit card payment is something I have started to force myself to pay off in full every following month. I let my card go for a few months over the holidays and it came to bite me in the butt in spring.

My 30% for "Personal Choices" is where I put my food, alcohol, gas, shopping, home improvement, and gifts. I use this section as an opportunity to enjoy budgeting. I always allocate an amount, which may be none if I do not plan on using a category. We all know that one month may include birthday shots and another may include a destination wedding. This section allows me to be flexible with my funds, but it is also an area on which I could improve.

Overall, my goal is to stay under the amount that I made for the month, including my allocated savings. How do you split up your income? Have any interesting theories?