Math for Work & Everyday Life (MEL4E) · Personal Finance

Budget guideline percentage

Compare actual spending in a category to a recommended percent-of-income guideline. Unlimited questions, five difficulty levels, and a full worked solution every time — free.

Practice this skill Curriculum: MEL4E-BD2

Try one

Financial guidelines suggest spending no more than 5% of your income on entertainment. Jordan earns $2540.00 per month and spends $117.00 on entertainment. By how much is Jordan over or under the guideline? (Give over as positive, under as negative.)

Answer: -$10.00

See one solved, step by step

Financial guidelines suggest spending no more than 12% of your income on food. Tyler earns $3460.00 per month and spends $554.20 on food. By how much is Tyler over or under the guideline? (Give over as positive, under as negative.)

📘 Worked solution

112% of $3460.00 = $415.20That's the recommended maximum spending on food.

2$554.20 - $415.20 = $139.00Subtract the recommended amount from actual spending — positive means over, negative means under.

3Tyler is over the guideline by $139.00.Spending more than recommended means going over budget for that category.

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