<prompt> Human: Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place to post this. My biggest question is how hard should someone stick to the rule of spending no more than 30 of their take home income on housing? Is this a golden rule dont even think of breaking it or youll be miserable or more of a suggestion?Im currently 25 and looking to move to the downtown area of my city when my lease is up. Not only will this be more expensive, but it will make my commute longer. I would have to commute roughly 30 minutes one way, but I work from home at least once a week. Also, Ive spent my entire life living in suburbs and small towns. I would love the chance to spend part of my twenties right where the fun is if I can afford it.Monthly take home: 3,624Downtown rent and parking: 1,350So it would be around 37 of my take home. Is this too much to comfortably handle?My current expenses are roughly 2,100 including 950 rent. I think even spending 37 of my income on housing would leave me with plenty of money to put into savings and have disposable income leftover, but a lot of people have warned me that nearly 40 on rent is stupid. EDIT:Here is my current budget:Rent 945Utilities 80Phone plan phone payment: 97Internet 40Electric 60Gas 80Groceries 200Hulu 8Spotify 10Renters Insurance 14Car insurance 100Student loans 500 min payment is 300Savings: 5002,634To add, I dont want to look for a roommate because the current plan is for my boyfriend to move in with me once his lease is up and help with the expenses. However, if that falls through, I need to be able to cover this place myself. Also, I overestimated the distance to my office. It actually looks like the commute would be closer to 30 mins. Assistant: Eh, you could probably do it, Ive done something pretty similar but it was rough, add a 40 minute commute on top of that and that a recipe for a rather stressful life. Consider getting a room mate I think. Human: I actually just checked google maps and my commute estimate was pretty off. It would be closer to 25 - 30 minutes one way. Not ideal, but I dont think thats unbearable. Assistant: Does that account for morning commute and rush hour times? A 25 min drive can turn into over an hour in the mornings with the others going into a heavily job oriented area.Human: Its a reverse commute, so while everyone is heading downtown for work, I would definitely experience less traffic heading the opposite way. Assistant: I have no idea where it is, so I could certainly be wrong here, but reverse commutes can still see a lot of added traffic. Best thing to do is just hop onto google maps right at the time you would normally start your commute and see what it says with the traffic turned on. Do that both for going there and going home. In the past Ive had co-workers who reverse commute and there was still a good deal of traffic leaving the city in the morning and going back in the afternoonevening as opposed to how long it would take at like 2 in the morning with the roads empty. Its super easy to check google maps right at the time youd be leaving in the morning or leaving the office in the afternoon and then youll find out for sure, just check that the traffic option is definitely on.Human: Thats true.I think I need to get up early one day, drive all the way downtown and then try out the commute from where I would be living.  <response>: Definitely do that. I drive a reverse commute but traffic still doubles my travel time. 