<prompt> Human: hey PF,When you say that you should only spend 13rd of your income on housing, does that mean just rentMITI or would that include everything in your cost of living. i.e. electric, gas, water, cable, etc.thanks  <response>: The govt says 13rd of your GROSS income is the max you should spend on housing. This is a very general statement which I would take with a grain of salt. The 30 rule is based on certain factors such as transportation, food, etc that cant be applied equally under all circumstances. The Gross vs Net calc depends on other criteria. Id use Net, but others recommend Gross for some reason. I think when owning a home.Example: Say you live in a city that has good public transportation, so you take the train instead of driving a car. Cars are usually the 2nd highest expense you will most likely have. The 30 rule is based off the idea that most people will drive to work This is MURICA after allTake the car out of the equation and youll have extra wiggle room to spend on housing, even if it is slightly above the 30 threshold. In that case its not exactly unaffordable. 