<prompt> Human: Hi Reddit,So I just recently graduated college and got a job in a seaport city in my home state. Its about 45 minutes from my home, and right now I am living with my parents and commuting to work. While this is a sweet gig with low rent, I really want to move closer to the town where I work, for the nightlife and for convenience. I make about 32,000 a year, and walk with about 2,132 every month in income. The only expenses I pay are 250 for my car loan, about 100 phone bill, and I will have to start paying student loans of 250mo in December. They say that realistically you should spend about 30 of your income BEFORE taxes on rent and utilities, so for me thats about 800.The seaside town where I work is fairly expensive, so I guess my question is how much can I realistically stretch my budget to afford rent, and how much should I be saving? Maybe this is a dumb question because I suppose it depends on where Im comfortable at. Id like to be around 850 per month, but is it silly to stretch over the 30? What are your personal experiences and pitfalls? Should I take the plunge to pay a bit more in rent to be where I want? Or do I save money now and live in a crappier place to have better savings down the line? Whats a good number or percentage to be saving every month? I dont want to spend a ton on rent and have no money down the line for moving up as an adult haha.Thanks pals  <response>: Because you have student loans you should stick with the 30 rule-of-thumb. This would probably mean getting a roommate. If you got rid of the car payment, then you could probably push it up near 40-45. 