You are not alone in facing this situation, and it is a common question. With today's high cost of rent and rising inflation, 50% isn't enough for the necessity category. In this case, it would be best to take some from the 30% "wants" category and use it for the necessity category. That leaves less income for the things we might want, like subscriptions or dining out, but the necessities need to come first. Find some expenses you can cut from the 30% "wants" category for the time being. The next step should be improving your human capital to increase your income gradually.  Of course, most jobs are not conducive to increasing salary no matter how great you are at work. A better option is to then work on side gigs. It could be as involved as  investing in real estate with little or no money down, using a partner to fix and flip houses, or wholesaling real estate.  If you want a more straightforward way to increase your income with a business, you could start a website. Your website could be related to your day job. Or you could create one talking about your hobbies. Given the digital economy, no matter which path you pick, more and more of our world will be moving online. Automated tools make it easy to start a website in 10 minutes with zero computer programing skills. Here is my Bluehost affiliate link to get started with a monthly cost of only $2.95. All the above options are active income and need your time and energy. Another opportunity to get more money would be to consider passive income idea