I always hear the advice that your rent should not be more than 25-30% of your income and I like that advice. But I've never been able to get a clear answer on whether this should be on your gross or net income.
Most of the examples I see out there are based on gross income, like if you make 60K, then your monthly rent should be no more than $1500 a month (60k/12 * 0.3 = 1500). However, that strikes me as a high estimate since taxes are not taken into account at all and 5k in monthly income is significantly lower after that is removed.
So what is the case for using gross income in that calculation? Doesn't using net income provide for better budgeting?