Before you start searching for your next lease Home, you should know how much rent you can afford. Simply divide your combined annual incomes by 40.

You might have also heard that you should spend no more than 30% of your annual income on rent, leaving enough money for all your other expenses.

So Whats the difference between 30% and 40 times the monthly rent? Absolutely nothing, theyre just two different ways of deriving the same number.  The 40x trick is just easier to calculate.