The 50/30/20 budgeting rule has long been the gold standard. According to this budgeting rule of thumb, you should devote 50% of your after-tax income to needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings.

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However, many Americans do not actually stick to this rule. A recent Talker Research and EarnIn survey of Americans who earn $75,000 a year or less found that the average respondent put 64% of their income toward needs, 16% toward wants and 16% toward savings.

Here’s why Americans are ditching the 50/30/20 budgeting rule — and why this might be a mistake.

While the 50/30/20 budget may be a helpful guide, it won’t work for everyone’s budget.

“At the end of the day, you don’t have to stick to any particular budgeting rules like the 50/30/20 rule, as long as you find a way of creating and managing a budget that works for you,” said Erika Kullberg, personal finance expert and founder of Erika.com.

“While that study shows some budgeters follow a similar, but different method than the 50/30/20, they could benefit from focusing more on saving and less on wants.”

The biggest issue, however, is that many Americans are having to devote too much of their budgets to “needs.”

“The key here is to lower those ongoing expenses that can weigh down your budget each month,” Kullberg said. “Small things like shopping around for new car insurance quotes and canceling the bulk of your entertainment subscriptions can add up. You need to find ways to lower your essential spending so more money can go toward savings goals or paying off debt each month.”

Bobbi Rebell, CFP and personal finance expert at BadCredit.org, agrees that devoting 64% of income to needs and less than 20% to savings is not ideal.

“The question for each person is: How do you define needs?” she said. “It might make sense to go through and think about how they might redefine needs if they lost their job — would everything still stay in that ‘needs’ bucket? Could they pull just 4% into the savings bucket? If not, could they aim to do 1% more each month until they get to 20%?”

However, Rebell acknowledges that the 50/30/20 budget may simply not be feasible for everyone.

“The split reflects the tough reality for many Americans in what is a very expensive inflationary environment,” she said. “In other words, given the circumstances, this is just how it is for so many Americans who are trying so hard to make ends meet.