What if you spent like the government?

By Stacy Jones • Bankrate.com

Ever wonder what the federal budget would look like if Congress worked with your salary instead of a few trillion dollars in public money? This calculator helps you make the conversion.

There's a huge difference, of course, between a household budget and a national budget. But a little micro-perspective might be helpful when trying to understand national priorities that are doled out in billions of dollars.

Some of those massive earmarks might not seem so big when shrunken to the size of a household budget.

This calculator uses the White House's $3.9 trillion 2015 budget proposal that was analyzed by the Office of Management and Budget. Subsequent budgets will change the amount that each priority gets, but their relative slice of the overall pie should stay roughly the same.

Finally, all of the household income numbers are considered to be after taxes.

*Editor's note: Click on a category in the doughnut chart to read the explanation of what the government spends in that category.

*Editor's note: Click on a category in the doughnut chart to read the explanation of what the government spends in that category.

What the government spends

Military: $637 billion, or 16.5%

Military spending makes up a big chunk of the federal budget. Altogether, the White House expected to spend roughly $637 billion in 2015 on its vast national defense network. That's 16.5 percent of the federal budget.

How big of a priority is that? If a couple with a $50,000 annual income devoted that much of their budget to something similar -- say, an alarm system, window locks and self-defense classes -- they'd need to spend more than $8,200 per year.

That's enough to get your home defense in shape for several years: A standard home security system costs about $500 per year to install and maintain; replacing windows and doors runs about $7,000, depending on the size of a home; and self-defense classes tend to cost a few hundred dollars per year.

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