I have found it more difficult to stick to our budget these past few months. With higher prices at the grocery store and at the pump it is easy to make excuses to spend more. Since we are expecting another baby soon, I have also found myself spending more on things I really don't need, but make life a little easier. One thing we have adjusted in our budget is the grocery category. Since we are growing as a family and groceries are getting more expensive we have increased our grocery budget by $40.
Below is our general budget, although it does change with different seasons of our life. And assuming my husband will bring home a little over $2,300 a month. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. we adjust the categories accordingly. Lately we have found out selves living the bare minimum with only $1,600 a month.
2008 Budget:
Tithe-$235
Rent- $600
Groceries- $200
DSL- $65
Phone- $55
Electric- $160
Water/Trash- $70
Van Pmt.- $200
Gas/Auto- $140
Auto Ins.- $90
My allowance- $60
Husbands allowance- $150
Medical/Rx-$20
Clothes- $20
Kids- $20
USPS-$20
Savings-$215
If we bring in less than $2,300 then we don't have an "allowance" that month and we use grocery money to pay for any Rx's we have. We also don't tithe as much, as we tithe 10% of his income. The Clothes, Kids, and Savings category may be omitted as well. My husband's allowance is much greater than mine as he takes any work related expenses like uniforms and dry cleaning out of his allowance. We have found if we give ourselves a larger allowance we find it a lot easier to stay within budget. If we find extra money that month we try and put it either into savings or towards the van.
Below is our general budget, although it does change with different seasons of our life. And assuming my husband will bring home a little over $2,300 a month. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. we adjust the categories accordingly. Lately we have found out selves living the bare minimum with only $1,600 a month.
2008 Budget:
Tithe-$235
Rent- $600
Groceries- $200
DSL- $65
Phone- $55
Electric- $160
Water/Trash- $70
Van Pmt.- $200
Gas/Auto- $140
Auto Ins.- $90
My allowance- $60
Husbands allowance- $150
Medical/Rx-$20
Clothes- $20
Kids- $20
USPS-$20
Savings-$215
If we bring in less than $2,300 then we don't have an "allowance" that month and we use grocery money to pay for any Rx's we have. We also don't tithe as much, as we tithe 10% of his income. The Clothes, Kids, and Savings category may be omitted as well. My husband's allowance is much greater than mine as he takes any work related expenses like uniforms and dry cleaning out of his allowance. We have found if we give ourselves a larger allowance we find it a lot easier to stay within budget. If we find extra money that month we try and put it either into savings or towards the van.
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