Our Budget System

Since it is the beginning of a new month, I just finished up revising my November budget. At the end of each month I always review our monthly budget and see how we did. Then I look at the following months budget and make changes where needed so that everything adds up.

I keep my budget on the computer. We use an Excel document that my husband set up for me. I just go in and type in the numbers and it figures all the math. I love it!

We budget using the Zero-Based budgeting method. This means at the end of the month we end up with zero dollars. All our money is allocated to a specific category. This has worked very well for us. Here are the categories for our budget.

Housing
Rent
Phone, Directv, Internet (all on one bill)
Electricity and Gas
Water
Garbage
Maintenance

Transportation
Insurance
Taxes and Tags
Fuel
Maintenance

Food
Groceries

Children
School Lunch
School Supplies/Activities
Allowance

Personal Care
Prescription/Co-Pays
Haircuts
Clothing
AMA Dues

Entertainment
General Fun Fund
Will Allowance
Sara Allowance
Vacation Fund

Loans
Student Loan

Gifts/Donations/Holidays

Savings

You will want to categorize your budget in a way that works for your family. In my next post I will talk about what I do with the money that is allocated for a specific category when we go over the budgeted amount or stay under.