One Example of a Household Budget: 2 Married Folks

(Welcome back our guest writer, Lindsey, today.)

One thing we all know is that everyone has their own way of saving, keeping track of money and of course, budgeting. As I tell people in my classes, find what works for you! If you HATE using computers, then you probably shouldn’t do a budget on an Excel spreadsheet – in the end you won’t do it. 

My families weekly and/or monthly budget is a little different from others, the main reason being because my husband does not have a salary, he works solely on commission. What we have done to avoid a possible inconsistent paycheck is to have a separate bank account where all his commission checks go, regardless of how much they are. Every two weeks, we have a scheduled amount come out of this ‘work account’ and into our ‘personal’ account like a paycheck. It is the same amount every two weeks, no more, no less. This has allowed us to keep a consistent budget regardless of the amount of any commission check that my husband receives. 

We budget throughout the week for a few different things. The moment a paycheck enters our account we have a percentage taken out to go into our savings, emergency fund, insurance and any investments. From there, we allot money from every paycheck to go towards bills that are automatically paid out from our checking account every month. This includes items like rent, utilities and phones. Because we put a portion of our paycheck away each week, we are not worried that at the end of the month when are rent is due it won’t be there! We have a weekly food and dining budget. Since we shop at Costco about every two months to ‘bulk up’, we make small trips every week for milk, fruit, etc. We also are Groupon fanatics but have some money budgeted every week for the possibility of going over our Groupon. 

We rely on our bank and their really wonderful online banking system to keep track! We are able to section of money virtually and see the whole big picture every week – this helps us stay on track!  

Our Budget, based on percentages:

Rent 10% - We are renting a low cost city apartment and saving for a down payment on a house

Bills 30% - This includes utilities, car expenses, gas, spending money, food, etc. We are able to stay within this 30% by planning ahead, no car payments, having a little apartment that does not need much heat, etc., shopping smartly when it comes to food, clothing and other household expenses 

and, of course, using Groupons for our activities!   

Savings 30% - This includes a few different types of savings accounts and goals (including the down payment on our future house). 

Taxes 30% - Taxes are expensive in the city and we are planning for my husband’s income taxes as he does not pay them throughout the year.  

What does your budget look like?