January Budget

I like to use Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makover site to create the family budget. At the beginning of the month my Husband and I sit together to complete this. It's important both of us are involved, otherwise fininacial miscommunication and over-spending occurs. The important thing about this systym is that it forces us to spend ALL our money on paper first.

Here is our overview for 01/01/10 - 01/31/10:

Please take note, we are never normally able to save as much as we have done this month. From January to March we recieve an extra $500 per month  from my Husbands coaching stypen. Coaching and referring are great ways to bring in extra income.

After creating a general budget, we then complete a worksheet from Judy Lawrence's book, The Budget Kit (shh! don't tell Ramsey) that helps divide all expenses up amongst the paychecks. This is especially helpful if your income does not arrive on the same date. It also helps overspending and timely bill payment.

Here is how our money has been divided this month:

From this we then put all expenses in envelopes. The idea behind the envelopes is that you should never take from one enevlope to support another. Any money leftover at the end of the month remains in the envelope.

Our envelopes for this month will be:

Groceries (includes cleaning, paper, health and beauty) - $320
Eating Out - $50
Gasoline - $150
Medical - $26.00
Clothing - $62
Gifts - $50
Entertainment - $40
Daycare Business - $11.50
Car Repairs - $104
House Repairs $60
Newspapers/Coupons - $24

I can already tell that adjustments will need to be made for February's Budget. I think I should have included a seperate envelope for Diapers, Pull-ups and Baby Wipes ($60). Hindsight is 20/20, right?