Our September 2013 Budget

In the past we've talked about our budget in terms of percentages, but we thought it would be helpful to lay it all out there with real numbers. Below is our budget for September 2013. I don't share this so you can see a perfect budget. It's not perfect but it's ours and it helps tell our story. I hope it is helpful for you to see what categories we have on our budget as well as a sample amount to spend in that category (not necessarily right or wrong, but what we do).

Notes

  • I work 32 hours a week and Eric works 40 hours.
  • We have no consumer debt.
  • We have six months of expenses in savings, so we no longer save for emergencies on a monthly basis.
  • Our health insurance, day care costs ($457/month) and flex medical spending comes directly out of our paychecks.
  • Extra things come up every now and then - family photos, creating our wills, etc. - that we add as needed (cash flow).
  • We live in Iowa. I know certain things (houses, land, food) are priced higher/lower in other regions.
  • We do without cable.
  • You can also check out our 2013 Financial Forecast that I posted back in January (which also includes real numbers).
  • The amounts and categories will be different for everyone. Also, we recently posted about the comparison trap. Please don't compare our budget to your budget as if they are apples to apples.

Our September 2013 Budget

[ultimatetables 5 /]

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*You can see more example budgets on the YNAB blog