I don't, at least not in the traditional sense, I guess. Well maybe a mental budget but nothing that is set down in paper - I know us, we wouldn't follow it. I'm organized -- of a sort! I do know where everything is going and I can find out where everything went in the past. I was just wondering if I wasn't the only one.

The way it works for us is that Dh gives me money each week to run the household and we indeed have a list of things that fall under what we call 'budget'. I'm free to do what I want with the money and use it to buy groceries, clothing, gifts, extra curricular activities for the kids, stuff for the house etc Luckily it doesn't include any monthly bills, mortgage etc Dh takes care of all that each month from his account. He also handles all our investments, savings etc

I do keep track of every penny I spend, how I spend it in a chart in word. I love being able to check my balance each morning on my accounts at my bank. I'm weird that way! If they don't match up to what I have on paper, I have to sit down and figure out why. I'm weird that way.

But no, we don't have say a set amount we're going to spend each month on electricity or food or things like that.

Yes!! i have to have everything on paper.. i'm just like that tho...

i kind of have to trick my self into using a "budget" cuz that word makes me nervous.. everytime i think of the "budget" i feel like i can't spend what i earn. (i'm not a SAHM) both DH and I have 8- 5 M-F jobs..

so i have my "master budget" that is in excel that tells me what long term goals are and such, we are working on getting out of debt... i have a TON of student loans... ugg..

but as for the tricking myself into using a "budget" i right down in my day planner, which i have on me at all times, what my pay check is going to be for that pay period, i get paid 1st and 15th of every month. that way when i get my check i write out the payments that need to be paid and deduct it right from my check. so i know exactly i can allocate for extras.. which to be honest is never a lot. this is a sample of my next paycheck budget sheet
the 1st paycheck $972
Rent $275
power $65
Washer/dryer (final payment!!!!) 50
storage shed $204
honda car payment $150
Sprint $93
Gas/Food $135

the 15th paycheck $897
car $200
student loans $55
continental $171
mag subs (for xmas) $36
debt collector $280
food/gas $155


hth

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Forget the Joneses Blog

We have and stick by a budget for the most part. We leave room to play around with in case extras come up each month meaning we don't have it down to the penny where we have XX coming in and only spend XX each month. It's a little flexible but only as far as the extras (school lunch account, gifts, etc.). Grocery and gas budget, bills are the same each month and we only spend what we allot for them.

We don't keep a budget on paper either. I am trying. Im gonna give it another shot for the month of november, but my husband pays all the bills. We don't have an organized system. More or less its just any extra money we have for the month we put towards the debt. I am going to try to collect every receipt and keep track of what we spend on a daily basis so that we can try to cut back in our extra curricular expenses (i.e. eating out, entertainment, etc.)

We don't, and I don't even keep track of our spending in Microsoft Money anymore. This is both because we have enough money and also because neither of us is too "spendy". We trust each other not to overspend.

I dont budget in the traditional sense. I keep all my bills written on the calendar for when they are due and how much so I can figure out how much I have of my paycheck left after that. Dh and I do our bills separately as I am good with money and he is not.

I just found this site and needed to respond to this one - we have a strict budget and write down EVERYTHING that we spend. I am crazy about putting the numbers into the excel sheet and seeing our savings grow. We are working hard right now at saving as much as possible for a down payment on a house and so I can be a SAHM in a few years when we start having kids.
By the way - whoever posted and had rent of $275 - I am SO jealous! Where on earth do you live? My rent is $1300 a month!

We have 3 spreadsheets: expenses, retirement planning, income.
Each week we update dh's paycheck into the income sheet, and everything adjusts so that we can see exactly where we are for the week, month or year.

I handle all the expenses (all shopping, bills, etc) but dh knows the bills and we both always can say what is in our banking accounts, within $0-$20 accuracy.

We budget about 6 months ahead of time for vacations, and include varying expenses, like for b-day and Christmas gifts, in our expense sheet.

At Christmas, we set a budget for each person (parents, siblings, nieces/nephews) and package gifts to optimize shipping. We set a higher budget for each other and take a Saturday and go our separate ways to shop for each other. It really is a ton of fun to go to lunch by myself that day and carry around my little notebook and check prices at different stores and buy him the gifts I think he will like the most within our pre-set budget! For Christmas we average spending (including shipping to both our families in other states): for us, 4 parents, 1 sister, 2 brothers, 1 brother in law, 1 grandma, 1 niece and 2 nephews, pets: 14 people and 2 dogs altogether: $925 to $1000.

We follow a "loose budget".
By "loose budget" I mean we track all of our flexible or fluctuating expenses, such as gas, groceries, dining out, spending, etc. We have a number in mind that we would like to stick to and track when we spend in that catagory.
We also track what has been deposited into savings. At the beginning of each month we write down our goal amount that we would like to save, and every time we deposit into savings, we write it down, just to see where we are in relation to our goal. Most months we are able to surpass our goals for savings. Keeping track of our savings deposits seems to help motivate us.