Yes, I track our spending to make sure we are reasonably aligned with our budget. Here is the basic breakdown (this is based on net income after taxes, 401K, and health insurance are take out)...

Housing 30%
Transportation(car, gas, insurance) 12%
Groceries 12%
Kids Expenses/Activities 9%
Phone/Cell/Internet 6%
Charitable contributions 4%
Entertainment 4%
"Blow" money 4%
Medical costs 4%
Travel Fund 3%
Clothing/grooming 3%
Gifts/Parties 2%
Everything else (smaller things) 7%

I will take your rent payment over mine any day!

I gave up on tracking. I had everything perfectly set up (envelope system saving) and then it all went to pot with a bunch of unexpected expenses. It is so frustrating.

10% tithe
50% housing including all utilities & property tax (we know this is too high)
20% food
5% car
5% life insurance and short term savings
10% clothes, entertainment, misc expenses

(Our retirement savings comes out before we get paid so this is the calculation with after taxes and retirement savings have come off)

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Mom to dd (age 9) and ds (age 11)

I have tried keeping track, but it is too frustrating especially when the unexpected hits.

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We don't keep track, but we should! It is funny because my DH and I were just talking about this and I came on Mommysavers to look for some budgeting ideas.

Thanks Ever since we really learned about compound interest, we've been sockin' it away. We work really hard at it.

We make a new budget every month. DH and I are Dave Ramsey fans and are totally debt free except our mortgage. At first we had a hard time keeping it together but when the brakes on the truck went out and we had to spend over $700 to get them fixed and DH had to sell some stock to keep us afloat we decided it was time to pull it together and get our budget done and stick to it and to also get an emergency fund together. Which we were very thankful for when the brakes on the car when out when I was 1,000 miles from home with our daughters! Now that we are on track and have our emergency fund set up and a working budget, that $690 brake job on the road was not an issue, I called DH told him the brakes went out, what I was spending and that was that. No worries. It's a good feeling.

Almost all of my work salary goes to my bills. utility bills and house rent. While my store business takes care of the other things needed for the house and tuition fee for my daughter...

We do know where every last penny goes. We use quicken and both love it because it helps the keeping track part. We work up the budget at the beginning of every month and then try to stay below it in every category. We also max out our 401k's before we bring the money home and try to make at least 2 extra house payments a year. I really really want to be completely debt free.

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"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts."
~Unknown~