June Budget

 

As promised, here is June's budget. We are always a month ahead, which makes planning the budget a little easier since there are no surprises. However, last month Hubby missed a couple 12 hour shifts at work so his paycheck was a little lower than normal (ok a lot lower!) If the budget seems a little tight, its because of the check factor. Hubby did put in some over time last week, so July will be a little better.

Our budget process is based off Dave Ramsey's plan and we use cash envelopes as our main source of dividing up the finances. At the beginning of the month, we look at what we made the previous month and use that number for our income. Last month Hubby brought in $2000. I budgeted for the set bills (like bills, rent, etc) that we don't use cash to pay for. All the other categories come out as cash and are put in their respective envelopes. That said, here is our budget breakdown.

Income $2000
Expenses
- World Vision-$30
 - Giving- $170
 - Rent- $650
 - Electric- $100
 - Metro PCS (Hubbys phone)- $25
 - Sprint (internet)- $40
 - Storage- $60
 - Groceries- $200
 - Gas- $400
 - Auto Insurance- $60
 - Pets- $20
 - Blow (My spending money)- $40
 - Blow (hubby's spending money)- $40

You will notice there is NO entertainment or eating out category this money. Usually we try and incorporate dates into the budget but we are sacrificing this month. We also don't pay health insurance yet as we are still covered under the military for a couple more months. The above budget adds up to $1835. That leaves us with $165 extra. We will hold this money aside in case something comes up. At the end of the month if we haven't needed it, we will transfer it to our savings account. Also, if we have any extra money in a category we can deposit it into our savings account, or use it the next month for extras.

Each month we do a new budget for the next month. There are certain categories that are set, like insurance and rent. The cash categories are more flexible and we can beef them up or tighten the belts depending on the previous month. I always love looking at other people's budgets to see how/what they do with their money. I am sharing our budget in hopes that it will help someone trying to figure out their own budget. I am always open to comments and tips to help with the budget. I will share in a later post what we do with my income from babysitting.