re: How do you and your SO budget?

My wife & I have a spreadsheet that I maintain monthly to manage spending and track savings & debts.

Its basically a zero based budget and we take some time each month to go through each section and see where we are in the current month and plan for the coming months. The hardest part is being discipline enough to keep up with it. We typically spend as we want within the constraints of the budget and talk if there are any times we want to make purchases outside of this. (ex- I'm want to spend $200 on something for my boat, or she needs to do some clothes shopping).

Mint.com is a good resource for seeing all of your accounts in one place, but its a not the best budget management tool.

Here is an example template of our budget (the numbers are made up):
- You plan your month by filling out the 'Projected Cost' and then put in your actuals as you go through the month
- at the end of the month you see how well you held to your budget or where you need to adjust next month
- Also, I try to set up all my bills to be paid in the 1st or 3rd week of the month so I know when they hit
- Green shaded cells are auto withdrawal



I have a monthly snapshot of my budget in this form going back 5 years now, so I can track how my income and spending has changed over the years.

It's not easy or fun to keep track of, but it pays off.

If anyone wants this template I can email it...