Living Expenses/Budget.... Help me understand!?

Question

Hello,

Can we make a list of what the average living expense categories are and how much you pay per month... please add whatever necessary... I am trying to design a family budget. Thanks!

example:

Food - $xxx per person per month
Clothing - $xxx per person per month
Car insurance
Transportation
Housing
etc....

Answer 1

You can learn about household budgets from the following sites, some with illustrations or spreadsheets.

Answer 2

Sounds like your on the right track. What exactly are you looking for help wise? We are a family of 4 and only use my husbands income for our budget plan. Anything I make with my home business is free money!! (That's fun!!)

And if your really tight with money, do the envelope method. You have an enevoloped labeled or food, gas, any expense you might have. You put monthly amounts in the enevelop and that is all your allowed to use. When the enevelop is empty, that's it, or you can borrow from another envelope, We don't do that but my sister does.

good luck to you!!!

Answer 3

I'm sure you will get a lot of helpful advice here, but my best advice is to get the book Young Fabulous & Broke or any other book by Suze Orman. She has ways to help you not only categorize your expenses, but exercises to help you figure out your average expenses, plus build in some padding for emergencies. She will even help you "find" money to put into a savings account or retirement plan. Everyone has a different way of making a budget, but I found hers to be the most helpful. Good luck!

P.S. You can get her books at the library if you are trying to save $$.