Amounts of Family Budget Categories

I have a bunch of posts about budgeting that talk about how great a budget is, how it can free you from financial guilt. I even posted my actual family budget.

But that’s me and it’s not you. It’s so hard to do stare at a bank note and then try to make a budget out of it – one you can live off of. Living from it is what you should emphasize. There is no REASON to make a budget that you literally cannot make. Check out my post on tips for this.

At first, I thought this post was showing many different tips on budget percentages. I compared it to my own budget and it comes out pretty similar.

Our own budget is quite difficult to do because Our income varies so much. Do the rest of you have a fairly fixed income or does it vary a lot?

For us, it is very important to we have a good budget that allows for all our needs (and some wants) so we can flow when income is high (put money into savings because we don’t overspend) and stay tight on budget during lean times (and possibly draw from savings).

For us – ours looks like this:

• Mortgage & HOA 29%
• Utilities (which includes cell, water, trash, internet, TV (Netflix, Electric) 10%
• Insurance (includes auto, life and health) 21% {sigh}
• Charity 10%
• 3% health save
• Groceries 15%
• Household needs 1%
• Gas 5%
• dating 2%
• Personal Money/3% Allowance
• Wiggle Room 1%

I took a deep dive into this when I originally wrote this post in 2016, but the numbers are pretty much the same — I’ve noted below if they’ve changed.

Let’s look at some ways to save in each of these areas:

Mortgage & HOA 29%

Most people say to keep your home under 30% of your budget, but I have to be honest when we lived in California it was closer to 50%.

Of course, make sure you have:

• Good mortgage rate
• Use an insurance broker to make sure you’re getting the best price on your homeowners insurance.

Utilities (which includes cell, water, trash, internet, TV (Netflix, Electric) 10%

Sure, you can’t use the A/C or heat or limit showers to 5 minutes — but this category often just “is what it is.”

I think it’s smart to call your cell phone or ISP every once in a while, maybe try to cancel and see if there’s a better plan they can offer — but sometimes you get the best price.

Man, when we had cable I bet there were more, but we really like to pick a few streaming services and switch between the ones we like.

I think a lot of people get stuck always having Netflix when we have a few through our cell phone bill and then switching between Max, Apple TV and Netflix to always have something new to watch.

I love what my dad and I had to say about streaming services on this podcast (he’s an economics professor).

Insurance (includes auto, life and health) 21% {sigh}

Health insurance can really take a toll on a family. I know that percentage is higher than it is now.

We actually switched to using a Healthshare which greatly reduced this.

We also have a couple of young drivers on our auto policies that have jacked them up a bit (not to mention a tiny accident).

Again, make sure you use a broker to make sure you get the right pricing…

BUT, if reducing your health insurance bill can help, check out these posts:

Charity 10%

We give 10% of our income to various charities. There are many good places our dollar accounts can go.

3% health save

We used to put money into an HSA every month for health care. We are no longer allowed to do this because, at this time, you cannot use an HSA with a Health Share. It’s annoying and I’m sure grocery stores have gobbled up that line item.

Groceries 15%

The more teenagers we had, I would think that number is a bit higher.

Shop the ads, try to coupon, try to pick meals that are cheaper. We all know how to skimp on it, it’s just that beans and rice don’t really satisfy….

Household needs 1%

This is things like clothes, fixing little things around the house….

We contribute to a “home improvement” fun with some of our excess cash each month that’s been sitting there for big things — like a new roof, etc.

Gas 5%

Natural gas is what it is. In addition, the price seems to vary quite a bit. We try to combine trips and use the car with the best gas mileage as often as possible.

dating 2%

Now that we don’t have little kids at home, we don’t go out as much, but as I look at this category we should. We should go out more, it will save us the cost of a divorce lawyer. 🙂

Personal Money/3% Allowance

We each get a little money to use ourselves and we pay the allowance to our children (under 18) every month. Instead of giving them money from time to time to do things with friends, we give them a lump sum once a month that they can budget for.

These are life skills that will definitely be needed soon!

Wiggle Room 1%

I tend to fund the month (because we pre-fund our budget) a little more than what we REALLY need in the budget. I feel a little less uptight that way.

And somehow, when I feel less tight I think I spend less.

But, this is me. You will have to decide if you just want to fund this account in dollars.

Again, I think it is SO important to be honest about what we spend. It’s important to be honest with YOURSELF and I’m happy to share with you what we spend. Between my data and the % mentioned in the post above, it should give you a great idea for yourself.

Make a budget, it will set you free.

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