The household budget for our family is $400 a month and includes all groceries, household products, diapers, health and beauty, clothing, gifts, decorations and newspapers. A little on the lean side? Perhaps, but it works for our family. Whether your number is $300 or $1000, you should do what works for your family.
In 2011:
I spent $4017.01
I saved $6982.87
Extra money I made $2580.40
That’s $12,260.60 of Hubby’s salary saved and $782.99 under my budget!
This bring the total impact to my family in 2011 to $13043.59,
or about 76.75% of my goal for this 2011.
When I include my wages in this amount and some babysitting that I traded with friends, this brings my savings closer to about $15,000 or 88%. While I didn’t meet my goal I’m pleased with our spending and saving this year in light of having no rent check coming in for 2 months and paying hefty repair costs during that time on our home back in Arkansas. We were able to stay within our spending budget and keep our vacation costs at basically the cost for gas. Overall it’s been a good year for us fiscally.
I hope to improve in 2012 by increasing my wages and lowering my childcare costs. My goals for 2012 are not for a specific amount of money saved since often we save by choosing to do without or make do. My goals are to apply a specific amount of extra principal to our mortgages without dipping into our emergency funds. My goal for the first half of 2012 is to pay an extra $2,000 on the mortgage on our home in Arkansas. It’s not a lot, but we tend to not make much progress without having a goal to work towards.
How did you do with your spending and saving in 2011? What are your goals for 2012? What can I do to help you meet those goals?
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