A simple monthly budget for a young family

Budget apps are great until you stop opening them. We went back to a notebook.

We split money into four parts on payday: fixed bills, food and home, family and fun, and savings. Savings come out first.

Savings first

At the end of the month we spend twenty minutes looking at what went wrong, without blame.

Our four envelopes (sample split)

1. Fixed bills: 40%
2. Food and home: 30%
3. Family and fun: 15%
4. Savings: 15%

Sample article on a made-up website. The writer, details and story are for demonstration only.