Sample Household Budget Forms
Sample household budget forms can be a useful tool for taking control of your finances.
How Much Am I Spending?
The first step in making a household budget is to determine how much money you're actually spending. Gather copies of your rent or mortgage payment, utility bills, credit card, and loan statements to determine your basic monthly expenses.
Then, save every receipt for one month to get a better idea of what you're spending on groceries, restaurant meals, gas, and other incidentals.
How Much Should I Be Spending?
If you've never made a budget before, you may be wondering what constitutes normal spending in relationship to your income. Ideally, the general monthly percentage breakdown for sample household budget forms should look something like this:
- Housing: 20-30%
- Utilities: 10%
- Food: 15-20%
- Gas/transportation: 15%
- Medical: 5%
- Payments on debt: 10%
- Clothing and personal care: 5%
- Entertainment: 5%
- Savings: 5-10%
Of course, we all know that personal circumstances can vary quite a bit. For example, if you have a very large family, the percentage of your income spent on food may need to be higher. On a similar note, if someone in your family has a chronic medical condition, you may need to reduce entertainment and clothing expenditures in order to help pay for medication and doctor bills. The percentages listed above are just a rough guideline to help you get started on your path to better financial management.
A Sample Budget
Following the percentages listed above, a budget for a family of three with a $3,500 monthly take-home income might look like:
- Housing (25%)
- Mortgage, insurance, and property taxes: $583
- Home improvements, cleaning products, and miscellaneous household supplies: $300
- Utilities (10%)
- Electric: $133
- Cable, phone, and Internet access: $120
- Cell phones: $65
- Water, sewer, garbage: $40
- Food (15%)
- Groceries: $400
- Restaurant meals: $125
- Gas/transportation (12%)
- Car payment: $180
- Gas: $200
- Car insurance: $40
- Medical (3%)
- Payment on hospital bill: $100
- Medications: $20
- Payments on debt (6%)
- Credit card: $100
- Personal loan: $100
- Clothing and personal care (6%)
- Husband: $75
- Wife: $75
- Child: $50
- Entertainment (6%)
- Husband: $75
- Wife: $75
- Child: $50
- Savings (14%)
- Emergency fund: $400
- Child's college savings: $100
- Total: $3,406
In the example above, retirement savings and medical insurance are not counted since they are direct paycheck deductions. You can also see that the money the family saves with a fairly low housing expense and minimal required debt payments allows them to put extra money into savings each month. Additionally, they have a small amount of money left unaccounted for each month to help pay for any unexpected expenses that might pop up.
Too Many Bills and Not Enough Money
If you find that your expenses exceed your monthly income, you'll need to make some cuts in order to keep your budget balanced. For helpful money saving ideas, review the following LoveToKnow Save slideshows:
Additional Resources for Sample Household Budget Forms
For more sample household budget forms, as well as free printable budget worksheets, LoveToKnow Save recommends visiting the following helpful Web sites:
- Microsoft Office online has an Excel template you can use for your budget. Excel is a good choice for budgeting if you want something more organized than a pen and paper budget, but lack the time to learn how to use financial software such as Quicken.
- Living a Better Life has worksheets for tracking your spending, budgeting monthly expenses, and planning for holidays or other special events.
- Women's Finance has worksheets covering a variety of needs, including specialized budget planners for college students and senior citizens.
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