$1,800 a Month

How do I save money? I don't spend it. Except that I have to. So here's how.

Every month this is our budget:

   $800-- Mortgage payment
   $106-- Property Tax
     $46-- Homeowners Insurance
   $245-- Utilities
     $10-- Phone
     $22-- Internet

   $175-- Gasoline
     $65-- Auto Insurance
     $30-- Auto Maintenance
       $8-- Auto Licensing/Registration

     $70-- Household Supplies
     $60-- Food
     $35-- Clothes
     $15-- School Supplies
     $20-- Fun Activities

     $76-- Personal Care
     $17-- Life Insurance

$1,800-- Total

Any income over and above this total goes into savings.

Our budget works like the envelope system; the first day of every month, the budgeted amount is added to each category. Money not spent in previous months creates a surplus in its category; money spent over the budget creates a deficit that is taken out of the next month's allowance for that category.

As I write about each line-item, It will be linked from here-- in case you don't want to read every single post from the very beginning in hopes of not missing any.