A New Budget, A New Outlook

Ok, I have completely redone our budget following the advice I read in the book America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money. I have to say I feel really good about it, and am hopeful that we will be able to stay on track better than we have in the past. According to the authors this budget accounts for around 98% of the costs the average family faces month to month so there shouldn't be much, if anything, falling into the category of "other", and every dollar of every paycheck is going to a predetermined category. Our budget is based on two paychecks per month so our April budget will actually start with the first April paycheck on the 11th and end on May 8th, rather than start April 1st and end April 30th. Here is what our new budget looks like:

Variable Expenses
Allowances $86
Auto: Gas $400
Auto: Maintenance $20
Auto: Registration/License $20
Charitable Giving $2
Clothing $30
Food: Groceries $300
Food: Out to Eat $50
Gifts $20
Home: Products/Repairs $30
Kids: Lessons $2
Medical: Dental/Doctor $50
Medical: Prescriptions $20
Misc. Expenses $20
Recreation: Activities $25
Recreation: Babysitting $5
Recreation: Cable/Internet $100
Utilities $250
Vacation $50

Fixed Expenses
Auto: Car Payment $307
Debt: Credit Cards $200
Debt: Family Loans $20
Debt: Student Loans $241.45
Home: Insurance $27.50
Home: Rent $1,400
Savings $20

Here is a further breakdown of a few of the categories so that you know exactly what costs they cover...
Allowance = $40 each for my husband and I, and $6 for our daughter
Kids: Lessons = Our daughter has been asking to take ballet so we are going to save the money for fees so that she can take lessons
Misc. Expenses = Haircut/Beauty, Postage, Dry Cleaning, etc.
Utilities = Phone, Cell Phone, Water, Electricity, Garbage, Gas, Alarm
Savings = Money will be split into 8 categories: Emergency Medical, Things for our house, Emergency Travel, Bills, Car Replacement, Down payment for a home, Kids College, Private School (we hope to send our daughter)

Any money that is not spent that month will be saved in that category so that we will hopefully build up a cushion in each category for unexpected bills, etc. I will be keeping track of our spending in my regular Excel spreadsheet, as well as our checkbook, and a three ring binder with a separate section for each category. I know that might seem pretty complex and time consuming, but this way we will be able to keep track of how much money we have to spend in each category every month. I will let you know how our first month goes, wish me luck!