Budget Plan

Susan wrote that she wanted some examples of how to go about strengthening our financial health. It's all about budgeting and staying within the budget and investing all extra funds into paying off your debts and/or saving for a "rainy day." I have a budget sheet that I will post (if I can figure out how to do it) so that you can get an idea of what to plan for. You have to keep all your receipts for 2 months or so. Each week you need to sit down with your spouse and go over all expenditures and put them on the budget sheet. If you do this for a whole year you will know exactly where your money went and where you can make adjustments to be able to save more and get out of debt. Remember to sit down with your spouse weekly. I can't emphasize this one enough. It takes both of you to get out of debt (or into debt). This weekly meeting is so important that I would put it up with family home evening in its value.
For simple budgeting, start with an excel spreadsheet and put all your income and expenses for a month down one column. Then add 5 more columns for the weeks in a month and fill in the blanks when you spend any money. Keeping track of expenditures helps you see where you may be able to cut down so that you can save more and waste less.

Here's some ideas for items to add to your budget:

Income
Dad's Employment
Mom's employment
Other
TOTALS

Variable Expenses
Groceries (Store)
Groceries (Store)
Groceries TOTALS
GAS
Auto #1
Auto #2
GAS TOTALS
Water bill
Electricity
Cell phone
Telephone
Miscellaneous
Medical Copayments
Medications
Dental Copayments
Auto Maintenance
Entertainment
College Fund
College Books
Home Repairs
Clothing/shoes
Christmas/Gifts
Food Storage
Entertainment
Fast Food/Restaurants
Totals

Fixed Expenses
Tithing
Savings
Car & Home Insurance
Cable
Garbage
Home Owners Assoc.
Continuing ED. Classes
Licensing
Home Mortgage
Rental payment
Loans (school)
Credit Card (#1)
Credit Card (#2)
Union Dues
TOTALS

ANNUAL BILLS
Club Dues
Life Insurance
Taxes
City Utilities/Fees
Donations
BYU Annual Fund

BUDGET TOTAL
MONTHLY EXPENSES TOTALS

Hopefully this gives you something to start with. It's very basic. There are also websites that discuss budgeting - just don't pay for anything fancy, it's not worth the expense.
When trying to teach kids about budgeting try this website: http://feedthepig.org/ . It was great.
Have a great day and start living providently!