I am a stay home wife and mother to five. With my husband being the only source of income, living on a monthly budget is a must.

Living on a budget does not mean cutting all the fun stuff out of your life and sitting at home with nothing to do. First thing you should do is figure out how much money you have to work with each month count all sources of income. Then figure out your monthly expenses and make sure you count in the bills you have quarterly such as garbage, sewer, water, or car insurance. For example if you pay $33 quarterly for garbage, that is $11 each month. Also include food and transportation and your expense for going out to eat or entertainment you would do thoughout the month. Subtracting your fixed expenses from your monthly income will give you your discretionary spending money.

A big part of living on a budget is living within your means. If you are spending more money on bills than you are taking in, you need to either find additional sources of income or reduce the amount of your bills. If finding another job or source of income is impractical, you will need to prioritize your expenses into necessary and nonessential categories. Some necessary expenses will include rent or mortgage, utilities, car insurance, car payments, lines of credit payments, food, gasoline, and taxes. As for nonessential items they should be things that can be lived without such as cable and internet access, cell phones, and club memberships. It may be hard to get rid of these items but it will benefit you financially if necessary.

There are also ways to control costs in the essential items category such as watching where and how often you drive your car and when you eat out. Grocery shopping provides a great opportunity to save money.

For my food budget, I know how much I have to spend in each month, so I sit down and make a monthly menu of what we are going to eat every day for beakfast, lunch, and dinner. Four of my kids are in school during the week so breakfast and lunch are taken care of during the school year. Summer is a lot more expensive. I do leave a few spots open on the calender for the nights we go out to eat. I sit down with the Sunday paper and look at the ads and decide what is the best prices on things I need and that I might need and I always keep in mind Walmart matches prices on things from other stores if you bring your ad with you, except on buy one get one free items. So if something is a great deal at a store that is not close to my house I just go to Walmart and see if they carry the item. I shop at three stores near my house and I already know the prices of what I buy on a regular basis. Two of the stores I shop at take manufactured coupons, and one even double coupons up to 99 cents. I love when I can buy something like sauce and only pay a few cents for it after I double the coupon I will stock up on it. At the start of the month I go through my cabinets and see what I have to help decide what I should cook for the month. Everytime I go into a store that sells food and takes coupons I take mine in. You never know what might be on sale.

I also include in my food budget my household items and pet needs such as toilet paper, laundry detergent, and pet food. With any extra money I have left from my food budget I put it into a savings account that is used for unexpected expenses.

I like to take a Summer vacation as a family out of town somewhere. Every September, we decide where we want to go for our Summer vacation. For us it gives the kids something to look forward all Winter. We set a budget and I put away a little every month toward the vacation. I also take one fourth of our tax return and put it into that account.

Living on a budget does not have to be difficult or boring. You just have to keep track of your income and your expenses and make sure you can afford to live the life style that your money affords you. If you can do these simple steps, then you can live without debt and that is where you should strive to be.