How I budget as a parent

The Last Budget You'll Ever Need The complexity of your budget can increase significantly when you have children. It's not a bad thing, it's just a reality. Perhaps we spend more money on groceries, extracurricular activities, weekend outings, Christmas gifts, etc. Whatever it may be we have to plan ahead, or we will find ourselves living month to month with no certainty of that summer vacation or that outing to the amusement park. To download my budget now, click here. Don't miss the spreadsheet tips at the bottom of this post!

So, what is your plan? I have one to share with you. Whether you have a passive approach and manage your money or you try to budget from month to month, you should check out my spreadsheet. This budget tracks my entire year. If I want to know how much money I’ll have for my kid’s birthday party several months from now or if I’ll have enough for a down payment on a vehicle, then I don’t have to stress and worry about it. My budget will show me what I can afford for every month of the year.

Quality Family Time

For me it's important to do special activities with my kids. We go to the movies, museums, or different festivals in the area, and whether the activity is free or not, I want my kids to experience all they can. New experiences are a great way to bond with your kids and they only have one childhood, so we are responsible for making it great. My wife and I like to take the kids on weekend trips to cities like St. Louis or Dallas, and we love the occasional Chuck E Cheese's trip. Whatever it may be, the kids get to try new things and hopefully have experiences they remember forever.

Even if you are spending the weekend at home, it is important to spend family time together. Play a board game or draw together. One of my daughters absolutely loves Play-doh. She can sit and play with it for hours if you let her. And she loved the day we made her very own Play-doh video; check it out here. My other daughter loves to collect Shopkins and we made a stop motion film together one weekend. Check out the Shopkins Dance Party video here.

Money is not needed to spend quality family time together, but I love being able to take my family to the aquarium or the zoo or the bowling alley. It’s definitely a balancing act when there are so many parental responsibilities like the electric bill or mortgage. My budget helps me know how much money is in the bank. At any point in the year, I don't have to worry if I'll have enough money to take my family to do something special.

The Spreadsheet

The budget I created tracks your income, bills, and savings for an entire year. I enter my estimated paychecks and bills for every month. I over-estimate any unknown numbers to create myself a monetary cushion. I move as much money as I can to my savings account while making sure the remaining balance of every future month is sufficient. I do this for every month of the year and adjust the numbers as necessary.

Free Budget Download

Check out my colleagues' brand new site: Future Dollars!

They are currently offering an awesome 

monthly budget and will have more in the future.

Tips

1. Enter your starting balance in cell B1.
2. You can change each row description to what you desire in column B. I like to lump together as many things as possible to have less numbers. For example, I would enter fuel, oil changes, new tires, etc. under transportation. Make it your own and categorize your budget how you want.
3. Enter negative numbers for savings and expenses. And of course a positive number for your income. This will ensure the formulas calculate correctly.
4. The formulas are all locked, so there is no chance of “breaking” the budget. 

Have a special budget request? Comment below or contact me here.