With me now on maternity leave we have a budget, we have never had one before but to be honest im finiding it very interesting seeing where our money goes

With me on mat leave now we clear just over $8000 per month. Hubby is paid 15th -15th so we budget monthly.

Every dollar is now accounted for and we dont have 'spare' dollars in our budget or it is tempting to spend it, so we allocate it to a category, normally savings.

This money each month covers:

Mortgage - we pay about $400 per month more than required.
Food Shopping
Home phone and Internet
Both Mobiles
Private Health Cover
Ob Appointments (Obviously this wont need to be budgeted in another 10 weeks!!!)
Gifts
Personal Loan - We pay about $200 per month more than required.
Car Loan - Pay the minimum payment as the personal loan has a higher interest rate.
Slush money for DH
Slush money for me
Petrol
Savings
This month I have also allocated a lump sum to my baby shower to cover food, decorations etc.

We also averaged out electricity, gas, water usage, water rates, land rates, car insurance and home and contents insurance from last year and put a certain amount away each month to cover these bills when they come in.

For us our savings account has a x amount = $0. Ie. if the savings account has less than xxx then we cant afford it.

I have started using the budget software You Need A Budget and have found it really good so far.

Aim x