A budget just sounds bad. The word itself doesn’t bring about images of marital bliss. It more than likely brings up images of dusty sandwiches pulled from brown bags and boring nights at home counting lightning bugs in the back yard. If you’re married, you may not feel this way about your budget, but your significant other may. What can you do to align your household on a single budget everyone can stomach?

Creating a budget should be a family affair. It doesn’t have to be a whiteboard session with folding chairs, but should be a sit down serious time to discuss the needs of the family, between the adults. Let’s be clear — a nine year old should play a part in the budget too, but should not hear talks about mortgage, credit card debt, and sinking stock market. We need to think about their innocence afterall.

When getting serious with a budget, it pays to outline where the money goes in your family. You can purchase an inexpensive program like Microsoft Money to document your current spending habits, estimate monthly utility expenses, and regulate when bills get paid.

Open communication about spending can help you secure a sound budget. The best budgets come from discussions that start with necessities. Find the financial number your family needs to survive on a monthly basis. This would entail, mortgage/rent, utilities, car expenses, food, and credit card minimum payments. The surplus money can then be saved in a separate savings account or put towards paying down credit cards.

The discussion that follows your monthly necessity line should involve what things you feel you need. You may have expenses related to entertainment, dining out, etc. that should be agreed upon. Once both of you agree, you need to be accountable to each other. You should not just criticize but also encourage each other during lean months. The will to stay on track with a budget often times comes from our spouse.

The budget doesn’t have to be a dirty word. It can be a simple routine for where to put your paychecks. It will also alleviate some financial stress, as you’ll have a realistic idea of when you’ll be able to pay off credit card debt, take a vacation or slap siding on the house. Give it a try, and let us know how it worked out.

Comment Questions:

• Do you use a budget?
• What things did you consider when creating your budget?