Our 2009 Budget

As I mentioned in a post earlier we’ve made some budget changes to reflect Matt’s new job. While I’m considering the 2009 budget finalized it may need to be changed in the future as these numbers are my best guess at what our expenses will be. I’ve increased our car insurance fund in preparation of purchasing a new vehicle sometime next year and having to pay larger insurance premiums. We have also increased our student loan payment because we’ll have to begin paying on Matt’s loans come November, I’m not sure how much our payment will increase when this happens but I want to have a nice buffer available when it does. We’ll also start saving to purchase a new vehicle (something we were going to do anyway) in the case we do buy another or replace our current one. Lastly the current budget does not use all of our available funds as we are waiting to see how much we’ll have to pay out of pocket for health insurance, once we establish this amount I can make any necessary changes.

Now on to the numbers.


Tithe/Donation: 10% of net income
~ Because I am paid hourly this number will fluctuate

Essential House Funds: $1075
~ Basic necessary expenses including mortgage, heat, water, trash pick up, student loans

Non Essential House Funds: $515
~ Unnecessary expenses that we choose to continue including cell phones, cable, gas, gifts, personal spending money

Groceries: $150

Total Expenses: $1740 + 10%


The rest of our income will go into different savings categories
As mentioned I am paid on an hourly basis and my hours do vary per week; because of this I decided to list the savings amounts as percents rather than dollars

New Car Fund: 55% (until $4000 goal met)
We would like to save about $4000 for a new vehicle and will allocate $1000 from our tax return to help in this effort

Emergency Fund: 35% (until $5000 goal met)
We are planning to set aside about $5000 for an emergency fund in 2009. We will allocate about $2000 from my bonuses in the spring to help

Retirement “Dream” Fund: 10%
Once the new car and emergency funds are fully financed we will begin putting 100% of our extra income into this fund. This should allow us to put about $7000 away in 2009 leaving us with a $5500 deficit for our yearly goal (which just means I get to think of new ways to save and make money).


So there it is our first 2009 budget. I’m sure it will be adjusted at least three to five times throughout the year, but that’s the good thing about budgets they can be changed.