Budget Info- Pretty Personal but I Will Ask Anyways

Ultimately, I think it depends on your debt load, what you make, and what you're willing to sacrifice so you can save instead of spend. if you're looking for good budgeting tools, Microsoft Office Online has great family budget templates that you can download to excel and that might help you get a the full picture of what you're making and what you're spending and how to get that under control. The fact that you have money to spend after your bills is a good thing, as long as you're paying your bills on time.

Please read the Dave Ramsey books to learn about the envelope system. My husband and I have been using the envelope system for almost a year and it is truly peaceful! We paid off all our debt except our house. We are currently in step 3 of the baby steps. It is so nice to not have to worry about money and takes such little time to balance my checkbook. Once you get into a cash system the rest will fall into place.

Dave Ramsey is the best for this. He has a budget that is more thorough than most. He also gives percentages for certain things, like what percent of your income should go to your house. This helps you know where you are out of line. Our 'spending' money has changed as our debt has changed. For most of the time, we each got $15/week. That is not much but that is what we did until we got out of debt. From experience, until both adults in the home are plugged in and working the steps, this will be a frustrating journey. I highly recommend the Financial Peace University courses Dave has at many churches. The list is on his website by zip code I think. He connects with the men so well; that is how we made our changes. Once my hubby was in the class, we started making major changes. Can't recommend it enough....changed our life and strengthen our marriage!!!

Like a previous poster has said, this will depend upon what your finances look like. DH and I both work, each make about $50,000 a year, and each get $40/ week spending money. I know, doesn't that sound ridiculous? But like other posters have said, most of our income goes to paying down debt and building savings. The big adjustment for us was really taking seriously that ANYTHING not in the budget comes out of that $40. If we know DD is outgrowing her shoes, we plan in advance and include that in our monthly budget. If I see a super-cute dress on sale and must have it for her, that comes out of my $40. So does ALL eating out (no more take out when you're lazy!). Coffee at Starbucks, makeup for me, really anything that's not REALLY a necessity--but you'll have to get serious about what that is! GL!

I personally am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey and we are debt free today because of him but that's not your question, LOL. I agree with one of the previous posters in that it varies on how much spending money you have because it varies on your personal circumstances/finances. When you look at your budget and you have paid all your musts(mortgage,groceries,bills, tithes, savings etc.) what is left over? For us, that was our spending money. Early on we didn't have as much spending or savings money b/c we were dedicated to paying off the debt etc., so we sat aside more money for that but the more we paid off the more we were able to save and to spend. We sat down and typed up what we make in a month and then listed what had to be paid and for us this included our savings and tithes. We sat aside specific amounts for everything and we stuck to it. I will say though that we sat aside family spending money and money for my husband and I seperately(we called this pocket money). The family spending money was sometimes spent on emergency type things and other times it was for family fun-it just depended on the month. I hope this helps and makes sense. Good luck.

Pay all your monthly bills.
Pay off your credit cards as fast as possible.
Set aside enough money to buy your groceries and a little extra for things like doctor copays and unexpected expenses for the month.
Put money in savings, retirement accounts and college funds.
Whatever you have left is for spending, but you shouldn't have much spending money if you have debt. All extra money should go towards that. Good luck!