The lines to include
Start with these and remove what you do not need.
- Income: both pay slips, and anything regular on the side.
- Housing: rent or mortgage, utilities, home insurance.
- Food: groceries, and eating out as its own line.
- Transport: public transport, fuel, car costs.
- Health and insurance.
- Subscriptions and phone.
- Fun and personal spending for each of you.
- Savings goals: home, trips, a buffer.
How to fill it in
Look at the last two or three months of real payments, not your memory. Put the average next to each line. Then adjust the numbers you want to change.
Leave room for the unexpected: a small "everything else" line stops a normal month from feeling like a failure.
Skip the spreadsheet
A spreadsheet works until you stop updating it. Wollie reads your payments from your bank and sorts them into categories, so the real numbers are already there. You set the monthly amount for each category and see how the month is going.
Questions
How many categories should a budget have?
Eight to twelve is plenty. Too many categories makes it hard to keep up.
Should each partner have personal spending money?
Many couples set a small personal amount for each person, with no questions asked. It prevents small arguments.
This guide is general information, not financial advice.