Budgeting questions

Seeking Advice Forum
1

Hey guys, my wife is a stay-at-home parent, and we live in the US with two young kids (4 and 2.5). We haven’t followed a strict budget, but I want to start. I’m curious about how others manage their budgeting.

I will be paying all the bills and taking on household shopping. I also want to set up “allowances” for myself and my wife. For those who do this, do you get specific with it? I want my wife to have the freedom to take the kids places, so I assume her allowance would be bigger than mine.

I’m analytical and enjoy working with spreadsheets, so I’d love some advice from other stay-at-home parents on effective budgeting methods. Being a SAHP is a tough job, and I appreciate everything my wife does. I’m not looking for justification, just real-world solutions that have worked for others.

2

I started by listing out all our regular expenses and then set aside specific amounts for fun stuff, like outings with the kids. For allowances, I found it’s helpful to give my partner a bit more freedom, so she can enjoy those spontaneous adventures with our kids without worrying. I use a simple spreadsheet to track it all—works great for me.