If both you and your spouse work, you’ll need to combine the two incomes for the basis of the budget. The first expenditures that you’ll want to include are the unavoidable ones. This category will include payments such as rent or mortgage, car payments, auto and medical insurance payments and your monthly utility payments.

While there are other unavoidable expenses such as food and personal items like soaps and shampoos, the amount for these items isn’t a set price. If you really want to make your money stretch, you can learn to shop for sales and even use coupons.

Once you’ve made all your calculations and set a certain amount aside for food and personal items, you need to decide what to do with what’s left. Depending on how much is left, you might want to deposit a set percentage into a savings account, set a certain amount aside for entertainment, or start making plans for a home improvement project.