Three Households, Three Budgets: How They Divvy Up Their Paychecks

Incomes vary—but so do spending habits. Even if you earn a huge salary now or in the future, if you don’t learn how to budget your paycheck responsibly, you may never achieve financial freedom. But let’s face it: Budgeting isn’t easy. Juggling your needs (home costs, transportation, groceries) with your wants (entertainment, vacations, eating out) is a constant challenge. Plus, racking up charges on a credit card for things that you want right now is often a lot more tempting than saving for the future. But it’s important to take a monthly snapshot of your budget to make sure that you’re on the right track. As you'll see, that’s exactly what we asked a family of five, a single woman—and even me and my husband—to do. To determine if we're all on the best financial course, we also asked Stephany Kirkpatrick, a CFP with LearnVest Planning Services, to weigh in on what we’re doing well—and how we can boost our budgeting even more. We've done this once before as well with a group of individuals, so go check out that post for even more budgeting advice.