{"id":238,"date":"2022-02-14T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-we-created-our-first-couples-budget-for-2022\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T16:45:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:45:20","slug":"how-we-created-our-first-couples-budget-for-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-we-created-our-first-couples-budget-for-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create Your First Couple\u2019s Budget for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sqs-html-content\" data-sqsp-text-block-content>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ah, sweet marital bliss! The king size bed. The shared household responsibilities. The\u2026 joint checking account?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">When we were dating, Thomas and I waffled about the financial system that would make the most sense for us. Were we a totally separate, totally together, or \u201cyours, mine, and ours\u201d kind of couple? <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Eventually, we settled on more-or-less <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneywithkatie.com\/blog\/how-we-combined-finances-for-marriage\" target=\"_blank\">combining finances<\/a> (mostly because it seemed like the easiest choice).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">But that was only the <em>first<\/em> of a series of decisions that had to be made, and it left us with a big question mark:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">What\u2019s our \u201ccouple\u2019s budget\u201d look like? <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We were both fairly comfortable with our independent budgets (and probably went individually over-budget plenty of times), but in establishing a budget that would work for the both of us, we had to get a little creative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Some expenses were easy (if we\u2019re splitting rent now, the new couple\u2019s budget rent line item is obvious), but others forced us to ask bigger questions about how we want to spend (and save) our money. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This post is a financially naked examination of our first couple\u2019s budget in 2022, which we built in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneywithkatie.com\/wealth-planner\" target=\"_blank\">our Wealth Planner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spending Category 1: Housing \u2013&nbsp;$3,492<\/h2>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Rent: $3,000<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Water: $75<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Electric: $75<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Gas: $30<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Lawncare: $50<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Cleaning: $200<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Trash: $12<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Internet: $50<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">That means \u2013 every month! \u2013 we spend $3,492 on the roof over our head and the \u2018maintenance\u2019 required (when I say maintenance, I\u2019m mostly referring to cleaning and lawncare, two expenses we agreed to keep in the budget because it gives us back our free time).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This is the beauty of being a renter \u2013&nbsp;we could always trim our housing budget by $250 by doing our housework and lawncare ourselves, but it\u2019s pretty impossible that our housing expenses would be <em>higher<\/em> than this for the duration of our lease, since any surprises are our landlord\u2019s responsibility. In the time that we\u2019ve lived here, there\u2019s been:<\/p>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">A new dryer<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Sprinkler system maintenance<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Gutter cleaning<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Fence painting<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tree removal<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u2026and more. These unexpected expenses add up, and fortunately, we aren\u2019t responsible for them. Check that one off the list. If you <em>are<\/em> a homeowner, the rule of thumb is to budget 1% of your total property value in maintenance costs each year (that way, you won\u2019t be surprised or caught flat-footed when the dishwasher decides to crap out on you).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This category was relatively easy to set up, because most of these costs are split equally down the middle right now.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spending Category 2: Cars &amp; Transportation \u2013&nbsp;$380<\/h2>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Car Insurance: $50<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Gas: $300<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Uber\/Lyft: $30<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">My husband owns his car outright, and at the time, I didn\u2019t own a car at all \u2013&nbsp;so the bulk of our transportation expenses are his gas costs for driving 45 minutes to work every day. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Realistically, this category is higher than it needs to be given a paid-off car, but our decision to live in Fort Collins (and not Cheyenne, Wyoming, where his Air Force base is) makes gas a necessity, and we haven\u2019t yet run the numbers on whether or not it\u2019d be cheaper to get a different car (with a car payment) but better mileage.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spending Category 3: Living Expenses \u2013&nbsp;$765<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Now we\u2019re venturing into the no-man\u2019s-land of discretionary spending where things get a little bit trickier. Here\u2019s where we netted out:<\/p>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Gym\/Exercise: $14.99 (my Equinox+ membership, after the American Express reimbursement kicks in)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">HBO Max: $10<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spotify: $15<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Phone: $30 <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Personal Care (Haircuts, etc.): $200<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Shopping\/Clothes: $100<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Entertainment: $150<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Pet Care: $275<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">My husband is still mercifully on his dad\u2019s phone plan (bless that #FamilyPlan inertia), and I use Mint Mobile, which is a \u201c$360\/year\u201d cost for unlimited data, and it\u2019s been great.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We decided on $200 for Personal Care mostly because it was just double my own Personal Care budget, and the Shopping\/Clothes category was a late addition. Obviously, $100\/mo. for two people isn\u2019t a ton \u2013 it\u2019s mostly intended to be there in the event one of us needs a stray item of replacement clothing. Now that my capsule wardrobe (bless up) is complete, I don\u2019t anticipate needing to make major clothing purchases in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">(Remember, you can revisit and revamp a budget every single year, if you want.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Entertainment is a bit of a catch-all budget, but we figured it was smart to include for the rogue 5k (truth be told, we\u2019ve never done a 5k) or gym day pass that comes our way. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Lastly, Pet Care is a category in which we\u2019re both chronically over-budget. Sam Cat is a pretty low-maintenance pet, but any time we go out of town, it costs us $50\/day to have someone stay in the house with Georgia, our dog. Add food, medicine, and an endless supply of Lambchop toys, and you\u2019ve got an expensive best friend.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spending Category 4: Food \u2013&nbsp;$1,500<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Yikes. This one hurts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">I went from being <em>very<\/em> proud of my ability to keep myself alive cheaply to \u2013&nbsp;frankly \u2013&nbsp;burnt out on trying to save money on this category. <\/p>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Groceries: $175 (almost definitely way too low, considering we spent $500 in January)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Restaurants &amp; Bars: $150 (also almost definitely way too low; we spent $600 in January)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Chef Service: $1,000 (OPE)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Date Night: $175<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Let\u2019s break this down, shall we? The star of the show here is clearly the $1,000\/mo. chef service, but it provides our lunches &amp; dinners for the entire work week and (usually) into the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We pay a local chef around $250\/week to make and deliver our meals, and it\u2019s worth every penny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">That means things like snacks, produce, iced coffee, and alcohol have to fit in the grocery budget, and I have my doubts \u2013&nbsp;but we have to impose limits somewhere, right?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The \u201cRestaurants &amp; Bars\u201d budget is intentionally separate from the \u201cDate Night\u201d budget, but doing this exercise made us (read: my husband) realize that his idea of a \u2018fun date\u2019 isn\u2019t going to a nice restaurant. He likes activities (whereas I just like ordering three different appetizers), so we\u2019re going to treat that one like a \u201ctry it and revisit later\u201d item.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">My gut instinct is that the entirety of the \u201cRestaurants &amp; Bars\u201d budget will get consumed by Thai takeout and brewery trips, so we\u2019ll see how that goes. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The point, for us, is to try to <em>realistically<\/em> prepare our budget for the lives we want to live in 2022, though January\u2019s spending indicates that we may need to revisit this category.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spending Category 5: Travel \u2013&nbsp;$575<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This one probably seems a little low to some, but we\u2019re big #MilesAndPoints people, so our cash travel budget is usually reserved for stuff like rental cars and airport parking (and other things that you can\u2019t typically pay for with points). <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We earned Companion Pass for 2022 again and I have around 110,000 Southwest points, so I\u2019m hopeful that should cover most of our air travel. <\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Spending Category 6: Other \u2013&nbsp;$550<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ah, our catch-all bucket. The best!<\/p>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Miscellaneous: $100 (I fear this is too low, but am hopeful that our other categories will provide slack in the system)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Gifts &amp; Donations: $150<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Katie \u201cNo Questions Asked\u201d: $150<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Thomas \u201cNo Questions Asked\u201d: $150<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Those last two felt crucial: We both needed money each month that we were free to spend without checking with one another. Since we plan to reroute our work direct deposits into a joint checking account, we won\u2019t be supplying our individual checking accounts with fresh funds.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Total spent monthly: $7,262<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Honestly, this is a lot higher than I expected. I thought we\u2019d definitely have our total monthly expenses under $6,000, but there are two key culprits that make things pricey for us:<\/p>\n<ol data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Our home. We rent a home that costs $3,000\/mo., as noted above, which accounts for nearly half of our total monthly spent.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Our chef service. The $1,000\/mo. food cost could easily be cut in half.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">That\u2019s the thing about budgeting, though: It doesn\u2019t have to be about whittling things down to the slimmest potential expenses and kissing all convenience and fun goodbye. It\u2019s just about understanding <strong>how much it costs to live the life you want to live, <\/strong>and planning accordingly.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Switching gears: Saving &amp; investing<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">After filling out our net worth tab, we realized that we have roughly $50,000 in cash (about half of it is sitting in my business checking account waiting for the tax ax in April). <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This is an important number to calculate when planning a joint budget, because it lets you know whether or not you\u2019re prepared to prioritize investing on a monthly basis. $50,000 is plenty of cash exposure for us, so our Investing plan every month looks like this:<\/p>\n<ul data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">My pre-tax 401(k): $1,708\/mo. (to contribute the maximum of $20,500 in 2022)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">My husband\u2019s pre-tax TSP: $1,708\/mo. (to contribute the maximum of $20,500 in 2022; the TSP is the military version of an employer-sponsored retirement account)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We\u2019re above the limit for Roth IRA contributions and have Rollover IRAs, so we can\u2019t do the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneywithkatie.com\/blog\/how-to-contribute-to-a-roth-ira-if-youre-over-the-income-limit\" target=\"_blank\">Backdoor Roth IRA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Our joint taxable brokerage account: What\u2019s leftover after contributing the maximum to our tax-advantaged accounts and spending according to the plan above \u2013&nbsp;we set up our allocations together so that our new cash added would be automatically invested that way<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Total invested monthly: $22,416<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This is, of course, aspirational \u2013&nbsp;in order to spend and save accordingly, we\u2019d need about $30,000 of after-tax income per month. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The majority of the extra money for investing will come from Money with Katie, so most of our plan hinges on Money with Katie\u2019s success in 2022. No pressure, honey.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Major takeaways<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Honestly, my first takeaway is that life is f*cking expensive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We don\u2019t even have children or live in an especially high cost of living area and our monthly expenses are still over $7,000. Sure, we could absolutely cut back in some areas, but I also don\u2019t think we\u2019re living extremely high on the hog \u2013 just, like, halfway up the hog.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The other major takeaway I had from building this budget with my husband is that we\u2019re planning to save 75% of our income. Our \u201ctogether\u201d FI goal is $2M, and according to the Wealth Planner\u2019s projected returns section, we\u2019re on track to hit $2M in 4 years. That gives me a sense of comfort in the fact that we can afford to spend in the way that we\u2019re spending, <em>as long as<\/em> our earning goals hit the benchmarks we\u2019re expecting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">It\u2019s also helpful to understand areas in which we <em>could<\/em> cut back if we needed to, though that\u2019s obviously never a fun discussion\u2014regardless, we know Housing &amp; Food are two major areas of opportunity in the event that our income(s) go down instead of up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ah, sweet marital bliss! The king size bed. The shared household responsibilities. The\u2026 joint checking account? When we were dating, Thomas and I waffled about the financial system that would make the most sense for us. Were we a totally separate, totally together, or \u201cyours, mine, and ours\u201d kind of couple? Eventually, we settled on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178814,"featured_media":2428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"si-template-single-post-relationships-and-family.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,36],"tags":[41,62],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-independence","category-spending-and-saving","tag-relationships-and-family","tag-popular-relationships-and-family"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Create Your First Couple\u2019s Budget for 2026 - Money with Katie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-we-created-our-first-couples-budget-for-2022\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Create Your First Couple\u2019s Budget for 2026 - Money with Katie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ah, sweet marital bliss! The king size bed. The shared household responsibilities. The\u2026 joint checking account? When we were dating, Thomas and I waffled about the financial system that would make the most sense for us. Were we a totally separate, totally together, or \u201cyours, mine, and ours\u201d kind of couple? 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The king size bed. The shared household responsibilities. The\u2026 joint checking account? When we were dating, Thomas and I waffled about the financial system that would make the most sense for us. Were we a totally separate, totally together, or \u201cyours, mine, and ours\u201d kind of couple? 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