[Lonewolf]

I track all of our expenses for the month in Excel, the main reason is to capture items that fall outside the "norm" (such as medical expense, the purchase of a new kitchen table, etc). We have been doing this for a year with the hopes of potentially creating new "fund" accounts which make sense.

From a budget stand point, I guess we would be similar to what Disneysteve described. In general, we do almost all of our payments via our credit card, and pay it off every month. This gives the ability to track at year end how expenses flowed. But overall, we live by the mantra of "unless the boneless chicken is 1.99 a lb, we don't get it". (Thanks for the blessed Freezer which allows us to stock up when prices are right.) Wife and I are on the same page, so that makes sticking to this "budget" much easier. In addition, we usually have an idea to how much the credit card "should be" each month, so if that gets close, we tend to tighten the belt a little tighter until the following month unless it is truly needed.

I think the key thing is understanding how the expenses are adding up, with most of ours contained to the credit card, it makes it easier to review and tweak. Discipline is the key, as it easy to swipe if you don't pay attention.

Wolf