In September 2025 we spent a long weekend in Carolina Beach, North Carolina (about a 4-hour drive from home) celebrating good friends who are getting married next spring. They rented a giant beach house and invited several families to join (and even covered meals). Incredibly generous!

September was a full month. It kicked off with an impromptu visit from one of my high school friends and her family. They stayed two nights, we ate great food, went on a beautiful hike, checked out a new brewery, and cut cardboard with a saw (don’t ask!).

This week was pretty run-of-the-mill for us. The kids had a full week of school, five full days for E and three half days for H. Mike worked his usual schedule, and I fit in my work during H’s preschool hours, early evenings, and a bit on the weekend.

On average, our family spends about $1,330 a month on groceries (22% of our overall budget), which falls right in between the moderate-cost and liberal food plan amounts that the USDA publishes.

I used to be a diehard spreadsheet person. For years I couldn’t fathom paying money for a budgeting tool. And honestly, I still love a good spreadsheet…

When it comes to budgeting, we think of it more as a guide than a rulebook. It’s a suggestion, not something set in stone. Some months we stick to the numbers pretty closely, other months life happens and we adjust.

Over the years, we’ve gone through lots of iterations of our budget. Here’s a peek at what we’re currently tracking.

Budgeting didn’t formally enter the picture for our family until 2016. That was the year E was born, and the year I started my faculty job.