Food

• Food is an important part of your monthly home budget that you need to learn to control. Always create a list prior to shopping, and use the sales circulars to help determine exactly how much you'll spend each week. Monitor your food shopping habits and create a monthly estimate of how much you'll spend on food. Use that budgeted amount as your maximum spending limit on food each month, and use coupons and promotional specials to stay within your food budget.
  
  

Gasoline

• When you budget for gasoline, you should budget for essential travel only. Gasoline for entertainment traveling, or vacations, should be part of your entertainment budget. Gas prices can fluctuate, so add 10 percent to your total gasoline budget each month to account for price changes. Save gas receipts for three months, and then use the average per month to create your monthly budget number. Update your monthly gasoline budget number at least once a year.
  
  

Medical Expenses

• Even people with medical insurance can have ongoing medical expenses. Items such as prescriptions, doctor visit co-pays and laboratory costs are sometimes not covered by insurance. If you have ongoing medical costs, such as a monthly doctor visit, treatment from a specialist, or recurring prescriptions, then add your out-of-pocket costs together and include them in your home budget.
  
  

Entertainment

• It can be difficult for some people to set an entertainment budget and stay with it, but in order to keep your finances under control, you need to learn to budget your fun money. After you've figured all of your essential expenses, you can then determine how much of the remaining money can be entertainment funds. Entertainment includes saving for vacations, going out for the evening and taking the family to a local amusement park. Create a number that falls well within your monthly budget, and don't allow your entertainment budget to consume all your extra money.
  
  

Savings

• Your savings account is where all your remaining funds go -- every month. The savings account is important, because it will be the source of emergency funds for things such as auto or home repairs, emergency medical bills, or money needed to pay an unexpected fine. Any entertainment money you don't use each month should be put into your savings account.