Community template
DINK budget categories for couples
Alex from Ontario and their partner use a simple Needs, Wants and Savings structure to stay on track for a 30% savings rate. Each spending group has a Misc. line for one-offs, and a Work Expenses group keeps reimbursed costs out of the totals.
- 5 groups
- 4 categories
- 49 subcategories
- Detailed (40–79)
- Couple / household
- Salaried employee
In their words
This is our simple Needs - Wants - Savings budget to help us stay on target for 30% savings goal. Enough categories to place most of our transactions, with Misc. options in both the Needs and Wants groups for those strange one-off expenses (German passport application, anyone?).
A Work Expenses group helps keep items bought for and reimbursed by work separate from our actual spendings. And an RRSP contribution allows us to track both employee contributions and employer matches.
All 58 categories in DINK Budget
Income Income
- Cashback Income
- Government income Income
- Interest earned Income
- RRSP contribution Income
- Other income Income
- Paycheque Income
Needs
- Bank Fees
- Clothing
- Car maintenance
- Gas & Transportation
- Groceries
- Health
- Home
- Insurance (Auto)
- Insurance (Health)
- Insurance (Home)
- Loan (Auto)
- Loan (Gerbe)
- Loan (Other)
- Loan (Student)
- Misc. (Needs)
- Pet
- Pharmacy
- Phone & Internet
- Rent/Mortgage
- Taxes
- Utilities (Gas)
- Utilities (Hydro)
- Utilities (Water & Sewage)
Wants
- Alcohol, Bars
- Charity
- Coffee
- Eating out
- Entertainment
- Gaming
- Gifts
- Home (Wants)
- Misc. (Wants)
- Personal Care
- Pet boarding
- Self-improvement
- Shopping
- Subscriptions
- Travel
Savings
- Emergency Fund
- Future goals
- Retirement
Work Expenses Excluded from budget Excluded from totals
- Expense reimbursement Excluded from budget Excluded from totals
- Work expense Excluded from budget Excluded from totals
Other spending categories
- Other
Transfers and excluded categories
- Payment, Transfer Excluded from budget Excluded from totals
- Trade Excluded from budget Excluded from totals
- Withdrawal Excluded from budget Excluded from totals
How to use this template in Lunch Money
Click Copy entire setup at the top of this page, then paste it into Lunch Money as a preset. See the import steps.
Want only part of it? Mix and match categories in the library to build your own template.
