Save More in Every Category With a Line-by-Line Budget

Our line-by-line budget—with real numbers—helped our family of 5 save money and live on one income, so I can be a stay-at-home mom for two years. Discover the strategies we use to save money in every category without sacrificing a thing, and see the results in our actual numbers. Let’s dive in.

How A Budget Can Save Your Family: Our Story

It all started with my two years of parental leave. I never imagined becoming a stay-at-home mom. But back then, it was exactly what I needed to do—and here, I’ll tell you why and share more about us. For the first time in our marriage, we transitioned from a dual-income household to a single-income family.

Back then, our budget categories weren’t as divided as they are today (into subcategories), and I wasn’t familiar with the concept of a line-by-line budget. This made it difficult to figure out where we had savings potential and where we didn’t. In the end, I learned targeted budget planning with a line-by-line budget, which actually saved our family—and made it possible for me to become a stay-at-home mom. We came out of my two years of parental leave in the black (never going over budget).

I firmly believe that every family, in every situation, can benefit from a line-by-line budget. Yours too. Maybe it can even save your family, as it did ours, and help you achieve financial goals you once thought were out of reach – like becoming a one-income family, so you can be a stay-at-home mom too.

If you want to know exactly what a line-by-line budget actually is, and how you can create your own, make sure to check out the blog post What Is a Line-by-Line Budget? Our Family’s Real €5.000/Month. It also includes a table with our actual line-by-line budget breakdown.

The Strategies We Use to Save Money in EVERY Budget Category

I titled this post “10 Shocking Ways a Line-by-Line Budget Saved Our Family” because I refer to 10 different budget categories. Within each, I’ve found at least one seemingly shocking way to save money.

Each strategy may seem small on its own, but together they allow us to maintain a sustainable family budget for our (soon) family of 5. That’s how we’re able to achieve the financial goals that matter most to us—like becoming a one-income family, so I can be a stay-at-home mom for years, while making our dream of early semi-retirement and Semi FI come true.

Looking at all the budgeting tips below, from our line-by-line budget, which one do you think could be implemented in your own life? Let me know in the comments below.

Housing & Utilities

When it comes to housing, costs you can see that our mortgage (for a 130 m² four-story semi-detached house) makes up a big part of our budget. It could be significantly lower. But we’re actually planning to increase it (again). Our family’s goal is to be debt-free in around 5-10 years, so our mortgage would be fully paid off (we still have to pay €400.000 of debt). This is an important financial goal for us before we, as a family, enter our desired early semi retirement.

Total expenses: €2.330

• €1.810 Mortgage
• €435 Housing & utilities (incl. home insurance, property tax, and internet among others)
• €85 Household supplies

Here are the strategies we use to save money on housing and utilities:

• Marc constantly compares the tariffs of the utility companies every few months and eventually changes the contracts if he finds a better deal out there.
• We also use tricks like lowering the thermostat settings in winter, using LED bulbs, and almost never using a dryer – instead, using clothes racks (which is common in Germany).
• Marc constantly checks insurance companies for cheaper house insurance rates and switches if a better offer is available.
• The same applies to our internet contract.
• Our household supplies category helps us in case of breakdowns, replacements, or for gardening.
• We don’t have a TV subscription, because our family lives without a TV. I’ll explain the reasons behind this and the success we’ve had with it in a future blog post. However, under German law, we still have to pay around €20 per month for public broadcasting.

Groceries 

I found some extreme strategies that have helped us keep our food budget around €200-300 per month, like food-saving. Essentially, saving food means that Marc goes to the local supermarket and gets all the food that would otherwise be thrown away for free, as he’s a member of the Food Saving Club. But a while ago, we switched to a more low-carb diet. We decided to buy only organic food—directly from local farmers—and eat as much as possible from our own self-sufficient garden, so we can eat 100 % real food at the highest nutritional point.

Total expenses: €750

• €650 Grocery shopping budget (incl. toiletries)
• €100 Sinking fund for buying food in bulk (more about sinking fund in the respective category)

Here are some strategies I use now to save money on groceries:

• Home-cooking 100 % (eating out or eating in the canteen during work does not exist)
• Weekly meal planning, seasonally, based on what we already have at home or get from farmers. I have a dozen recipe cards I wrote after our family decided this was one of our favorite meals.
• Once a month (yes, once a month!), I go shopping with a list. I can do that because I have tracked our consumption for each food category, such as meat, dairy, eggs, or veggies, for months, and shop accordingly. Then, I make sure to use up, perishable foods like berries or broccoli first.

Here are some resources for saving money on grocery shopping that I appreciated when I started:

• Allrecipes.com: Type in the leftovers you want to use up, and you get recipes from around the world.
• BudgetBytes.com: Discover easy, budget-friendly recipes
• Shelfcooking: Learn to home-cook meals using the ingredients you already have at home (fridge, freezer, pantry). Then, supplement from the store. Most are doing it the other way around. 

Transportation / Car

Total expenses: €300

• €50 Public Transportation
• €250 Car (incl. insurance, tax, maintenance and gasoline)

Here are the strategies we use to save money on the budget category transportation / car:

• Marc constantly reviews car insurance policies for better rates and eventually changes our contract.
• We use our e-bikes and bike trailer (for the kids) for most of our journeys in spring, summer and autumn. And even in winter, as long as it isn’t freezing cold, we cycle, and have bought special thermal cycling clothing for that purpose (and thick winter bags for our little ones in the trailer).
• We only own one old, small car (VW Golf), which Marc bought for cash. And the four of us are going on holiday with it (including stroller and luggage). Now, Marc is looking for a larger used car (for cash), as this one barely has enough room for 5 people (the size of our family once the baby arrives).
• I love using public transport and have a monthly ticket for work, because I don’t like driving at all.

Kids 

Total expenses: €890

• €629 Daycare
• €57 Sports clubs
• €204 Extra costs (incl. special monthly expenses, clothing, shoes, toys, books, birthdays)

Here are some strategies I use to save money on kids’ expenses while making sure they have everything they need:

• Daycare costs (for our two kids) are low because we pick them up after lunch. That’s possible, as Marc has flexible work hours, and we both work part-time, four days a week. We’re currently planning to switch to a rural daycare that’s even more affordable, and more connected to nature.
• Secondhand shopping is a great way to save money. Our kids only get secondhand clothes, most of the shoes and some toys, from a local bazaar twice a year, in spring and autumn. Therefore, I save up the money I need in advance (€300 per bazaar). The same applies to our kids’ birthdays.
• Toy rotation: I stopped doing this because it caused more stress than benefit to our family. Instead, I have boxes of crafts, costumes, games, puzzles, preschool materials, and books in our basement. My eldest and I swap stuff every few weeks, and she loves it.
• Library memberships are a great way to share books and games instead of buying them, thus reducing the amount of kids’ stuff we have at home. On Sundays, our routine is to go to the local library in the morning and exchange books and games together with the kids, and we all love it.
• When it comes to entertainment, we budget for that under the category “Fun Money” (see below).

Insurance / Health

Total expenses: €185

• €59 Insurance
• €126 Doctors & pharmacy costs (medical out-of-pocket expenses) 

Here are the strategies we use to save money on insurances/health:

• Marc constantly checks policies for cheaper rates and switches if a better offer is available.
• We’ve drastically reduced the number of insurance policies we have (to only three) and, where possible, bundled them together to get better rates. We only insure against the risks we absolutely need to cover, based on our values ​​and life plans.
• Ask yourself: In a worst-case scenario, would it be financially unviable to pay for the damage out of your own pocket? If not, consider canceling this insurance.
• We don’t have to pay for health insurance from our net salary, as these are deducted directly from our gross salary under German law, which pays for nearly everything you could possibly need. That keeps our pharmacy and medical out-of-pocket costs low.

Fun Money

Total expenses: €275

• €100 Going out
• €150 Travel fund
• €25 Sports fund

Here are the strategies we use to keep our budget for fun money low:

• We sometimes use our “going out” money for ourselves, but mostly for taking the kids to a park — at most once a month. It really depends on how our month is planned.
• Amusement parks, which cost quite a bit of money for a family of four (soon to be five), we only occasionally visit. More often, we prefer to spend quality time outdoors without a schedule. I wrote about this change we made in How I Spend My Money On What Matters Most & Skip The Rest.
• Low-cost activities like baking, crafts, and days spent outdoors (on the bikes or in the woods) are what we all love to do as a family, with great joy.
• Need ideas for free, outdoor fun? Discover National Wildlife Federation: Nature Activities for Kids.
• Free local events are another thing we use to keep our entertainment budget low, while staying in touch with our local friends. We plan for this in advance with a sinking fund. That is not included in our fun money, but listed below in the category “sinking funds”.

Quality Of Life

Total expenses: €210

• €9 Subscriptions
• €126 Electronics & household services
• €75 Funds (incl. clothing, haircuts, gifts)

Here are the strategies we use to pay for some nice extras we would otherwise really miss:

• Subscriptions we keep to an absolute minimum, and pay for Amazon Prime (which we use to purchase toiletries and other items at discounted prices).
• Electronics are any home electronics we regularly need, with little money spent.
• Household Services are a great help to us, as they support us with chores and a newborn at home.
• Funds could be summarized in the next category. However, it was important to me to separate these “nice-to-have” funds (for our clothes, haircuts, and gifts) from the “must-have” funds—see next. When it comes to haircuts, we only pay for the girls and me—twice a year, around €35.

Sinking Funds 

Total expenses: €50

• €30 Family visits & local seasonal parties
• €20 Christmas, New Years Eve, Mom & Dad’s Birthdays

Here’s our sinking fund strategy that helps us keep certain expenses under control:

• We’ve created this category for any sinking funds that don’t fit into one of the above categories. They relate to events that occur throughout the year, and for which we want to save money in advance. This gives us the peace of mind that the money will be available when the event occurs.
• Sinking funds for quarterly use are intended for family visits (since they live a few hours away) and local seasonal events that we participate in as a family to connect with our local community.
• Sinking funds for annual use are Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Marc’s and my birthdays. It’s not a lot of money that we set aside for each event, but it’s enough for our family’s needs.

Buffer Money

Here’s how we go about keeping buffer money on hand (which may surprise you)—a total of €130:

• Keeping a buffer for the unexpected is crucial to sticking to any budget. Because it happens more often than you think that an unexpected bill arrives due to an unforeseen event.
• If we don’t need our buffer money in a particular month, we spend it. It’s fascinating how we often end up with higher costs—such as gas—than expected, and are grateful to have that “buffer money.”

Giving

This category isn’t included in our monthly line-by-line budget, but we donate money anyway. First, there are the donations we make every time we go to church, such as at Easter or Christmas, and in between.

But there is also church tax. In Germany, you have to pay church tax directly from your gross salary if you’re a church member. But it is not legally required. However, it is particularly important to me, as my family (like Marc’s) immigrated to Germany, and without the help of the church, we probably wouldn’t have been able to stay in Germany. For me, the church tax we pay is like giving back. But I know that many people see it differently. The church tax rate in Germany is currently just under 10 %.

I hope this deep dive into our real line-by-line budget has shown you that it’s possible to thrive — not just survive — on less. If you’re just starting your journey toward a more intentional family budget, let this be your sign: You can do this. And it will be 100% worth it.

Within the next blog posts, we’ll dive deeper into “Living On One Income” and “A Frugal Budget”. By doing so, I hope to continue helping you on your own financial journey. To make sure you don’t miss any future resources, tips, or personal insights, join the community via the green footer below.

Have any further questions regarding a specific savings strategy or something else when it comes to a line-by-line budget? Or want to share your own story? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear from you.