I am being perfectly honest when I say that the 15HWW household has not had a budget in years. For the past few years, we spent whenever we felt the need to and would never put off a purchase just because we “busted” some imaginary budget. But just to make us more alert of our spending and brush up on our frugality skills, I have actually decided to impose a $42,000 budget for 2017. Why $42,000? 1. Lowering it further could be way too tough $42,000 in a year means $3,500 for a month, a very nice number. That’s a sum that is probably manageable for a household of two. I know there are some big families who manage to do with less, let alone couples. However, we are aware that we have to pay $11,000 for our mortgage and another $5,000 to our parents as an allowance. That leaves $26,000 ......