Can you help me decide if this budget's reasonable?

All of that sounds pretty sound to me if you want to get out of debt, but you have to make sure that you also live life. If you cut too many joyous habits out of your life, then depression can easily set in. For me, long drives through the countryside exploring new places is something that I would never give up no matter how tough things were financially. It does not cost too much to go for a nice family drive in the country, just a little fuel.

I think you need to learn how to build some pleasure into this budget. It sounds a bit as if you are in jail here. I know it all depends on your "currency", what makes you feel good. I know that paying down your debt makes you feel good, but there are two people in your marriage, as well as two kids. In five or six years they will be pretty grown up, and you will have missed the chance to do things with them at this age. The camping trips somewhere are really good for them. I do applaud the fact that you are trying to get on top of things. I am interested in seeing what others say. Also, sometimes, if you can get a good chunk of change together, creditors will negotiate with you about amount you have to pay off.

I agree that your budget is much too strict. If you do not allow yourself some money every month to go out or spend on a vacation, you will end up breaking your budget very quickly. I agree with what you are doing, but attack 1 bill aggressively first then when that is paid off roll all of that money + the current amount paid on the next bill into that bill. You need to find something that both yourself and your husband agree on. That in and of itself will cause your budget to fail.

i guess when you really want something... you just ought to do it... you got to do what you ought to do...

I don't think you are being too strict. Those things you mentioned are not at all necessary and they are quite expensive. I find anything to do with eating out or dining out is way expensive. Those things you mentioned for the most part I would not expect to find in someone's budget who is carrying heavy debts. I think your camping trip should stay in place because you can put away a little each week to cover that. I'm confident you are thoughtful and clever enough to do well. Best wishes.

6-7 years is a VERY long time to give up these kinds of things... i think everything is good in moderation. Obviously you don't want to be hitting the bottle and doing other things yo ucan't afford, but it seems like life wouldn't be fun without some of those things on your list.

Maybe you are just a bit too strict - of course, I don't know your financial situation, but, since you asked for opinions here... I'm going through more or less the same situation with my father these days; he's not used to living on a budget, even if he hasn't made any income in 15 years, but my mother made quite enough for both of them. When I moved in with him, he used to spend 5 times what I earn each month. I set a monthly budget. If we manage to do with less, than my father gets the remaining money and he can spend it on whatever he wants. It's not nearly enough for him, and he still spends more than we have each month, but the situation improved considerably, and I still have hope that I'll teach him to live within our means before he eats up all my savings. As for books, gadgets and presents, I do a bit of work on MTurk, and use my earnings there to buy all these things from Amazon. It's not a good deal - the shipping fees are huge, sometimes the value of a product doubles... but I don't spend money from my budget this way, I don't have to live without these products completely. When I cut the expenses for going out for a coffee, I was surprised how many of my friends understood my situation, and tried to help me. These days, almost everybody calls to invite me out for an occasion (real or made up), which is really sweet of them. It only drives me to work more on MTurk, so I can at least make up with more presents for them.