Setting a baseline budget helps us avoid 'lifestyle creep' and save thousands To create the baseline, we looked at our average monthly expenses as well as our average monthly income to find an amount that allowed us to pay our bills without extravagant spending. This was the amount we knew we could live off of. In 2019, my husband and I were able to save a significant amount of money by budgeting on our baseline and putting extra commission and bonus money into our savings account. We knew there were upgrades we could have made to our home, but we were also looking to potentially move and wanted to save as much money as we could before then. Forgoing home projects and the latest iPhones, as well as watching what we spent in other areas, made it possible to save a considerable amount.