1. An estimate of an income and expenditure or an amount of money that is available for spending based on some kind of a plan as to how it will be spent: The parents were trying to stay within the household budget.

Meagan and Andy were working on details as to what the monthly budget for their family of four will be as determined by Andy's income.

Sanford's project was completed on schedule and under budget.

2. An annual or other estimate of national revenue and expenditures that are determined by a government: The official statement of a budget from a government is about how much it plans to spend during a certain period of time and how it will pay for such expenses.
3. Etymology: French merchants of the Middle Ages carried their money around in a bougette, or "little bag" which came from Latin bulga, "a leather bag" or a "knapsack".

The term became bouge when it was adapted into twelfth-century French. Later, the form bougette was being used with reference to "a small bag" in English, then it became bowgette in the fifteenth century and by about 1611, it was being spelled as budget.

Near the end of the sixteenth century, the term budget referred to "the contents of a pouch" or "a wallet; a package, a bundle, or a collection".

The financial sense of budget was recognized in about 1733, when it was used for "a statement of the financial position of a government for the following year based on what the estimates of expenditures and revenues were expected to be".

1. Allowing or providing a particular amount of money to be spent during a specified time: The company is budgeting for next year's productions.

Maynard budgets a maximum of fifty dollars each month for the entertainment of his family.

2. To make and to follow a plan for spending money: Greta and Frank are budgeting their money for a trip to France.
3. Planning how to use something; such as, time: Hilda feels that she needs to budget her time better for her hobby as well as for the necessities of life.