Budget Categories You are Probably Forgetting

Once you have established your budget and plugged along for a few months you will discover that there are budget categories that you probably forgot all about when you poured your blood, sweat, and tears into creating the original masterpiece.  Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us.  Once you have rearranged your budget to fit the new dollars harmony will rein supreme.  It is always nice to have every dollar allocated to all budget categories.

Holidays/Birthdays – Make sure you have both holidays and birthdays in your budget.  The good news about both of these events is they are constants.  Birthdays are on the exact same day every single year…as are Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, 4^th of July….and the list goes on to include any holiday your family may celebrate.

Gifts for Others – Unless you are Scrooge chances are high that you will give a gift to someone over the course of the year.  Budget for gifts for teachers, coworkers, friends’ birthdays, secretaries, and more.

School Expenses –  The expenses that come with school start at a very, very young age.  There are picture fees, lunch fees, yearbook fees, PTA fees, t-shirt fees, field trip fees, magazine fees, school carnival fees, BINGO night fees, and the list goes on and on and on.  I know I write more checks to the school than any other place (so much for the digital word we live in).

Home Repair – Home repairs sneak up on us and are something that we should budget.  From air filters to AC replacement there is always something popping up in the home improvement/repair category.

Medical/Dental/Optical Expenses – Copays and out of pocket costs for medical purposes add up.  Be sure you are tucking aside some money each month for these mandatory expenses.

Renewals – Software (like Back Blaze), membership (Costco, AAA), and subscriptions (including magazines and Amazon Prime) sneak up on us when the renewal cards/emails roll in.  Think about all of your renewals and budget for them…even if it is a ballpark budget.

Do you have a budget category that you have needed to add to your budget?  How often do you have budget meetings with your spouse/significant other/family?  If you aren’t already budgeting, you can do this budgeting thing!  Start saving those receipts now.

Check out these Ways I Save for more budgeting inspiration.