by Claire
I’ve taken some time and put together a partial 2013 spending plan. I say partial b/c I am currently not sure what my 2013 take home pay is actually going to work out to be because I made a lot of changes to help me with taxes, I now have my health insurance taken out, the reversing of the payroll tax “discount,” etc. I was using the fact that I will not know my exact take home pay beginning in January 2013 as an excuse for not setting up a budget for my “spending money.” I caught myself using that excuse so here I am to just get started.
By way of information for new readers, I’m in a good place with knowing my regular monthly bills and laid out those constants in a post about a month ago but it is those little here and there spending items that kept getting me and that I did not have a plan for. I just had weekly spending money that had to cover things that came up. That isn’t a great way to manage your money I have learned and so I’m trying to lay out something super specific. My readers have challenged me to do so and while I’m thankful, I’m also a little cranky. 🙂 I don’t like getting this specific which is exactly why I must do it.
I’ve decided to go with the cash in envelopes system to start on these items. The “use my spending money” method is far too lenient. I cannot keep track of what I am spending in that manner. So, from each paycheck I will set aside cash in envelopes for these items:
Kid incidental spending (from this will come field trip fees, school pictures, fundraising contributions, teacher gifts, birthday gifts for parties they attend): $20. Looking back at this year’s spending it appears that January and February will be light on the spending for kid incidentals so I should be able to set aside $80-$100 as a good start on this fund. (After re-reading the list you will see below I can already see that this category is too broad. I’ll re-work it but am leaving it here as the learning tool it might be for a reader).
Clothing budget for me: $25 per paycheck. I received clothing as gifts (or gift cards that I can use toward clothing) so I am good on clothes and shoes for at least 3, probably 6, months.
Beauty Budget: $25 per paycheck. Since beginning the blog I have dramatically reduced my spending at the hair salon. I mean DRAMATICALLY. This fund will be for my now twice a year visits for a good cut and color as well as the cheap in between hair coloring I do at home. I now use grocery store shampoo (but wash my hair much less frequently than I used to) and since that adds up to $15.00 about every six weeks (for the shampoo, conditioner and hair mousse), I incorporate that into my grocery budget. This fund will also cover my twice a year make up purchases as well although I’m pretty low maintenance on the make up front.
Car Maintenance: I’m setting aside $20 per paycheck to save up for somewhat major maintenance should it arise–oh and tires and brakes. The vehicle I am driving has oil changes for life covered as well as the basic maintenance check. This fund will be for the bigger stuff but I a pray that b/c my mileage use is SO low that this fund will not be needed much.
Okay I know this isn’t an all-inclusive list and I have distance to go on thinking about what items I need a separate line in the budget for, so I remembered a long time ago I had saved a list from a website that I now cannot recall the name of (apologies!) and somehow I dug it up. I share it with you below as food for thought for myself AND anyone out there who may need help like I do in capturing where the money goes! I am going to use this list by starting to delete those that don’t apply. I sometimes feel like I am standing in mud and cannot move when I try to think about these budget items.
- Airline fares (and the luggage fees).
- Alcohol (you may include this in dining out, but I would separate this from your grocery budget if you buy for take-home).
- Alimony paid in or out.
- Allowances (his, hers, kids …).
- Appliances.
- Baby formula or breastfeeding supplies.
- Bank fees (such as when you order checks, use an out-of-network ATM, have debit card access fees, or pay a check-cashing fee).
- Batteries.
- Birthday gifts.
- Bus fares.
- Cable or satellite TV.
- Car insurance.
- Car payment and / or car purchase fund.
- Car registration fees (including the driver license renewal fees).
- Car repair and maintenance.
- Cash assistance.
- Child support paid in or out.
- Christmas gifts.
- Cleaning services.
- Cleaning supplies.
- Clothing.
- Coffee shop.
- College fund.
- Computer and office supplies.
- Condo or neighborhood association fees.
- Coupons and rebates.
- Credit card payments.
- Day care and babysitter fees.
- Dental insurance.
- Diapers.
- Dinners out.
- Donations to church, non-profit or charity.
- Dry cleaning.
- Electric bill.
- Emergency fund.
- Fast food.
- Fitness center or gym membership.
- Fuel for the car.
- Furniture purchases or repair.
- Garden supplies.
- Greeting cards.
- Groceries.
- Grocery assistance (such as you receiving food stamps or buying groceries for a family member.)
- Haircuts, manicures, spa treatments.
- Health insurance.
- Hobbies.
- Holiday candy and flowers (Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween …).
- Home maintenance and repair.
- Income taxes paid or refund received.
- Income tax preparation fees.
- Internet service.
- Investments.
- Landline phone.
- Laundry service (as in coin-operated machines or drop-off laundry service).
- Lawn care.
- Legal expenses.
- Life insurance.
- Medical co-pay and deductible expenses.
- Medical insurance payments.
- Mortgage – primary.
- Mortgage – secondary or home line of credit.
- Movie tickets or DVD purchases.
- Museum, park and zoo passes.
- Natural gas, propane or heating oil bill.
- Newspapers, books and magazine subscriptions.
- Nuisance (aka annoying expenses). Yes, I did see that category on a budget list once!
- Over-the-counter medications.
- Parking passes and parking fees.
- Payroll – regular.
- Payroll – overtime.
- Payroll – bonus or holiday pay.
- Payroll – severance pay.
- Personal care products.
- Pet expenses.
- Photo printing.
- Postage.
- Property taxes.
- Property insurance.
- Rent.
- Retirement fund.
- Satellite radio.
- School lunches.
- Sewer bill or septic tank maintenance.
- Shoes.
- Snacks.
- Sports, club and activity fees and equipment (I should be able to save some money on equipment from Goalie Monkey).
- Sports event tickets.
- Student loan payments.
- Taxi fares.
- Textbooks.
- Theater or concert tickets.
- Tobacco.
- Toiletries.
- Trash and recycling bill.
- Tuition and class fees.
- Turnpike and bridge tolls.
- Uniforms for work, school, scouts, or sports teams.
- Union dues.
- Unemployment benefits.
- Vacations.
- Vision insurance.
- Water bill.
- Wireless phone (including texting and data plans).
- Wedding plans.
- Work lunches.
- Yearbook photos.
