Toiletries such as soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, shaving cream, razors, etc.Personal care expenses include anything needed (or wanted) to take care of yourself, such as: Trust me: you’ll LOVE the feeling of paying cash for your next car. Saving toward the future need for a replacement vehicle is important in order to avoid having to take out a loan when the need for a new vehicle arises. Monthly savings designated toward the future purchase of a new vehicle.Public transportation costs or ridesharing costs.Car payments (unless you’re putting them in the “debt obligations” category).Transportation expenses can include any money you spend to get where you need to go, such as: Tip: Want an easy way to budget? Check out Tiller which uses spreadsheets but pulls in all of your bank account info automatically. Deductions for monthly savings going into an HSA (Health Savings Account)Īgain, with healthcare expenses, it can be helpful to save in advance if you’re expecting a big medical expense down the road such as surgery, the birth of a child or braces for one of the kids.Ī health savings account is a great way to do that with extra tax advantages if you qualify for one.Costs for monthly or occasional prescription and over-the-counter meds.Payroll deductions for health care, dental and vision coverage.In the case of health care, waste it can be as simple as choosing a name brand drug over a generic drug. One benefit of having a budget and tracking your expenditures each month is that you will more easily be able to recognize where you’re wasting money. Health care expenses are important to track because believe it or not, it’s possible to waste money in the area of health care just as it is with any other category. However you choose to categorize them is up to you, of course just be sure you’re including them in your monthly expenses when working with a budget. House payments or home equity loan payments.Others find it more helpful to keep ongoing, monthly debt payments in a separate category. Some people like to break debt payments down into the individual categories they relate to, such as putting your car payment into the “transportation” category. I don’t add expenses such as health care expenses in this category we’ll talk about those in another category. New toys that aren’t gifts for a birthday or other holiday.
Extracurricular expenses such as hockey or dance.ChildcareĬhild related expenses can include anything related to the care of your child that’s not a part of your health care expenses, which I recommend tracking separately. In those cases, we add restaurant trips into our food category. We put restaurant trips in the entertainment category unless we go purely for the reason that we need to eat and aren’t near home.
You may do things differently, but some people also add restaurant trips in this category.