When a person is budgeting, they don’t like to admit that they have left some stuff out. However, we all do it. We sit down to budget and then realize that there are things we have forgotten to budget for. Check out these Forgotten Monthly Expenses you are forgetting to budget for and put them in your budget right away.
7 Forgotten Monthly Expenses You NEED To budget For!
Just the smallest forgotten monthly expenses can throw your whole budget into a tailspin. I've been there when something comes up and there is no room in the budget for it. I've been so desperate NOT to pull from saving some time that I've sold things in the garage to pay for the expense just so I was still on track for all my goals. This may or may not have been what happened to my patio furniture…..
But over the years I've gotten better at planning to be surprised in my budget. Yes, it's easy to toss money into a miscellaneous category every month but that may not be enough and it's an easy category to be abused when you are craving Taco Bell late at night.
So let's check out these forgotten monthly expenses and see how we can improve your budget this month!
Your Next Vacation
Hear me out. Even on the tightest budgets, it's important to plan for a vacation. Everyone needs to recharge their batteries and it doesn't have to be a super expensive vacation. Plan on taking a vacation, but you’re not sure where the money is going to come from? Don’t forget to budget your next vacation.
The average vacation is around $5,000, but you can do a cheap weekend away for around $500 if you are frugal enough! Whichever direction you go you need to start putting money away every month even if you have nothing planned you will be happy to have it covered when you are ready to get out of town for a bit.
Your Car’s Problems
No one wants to pay for their car when it has problems. Matter of fact, no one usually has the money to pay for their car to have issues. You are forgetting to budget for your car’s problems. This should also include having your car insurance deductible in savings if needed.
The first week my husband and I were married he we driving home from work and he passed by a god course and a golf ball hit his windshield. By the time he was able to pull in, of course, no one was around and the gold course refused to take responsibility.
It cost less to have it replaced on our own than to pay our deductible but we had just paid for a wedding and honeymoon we were completely unprepared. We put it on our credit card and paid iff off for a month and paid MUCH more than the cost of the windshield with interest.
We have also had issues with the car come up unplanned. Thankfully after the windshield incent we always had money aside for car repairs but there was some moth when money was really tight I'd skip this category and I'd always end up regretting it!
Life EXTRAS
With five kids, life can throw curveballs at us, which is why we budget for something life EXTRAS. You know, when your kid falls down and chips a front tooth or your furnace decides that it’s going to explode, these are life extras that you need a budget for, right now!
Some items that have fallen into this category over the years would be things like when my daughter was having a problem gaining weight so the doctor wanted her to start drinking carnation with her milk daily. That was an extra $25 a month for our budget.
When my husband nor I were in the hospital (thankfully military insurance covered THAT) but we still needed our lawn mowed we would hire it out for a few weeks. Having to get home for my husband's grandmother's funeral, having to buy a harness for the dog because he started slipping his collar on walks, or having to switch to a more expensive dog food after our dog got sick, oh and replacing the rug he got sick on!
These are things you can't plan on but still need to plan for!
Date Night
If you plan on having a marriage after the kids are gone, make budgeting for a date night a priority. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on date night, but it’s totally worth budgeting in. Getting away from the everyday norm at least once a month is lovely! Try to cash in on free babysitting from family members, or do it when the kids have activities going on.
When money was REALLY tight we would give ourselves a small budget then make a game out of what we could find to do or eat with that budget. One night we have $10. It was one of the best dates we went to a farmer's market we stumbled across and we tried so many samples we classified it as lunch and then used our $10 to get into a local state park and took a small hike and explored the park we had never been too.
This category can also help with date nights with the kids. We try to each take the kids out in turn so they have 1 on 1 time with us. We might do 1 a month you don't have to take out every kid, every month.
Here are a few more ideas to get you going.
9 of the Best Frugal Summer Date Night Ideas
Free Date Night Ideas for Fall Romance
Frugal Stay at Home Date Night Ideas
Surprise School Costs
If you send your kids to public school, you may be running into a budgeting problem. Between school lunches, field trips, book fees, and the book fairs, you may be short on cash in that department. Don’t forget to budget in this area!
If your kids are in a charter or private school you will need to budget for all the fundraisers, book fairs, and school uniforms too. Then don't forget any after school activities your kids want to do.
Rate Increases
Just last month I noticed my internet bill was $4 higher than normal. After digging around I found out there was some tax thing that increased the price. The same thing happened to my cell phone bill at the beginning of the year it went up $6 a month.
It doesn't sound like much but just $4 a month is $48 a year you didn't budget for then add in the $6 a month that's another $72. That's $120 that can easily through your budget out of wack if you don't plan for it.
Medication
You can get sick and not expect it and even with good insurance you could still have to pay out fo pocket some for medications. Even if it's over the counter Mucinex. But the last time my daughter was sick her medication cost me $120 out of pocket!! So budget small savings for medication even if you just include over the counter medication in this category.
What are some of your Forgotten Monthly Expenses?
I don’t want to be depressing although it is a part of life!! I did not plan for my husband funeral !! He was only 63years young!! One Morning he just didn’t wake up !! So that is where I failed, to plan. Like they say “You never know when you’re time will come “. As I have learned Many times Over this is all to True!!!! Although we don’t plan for this time &/or think of it. We All need to plan for this time!!
I always budget in extra for holidays and birthdays. These can wreck your budget if not planned for.