Planning for Miscellaneous Spending?
Question:
How do you budget the household misc items you buy at Walmart or Dollar General? Things like light bulbs, paper towels, bathroom cleaner, batteries, new spatula, a plastic basket to hold stuff under the sink, a new sippee cup for my granddaughter, etc? These things are not food but they are in my cart when I buy groceries and I never quite know which category to put them in. Thanks for your help!!!
Answer:
We put miscellaneous expense items into a named budget category: Cleaning products come out of our Food account; a plastic bucket would come out of our Home Repair or Clothing accounts, and the Sippee cup would also come out of clothes. It really doesn't matter where you take it from, just that you are consistent, and that it makes sense to you. Many household items come out of our clothing account because we can get our clothes for so little at thrift and consignment stores, that we always have extra money in that account.
If you’re constantly buying things for your granddaughter, perhaps consider making a budget category for purchases for her or for all of your grandchildren.
When we reconcile our budget twice each month, expenses like this are split between two categories, with some coming out of the Food account and the rest coming out of Home Repair. The best way to remember is to make a note in either your checkbook register or on the receipt at the time of purchase—or ring up the miscellaneous items separately, then record it in your checkbook.
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