So you’ve finally got your budget set up because you’re tired of me harping on you about it. Great Job!! That’s a fantastic first step to getting your finances on track. Of course it’s easy to remember to budget in your regular monthly bills like your mortgage payment/rent, car payment, utilities, groceries, etc. I bet you there’s a couple of things you might be forgetting to account for though. Here’s 6 that I came up with that you need to remember when you’re preparing your budget:
Car tags/registration
This is one I generally remember since our state renews your tags in your birthday month. Also I earmark part of my tax refund money for this so by the time I’m getting my refund I know I’m also going to be headed to our county clerk’s office to renew our car registrations for the year. Believe me, you don’t want to be driving around on expired tags. That’s an expensive lesson you’ll learn quickly.
Car and home maintenance items
Oil changes, new tires, windshield wipers, air filters for your home, pest control services…these are all items that you will need on a semi-regular basis if you want to keep your car and/or home in good condition. It might be tempting to skip these items when money’s tight but if you can’t afford the money for an oil change then how do you think you’re going to be able to afford a new engine or car?
Haircuts
I really need to set up a sinking fund for this one because if I had the money readily available I’d probably get my hair cut a little more often.
Co-pays
Especially if you have kids, you might as well budget in a co-pay or two every month. Even if you end up rolling these over, I can assure you the money will get used at some point.
Gifts
This was really a big item for me when my kids were younger and they were invited to parties nearly every weekend it seemed. Even if this doesn’t apply to you, I’m sure you have some loved ones you’ll want to purchase a gift for throughout or the year or you’ll need to save for Christmas presents.
Annual subscriptions
My son had signed up for a free trial for Amazon and guess what? The free trial ended and he got hit with the membership fee he’d forgotten about. This category includes anything you might pay on an annual basis, such as magazines, insurance premiums, maintenance contracts, etc. Some things I have to set up reminders about is my Sam’s club membership and my Microsoft office subscription.
I could probably have come up with at least another 6 items. What about you? What things do you tend to forget when you’re budgeting? As always, please feel free to share this article if you’ve found it helpful.
