What are *your* budget categories?

**cheles2kids** · 06-09-2009, 11:14 AM

So after reading 'My4littlebuffaloes' thread about unexepected expenses, it got me to thinking about what other people's budget categories consist of.

I thought it would be a good learning tool for all of us, if everyone will list their categories.
You don't have to list your amount, but how you go about breaking up your budget might come in handy.

So, here's my list, in no particular order:

~cable
~vehicle gas
~car insurance
~car maintenance
~cell phone minute cards
~clothing
~dining out
~electric bill
~emergency fund
~entertainment
~gas for home (we have a gas hot water heater & gas heat)
~mike's school tuition
~groceries
~home insurance
~home maintenance
~debt #1
~mortgage
~debt #2
~netflix
~pets
~kids school
~home phone
~water bill
~property taxes
~misc.

I'm sure some of you long-time budgeters will notice that I do not a vacation fund and there won't be for awhile yet, because our main focus right now is getting our last two debts paid off.

So, who wants to go next?

**ladykemma2** · 06-09-2009, 11:31 AM

elec
water
nat gas
lawn
gasoline
groceries/supplies
tithe/fast offering
prescription drugs
dining with friend
credit report
bundled service ATT
pocket money

escrow (taxes/ins)
trash
home maintenance
home owners association
flood insurance
termite contract
a/c heat maintenance
oil change
car maintenance
car insurance
car registration
car inspection
toll road tag
new car fund
computer replacement
endocrinologist
travel summer
optometrist
school startup
dentist
co-pays
vet bills
tax prep
xmas
office max
stamps
stocking up
shoes orthopedic
work parties, showers, holiday parties

**forHISglory** · 06-09-2009, 11:35 AM

~recreation (cable, occasional tickets to movies, plays, concerts, vacation fund, books, yard saling)
~car expenses (gas, maintenance, insurance, tags)
~communications (cell and landline, DSL internet)
~clothing (mostly maintenance, repair and new undies)
~food (groceries, stockpile, dining out, cooking for charity)
~utilities (electric, water and sewer, trash pick up)
~charity (tithe, other offerings and donations, gifts)
~house (maintenance, redecorating such as repainting, insurance, taxes, alarm system) (we own the home with no mortgage)
~health (insurance, deductibles, co-pays, meds, massage)
~savings

Even though we are retired, we still aim to save at least 10% of our pension, and we give at least 10% to our tithe. Health costs take about 1/3 of our pension!!

**kmonokwe** · 06-09-2009, 12:17 PM

Tithe
Savings
Health Ins
Rent
Utilities
Renter's Ins
Groceries (including cleaning supplies, paper products, etc)
Auto Maintenance (sinking fund)
Auto Registration (sinking fund)
Auto Ins
Gasoline
Clothing (sinking fund)
DH Work Expenses (such as mandatory lunch meetings and pitching in for office gifts)
Health (includes copays, hygiene products, drugs/vitamins and haircuts)
Debt #1
Debt #2
Holidays (eg. travel - sinking fund)
Gifts (sinking fund)
My business account (I teach piano lessons part time at home, and I put a little each month into a separate account for business purchases)
Entertainment (used mostly for eating out and seeing movies - we're quiet life people

)
DH spending
My spending

**littleplum** · 06-09-2009, 01:25 PM

In no particular order, our budget includes these categories and sub-categories:

Rent/Mortgage
Electric
Natural Gas
Phone/Internet
Health/Medical (Copays, Medication, Gym)
Insurance (Auto, Home, Life)
Contribution/Charity
Student Loan
Car Loan
Groceries
Gasoline
Entertainment (Movies, Dining Out)
Crafts/Hobbies
Taxes/Fees (union dues, parking stickers, etc)
Pets
Clothing
Savings (Maintenance, Vacation, Gifts)
SNOWBALL

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-09-2009, 01:29 PM

Our budget is pretty expansive because we use Excel to not only keep track of all transactions, but we also use it to keep track of the balances and payments and how much we're paying in other areas.

Profit/Loss
Mike's Income
Tisha's Income
Total Debt Paid Off
Total Bills
Total Miscellaneous Expenses

Then there's the following:

Debt Summary
- Resmor (mortgage)
- TD VISA (paid off now)
- BMO Mastercard (paid off now)
- Wells Fargo MDG (paid off now)
- HSBC Best Buy (paid off now)
- Parents (the loan from my inlaws)

Debt Payments
(These are the same as the debt summaries, broken down into each month to show us how much we've paid in debt each month.)

Bill Summary
- Rogers (cell)
- Shaw (cable/phone/internet)
- Enmax (water/electricity/natural gas/waste/sewer/recycling)
- Cooperators (non-existant now, cancelled on May 1st)
- Wawanesa (car and house insurance)
- ADT (alarm system)
- Pineridge (DS10's lunch program)
- City of Calgary (property tax)
- TD Life (being cancelled soon due to account changes)

Expenditures Summary
- Groceries
- Smokes
- Eating Out
- Miscellaneous (this is stuff like my gym membership, birthdays, holidays, etc.)

I'll be adding in a Freedom/Sinking Fund category pretty soon, so that's not in there yet. This will cover van registration, school fees, etc. House fund is not listed also because we don't have enough right now to put into a house fund. Once we clear the debts (which will be in about two years), we can put into a house fund.

**Contrary Housewife** · 06-09-2009, 02:34 PM

This is out of date, because we have long since paid everything off, but at one point it looked like this:

Support
401k
Stock plan
Rent
Electric
cable/net
Water
Gas
Phone
Car gas
Loan
Car ins
Food
Legal
card 1
card 2
card 3
Prescription meds
internet
Savings
Books, games
Entertainment
Property tax
medical 1
medical 2
medical 3
medical 4
Magazine subscriptions
vacation 2
vacation 1
Computer Supplies
Christmas
Dance class, seminars

**forHISglory** · 06-09-2009, 02:45 PM

Putting all this into categories really helps me see what I can easily cut if I had to. (And believe me, I've had to!)

First to go is recreation, absolutely. Then if hard times persisted, I would get rid of some of communication and do without internet and go to only one phone. Clothing costs would come to a standstill, and we'd just do with what we had. I also would cut on food costs. One thing that we never skimped on, though was tithe and savings. Those were priorities.

**jennordhavn** · 06-10-2009, 12:55 AM

Rent
PG&E
Internet
Dish Network
Netflix
Tuition/Day Care
Gas
Groceries
Household/Toiletries/Misc. (includes gifts)
Coffee/Cash
Credit Monitoring
Dining Out
Way2Save
Student Loan 1
Student Loan 2
Loan from parents
Car payment
Car insurance
Cel phones
Parking (summer only)

My health insurance, transporation and 401(k) are taken directly from my paycheck so I don't put those in my budget.

**sunshine** · 06-10-2009, 06:27 AM

Ours is very detailed. . . there is no way to type it all in here, but here's a shortened version:

tithe
house payment
savings
savings for house taxes/insurance
electric
propane
water
groceries
meat
baking supplies
produce
beverages
snacks
canning supplies
entertainment
gifts
Christmas
birthdays
misc (showers, graduations, etc.)
malpractice insurance
stamps, envelopes, etc.
car maintainance (repairs, oil changes, tags, etc.)
home repair
clothing
phone
home
cells
medical above insurance
debt repayments
cc #1
cc #2
cc #3
cc #4
medical at hospital
misc.

**Judi Dial** · 06-10-2009, 08:12 AM

I modded the above list to fit us:

~vehicle gas
~car insurance
~car maintenance
~cell phone minutes
~clothing
~dining out
~electric bill
~emergency fund (funded)
~entertainment
~propane
~groceries
~home insurance
~home maintenance
~mortgage
~credit cards
~medical/dental
~pets
~education
~phone
~property taxes
~garden supplies, plants, etc.
~books
~photography materials
~other art supplies
~misc.
~selling expenses (booth rental, hotel rooms, etc.)
~education
~charity

**cheles2kids** · 06-10-2009, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by littleplum

In no particular order, our budget includes these categories and sub-categories:

SNOWBALL

Okay, for this one. Does this cover the expenses for what you pay extra per month towards any debt?
I didn't see anything listed as debt, so I'm curious?

**cheles2kids** · 06-10-2009, 08:57 AM

I also see that some of you have a 'gift' category. I think this is a good idea, but for now I think things like this will have to fall under our 'misc.' fund.

For the most part though I think we all have about the same categories, except some are more detailed than others.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share, I'm hoping this will come in handy for new budgeters (like myself) and even some of the 'old timers'.

So, would anyone else like to share??

**phoeny_moonstar** · 06-10-2009, 09:05 AM

Rent
Food
Transportation
Wedding
Personal Loan
Student Loan
Clothing
Entertainment
Animals

Mine is very basic, but it works.

**ladykemma2** · 06-10-2009, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by forHISglory

Putting all this into categories really helps me see what I can easily cut if I had to. (And believe me, I've had to!)

First to go is recreation, absolutely. Then if hard times persisted, I would get rid of some of communication and do without internet and go to only one phone. Clothing costs would come to a standstill, and we'd just do with what we had. I also would cut on food costs. One thing that we never skimped on, though was tithe and savings. Those were priorities.

me too. if i had to cut to bare bones, the bundled service would be the first to go, keeping only the cell phone. lawn service next.