I think part of my frustrations come from not managing the EXTRANEOUS category very well. And in all honesty, I consider everything other than LIVING (gas/groceries/household/pet) and UTILITIES (that is obvious) to be EXTRANSOUS (ink for the printer/contact lenses/pet grooming/oil changes/clothing/etc.) However, I am not sure how to unwrap my mind around the ill-defined concept.
Tomorrow is pay day and we are in need (again) of ink, grooming, oil change, and glasses. And guess what? The next pay day in two weeks will require covering grooming (different dog) and oil change (different car).
I am open to any/all suggestions on tackling this challenge. The funds available for these expenses are usually $200 a month. $100/two weeks. And that also includes clothes and sporting items.
The season change is requiring some additional clothing for the boys who grew. I found a lot of NIKE clothing (four pants/four shorts/two long sleeve hooded sweatshirts/one long-sleeve T) for $35 on FB local garage sale page. Buying those today at 12. Have to advance myself $10 from tomorrow's EXTRANSOUS fund.
Not lamenting, open to the challenge, any appreciate any other way to view these regular expenses. Just having a very difficult time shedding EXTRANEOUS. Maybe a revamp of the expanses and how I categorize?
Maybe better tracking? I do buy online when I can (for lenses) and I watch for coupons for oil changes. Just looking for suggestions. Thanks in advance!
Difficulty Taming the EXTRANEOUS Expensens
October 9th, 2014 at 04:38 pm
October 9th, 2014 at 04:59 pm 1412870384
October 9th, 2014 at 05:06 pm 1412870780
Thank you, DIAW. That is funny to me because it seems SO OBVIOUS reading it like that. Definitely need to rework the category column titles.
October 9th, 2014 at 05:11 pm 1412871063
In the case of oil changes and dog grooming...you likely know how much you spend each time. And you likely know how often these occur. If an oil change is $30 and you get one every 3 months, you need to save $10 each month, or $20 since you have two cars. I would suggest setting up a running total of money saved each pay period for these expenses and pull from that category for them.
These expenses often feel random but they are not. I always buy used (refurbished) ink from places like 123 Injet or Double Ink. I think Ebates and TopCashBack offer rebates on them, too. We seem to use less ink than we once did...more online computing at school I think!
October 9th, 2014 at 05:21 pm 1412871677
@ CCF, In some ways I feel this should be reminiscent of Mary Hunt's irregular expense fund. But I will admit to being most successful when the system is simple. I think is some ways maybe just cash in an envelope for these things. And if I could get them staggered it wouldn't feel like such a drain, or big blip out of my meager $100.
October 9th, 2014 at 05:53 pm 1412873602
October 9th, 2014 at 08:07 pm 1412881660
October 9th, 2014 at 08:24 pm 1412882658
October 10th, 2014 at 02:00 am 1412902815
I don't wear makeup, and almost all my clothing is either from thrift/garage sales or a girlfriend who lost weight and gave me tons of pretty stuff.
I consider oil changes an essential expense and i plan for 3000 miles for each oil change - car is 14 years old, so its a good habit.