This is always my question when people post their budgets on DCUM. They never list dry cleaning or iTunes or crotch waxing, yet they attack anyone who spends more than $200 a week on all organic, unprocessed groceries.

Our budget is really simple, and "groceries" includes everything we buy that isn't nailed down. Paper towels, light bulbs, pet food. So our grocery budget is $1,000 a month. Gifts come out of a $400 miscellaneous budget that is basically just an overflow category, because there's always something you didn't anticipate.

Anonymous wrote:I keep around $200/month for those weird expenses. Before I left room for them, I would be SO frustrated when they broke my budget plans. Now I stick $200 in that category and it doesn't frustrate me anymore.

+1 and I only use cash for them. I have $400 of misc on a monthly basis that I do not keep track of at all. This covers anything not allocated in my budget - stamps, gifts, a cute knick knack from home goods, lunch with coworkers, coffees. Essentially, it is made up of 85% discretionary purchases. Everything else is categorized and charged on our credit card.

Anonymous wrote:We have a gifts category (present), kids things (Easter basket), a household goods category (where printer ink and stamps would fall), and a home repairs (light bulbs would go here).

So all those things would be covered in our budget categories.

I do have a category for true one time things, and I label it "one offs." Like we are moving now and had to purchase boxes and bubble wrap. I'm not creating a line for moving expenses going forward since we don't move frequently, this is the first time in 7+ years.

+1

For gifts, I estimate how many birthday parties my kids go to each year, plus how much we spend on Christmas and our own family's birthdays. I also add in extra for infrequent events like baby showers and weddings. Total it and divide by 12. I think we had only one year where we were short, and that was the year we were bombarded by many unexpected, out-of-town events.

I keep around $200/month for those weird expenses. Before I left room for them, I would be SO frustrated when they broke my budget plans. Now I stick $200 in that category and it doesn't frustrate me anymore.

We have a gifts category (present), kids things (Easter basket), a household goods category (where printer ink and stamps would fall), and a home repairs (light bulbs would go here).

So all those things would be covered in our budget categories.

I do have a category for true one time things, and I label it "one offs." Like we are moving now and had to purchase boxes and bubble wrap. I'm not creating a line for moving expenses going forward since we don't move frequently, this is the first time in 7+ years.

We also never budgeted until later in life. We don't have a miscellaneous category. How good are your spending records to figure out your spending habits over the past year or two? To figure out how much to allocate, that's where I started. Expect to spend a few months tweaking your allocations.

For us, printer ink goes with the home office budget (electronics including accruing to replace a computer, postage stamps, pens). Birthday presents go in the presents for family and friends budget. Stamps - see above. Under-cabinet light goes with the home and garden budget (paper towels, batteries, mulch, if we need to call the plumber).

Well, we have a gifts line in our budget where birthday gifts and Easter baskets would fall, as well as a household maintenance line in there which is where a lightbulb would fall.

Then yes, we do have a Misc. line but there's little that goes in there.

I started out in my early twenties with a "NRUE" column/ Non-reoccuring unexpected expenses. Then I kept track of it and set the budget accordingly. If you use your credit card for most of your purchases, you can go through your credit card purchases for the past year to see about how much you spend- and that will give you some idea.

How do you go about budgeting for irregular or miscellaneous expenses? We just started our second child in daycare and need to go on a budget but I'm new to this process. Specifically, I'm thinking about items like new printer ink cartridges, a birthday present for the kid down the street who's having a party, stamps, a replacement for the under-cabinet light that blew out in the kitchen, Easter baskets, etc. etc.? In looking at our monthly expenses, it seems like these are the things that add up really quickly but, at the same time, aren't always easy to categorize or predict. Do you just have a separate category for "miscellaneous"? If so, how much do you decide how much to allocate?