13 Budget Items You Never Want to Forget

A well-made budget is a work of art.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve created a budget showing all my income and expenses carefully categorized and prioritized with bright colors, analytical graphs and every bell and whistle you can think of.

I truly believe that some of my budgets would not have been out of place next to Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” or Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”. Maybe you’ve felt the same about some of the budgets you’ve created for yourself.

But here’s the rub. Most budgets, no matter how artistically done, are still just a plan based on our best guess of what’s going to happen.

Now, I’m not saying that just because it’s the best guess that it’s no good. But often, after we’ve created our AMAZING budget, we find that it usually implodes because a number of unexpected expenses popped out of nowhere.

These expenses are usually mundane enough that that will make your budget go…BOOM!! they are easily forgotten when you create it.

Now that that’s out of the way. Let’s get into those commonly forgotten budget items. Here we go!

Pro Tip: If you’re looking for a FREE tool that can help you budget then you definitely need to check out Personal Capital. You link this app up to your bank account and it provides you with lists, charts, bells and whistles related to your spending. So you don’t have to create them yourself!)

1) Haircuts

Who doesn’t need the occasional haircut? This budget item is probably forgotten more often by men than by women, but don’t quote me on that.

Because of all the hubbub of planning for auto payments, insurance payments, groceries, rent, childcare expenses, and all those other big ticket items in your monthly budget, it’s easy to forget this seemingly mundane expense.

It may be a relatively small expense in your monthly budget, but when you always need to redirect $20 from somewhere else for a haircut you’ll either end up throwing your budget into chaos or throwing your hairstyle into chaos.

Neither of which is recommended.

Related Post: How to Budget Your Money Using 7 Different Techniques.

2) Vitamins/Medicine

Granted, not everyone takes vitamins. But everyone will need to buy some over the counter medicine at some point.

If you have a family, friends, a boss, employees, follow politics or interact with society, in general, you’ll at least need the occasional aspirin or two.

Some people may not think about budgeting for medicine or may simply lump them in under a “supplies” category. But medical supplies can definitely throw your budget out of whack if you find yourself suddenly and unexpectedly in need of something.

3) Gas

Who would possibly forget gas, you ask? Well, me for one. When I first started budgeting I forgot to budget for gas. I know. And when I started budgeting for it I tended to underestimate it because I didn’t consider all the factors at play.

Gas is one of those expenses that you won’t be able to get exactly right (unless you don’t drive). Even if you drive the same route every day at the same speed consuming the same amount of gas, you won’t be able to guess the gas price.

What’s worse is that we never really know every place that we’ll need to go during the month so planning gas expense is really hit or miss.

But that app I mentioned above (Personal Capital) can be helpful with this type of expense specifically. Knowing how much you spent on gas in prior months will go a loooong way to helping you guesstimate what’s going to happen this month.

While not many of us forget gas, we usually don’t consider all the factors that contribute to our gas expense. That makes it a famous budget blower.

4) Shipping Costs

Do you have family and friends in another state or country? Many of us do, and if you’re the type to send birthday and Christmas gifts overseas, then you need to budget for those hefty mailing costs.

Budget for shipping cost by creating a separate line item in your budget or by factoring them into the amount you budget for gifts.

5) Subscriptions

This is a really big one for many people. In this digital age, many of us have memberships for Hulu, Netflix, and a myriad of other digital services. It’s very easy to lose track of all your subscriptions if you don’t stay organized (or use an app to keep track of your monthly spending).

It could affect your budget even if you don’t have many subscriptions. After all, a single forgotten Hulu payment of $11.99 will create a shortage that will affect other budget items.

6) Memberships

I can’t tell you how many years I’ve been a Costco member and a have yet to budget for the yearly membership. I can’t be the only one who does this, can I?

If you’re a member of Sam’s Club, BJs, Costco or any other club or organization. Please remember to set the money aside.

7) Gifts

Have you ever been dragged to a wedding, baby shower or birthday party against your will? And of course, you, being a civilized person, brought a gift. (If this has never happened to you, don’t worry, it will!)

These types of celebrations sometimes pop out of nowhere and they aren’t usually in your budget. Keep them in mind. You’ve been warned.

8) Seasonal Clothes

Here in Florida, the weather doesn’t really change. There may be a few days in January or February where the temperature dips slightly below 60 degrees, but generally, we live in summer-like conditions year round.

That’s why my wife and I tend to forget about things like…what do you call them? Oh yeah…jackets and scarfs. But occasionally we’ll need to make a trip to some other place and realize that our clothes aren’t appropriate for the weather.

Perhaps your situation is similar, you may only have clothes that are appropriate for one type of environment, but when the weather changes you realize you need something new.

Make sure you budget for season appropriate clothing.

9) Pet Care

Fido chewed up and swallowed your game controller? Then he ate the batteries for dessert?

Vet bill incoming! What are you gonna do now? Well, if you didn’t anticipate Fido’s antics in your budget, you’re going to be in a world of financial hurt.

Please keep Fido in mind when drawing up your budget.

Related Post: How to Create a Budget to Succeed Financially.

10) Car Registration

This is something that everyone (who drives) faces every year, but how many of us actually budget for this item?

While paying your car registration fees all at once may not be a huge deal, it could be virtually painless if we saved 1/12th of our annual car registration fees on a monthly basis.

11) Guests

Do you have people over much or go out with friends? If you do you probably incur some related expenses. I know when my wife used to have people over she would always have food and drinks for them.

If that sounds like you, do you have to dip into your own food money or entertainment money to host your guests? If so you may consider budgeting for guests.

12) Tolls/Parking

You don’t necessarily know how many toll roads you’re going to travel down during the month (depending on where you live and where you go). This can cause problems especially since the price of tolls just keeps going up and up and up.

And since many people don’t carry cash it can cause problems if you don’t plan for it in advance. If you believe you will encounter tolls this month, make sure you budget for it and carry the cash with you.

13) Fines

Do you ever speed? Don’t worry, I won’t tell.

Most of us have been caught speeding at one time or another. And if you weren’t able to talk your way down to a warning then you’ve probably gotten a speeding ticket.

I realize that nobody plans to get a speeding ticket and it would be kind of weird to actually budget for it, but you know what type of driver you are. If you’re likely to get a speeding or parking fines it might be a good idea to budget for it.

Wrap-up

While there are obviously more than thirteen items that you can forget to budget for, the thirteen expenses covered here are common to most people.

But if you want to get a handle on your budget and have the tools you need to make it as accurate as possible, then I would, again, highly recommend you give Personal Capital a try. I mean, it’s FREE! 

Are there any expenses that you would add to this list? If so, please let me know in the comments section below!

Until next time,

Related Post: Who needs a Budget? Everyone!