5 Things That People Forget to Budget For

Twenty dollar bills isolated against white background.

Many of us do our best to budget for our day to day expenses.  Budgeting can make life so much easier, but it can be difficult to get started.  Putting limits on yourself is rough when you are used to spending willy-nilly.  But again, life can feel much better when you don’t have yourself extended out as far as your finances go.  Some everyday expenses though, are easy to forget about.  Make sure you put these 5 things into your budget to ensure you stay on track:

1. Vehicle Maintenance.  Your vehicle needs to be maintained and that costs money.  This includes oil changes every 3000 to 5000 miles as well as tires, and other parts that need to be maintained such as brakes.  In addition, be sure that you budget in expenses for licensing your vehicle.  Each state has it’s own rules and costs as far as vehicle registration goes so be sure you know what to expect when that time comes.
2. Insurance.  Insurance is sometimes easy to overlook, especially when the payments aren’t made monthly.
3. Medical costs.  People often overlook the costs of medical treatments and medications (outside of what insurance pays).  Be sure to include copays and deductibles into your budget when you are creating it.
4. Memberships.  If you have any kind of memberships, you need to write them all down, when you pay and how often.  When you have memberships, especially lower cost ones, it is easy to forget about.  These memberships can include things like Amazon, Netflix, gym, etc.
5. Gifts for friends/extended family.  If you buy birthday and Christmas gifts for friends and extended family, be sure to include the costs of these gifts into your budget when you create it.  I typically put a limit on how much I will spend on such gifts ($10-$20) and add them in at that rate. These gifts can add up throughout the year.