Finding Money in Your Budget for Fun | Cleveland Bradley County Teachers Federal Credit

For most of us, dealing with finances does not bring a whole lot of joy to our day. It is one of those necessary evils we have to do in order to get bills paid and keep everything on track month and month.

Unless you just really love tracking your expenses and balancing a budget, keeping up with your money flow is likely a task you put on the back-burner until it can’t simmer any longer. While keeping your budget up to date is the best way to manage your finances and avoid overspending, you can liven up the experience of budgeting by adding in a line item for some fun money.

What a Fun Fund Should Be

Fun money should be something you intentionally set aside simply for enjoyment. You can certainly build up the amount of your fun money before a vacation or holiday, but the overall idea of a “fun fund” should be more for sprinkling a few fun days or shopping trips in throughout the year.

Budgeting this way can offer you a little freedom when a sudden day out crops up or you just can’t say no to your super cute kiddo. Having this fund there may offer freedom: but it shouldn’t be an open invitation to wasteful spending or overspending. Take the kids on a shopping spree or say yes to that night out invite, but keep a loose dollar amount you are comfortable spending in your mind to keep yourself in check.

Making Room for a Fun Fund

If you are finding yourself thinking there is no way I can move any money anywhere else, especially not for fun, consider your unaccounted for expenses currently. If you like to grab a coffee on your monthly supply shopping trip or you grab a few extra items to make the kids smile at the grocery store, you already have “fun money.”

Being more intentional about planning for and tracking these expenses can help you avoid feeling guilty about the unnecessary purchase.

When you are building or manipulating a budget, you should always be as realistic with yourself as you can. Taking a look at all your expenses is the best way to find ways to cut back or repurpose funds. Monthly expenses are a great first place to start, especially anything that auto renews. It’s easy to forget about these expenses, and if you aren’t using the services any more, that amount alone could equal a great fun fund.

Cutting back on things you don’t use or finding other ways to save will be a lot more enjoyable when the end result is creating a fund that allows you the opportunity to say yes more often. Often when it comes to budgeting, we don’t feel like we have room to address our wants and instead only cover our needs. Limiting yourself this way can actually lead to blowing your budget altogether the first opportunity you do take to spend a little unnecessary dough. Being realistic about your budget shouldn’t mean cutting out all the fun, instead it should build room for it.

So turn that back-burner off and sit down with your budget. Cut out things you aren’t using anymore so that you can give in to a few wants every now and again. Stop pretending you aren’t going to grab that coffee this time and instead put it in your budget. With a fun fund, you can sit back and sip your fancy latte completely guilt-free.

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