10 Expenses You Forget When You Budget

*Disclaimer: This post includes my own product

When it comes to budgeting there seems to be a lot of focus on certain things that we seem to forget about other expenses that are just as important.

Ensuring that we focus on all elements of our lifestyle when we budget is important so that we don’t overspend or run ourselves into debt because we may have “forgot”. Therefore, when you budget I have a list below of all the expenses that we forget about for you to add onto your budget list.

10 Expenses You Forget When You Budget

Before we jump into the 10 things on my list I want to firstly say that if you have never set up a budget before remember to be patient. Being able to budget efficiently and effectively takes time, so be kind to yourself and know that you will nail that budgeting over time.

You can grab my “Step by Step Guide to Budgeting” which is out now. Helping you begin your budgeting journey in a simple way!

Now let’s get into the 10 expenses…

Seasonal Utility Increases

These are expenses that we all seem to forget about every year. But it is important to note that bills jump up in the winter and summer months (and even more so this year).

These bills go up also due to rising costs in society too unfortunately. Therefore, when you are budgeting make sure you account for these seasonal costs. It could be that you just add a little bit extra for your bills during these times just incase.

Annual Bills

Staying on the theme of bills (I know it is not our favourite thing to talk about or even think about but it is important), it can be easy to forget about our annual bills. These can include insurance for example or just any bills that you choose to pay every year rather than monthly.

Remember these bills like to sneak up on you, therefore get ahead and budget for these in time! It is better to have more money than less.

Beauty Products

The next expenses that we seem to overlook are those beauty products. These could be hair products, make-up or skincare products.

When we think of these products they are not things we buy weekly (well for me anyway), but it is still important to budget for them either monthly or every other week whenever you tend to buy them.

These are also the kind of things we tend to forget about until we run out of them, but if we get ahead and budget for them at the beginning of the month then we will be more than prepared!

Fun Days Out

This next point is definitely something we don’t all budget for and we tend to just let them happen when it comes to our expenses and that is fun days out.

However, if you just put aside some money in your budget that can go towards those spontaneous days out for that month then it will help you. You will realise you end up planning a day out last minute but because you have that money aside you don’t need to stress or worry about how you are going to pay for it!

Putting that money aside will mean you can still enjoy yourself even when you didn’t actually plan these days out.

Seasonal Budgets

I may have mentioned more than enough times about getting a head start when it comes to budgeting for Christmas. However, we must not forget about our other seasonal events such as Halloween or Easter (or any others that you may celebrate).

Each year these other events become more popular, and if you are jumping on that bandwagon too then make sure you plan ahead and budget for these occasions.

Travel Expenses

You would think that as we normally use travelling frequently whether that be for work or pleasure, that this would be on our budgets and mind. However, these are also things we don’t tend to think about when we think of our expenses.

Also we all know that the costs of travelling increase all the time so we have to ensure we are including that and budgeting for that.

Subscription Services

I know that there are many of you out there (including myself) that have subscribed to a service and then completely forget about it. This could be you signed up for a free subscription and then it rolls around to the following month you have forgot and now you are charged.

It could also just be you have joined subscription services that you love and so you have to factor that into your budget. Just remember to budget for all your subscription services.

However, it is important to remember that if you are not fully utilizing a subscription service then you should cancel. These can all quickly add up and it is important when it comes to your expenses that you don’t overspend on services you don’t use or need/

Your Wardrobe

Fashion seems to be something that a lot of us don’t think about. We all shop online and add things into the basket without thinking about the consequences or even our budget.

However, if you can set up a budget for your wardrobe then that is great. Put some money aside in your budget so that you can spend that on clothes if you need to.

Alternatively you can shop secondhand such as Depop, Vinted or Ebay. All of these are great for finding some top bargains. For example, I bought a brand new (with tags still on), perfect condition dress from the brand Debenhams for £4 (it was priced on the tag at £30). Not only did I save a lot of money but I added a key piece to my wardrobe!

Remember to budget your expenses right when it comes to fashion.

Gym Memberships

For me gym memberships are expenses that we tend to forget because you set it up and it takes it out monthly (or yearly) so you just let it be.

But if we don’t add the gym memberships onto our budget then it is money that we think we have when we actually don’t. Therefore, make sure you add this onto your budget so that you can account for it every month in your finances.

Presents for others

These expenses are again something that we know about in our lives because we normally remember birthday dates or have them in our calendars. However, we don’t ever budget for them.

It seems very obvious but actually we don’t do this enough, but if you just put aside money for any birthdays or events (like Christmas) that happen within that specific month then you are prepared.

Make sure you budget for the whole month of birthdays but also budget for how much you want to spend on who you are buying for.

There you have it the 10 expenses you forget when you budget. These are all things we know about and have in our lives but we don’t tend to add them onto our budgets like we do for our bills or food shopping.

However, now you have read through this list you can add these expenses and start budgeting and saving yourself money from today.

Do you forget to budget any of these?

Thanks for reading,

Gemma Jayne x

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