[George]

How to make a budget to cover non recurring expenses?
1) Summer electricity bills are higher due to AC, so do gas bills during winter.

2) Tax, insurance are paid as lump sum two times a year.

3) Travel is usually booked months in advance. Quite a few travels throughout the year with no fixed intervals, length or frequencies.

4) Big spending often happens when there’s a friend visiting or special occasions

5) Big purchases (appliance replacement, remodeling, medical bill, etc)

How do I know at a given time in a month whether I’m on track to meet the budget?

Reviewing on a yearly basis doesn’t provide timely feedback on my spending habits.

What works for you? Is there a simple way to do it?

[Brad]

I just look at historical spending and divide by 12. With Fidelity Fullview it shows a progression in my annual budget through the year.

For example, let’s say I plan to spend $1200 for insurance with a lump sum payment I March.

For Jan and feburay it will say I didn’t spent say I spent $0 out of $100 budget for, and if I change the view from the since the beginning of the year it will then say $0 spent out if $200.

Once the March payment is made, it is read as overspending for the month but by the end of the year it will show I spent $1200 for $1200 budgeted.

I have a category like this for auto maintenance, property taxes, vacations, insurance, and gifts as my spending across those categories varies monthy or could be a “feast or famine” situation.

[Tweetie]

allocate a dollar amount monthly to these categories, save the unused amounts for use later if the bill is higher. example: lights $180, if bill is 170 then save 10 aside for when the bill is more than 180.

next create sinking funds for vacations, insurance.

assign a monthly dollar amount to these categories and use it to pay the bill in full.

I have a savings account for insurance, vacations, etc etc

[Kevin]

I have a slush fund (HYSA) that I pull from and contribute to on a monthly basis. I just drained it to buy a big ticket item after building for 2 years.

Now I am refocusing my spending to get that back up.

[Ben]

I budget an annual amount for each and set some aside each week. When bills are low it builds up a fund to cover the higher periods.

[Author]

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