3 Unstoppable Budget Busters
Recently, Peter from Bible Money Matters challenged me to share 5 things, big or small, that often “bust my budget”. I couldn’t come up with 5. Here’s my three, along with what I do to “attempt” to contain them, because they can’t be stopped. 
Dining Out Expenses
This expense is most consistently higher than I would like each month. I’m the biggest culprit here with my lunches out of the office during the week. But we also dine out at least twice every weekend. We do a lot to try and spend less when we dine out, but it seems like we always end up spending too much. It’s just food. How can you spend that much, right? We may need to give the Grocery Game a second try and at least save on groceries.
Travel Expenses
Mrs. PT and I love to travel. We don’t have kids yet so we’re trying to do a lot of travelling now. It’s an expense we justify because of the great experiences it brings. The reason they are budget busting is because we don’t really budget or save up for our trips. We just head out on a whim for the most part and tend to spend frivolously during the trip. We normally use a credit card and then pay the whole thing off the next month though.
On the flip side I travel quite a bit for my job and build up plenty of reward miles. Plus, some of these trips are 3 weeks long and with Mrs. PT coming along, they end up saving us a bit of money.
Pay-Per-View Events
One of my favorite new sports to watch is Mixed Martial Arts. Unfortunately the big fight cards in the sport are only available by pay-per-view, much like boxing. One of these events costs around $50. I’ve debated in the past whether it’s better to go to a sportsbar or use pay-per-view to watch these main events. Either way, it’s a budget buster.
What are your budget busters?
6 Responses to “3 Unstoppable Budget Busters”
By Mark @ TheLocoMono on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
I would have to say travel is my real budget buster because I still haven’t figured out how to account for discretionary expenses while traveling yet..
By Rachel @ Master Your Card on Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
I think mine has to be food and heating. I hate being cold and work form home so probably spend far too much of heating the house. I live very close to an expensive supermarket and tend to shop there through convenience when I am walking past. Although I save money on fuel (as the others are too far to walk) I am sure that I always spend more than I would in a cheaper shop.
By Chad on Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
I know what you mean about eating out.. My wife and I probably spend around $900 a month on eating out if I had to take a guess.. Spending $30 a day for 30 days is just terrible.. We are looking to buy a new house that will cost much more so Im looking to cut down on the eating out and cook more even if I have to do it.