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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: TwoJays on October 31, 2016, 02:11:17 PM

Title: Budget Categories and Subcategories
Post by: TwoJays on October 31, 2016, 02:11:17 PM
Hello all!

My wife and I are sitting down this week to renovate our budgeting process. She's very frugal compared to the average person but isn't an all out mustachian (yet) and won't want to track everything quite as thoroughly as I do. With that in mind, my plan is to set up our budget with categories (ex: utilities) and subcategories (ex: gas, electric, etc.) so that she can see the big picture and I can dig into the details to see where we can make improvements.

My current plan is below but I'm looking for suggestions on how to improve it. What would you change? Any and all thoughts appreciated!

Rent:
Utilities: Internet, Gas, Electric, Cell Phones
Insurance: Health, Dental, Car, Renters
Travel: Gas, Vacations, Parking
Food: Groceries, Restaurants, Bars
Personal Spending Toiletries, Clothes, Books, Personal Enrichment (online classes, pass for lap pool, etc.)
Title: Re: Budget Categories and Subcategories
Post by: 6leakertweeker on October 31, 2016, 02:25:43 PM
Here's mine:
Personal
     Food
     Phone
     Leisure
     Healthcare  (Glasses, Prescriptions, ect)
     Health & Beauty ( Toothpaste, Shampoo, Clothes ect)
     Pre-tax healthcare (Healthcare that comes out of my check)
Transportation
     Fuel
     Auto Insurance
     Auto Maintenance
     Auto Payment/Depreciation (If you have any, mine are paid for)
Housing
     Mortgage/Rent
     Home Maintenance
     Home Insurance
     Natural Gas
     Electric
     Sewer/Trash
     Soft Water System (The system and the salt)
     Supplies ( Cleaning supplies, trash bags, smelly good stuff ect)
Finance
     Accounting ( Accountant fees, ect)
     Debt Reduction
     Misc.

For a quick look I usually just look at these grouped into the four groups.  If I need to drill down an expense I can look into further.  Hopefully this gives you some ideas. 
     
     
Title: Re: Budget Categories and Subcategories
Post by: zolotiyeruki on October 31, 2016, 02:41:22 PM
We use a single level of categories:
Mortgage (PITI)
Utilities
Food
Short-term savings ("irregular but expected expenses" like HOA dues, car insurance (paid 2x/year), saving for vacation)
Clothing
Car (gas, maintenance)
Entertainment (restaurants, date night, movie rental, that sort of thing)
Groceries (this includes other stuff purchased at the same time--diapers, paper towels, cleaning supplies)
Home Improvement
Miscellaneous
....and so on

We don't subdivide utilities, since those subcategories only have one transaction per month, so it's easy to track them anyway.
Title: Re: Budget Categories and Subcategories
Post by: notactiveanymore on October 31, 2016, 07:58:05 PM
I would recommend separating groceries from restaurants/bars. I'd group restaurants and bars under entertainment along with any netflix type subscriptions.

We drill down quite a bit. It's certainly not necessary, but it works for us!

GIVING
tithe
charity gifts

SAVINGS
emergency fund
car sinking fund
roth IRAs

HOUSING
Rent
Household Needs (cutting board broke, new soap dispenser)

UTILITIES
city water/sewer/electric/trash
Cell Phones

INSURANCE
Car
Life

TRANSPORTATION
Fuel
Maintenance

FOOD
Groceries

MEDICAL
CoPays
Medicine/Bills

LIFESTYLE/PERSONAL
Blow Money
Date Night/Entertainment
Toiletries
Haircuts
Netflix
Clothing
Gifts
MISC