Do You Give Yourself Money to Blow Each Month?

[Amy Bass]

Do you have any amount that you budget in to spend on what ever you want? If so, what do you use it for?

[Sam]

I budget about $100 to spend on either entertainment, new clothes, or emergency last-minute stuff. Some months I spend it, some months I don't. On months I don't, I put it towards my debt. But it's nice to have the option to use it.

[Nathaniel Scott]

We used to blow a lot of money--before the budget. Now we budget about $25 and i keep it in the "eating out" envelope. That's the first envelope we take from if we're over anywhere else. We actually haven't used it in the past three months and instead of letting it accrue, we put it towards debt. We also have a "rule" that it cannot be used till the very end of the month-delaying gratification-so it's like a reward and it's actually still there when we really want to use it.

[Daisy]

We are on a "spending freeze" right now, so there is nothing that we set aside to blow. When all debt is paid off, which will be soon, we can have a little fun with our money.

[eventualdave]

Yep, I give myself $10 a week. It usually goes for things like a pizza or beer, or a cheap DVD or videogame. Just enough indulgence to keep me from going nuts and blowing the budget.

[Amy Bass]

Our blow money goes to those machines that let you rent a new release movie for $0.99 we try and get a couple of new movies a weekend. We end up spending about $8 a month on renting movies. Not too bad and it keeps us sane.

[katharina]

We absolutely do this! I don't really have a particular amount budgeted in for that, but we generally just buy what we want for "fun" if there's not a huge unexpected bill to pay. We use it for... well all kinds of things. Eating out, books, music, clothing that's wanted and not necessary needed, theme parties... whatever comes up at the time.

I like that movie idea, but I haven't seen any of those machines yet. :-(

[Azrael]

I just give myself a small portion of what I’m earning. It is just to appreciate what I’m doing. I don’t want to rush in and get burned at the end. This is what will happen if you don’t get to spend for anything that you want. I usually go to a movie then buy some snacks to be eaten while watching.

[R1986]

I try to budget enough money that I'm able to cover all of the essentials (rent, groceries, clothing) then put a little bit into savings and the rest I leave as my spending money. It's a good system although it often leaves me with not enough cash but I guess that's nothing that a better job couldn't fix!

[katharina]

Those sound like very good financial decisions. That's where a lot of people get into trouble, actually... with the "I deserve this NOW so I'm going to put it on the credit card and then someday when I get a better job, I'll just pay it off all at a time." It would be nice if things would work like that, but they rarely do, unfortunately.

[brandon05]

We have a pretty strict budget here at the moment. But I do take out $15.00 a week for entertainment. Sometimes we rent movies with it or order a pizza.

[R1986]

It's pretty important to let yourself have some frivolous money along with your savings in my opinion. Although you need to take care of the essentials, if you don't have a little cash for entertainment then you're going to be very unhappy. I'm glad to see that everyone here seems to be responsible but not far too uptight with their savings.

[Azrael]

You mean that you usually watch movies every week. I think that’s a bit of too much spending. I watch movies only once in two months. Of course, it is your money. You can do whatever you like.