What busts your budget?
Posted
May 09 2008, 05:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
We all have those items that tempt us to overspend. For some, like Amy at My Daily Dollars, it's shoes. For others, it's video games. For us, it's anything with a Steelers logo on it and travel.
Many personal-finance bloggers have shared theirs -- after being tagged by the "five budget busters" meme. While some wrote about treats like eating out, others said the necessities of life are busting their budgets.
The blogger at Thriftiness Becomes Us has a high-deductible health insurance plan and no dental coverage. She wrote, "DH and I have a 'put out the fire' mentality with our own dental care. That can get expensive once in a while. We save all year for our kids' dental visits, which are much more important than our own."
Lynnae at Being Frugal mentioned gasoline. Now that it's kids soccer season, they're driving to a neighboring town six times a week.
Sometimes our attempts at frugality can get us in a rut. Carlie Faulk at Why Ask Why cited resale shops and clearance racks. And then there are her kids: "'Can I have a dollar for a snack after practice?' 'Mom, my jeans are really short. Are you supposed to be able to see my socks?' ... 'Mom, I'm thirsty and hungry. How much longer till dinner?' Etc., etc., etc., etc. You get the idea," she wrote.
Aryn at Sound Money Matters said her husband busts her budget, particularly with weekday lunches with co-workers. She wrote: "Then there are the times when they change plans on the way to the restaurant and he finds himself in a steakhouse paying $40 for lunch, and then hitting happy hour later for another $20. That's two-thirds of my grocery budget for the week."
Vh at Funny about Money included house maintenance, her aging German shepherd, $75 hair cuts, and Costco on her list. "There's only one way to survive a Costco run with your budget intact: Wear blinders," she wrote.
The fast-food drive-through is the Achilles' heel of Ana at DebtFREE-Revolution, followed by $5 DVDs at Wal-Mart ("a DVD for less than a movie theater ticket!" she said) and day-old stuff on sale in the bakery department.
Cindy S at Oh My Aching Debts, who started this meme, listed her kids, eating out while shopping, sodas on road trips, and late and overdraft fees.
Some bloggers found the meme helpful. "We all have stuff floating around in our heads, but when you write it down, take an honest look at it staring you in the face, it becomes reality and you have to make a choice about it. You can ignore it or do something about it," wrote ChouChou at Debt Non Sequitur.
ChouChou listed organic foods, home-schooling and kids' books, travel and Starbucks caramel frappuccino, and added, "Hello, my name is ChouChou, and I am addicted to buying shoes."
