amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,333
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Sept 30, 2018 14:31:21 GMT
We talk a lot about setting grocery budgets, but what about other household items like cleaning supplies, beauty/health and office supplies?
Most of the above things I purchase as we run out and/or I stock up when there is a good sale, etc. I'm not sure how to go about setting a specific budget vs. just keep track of what I spend in those other categories - at least for now to get a grip on the amount I really spend. I also worry about making the tracking so complicated that I'll just stop doing it. I'm already aware of the big areas where my family overspends, but there is obviously lots of money going out the door on the little things that just mindlessly end up in the Amazon, Target, Walmart shopping carts.
I'd love thoughts and opinions???
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PrettyInPeank
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,691
Jun 25, 2014 21:31:58 GMT
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Post by PrettyInPeank on Sept 30, 2018 14:44:16 GMT
We included the health/beauty/cleaning into our grocery budget. If we end up needing a lot of non-grocery that month, we skip pricey beef and have a couple spaghetti nights for example.
Edit: I should add any premium beauty items is considered fun money to me. $4 hairspray is grocery budget, $28 mousse from the salon is on me.
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Post by jumperhop on Sept 30, 2018 14:53:17 GMT
I lump them all together in one budget.
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Post by myshelly on Sept 30, 2018 14:57:30 GMT
That’s included in my grocery budget because I buy that stuff at the same time/place as groceries.
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anaterra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,847
Location: Texas
Jun 29, 2014 3:04:02 GMT
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Post by anaterra on Sept 30, 2018 15:29:05 GMT
I budget $20 a week for household.. $30 a week for my beauty (mani pedi eyebrow).. $80 a week for grocery... so essentially 100 at the grocery store... but split
We are cash based.. so every payday I put those amounts in the dreaded Dave Ramsey envelopes.. lol... when I go to the grocery store I take both envelopes... I dont split my transactions.. I just know how much comes out of what envelope... and I carry over.. if I only bought dish soap the week at about 6 bucks.. then the rest stays in the envelope.. because I know at some point I will need shampoo n conditioner and toilet paper all in the same week...
As soon household gets too 100 that we haven't spent... I deposit it to savings and start again with 20...
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anaterra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,847
Location: Texas
Jun 29, 2014 3:04:02 GMT
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Post by anaterra on Sept 30, 2018 15:36:03 GMT
I also dont really have an office supply budget... but I have a "hobby" budget and gets pens or scrappy supplies with that..
I have an envelope for grands and get colors and paints with that money.. also color books or kid craft kits... different from my scrap stuff... lol..mine is mine.. grands is free for all..
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,179
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Sept 30, 2018 15:57:00 GMT
I don't want or need to break things down to that degree. If we need dishwasher detergent or toothpaste I buy it along with groceries. There may be times I notice that there are more non-food items than usual in the grocery cart, but it's all from the same pot of money.
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georgiapea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,846
Jun 27, 2014 18:02:10 GMT
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Post by georgiapea on Sept 30, 2018 16:22:16 GMT
If you want to establish monthly budget amounts for cleaning, soap/shampoo, office items, I'd expect to buy when prices are best and stock up. My unspent amounts would carry over to subsequent months and allow me to get things like vacuum and office chair size items.
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Post by ScrapbookMyLife on Sept 30, 2018 16:54:52 GMT
For me, stuff like paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, laundry soap, kitty litter, etc...is a part of my regular grocery shopping budget.
Beauty products, such as make up and skin care are not included in my groceries category. I use higher end products and that is my splurge(I don't buy expensive purses or clothes, a lot of shoes, no pricy perfume, no fancy restaurants, etc...) In general I budget $50-60 a month for beauty. I tend to wait until Sephora sale 2-3 times a year, and stock up then. I roll each months unspent beauty budget to the next month, then when the sale is on I have $200-250+ set aside for what I want. Doing it that way is more cost effective. If I wait until the sale (20%off) I can get $200 worth for $160.
As far as grocery shopping(or any shopping), I try to be wise with my money. I check the ads weekly. I don't buy certain things unless they are on sale(kitty litter, toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, etc....). When things are on sale I buy multiple. which gets me through until it's on sale again. For instance, the kitty litter I use is usually 7.99, but a local store recently had it for $4.99 so I bought four of them. It would have cost me $32 full price, but I paid $20 on sale.
Perhaps you should revise your shopping categories. Include certain things and move other things to a separate category. I find shopping from a list, deters impulse purchases. I always think twice(or ten times) when making an impulse purchases. Do I really NEED that, or do I simply want it. Do I already have something similar at home? More often, than not I will put something back. Recently, I've been asking myself "do I really need or want that, or would I rather put it back and put the funds in my travel money fund instead?".
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Post by anniefb on Sept 30, 2018 17:12:09 GMT
Cleaning supplies are included in the weekly shopping budget. Makeup, health products, home office supplies etc all have a separate line in my budget. I'm working with a financial adviser and set the budget based on last year's spending. My aim is to put all extra $$ towards the mortgage so I'm being pretty ruthless with cutting out extraneous expenditure.
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,462
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Sept 30, 2018 18:09:24 GMT
I found separating things out too much made tracking too hard. So I keep it simple and lump it in with groceries.
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Post by mrst on Sept 30, 2018 18:38:19 GMT
I'm not much of a believer in setting budgets as such. If I set a budget, I'm more inclined to spend up to it. I do keep a close eye on what we spend generally, but do e weeks it's nothing, other weeks it could be quite a bit .
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Post by Linda on Sept 30, 2018 19:31:36 GMT
I don't separate it out but I have $200/week for groceries/household items/cats...and whatever else I want/need to buy be it scrapbook supplies or a birthday present or a new pair of jeans. Since that's all the money that goes into the account each week, it's impossible to overspend unless I have money leftover from a previous week.
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
Jun 26, 2014 0:29:24 GMT
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Sept 30, 2018 20:36:17 GMT
That is a tough question for household things. Example, today at Target I spent $36 on garbage bags but I got a $10 gift card back, and I won't need to buy garbage bags again until probably 2020, plus one of the boxes will go as a donation to the animal shelter we support. I buy paper towels the same way, and most cleaning products.
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Post by donnab on Oct 1, 2018 0:42:40 GMT
I budget a certain amount per month for groceries and a certain amount for household items. The household items include everything that isn't groceries: toilet paper, paper towels, laundry det, dish soap, trash bags, shampoo, toothpaste, etc... I like to cut out coupons and use those for the household items in order to save money. When there is a good sale on something I will get as many as I can and then the next month I will spend my budget money on a different item. I like to keep a good stock of items so that I don't run out of anything. My pets and their supplies are on a different budget.
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