Tracking Your Monthly Expenses by Category: Entertainment

Hi,
Many people know that they spend more money than they make each month. The next step in categorizing your expenses allows you to see in detail where you spend your money. After you get a grand total of all categories, and compare it with your monthly income, you will get a good idea of how much you need to reduce your expenditures. By analyzing each category you will be able to determine in what area you feel comfortable reducing your monthly expenses. Today let's start by looking at your entertainment expenses for the month. When you look at your entertainment dollars, it's a good idea to break out your morning coffee expense, lunch expense, and your after work drink with friends expense. For example, if you buy a coffee specialty drink in the morning at $3.50 and at lunch, you spend $6.00-$8.00, followed by a couple of $3.00 beers or wine, you are conservatively spending $250.00-$300.00 a month on these pleasures. This is generally a good area in which to painlessly reduce some of your monthly spending. Now let's address dinner. In looking back over a month's spending, some people are shocked to learn how much money was spent on fast food at dinner time. For sound debt management, money spent eating out needs to be considered entertainment and not part of the food budget.
Tomorrow: red zones.
Until then,
Alan