Some people have been asking about the Fun Money Fund and how I manage that in my budget. I have a number of sub accounts which I use to fund various aspects of my life. The Fun Money Fund is used to pay for things that I would like to do or have just to enjoy life.

What I do with my budget is I have a set amount of money that gets transferred automatically to all the different sub accounts as part of my regular zero based budget. I have money that goes to

-Emergency fund

-Car repairs and maintenance

-Never go back to Fresno

-Savings

-Fun Money

 

and a few other sub accounts. All of this takes place automatically on the dates I have set up so I never have to think about it. Every time I need to use money from one account I can do so with no hesitation because that money has already been accounted for in previous budgets.

So for example, when it is time to pay for the car registration, I can take the fee out of the Car Fund because that money has been piling up for months before it is due.

Now the Fun Money Fund tends to get depleted quickly because every now and then I will see something that I really want. I do not want to take this impulse purchase out of the regular monthly budget because that will mess things up. What I can do if I see something I want, is to check the balance in the Fun Money Fund. If there is enough to cover the purchase then I get it with no hesitation.

I currently fund this account with a monthly transfer of $5, so there is not a big allocation in my budget for fun things outside of my regular budget. The important thing to note is that all I do is go to school and go to work. I bring my lunches to work and I do not eat out except for my birthday. This means the fund is adding up every month…plus I had a balance in there from years ago.

I really don’t spend a lot but when the time does come up then I can just spend that previously accounted money without worrying about the next month.