How much do you allocate monthly for entertainment/fun fund. So example, if you use Dave Ramsey's budgeting guide, you will have every dollar have a name, and hopefully you have some play money in your budget! Right now I am being quite strict, and living off $25 a month. This includes my E-books I buy, used video games, and other junk I may purchase. It can be tough at times, but it forces you to be creative with that allocated money!
I think my range would be about $25 to $30 per month. Anything that I don't need is included in the "fun fund" and that includes fast food, soda, pastries, junk food, etc.
I can only really allocate myself around £20 per month right now, I'm on a debt repayment program so can't afford any more. This covers things like the occasional coffee and candy bar, books and clothes from the thrift store and the occasional cosmetic item. It's so easy to overspend in these areas so setting a budget can be a great idea if you need to curb your spending.
If I have to include snacks in my "fun fund", I think my range would be $40 to $50 monthly (80% on snacks ).
My husband and I each get $20 a month for "fun" stuff. He tends to use his for eating out because he likes that, and we don't do as much of that because of our tight food budget. I tend to save mine for bigger things I want. This amount doesn't go toward clothes because we have a separate, small budget for clothes which are primarily from 2nd hand stores anyway, so it works for us. Having this small amount of fun money for each of us helps us keep our budget in other areas because we're not overspending trying to fit it into other categories.
My budget is for clothes which I get mostly from the 2nd hand store. I usely have $20-$30 a month set aside the month I plan to purchase clothes, I don't purchase clothes ever month Iwill set the money aside for later. When I need to purchase a new plant for my garden.
I set up about Rs 1500 for Entertainment (that is, approximately USD 25). I have cable and newspaper which I do not count towards it as it is used by everybody in the house. That is enough if you know where to eat outside. I watch movies online (there is no Netflix in India, just big flex which is about 5 USD per month). So I can comfortably manage it.
Geez, $20 dollars a month to spend for doodads and leisure stuff, that's barely three combo meals at a fast food these days. How about simply saving that money or investing it instead?! For example, you can purchase something for $20 at a garage sale or flea market and then flip above the purchase price at a online sell/buy or auction site, buy a catchy website domain name to hold onto until buyer wishes to acquire it for more, or simply invest in something instead of spending it. Then again, it's your money so I could care not.
