About two months ago, I won a $100 American Express gift card from an affiliate program I’m involved in. Yes, I’ve won things before, but they were always “things”… not cold hard cash!
Need-less-to-say, I was pretty excited!
When the card came in the mail, my initial thought was, I could probably buy 3 – 4 weeks worth of groceries with this…
But then I thought, NO — I’m not spending this gift on groceries, gas, utility bills, or any of our other boring monthly expenses. We have plenty of money to pay for those things.
This money will be my “fun money”!
Now, obviously $100 can’t buy an unlimited amount of fun, but I did manage to make it last for over a month.
Here’s some of what I bought with my fun money:
- Pair of Khaki cropped pants from Old Navy — they have an elastic waist band which is perfect for me right now
- A dress and 2 shirts from Khol’s — again will be useful for my growing belly
- Medium smoothie from McDonald’s — I did use a coupon
- Dave and I went out to eat three times — all with coupons
- We also got custard from Culver’s — BOGO coupon
- I took my dad out to lunch twice when he was here helping us with renovations
- I got a soft pretzel at the mall — 50% off of course
- I found a really cute wallet/clutch at Target
I think I did pretty well to get ALL that for $100.
And even though my splurges were spread out over several weeks, it was so fun to know that I had a specific amount of “fun money” that I did not have to account for. I could do whatever I wanted without feeling guilty because it was already “budgeted in” — plus it was a gift!
So that got me thinking, even though Dave and I are committed to saving as much as we can {especially now with a baby coming and all our house projects}, it might not be a bad idea to work some “fun money” into our monthly budget.
Do you have fun money?
I know a couple who budgets $50 per month as fun money. They each get $25 and they can spend it as quickly or as slowly as they want. My friend uses most of her fun money to buy gas station coffee or pop, and her husband uses his to get comic books or music downloads.
I also know some one who designates $1 per day for their fun money. Sometimes they get pop or candy from a vending machine, or sometimes they save it for the week and then go out for a quick lunch.
I do think the concept of fun money is wise — especially for people like me who would be perfectly content to save, save, save! Obviously, you shouldn’t go over-board… but I think a reasonable amount of fun money might just be a good idea. Just remember to record it under the “Misc.” section of your budget — you DO have a budget right?? 🙂
Also, I think it might be a good idea to put your fun money on some sort of Visa, MasterCard, or American Express gift card. That way, you can still spend it anywhere, but you also always know how much you have left and you’re not tempted to spend more than you budgeted for. {This works really well for kids too!}
What about you? How do you handle this??
Are you like us and just save, save, save?
Do you budget a specific dollar amount every day, week, or month for extras or fun money?
Does your spouse, significant other, or children get any fun money?
Do you think fun money is a good idea or just an excuse to spend more?
If you DO have fun money — how do you handle it? Cash, gift cards, a separate bank account?
Jen says
My husband and I each get $10 per week to spend however we choose. I like to load mine onto my Starbucks card and have yummy, indulgent coffees a few times per week, plus get credit toward free coffee for using my card. Sometimes I’ll hold onto it if I’m wanting to get a mani or pedi or something.
Lisa says
Hi Andrea,
I love reading your website and all the organizing tips you give. My problem has always been that I want to be organized, but don’t really know where to start so your step by step procedures work really well for me.
The way me and my hubby work with our money is quite simple. We’re like you and just save save save, but I just recalled a great money management system that I haven’t used in ages that I just realize we have to get back to. When I used it a few years back, I was back home in Canada and I went to the bank and had them open 6 accounts. I know it sounds scary, but everything was automated and we only had to do it once! Since then, i’ve moved to Asia, I guess I’ve forgotten about it until I read your post. It’s one of the best systems i’ve ever used.
So, here goes, this management system is created by T. Harv Eker (my hub. and I went to one of his 3 day seminars)
JARS Money Management System.
Basically, to begin, I went to the bank (Scotiabank – they’re wonderful!) and opened the accounts under different names.
1. Financial Freedom Account (FFA) = 10%
2. Long Term Savings For Spending (LTSS) = 10%
3. Education (EDUC) = 10%
4. Necessities (NEC) =55%
5. Play = 10%
6. Give = 5%
Then, with the banker, we made sure that every month, all the money that was in one account would be taken out and transferred out according to % for each of the accounts.
Eg. If you had $100 .00, for example
FFA = $10
LTSS = $10
NEC = $55
EDU = $10
PLAY = $10
GIVE = $5
This would ensure that every month, you would really have to BUDGET as the only amount you would have access to was the NEC account (for necessities like the mortgage, groceries, petrol, insurance,…..). All the other accounts had limited access because some of them were used to force you to SAVE or INVEST your money for your future or retirement (FFA or LTSS).
The education account (EDU) is like your ‘fun’ money but it differs in that the purpose is solely to make purchases like books or dvd’s or invest in seminars, workshops, anything that helps ensure that you are growing and developing as a person. (This is one of my fav. accounts!!!)
The GIVE account, 5% teaches you to be thoughtful and care for others, knowing that you’re making a difference in someone else’s life. You can choose this money to give to charities, schools, …
Now, for my favorite account, and yours too I believe, the PLAY account.. This account was created simply because Harv felt that we have too many people in this world who have lots of money and they can save, but they’re still not happy. This is because they don’t know how to treat themselves and enjoy life, they just spend their lives working and saving. The only rule for this account is that you have to blow it every month, yes you heard that right, every month!!! By blowing this money every month, you are telling yourself that yes, I have money, and yes, I can spend it and still know that there’s some left in the bank, and yes yes yes, I am enjoying my life. Use it to go for massages, facials, shopping trips,….it’s really up to you.
Sorry for the long post, but there’s a roundabout way of saying, don’t feel guilty about having fun money, you deserve it! Having the play account was really tough for me at the beginning because alI wanted to do was save, and save but trust me, it will get easier and you will become better at it in the long run.
If you have any questions about how to use the system, please feel free to email me at askforlisa@yahoo.ca. I’ll be more than happy to help!
Good luck, hope you enjoy this sysem.
Andrea says
Thanks Lisa… LOVE This idea!!
shelia says
my husband and I each get $50 a month to spend on whatever we want. he has been saving the majority of his money for the last few months to get the iPhone 4s. I spend mine quickly on things like clothes, craft projects, and coffee with some girls that I mentor. we do the cash envelope system. so most of our expenses are paid for via cash, including our fun money. this helps to spend only what we have. some months are hard when we know we have plenty of “buffer” in the checking account. but most mon tha we just put that extra right to savings so we aren’t tempted to overspend. it’s worked out really well for us! we are ok at saving and doing our monthly budget and spending wisely. we live off my husbands income as I stay home with our daughter. we don’t make a lot of money. but because we are wise with what we have we feel like we are doing pretty good 🙂
Patty Gardner says
My husband and I don’t really set aside specific amounts for fun money – if there’s something we want or need, we usually can get it or fit it in the budget. That said, we don’t buy very much. My weakness is books! Can’t get enough of those!!!
My daughter and her husband, newlyweds, set up fun money in their budget. She takes out a specified amount of money each week for groceries and gets an extra $20. She can use it for additional groceries or for things she needs. Not sure what the arrangement is for her husband’s fun money. But I think this arrangement is working pretty well. When they first got married, they didn’t budget for fun money and she was going crazy. He had to learn that girls need more things than guys do – you know, makeup, jewelry, clothes, etc.
Heidi says
You are amazing! This is the answer to my prayers! My husband and I always make a budget for the month, however he tends to overspend for the month on his spending cash. We haven’t moved to cash envelopes because sometimes we order things online and use part of our money in that category. Having a pre-paid card will really help. Thanks!
Andrea says
Thanks Heidi!!!
Dave and I are so happy we implemented our “fun money”. Even if it’s just $10 or $20, we like having that money for little splurges here and there without felling bad!
Faith says
I have been wanting to start a “Fun Money” budget each month to use on my crafts, activities with the kids, etc. It’s so tempting; especially during the summer to go out somewhere with the kids and splurge on things. So I think if I used the cash system and only spent so much per month it would help a lot. 🙂
tuxgirl says
My mom told me as I got older that the “allowance” is an essential part of a family budget. She said that for her and my dad, it was essential that each of them had some money that they could spend on things they wanted that the other one couldn’t veto/comment/complain about.
I’ve definitely found the same to be true with our home budget. There are things that my DH wants to buy that I think are silly, and there are things that I want to buy that he thinks are silly. As long as we both stick within our allowances, though, I can spend my money on what I want, and he can spend his money on what he wants. If he really wants to stop by 7-11 and get a soda, that’s none of my business (aside from recording it when I run our budget updates). It’s *very* liberating!
Angela says
Great ideas! I never thought of putting that in gift cards, GREAT information. Thanks for sharing!
Angela
Suzanne says
My husband and I have always called ours “entertainment money”. We each get $40/month to spend as we like. Oddly, it always disappears! Prior to becoming parents, we would often use it for a movie and treats, or go out to eat, but now, I’m not sure where it goes! (It does disappear though.) It has been known to go toward a donation for a work gift, to buy a lunch here or there for myself and a friend, to pay for that fun $2/pp train ride at the zoo, wash my car…it is just really nice to have, as you mentioned. You did GREAT with that $100!
Andrea says
That sounds like a good amount of “fun money” each month. Not really THAT much, but enough to do a few little things here and there… and yes, it does disappear!
Olivia says
I am AMAZED at how much you got for $100! Hubby and I set aside a certain amount per month for “fun money,” and that’s what we use for our occasional dinners out, unplanned splurges at Barnes & Noble, etc. I also do PineCone surveys, and the $3/survey I get from that is all mine. I let it build up and occasionally go out for lunch at work (sushi takeout!) or give in to my fancy coffee cravings. I’m not sure I’ve ever stretched $100 that far though…
JoDi says
Wow, I can’t believe you did all that with $100, especially eating out 5 times (counting the lunches with your dad!) Those must have been amazing coupons! I’m going to have to set aside $100 and see how much fun I can stretch out of it! 🙂
Andrea says
Thanks JoDi,
All my dinner coupons were BOGO — and we don’t go to fancy places either! Also, for lunch, I used free Arby’s sandwich coupons one of the time, and my dad can order off the 55 and older menu 🙂 LOL
Seriously, it was so much fun — make it a little game and see how much “fun” you can have with your $100!!
Stacey says
We are terrible at saving. We do save and have a set amount that we put into a few savings accts each paycheck but im sure we could do more. DH and i each get $100 cash a month in fun money. He uses his if he goes out to lunch at work and i use mine when the kids and i do things or get mcdonalds for lunch or something. Sometimes i use mine for fabric or other crafting items. If we eat out for dinner we use our fun money. I think its a good idea because like Carlen said, it does cut out all the tiny purchase on the debit card. If im being honest though, if we run out of cash we usually just use the debit card to get whatever it is that we want. This is where we SUCK big time at saving money. This totally negates the whole purpose of fun money but we’ll still keep trying, lol.