I’m really curious about how others handle categorizing expenses that could go into multiple budget categories. For example, I recently bought a ticket to a fundraising event. It’s a donation, but I’ll also get dinner and entertainment at the event. Should I categorize the whole amount as a donation, or would it make more sense to split it between categories? I worry it might skew my ‘eating out’ budget a bit, but in the end, it’s all money leaving my account. I’d love to hear opinions on this.
My wife and I usually leave big tips at restaurants, like $30 on a $40 bill, which can inflate our dining out category. I know some of that is just being generous, but it wouldn’t have been spent if we hadn’t dined out. For the fundraising ticket, I would put it under donations since that was the main purpose of the purchase.
I’d just put it all into donations. If it were a dinner with friends or family, I’d probably split it between Gifts and some kind of Celebrations category. This way, it wouldn’t mess with my personal budget for eating out.
For this specific situation, I’d put it all in donations. Whatever feels right to you is what matters most.
I would just put it under donations. Keeping it simple works best for me.