After Budgeting, How Do I Deal With Unexcepted Expenses?

[molsewid]

Unexpected expenses will always ruin your budget plan no matter how good the plan was.
Sometimes I do set aside a small amount for unexpected situations out of the original budget because life is full of unpredictable situations.

Me too, maybe one of the reason why I am looking for another job right now is because of this thing. Last 2022 I experienced an unpredictable situations that made me fall into debt and despair, it made my savings go into 0 and made me cry at night because I don't have anything and I really want to have savings but it is all gone. Right now, my answer to that experience is, just have another allocation for that. Do not use savings nor emergency fund, you should have other money for that thing. Or yes we can maybe emergency funds will do sometimes but for me it should be useful before it can consider as emergency funds.

[Marvell1]

Suggest ways to deal with unexpected expenses?

Life is always full of surprises and called surprises we will never anticipate. Other than setting up a savings account, there's no better way for me to cope with it. And that's also why many people say that they don't have a savings account in the bank, but they only have money to invest in bitcoin, which is an entirely wrong plan because unexpected things always happen in our life. Continue budgeting your monthly expenses as usual and add emergency savings, that's what we can do.

[jossiel]

More income and/or savings.

There's no other way of dealing unexpected expenses but to have more income to sustain it. Our cash flow are budgeted and it's certainly hard to execute when sudden expenses come.

That's why for someone who deals mostly with this situation, one thing I've learned is to have more money ready. So, if it's not your savings then make more money through any of your means like having a side hustle.

[Yatsan]

On my end, I believe prevention is always better than cure. I am always saving a separate amount as for emergency funds or for unexpected expenses. It would be hard to make an adjustment once you are there already given that it is something 'unexpected'. If you have a savings you do not spend, for sure you'd be able to aid any of that or if not, lessen unexpected expenses. Some would ask, what if you don't have enough salary to spare for an emergency fund? Either you add another workload or get yourself an investment. I doubt that your salary won't be enough, you just have to manage it correctly. And if it is really not enough try looking for another which would be, as your start, to cope up with every situation afterwards.

[Vaskiy]

Budgeting is to allocate funds for every needs. It is a must to add miscellaneous expenses. This amount can be used for unexpected needs. Another thing at times we can't meet the unexpected needs with the miscellaneous expenses allocated funds. Here we need to be very careful to stay within the limits.

Even after budgeting we should not have the mind to spend the allocated fund to fulfill the specific needs. We need to limit from that spending, and the amount saved could help in meeting unexpected needs. I don't know whether this is possible in real-time.

[Viscore]

It depends what the "unexpected expenses" are. If it's overspending on stuff, then you need to discipline yourself with your spending. On the other hand, if they're like unexpected medical bills and stuff, then there's nothing you can do but to try to increase your income.

As for being discouraged — if you don't budget, you're likely going to be in a far worse situation if you didn't budget.

That is why we need to include in our budgeting emergency funds so that if there are unexpected expenses that will arise whether it’s emergency or not, we can still cope up with that expenses easily. But we should stick to our budgeting and observe discipline, otherwise we will end up suffering from a heavy debt.

[Poker Player]

• Build an emergency fund: save money and set it aside for unexpected expenses, this really helps when the needs occur

This is all you need. There is nothing more to explain. With an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of expenses is how you cope with unexpected expenses. It is a basic, initial, personal finance step that is widely known and works. [/list]

[michellee]

It depends what the "unexpected expenses" are. If it's overspending on stuff, then you need to discipline yourself with your spending. On the other hand, if they're like unexpected medical bills and stuff, then there's nothing you can do but to try to increase your income.

As for being discouraged — if you don't budget, you're likely going to be in a far worse situation if you didn't budget.

That is why we need to include in our budgeting emergency funds so that if there are unexpected expenses that will arise whether it’s emergency or not, we can still cope up with that expenses easily. But we should stick to our budgeting and observe discipline, otherwise we will end up suffering from a heavy debt.

Discipline really determines whether we can set aside a small portion of the income to be used as an unexpected expense. And we may not use the money for unexpected expenses for other things because we prepare the funds for emergency matters so that they will not interfere with other expenses. This is not easy because there must be a temptation that makes us take a little of the emergency fund for things that are not too important. After all, we can say I only take a little of this fund to buy something.

[adaseb]

These days it’s tough. Many are careful with their money but if there is something unexpected then they will most likely use a credit card to buy it. The issue is that the credit card interest is usually 20% if not paid off.

So the debt will keep growing over time. And hence in a high inflation period like now it’s difficult to save money or even stay out of debt. Hence why the inflation needs to be tamed with higher interest rates.

[Dickiy]

Indeed, unexpected expenses always make the finances that are arranged messy, sometimes we don't know where our money is at the end of the accumulated expense calculation at the end of the month, but to avoid that I think we have to be more aware of the flow of our money out when it is outside the budget we make. I think it's necessary to protect every expenditure for several months to ensure a minimum collection level of preparing money for an emergency fund, as we can measure how many potentially unexpected expenses will later be backed up by the emergency fund that you have prepared.

[letteredhub]

The following actions are basic steps in budgeting:
- Track your expenses and income for one month
- Create the categories that fit your life

There are lots of people that are swaying and lackadaisical about how they spend their income that if well checked it would be discovered that their expenses for the month exceeds their income because there's no track planand this attitude leads to unnecessary debts and financial burdens that could have been avoided under a good tracking. Cause it will help the individual to avoid waste .

[rat03gopoh]

Ever heard of financial advice from an influencer in my country for dealing with a potential 2023 recession, that (iirc) if your monthly expenses only max. 20% of monthly income then you'll be ready to face any bad economic situation.
If Unexcepted expenses can be assumed to be a bad economic situation (spending more money over the period), then obviously you should at least have 80% of your income remaining minus the basic needs budget by finding alternative income or rearranging the needs budget closer to 20%.

[jakelyson]

Suggest ways to deal with unexpected expenses?

That is "Rainy Days" fund is for. That is money that you save that is only used for unexpected expenses like accidents, hospital bills, or even your refrigerator breaking down. When budgeting your money, you should also consider setting aside funds for this particular reason. So, when the need arises, you are still prepared because you have money for it. That is the only way I know you can deal with unexpected expenses.

[EarnOnVictor]

I understand you but know that there is room for a budget deficit and surplus, and there might be a situation where there will be an exact expenditure as budgeted. The latter is most peculiar to individuals and it's the best for the prudent souls. I've done this many times, and have experienced all the results listed above.

In the process, I discovered that no one is immune to budget deceit at times, unexpected circumstances that would warrant more spending would just happen. The best way I believe to tackle such is to always add a "factor of safety" to the budget. And note that determination and discipline are so important in actualizing it.

[stadus]

Unexpected expenses are normal in business but much more in personal expenses.
That is why we allocate a budget for "others" meaning that can be spent on those things that are not listed on our expected expenses. Remember that we can't predict everything for the incoming and the only way to deal with this thing which really possibly happens to allocate some budget like 10% of the overall expenses target. So, we don't have to worry about where to get funds as we already have money reserved for this thing.

[Fesatmas]

We can prepare unexpected expenses for each month. We can include it in our spending plan, if the money is not touched then we can accumulate it every month to become our emergency savings. We do the same thing every month, because sometimes we forget to budget. I mean let contingencies be part of our spending and that money separate from savings. We must be smart in managing our finances very well, because that is what is difficult for us to do and we often even underestimate it.

[davis196]

Would you mind sharing with us what kind of unexpected expenses you have? Are your unexpected expenses a secret?
If you ask me, having an old car and a new woman is a recipe for unexpected expenses.
Just try to increase your income and start saving more money. All your unexpected costs should be covered by your savings, not by your monthly budget. This is what I do. Try to cut all the spending related to bad habits, like smoking, alcohol, gambling, etc...
Don't use consumer debt, if your income isn't high enough. Failing to pay consumer debt in time would mean that you will fall into a debt spiral.

[Woodie]

Suggest ways to deal with unexpected expenses?

Others would definitely go for their credit card or take out a loan but I think part of the budgeting process should account for such unforeseen circumstances like events, house maintenance, medical costs if insurance isn't an option or won't cover it list goes on, the best is to setup a savings account or some kind of emergency fund that will help cover these bills in the most unexpected scenarios....unless you are in a budget deficit you will have to go for a loan, otherwise cuttimg expenses from your life style to accommodate for the savings will be the perfect adjustment .

[naira]

We often hear statements like this: the greater the income, the greater the spending to support needs. That's about what crossed my mind. It is undeniable that the cost of living is categorized into basic needs, if in a month I only spend $ 500 to $ 600, you could say that where I live is quite an extravagant expenditure. Because I live in a rented house, paying for electricity, water, internet and of course basic needs.

Speaking of unexpected expenses, this is what I can't avoid the most, which causes the allocation to remain swollen, aka more than what I had anticipated. After all, dealing with unexpected expenses is a difficult act even with anticipation though.

[fadhilz123]

There are lots of people that are swaying and lackadaisical about how they spend their income that if well checked it would be discovered that their expenses for the month exceeds their income because there's no track planand this attitude leads to unnecessary debts and financial burdens that could have been avoided under a good tracking. Cause it will help the individual to avoid waste .

Actually it is not about the doubts that exist in certain individuals, but it only concerns how a person is able to manage the use of money based on the amount of income in each month, because spending more money than income will definitely cause debt in his life. So in order not to incur debt in his life, a person must be able to manage his income every month so that he can live more comfortably without the burden of debt within him.