How do you classify...

[cashqueen]

entertaining expenses? Like if you have a couple (or family) over for dinner? Are those groceries or entertainment?

what about alcoholic beverages (or does no one drink?) I like to have a glass of wine now and then and DH likes beer. Groceries or entertainment?

what about if you go over someone's house and prepare/bring food and/or beverages? groceries or entertainment?

I'm just wondering how others view these 'non-traditional' expenses

[sweeps]

The more detailed your budget, the better. I would keep those line items separate.

[Broken Arrow]

To me, they would be something like entertainment expenses. I agree with sweeps, and would keep them separate from your usual grocery budget.

[Homebody]

It would be too hard to classify for us because we usually just fix and take over to friends what we have in the house. For father's day I fixed a vegetable dish with all ingredients on hand.

Last red bell pepper from big bag from Costco.
1 pound of broccoli from the big bag from Costco.
1 pound of gnocchi from Trader Joe's I had on hand since the closest Trader Joe's is 4 hours away.
4 cloves of garlic and olive oil and butter.

I have a hard enough time keeping up with the receipts for cash purchases to figure out home groceries versus taking to people's house or having people over groceries.

[PrincessPerky]

Yeah I am lazy, food is food, if I bought it at the grocery store, it is food, course that means household cleaning/paper products are 'grocery' too. But did I mention I am lazy?

The only thing is I do make sure there is room in the grocery budget for company, may not be the best spread, but it is food, and it is here. (but no pop, just can't afford that)

[Pollyanna]

Food is food in my budget. If I prep a dish to take somewhere else, I'm going to not only be eating my item, but also stuff that other folks brought - would I have to deduct a portion of the cost of the other folk's grub from the cost of the dish I brought? Too, too nit-picky for me!

Fixing a meal for others at my home goes under groceries too; it's usually spur of the moment, so they just share whatever we were going to have. I always fix extra to take in our lunches, so there is always enough.

Hubs has a daily glass of wine, most of that is from gifts he has recieved, or homemade. On the rare occasions that he has to buy wine, it comes out of his "personal allowance" - the money that we don't have to account for. I buy maybe one bottle of booze every summer - that comes out of my allowance.

[sweeps]

But... if someone is serious about reducing or eliminating expenses, at some point they have to break down the big categories such as "Groceries" or "Entertainment".

[Ima saver]

If I entertain, I spend a lot, so I put it under entertainment. I buy liquor everyweek and that is a seperate item in my budget too, including beer also.

[Roupey03]

For me having a couple over does not happen on a reqular basis. That being said it would go under entertainment.

[Bookie]

Well, anyone I feed will be taken out to eat, so that's entertainment in my budget.

Anything bought for guests at home is also entertainment. And it's easier than it sounds because I don't drink alcohol or soft drinks, so the only reason I buy them is if I'm entertaining.