How much do you budget for entertainment?

[lakeview]

I've been going through my budget looking for places I can save money. One area I'm conflicted on is entertainment.

In your budget, how much do you put aside for entertainment each month? How important to your sanity is your entertainment budget?

[disneysteve]

We don't use a budget so I can't give you a solid answer but I can tell you that the number is pretty low. Most of our entertainment comes from at-home activities so the cable bill, Netflix, and internet would comprise most of it.

[NetSkyBlue]

Like Steve, Netflix and internet are our only regular "entertainment" expenses. We don't have cable. I think we went to one movie in 2013? We both work so much, and opposite hours, that the only thing we want to do when we happen to have time together is sit at home and relax.

[Nika]

Is eating out entertainment? Is vacation entertainment? Is alcohol entertainment? I think people's definition of entertainment varies.

So going out with a girlfriend store hopping and sitting down to rest in a nice cafe is entertaining. But that would go under "food" and "shopping" for some people.

[TheKayla]

Since entertainment is the lowest priority in my budget, I budget for my bills, food/necessities, and savings, and let everything else sit in my bank account. While I'm paying off my debt it's never a lot leftover, but regardless I always just go with what's leftover in my bank account and thats what I can spend on entertainment -- leaving for a cash buffer in my account still of course. (I won't go under X amount in my bank account.) So if I have all my bills paid and savings accounts paid, and have $300 + my buffer in my account, I have $300 to spend on what I want. I usually never spend close to that though, maybe $100 between 'fun' shopping (rare), eating out, alcohol, activities, etc. and anything I don't spend carries over each month, and then I do the whole same budget again the next month. I tend to build up more of cash buffer from these 'rollovers' each month and eventually transfer excess to a loan payment, savings, purchase that I've wanted, or the best -- my travel fund.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

DH and I were just chuckling over that category on the year end report that American Express generates. In 2013 as in 2012, AmEx considers us to have spent ZERO on entertainment.

I would say we just tend to find entertainment in things that AmEx would not classify as entertainment. For example, we bought a pressure canner this year, and that sure did give us some happy times, as did the canned green beans and tomato juice I from our own garden I had at lunch today. Heck, the garden gave us many many hours of "entertainment" and we did spend on it. I loved using the new weed whip, but I doubt anyone else would consider it entertainment! But it also could be put into the same category as one might put gym or weight watchers fees, or it could be in landscaping.

[humandraydel]

Is eating out entertainment? Is vacation entertainment? Is alcohol entertainment? I think people's definition of entertainment varies.

So going out with a girlfriend store hopping and sitting down to rest in a nice cafe is entertaining. But that would go under "food" and "shopping" for some people.

Yes. To me, "entertainment" is really just "fun money" - I can do WHATEVER I want with it. But, anything that isn't in the budget is fun money. So clothes, going out to lunch, dinner, buying a book/CD, going to a movie, etc.

My wife and I each get $100 per month to spend as we wish.

[moneybags]

Is eating out entertainment? Is vacation entertainment? Is alcohol entertainment? I think people's definition of entertainment varies.

Alcohol falls under the grocery budget .

[disneysteve]

Is eating out entertainment? Is vacation entertainment? Is alcohol entertainment? I think people's definition of entertainment varies.

Very true. To some extent, I'd count gas for the car as entertainment because sometimes just going out and taking a drive somewhere is how we like to spend our free time. Today, we're about to run a few errands and check out a couple of stores that we've been wanting to see (a fabric store for my wife and a thrift shop). To us, that's entertainment just as much as going to a movie or a show. We may spend money. We may not. It all depends what we come across.

[cschin4]

So many things really are entertainment nowadays. Cell phones, DVD's , cable TV, sports tickets, eating out, concerts, movies and on and on. You have to just decide what it is worth to you. I paid $200+ for Lady Gaga tickets and to me that is worth it. Maybe not to you.

[kork13]

I manage my budget fairly carefully, and yet strangely, I don't really budget entertainment costs... I simply budget out all of my normal expenses & savings, then I've got a line for "Discretionary Spending" -- everything that isn't mandatory spending or savings (beyond taxes, debts, food, utilities, gas, etc.) is "discretionary", and I don't really specify how much or where I spend it. My "discretionary" money generally ends up being 3-6% of my gross income ($250-$500/mo), but how it's used varies radically month to month. Sometimes it's just added to my general savings, other times I spend all of it and then some (drawing from my general savings). That includes everything from a week-long snowboarding trip & a Hulu subscription to the random day-to-day items bought from Amazon or Target. Honestly, without referencing my expenses tracker, I would never be able to tell you what I spend that money on or how much of it was spent vs. saved. It's slush money, and I don't worry too much about it because I've got everything else that's actually important to me taken care of.

[disneysteve]

So many things really are entertainment nowadays. Cell phones

Without a doubt, my iPhone is my #1 source of entertainment. I use it for email, facebook, YouTube, Netflix, various games, communicating with friends, taking pictures, etc. So I guess technically the $50/month roughly that goes for my cell phone bill should be largely under the "entertainment" category.

The problem today is with such convergent devices like iPhones, needs and wants blend together.

[KTP]

I would have to say our cable/internet is mostly for entertainment, although I use the internet for stock trading. It is expensive at $140 a month combined. Damn Comcast. It should go down in April when we sign up for HBO to get Game of Thrones. (when you sign up for a new service you get a new teaser rate for 6 months).

We have Netflix streaming, so that is about $10 a month.

We eat out about once a week at $25 to $30.

I would say total about $300 a month for entertainment.