Yes. In moderation. There are specific circumstances where you will have to do this. This month we ran out of grocery money due to two reasons: we had the budget very low already and we wanted to plant veggies (used money from the grocery envelope) to produce a summer harvest. Therefore, we pulled some money from our generously supplied medical fund to get us through the month.
Now we know that we need a separate category for gardening, or we can just raise how much we spend on groceries. Adjustments along the way are acceptable if you are working with your spouse (if you have one) on the adjustment.
Change happens. Remember, your budget is a tool, not your master. Don’t be so strict that you suffer. Don’t be so lax that you indulge and lose money.
It is a good idea to try and keep your overall expenditures at the same amount or lower month to month, but this is not always possible. Even the strictest budgeters are subject to rising costs and inflation.
Everything in moderation! Keep it reasonable. It is okay to drift money between budgeting categories but refrain from overspending your big picture budget.
What do you think?
! John wrote two articles for the book: "Budgeting for Groceries" and "How Grocery Stores Work."
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We use mint.com to budget and you can set the budget items to roll over to the next month (positive or negative). We set our utilities, my wife’s photography biz expenses, and doctors bills to roll over. As some months have more (more bills in winter for doctors) that way we do have a set amount each month but the months we go a few bucks over- no big deal as it will even out next month. Then we leave a slight buffer of $100 in our budget that allows us to go over a little if it so happens that we see the doc alot, utilities are high, and we overspend i know the $100 is there so we can reset the budget the next month without having to pull one from the other. Works for us- so its zero based budgeting with a twist.
I’ve been meaning to figure out how zero-based budgeters can use Mint.com. Looks like you have a system that works out pretty well for you! Thanks for providing your insight here Ted!