Blow Money

What is "Blow Money"? It's money that you set aside in your budget that you use on "you". This is a critical component to everyone's budget. Don't forget about this line item, it will help you from going over-budget and hating life while you go down the road of debt freedom. It's so easy to get caught up in penny pinching and tracking every cent within your budget that you start hating your new "debt free journey" life. Actually, I think that's one major reason why people don't stick with it. It gets too hard being so disciplined every day/week/month/year. So, you need to cut yourself some slack and giving yourself some blow money is one way to do that.

So, the next time you sit down to create your budget, make sure to add a line item for your own personal slush fund. My wife and I have budgeted $100/month for each of us. This number will obviously be different depending on the size of your budget. It should also be reviewed periodically to see if it's sufficient or too much to be allocating for this purpose. One other thing to note about this budget item is that it doesn't have to be the only line item in your budget associated with "having fun". For example, we still budget for certain date nights and other events we plan on doing/attending. But this slush fund provides even greater flexibility around just doing something for yourself. It's also great for enabling you to purchase surprise gifts for your spouse....something you can't do with the rest of the budget since both of you should know exactly where every penny is going.

What are some things you can use your blow money on:
- massage
- night out with the guys/girls
- toys for yourself
- extra movie night (not covered in the rest of your budget)
- extra dinner out (not covered in the rest of your budget)
- book/magazine
- facial/manicure/pedicure (Rachel likes this one more than me)
- extra gambling money at the casino (I like this one more than Rachel)
- basically, anything you want to splurge on....for yourself