45+ Things You Might Forget to Budget For and more...

Have you ever wondered if there are things you are forgetting to budget for? If so, you're not alone! Check out this LONG list of ideas we complied from our readers -- things that are surprisingly easy to forget to budget for! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  View Online Here's what's new: 45+ Things You Might Forget to Budget For Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Is Back on October 6th and 7th! 45+ Things You Might Forget to Budget For Have you ever wondered if there are things you are forgetting to budget for? When creating a budget, it’s difficult to anticipate all the expenses you’ll encounter, whether they’re annual expenses, unexpected ones, or even large one-time purchases you’ll want to plan for. It’s easier to nail down the obvious categories: rent or mortgage, groceries, utilities, and car payments. But it’s those irregular or less obvious expenses that tend to sneak up on us and throw a perfectly good budget off track. So I polled my Instagram followers about common items people might forget to budget for. And, wow, they came up with a HUGE list of great ideas!! This isn’t a “read it and forget it” list. Save it, pin it, and come back to it next time you’re building or reviewing your budget. Chances are at least one of these will save you from an unpleasant surprise down the road. 45 Items You Might Forget to Budget for: Health & Personal Care Insurance co-pays Prescriptions Haircuts Vitamins & supplements Pet meds & vet visits Dental & orthodontic work (this can really add up with a bunch of kids!) At-home medical supplies (bandages, gauze, over-the-counter meds) Vehicles Irregular maintenance (new brakes, rotors, AC, etc.) Oil changes New tires Car inspections Taxes License and registration fees Car wash memberships Saving up for a new-to-you vehicle purchase Kids and Family School supplies Teacher gifts Supplies or fees for hobbies Sports fees & equipment Music lessons and instruments Tickets for sport/music events and concerts Hot lunch and special snack money Back-to-school shopping Kids’ activities Family fun Family vacations College funds Holidays and Special Events Christmas decor & wrapping supplies Christmas gifts Postage for Christmas cards Family photo sessions Hosting (in addition to your regular grocery budget) Anniversary and birthday outings / special meals Home Home repairs Replacing home appliances New plants and flowers Tree removal Irrigation repair Natural disasters Pest control Saving up for a big home purchase like a new roof, HVAC, or septic system Other Giving & tithing Unpaid time off work for sickness or family needs Annual subscriptions (Amazon Prime, Netflix, various software programs, online courses) Inflation on things you are saving for (they will be more expensive by the time you’ve saved enough) How to Account for These Budget Items Whew — that’s a lot. Don’t panic though! Chances are, you won’t have all of these included in your budget, because everyone’s budget looks different depending on life circumstances, priorities, and goals. And if you use our FREE budgeting spreadsheet to set things up, most of these items fall under one of the fixed or variable expenses categories, so you’ll be set! I would simply encourage you to nail down your financial goals and then set up a simple budget to track everything. Run through this list after you set up your budget to be sure you didn’t forget anything that’s important to you! Reset Your Finances with My Money Reset Toolkit (FREE with preorder!) One of the biggest mistakes I see women make is believing they have to fix everything about their finances all at once. We tell ourselves we’ll finally get serious about money when we have more time, earn more income, or can completely overhaul our budget. But lasting financial health rarely happens that way. Instead it happens one wise decision at a time. That’s why I created this Money Reset Toolkit, which includes two printable products, 10-Minute Money Reset worksheet + What to Do First With Your Money Roadmap, created to help you reset your finances, get clear on your priorities, and know exactly what to do next.  Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or simply unsure what to do next, this printable toolkit will help you stop spinning your wheels and focus on one simple, meaningful step at a time. And you’ll be able to use these simple, actionable tools again and again, anytime you need a financial reset or a clear next step. Wondering how to get this toolkit? When you pre-order my newest book, The 7 Habits of Financially Healthy Women, from any retailer, you are eligible to claim an incredible collection of exclusive pre-order bonuses — including this bonus: The Money Reset Toolkit. And your pre-order gives you access to all the bonuses released so far and every new bonus still to come before the book launches! There are so many practical resources included, and I don’t want you to miss them! Pre-order your copy + claim your bonuses here! Did we miss any items you might forget to budget for? What else would you add to this list? Ready to finally stick to your budget once and for all?!  Tracking your budget doesn’t have to be overwhelming or complicated! Use these FREE Budget Spreadsheets to easily plan and track your spending each month!       Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Is Back on October 6th and 7th! Amazon Prime Big Deal Days has officially been announced for October 6th and 7th! Want to know how to get the best deals? In this post, we share our best tips for saving money and scoring great deals on Amazon Prime Big Deal Days! Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2026 Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2026 is back and will run from October 6-7, 2026! That means we get two whole days of deals! If this is anything like last year’s Prime Big Deal Days sale, we will see deals that are as good as or even better than Black Friday deals! Amazon says this about Prime Big Deal Days 2026: Starting October 6 at 12:01 a.m. PDT, Prime members can shop millions of deals on top brands, seasonal favorites, and everyday essentials—from fall entertaining and home décor to Halloween prep, beauty, and early holiday gifting. These savings build on Amazon’s everyday low prices, giving members even deeper discounts on products they’re already shopping for. “Once fall arrives, there’s so much to get ready for—the hosting, the decorating, the holiday gifting—and Prime Big Deal Days makes it easy to check it all off while saving,” said Carmen Nestares, vice president of North America Marketing and Prime Tech. Other retailers will likely join in, too! Because of how popular Prime Big Deal Days is, other major retailers usually have HUGE sales that week, too. We will keep you posted as soon as we hear of any other major retailers joining this sale. And this is just the major retailers! We’ll see ALL kinds of great sales that week from online retailers — small and big! How to Get The Best Deals on Prime Big Deal Days We predict that starting October 6th (or even earlier — from other online retailers), we’ll see a flurry of deals similar to what we usually see on Black Friday week. We love that so many other companies will be competing with the deals Amazon is offering because that means more deals and more savings! Because of this, we want to help you prepare accordingly so you can save the most money. We’ll be here all day both days! Our team will be hard at work all day long each day scouring the deals and posting the best ones we find! So be sure to tune in here at MoneySavingMom.com for all the BEST discounts on Prime Big Deal Days 2026! We’ll be posting all of the best deals all day every day! You can also follow us on Facebook or Instagram, join our Facebook group, Facebook Channel, and sign up for our HOT deals newsletter. Following us multiple ways gives you the best chance of catching all the deals as they pop up quickly! 5 Tips For Preparing For Amazon Prime Days To help you prepare well to maximize your savings for Amazon Prime Days, here are 5 strategies we suggest: 1. Sign up for a free 30-day trial to Amazon Prime. Not an Amazon Prime member? No worries, now is the perfect time to sign up for a FREE 30-day trial. This way, you’ll get all of the benefits of Prime and be able to take advantage of the deals, but you won’t have to pay for a Prime subscription. At the end of the 30 days, just be sure to go into your account and cancel your subscription and you won’t be charged! Psst! If you’re between the ages of 18-24, you can sign up for a FREE 6-month Amazon Prime trial! 2. Subscribe to our Hot Deals email newsletter. Have you signed up for our Hot Deals Email Newsletter yet? If not, be sure to do so before Prime Days! When you sign up, we’ll send you no more than 1-2 emails each day featuring the hottest and best deals hand-picked by us as soon as they become available. This way, you won’t have to wait for the daily enewsletter to go out in the afternoon; you can jump on the hottest deals right away! We’ll be sending out two email newsletters each day during Prime Days featuring only the BEST deals that are our top picks. Sign up for this newsletter here. 3. Follow us on Instagram. You can find us on two different Instagram accounts on Prime Days: :: Crystal’s personal Instagram: Be sure to head over there and hit the follow button. She loves personally sharing the deals she’s most excited about on IG Stories. (Plus, you’ll see a lot of behind-the-scenes content including day-to-day life, grocery shopping hauls, and a lot of other fun stuff that doesn’t get shared anywhere else!) :: Money Saving Mom Deals Instagram: You’ll also want to go follow our Instagram account that is solely dedicated to posting the top deals each day! If you follow us there, you’ll see deals pop up not only on IG Stories but also in your feed throughout the day. On Prime Days, we’ll be hopping onto IG stories on both accounts multiple times throughout the day telling you about the best deals that we’re most excited about! So be sure to follow both accounts HERE and HERE so you don’t miss anything! 4. Follow our Facebook Page We’ll be posting all the deals all day long on our Facebook Page, and it’s one of the easiest ways to make sure you don’t miss any HOT deals! Just bookmark this page and refresh it throughout both days to keep up to date with the latest and greatest deals. Plus, you might see some live videos and FB Stories throughout the day from different team members talking about some of our favorite deals! 5. Make a List & Budget If you haven’t done so already, be sure to make a list of the items you are most interested in buying, as well as the budget you have to spend. This way, you don’t just jump on a good deal because it’s “such a good deal”, when it’s not something you need or can afford. How to Earn Free Gift Cards For Prime Days Want to stretch your dollars even further? Now is the time to cash out your free Amazon gift cards or spend some time over the next couple weeks earning some extra Amazon gift cards. Here are just a few ways to earn some extra cash to spend on Prime Day: Sign up for Swagbucks — It’s also easy to earn enough swagbucks to trade in for a $5 gift card! You have plenty of time before Prime Day, even without referrals. I just spent an hour or two this week doing a few activities and already have enough for a $10 gift card! Go here to get started with Swagbucks. Sign up for Fetch Rewards — It’s so simple to earn points for scanning your receipts with Fetch Rewards. (Gretchen here! I signed for Fetch years ago and I’ve now earned hundreds of dollars in gift cards. It’s super easy. Also, your first couple scans will be worth enough to quickly get you over the 5000 points mark to trade in for an Amazon $5 gift card!) Psst! Find more ways to earn Amazon gift cards here. Are you ready for Prime Big Deal Days? Let us know what deals you’re looking for in the comments! Never miss a HOT deal again! Sign up below and I’ll only email you when I find a really fantastic deal!       Latest finds on Pinterest Historical fiction, redemption stories, unforgettable characters, and books that tug at your heartstrings -- this list has a little bit of everything for fiction lovers. I read dozens of books every year, but these fiction titles rose to the top. If you're searching for your next favorite novel, start here. Need an easy, affordable dinner idea? 🥚✨ This crustless spinach quiche is totally customizable (perfect for using leftovers!) and pairs beautifully with simple whole wheat bread. A wholesome, family-friendly meal for under $10 — and the bread machine does most of the work! This chicken pot pie with a homemade cream cheese crust takes comfort food to the next level! 🥧✨ Creamy filling, flaky crust, and made for under $10-- it’s an easy, cozy family dinner that tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen. Perfect for weeknights! 💛 Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz® • 650 E. Palisade Avenue Ste 2, PO Box 173 • Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632