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What do you do if credit card payments are included as a category on a household monthly budget template?

How can expenses from other budget categories be tracked clearly if "credit card payments" covering a variety of expenditures is used on the budget spreadsheet rather than the specific budget lines for each category of items paid for with a credit card? For instance, if clothing purchases are paid with a credit card and listed on the budget line for "credit card payments" they cannot also be listed on the "clothing" budget line, or the budget will be out of balance. But if those clothing purchases are only included as part of the "credit card payments" budget line, it will not be clear how much was actually spent on clothing when reviewing the budget at the end of the month. Though it is more work, wouldn't it be better to delete the lines for credit card payments from the budget template altogether, and just break down from the credit card statement how much was spent using the credit card on each appropriate budget line (clothing, gas, groceries, etc.)? Thank you for your replies.

Public Comments

1. Yes, for budgeting purposes, it's better to track by topic (clothing, food, etc) rather than by account (credit card, checking). However, some people may consider "credit card payments" as a separate debt category, applying only the interest, fees, and penalties to this budget line. So if you bought $1000 of shoes, didn't pay it, and now oew $20 in late fees and $150 in interest on that amount, you could assign the $1000 to the clothing budget lines, and $170 to the credit card payment budget line. People who owe a large amount of credit card debt and can only make the minimum payment would also use this budget line. So if you don't have outstanding debt or fees on your credit card, feel free to delete this line. Your budget should fit YOU and your life.