Identifying Expenses: Fixed, Flexible, or Occasional?
Types of Expenses
Your values & situation determine which expenses will be needs and which will be considered wants. An easy way to define a need is something that, if you went without it, it could jeopardize your health, safety or livelihood.
Spending priorities and expense categories vary drastically from person to person, but there are 3 main types of expenses to keep in mind: Fixed, Flexible & Occasional.
- Fixed. Expenses that are consistent over time; often associated with a contract. Some examples are rent, insurance premiums, and most subscriptions.
- Flexible. Expenses that vary over time; helpful to know when cutting spending. Some examples include groceries, utilities, eating out or entertainment.
- Occasional. Expenses that show up irregularly over time; may be bi-monthly, quarterly, etc. Some examples may include home repair costs, clothing, books, etc.
Mixed Expenses
There may be expenses that fit in multiple categories. For example, water is a utility that can have a flexible cost and is sometimes due on a bi-monthly schedule (once every 2 months) rather than monthly. This can be an expense that sneaks up on you if you don't watch for upcoming due dates.
Additionally, many insurance companies give you a discount if you pay your auto insurance annually rather than monthly. This may generally be a fixed expense that stays relatively the same each year, but it is not part of your regular schedule of expenses, so it can be challenging to plan for.
Using a calendar can help you plan for occasional expenses. And tracking your expenses over time can give you a better idea of the range of costs for flexible expenses, like groceries, utilities, or car maintenance costs, for example.
Expenses' Impact on Your Degree
Identifying the types of expenses that may occur throughout the semester or year is a good way to look at how some lifestyle choices may impact the total cost of a college degree.
Lifestyle choices, like eating out for convenience vs cooking at home, can significantly impact the cost of a degree, particularly if you are using student loans to fund your education.
Learn More About Budgets & Spending Plans
You can learn more about expenses, budgeting, and spending plans with:
- Budgeting Page on our website.
- Spooked by Spending Plans (webinar) on October 11, 2023 @ 12 PM. Registration required.
- Budgeting, Episode 20 of Making Cents of Money podcast.
- Budget Hacks (webinar recording) on YouTube.
- Save Money on Food (webinar recording) on YouTube.
- Inflation: When Prices Rise (webinar recording) on YouTube.
Or, you can enroll in our Spend course by following the steps below:
- Visit the Spend course.
- Click the NetID Login button.
- Log in with your NetID & password (requires 2FA).
- Under Self-enrollment (Student), click the "Enroll Me" button.
- Complete the modules that interest you related to spending your money.
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