The Devil is in the Details

Some recent postings on Orthonomics have centered around the idea of establishing a budget, with an example given of one such budget suitable for those who are frum. Part of the commentary is centered around the idea of the details of the budget. Some people believe the budget is not detailed enough; others believe it is too detailed. I guess that where people will fall in the discussion is going to depend on whether they believe that "the devil is in the details."

Let's take a budget category that is going to apply to everyone: food. For some people this is enough of an indicator for what types of expenses are covered or should be covered in this category. I'm one of those detail people; "food" as a category would tell me absolutely nothing, particularly if I were trying to cut down expenses.

What gets covered in food? Anything edible, or that could be edible after preparation. Thus ready made frozen pizza goes under food, and so does flour and salt. Snack foods go under "food," as do bread and potatoes. For many people the ready made food they purchase from take out food stores or from a restaurant or pizza shop is also "food": cole slaw, potato salad etc. purchased from outside is eaten so it's "food."

There are some who consider that paper and plastic products used in food preparation and consumption also go under the category of "food." The reasoning is that they are only used with food so they belong in the food category.

Still others broaden the category: they talk about supermarket/grocery/food store purchases as one category. That being the case, items like cleansers of all types are included under this category. So are clothes washing products. So are air fresheners. So is that bottle of aspirin you bring home. So is your shampoo and tooth paste.

Those who argue against too much detail in a budget outline say that people with spending problems or those who have never created a budget before will be overwhelmed if there are too many categories or too many sub-categories. Those, like myself, who are arguing for more detailed budgets and more categories/sub-categories do so because many budget breakers are found precisely in these little sub-categories that hide in the corners of the broader categories and leach money out of the budget.

Someone whose food bills were heading way out of sight had to find a way to cut back. In the general category of food, meat and chicken seem to be obviously costly items. But cutting out these items did not make for a happy family. Sorry, but not everyone is cut out to be a vegetarian. But without a detailed listing of what else falls under "food" this family could not manage to make a real dent in their budget woes.

Here is what a detailed budget listing for food would have brought to light. Cole slaw from a take home food store, one pound per week, at $5-6 per pound, or $260-340 per year. Or one pound of potato kugel per week, at $6 per pound. Or assorted cold cuts once a week, averaging out at $10 per pound and higher. Or frozen pizza bagels at $5-6 per box, per week. Frozen blintzes at an average price of $6 per package.

Lumping items under grocery store purchases would have hidden these costs. Paper juice cups at $2.99 for 80 cups. Or name brand foil paper at $4 for 37.5 feet. Or detergent purchased not on sale for $6.49 per bottle. Or multiple toothbrushes purchased multiple times a year at $3 each. Or that "your hair will be the envy of the world" shampoo and conditioner, at $6 and up per small bottle.

Cutting down is made easier if you see all the details of what you are buying. Maybe, just maybe, you will identify a few smaller items that you really don't care all that much about that can be cut out and that could give you real savings. Maybe you could identify spending patterns that could be adjusted. Let me give you a personal example. I buy laundry detergent about twice a year, when it goes on a steep sale. No, I don't buy the store brand. I have a particular detergent I use that works the way I want it to work, so I wait until the sale and then buy in bulk. Yup, sometimes they limit the number of bottles per shopping trip per customer, so I go out to the car and then back into the store. Right now I have enough detergent to get me through until January or February. My savings for the year are about $70-80. Doesn't seem like all that much does it? But it is. Because that type of "detail" savings and shopping is repeated for a lot of the items that hide in the budget and eat away at it in small bites. I do the same for fabric softener. Now the savings are at $140-160 per year. We change toothbrushes 3-4 times per year. Just for arguments sake, a family of five doing so, at $3 and up per tooth brush, would be spending $60 a year just on toothbrushes. Now find a real bargain on good toothbrushes--6 in a package for 99 cents, and yes, sturdy, full bristles and NOT cheap--and your total for the year is $3.96 for almost 5 changes of brush, a savings of $56. Only three items and already a savings of $194-214 per year. Add in home made coleslaw, for a savings of $160 to $240 and up a year, and I've just cut down spending by $344-464 and more a year in a really "painless" fashion across only four items.

I know that there are people for whom this much detail is going to be frustrating; they aren't forest/trees people. But I also know a lot of people for whom general categories don't work either. Perhaps the best advice we can give is find a method that works for you, that you are willing to put a little time into, and then use it. Yes, you may have to experiment a bit to see what works for you.

Someone once told me that such a detailed way of looking at shopping was really nit picking. I laughed and answered: "So you would rather have lice?" It took a bit of explaining but she finally got it. If you don't pick nits, expect lice. If you don't look at the small details you may find your budget going seriously out of whack.