Is it OK to 'cheat' on your budget?

Q. My food budget is tight. I recently got a stomach ache at work and needed a soda to calm it down. Is it OK that I took the money from my "medical" budget rather than my "food" budget. I had plenty of money to spare in "medical."

A. I see no harm in an occasional move across budgets like this -- especially when it can be legitimized, as in this case. But don't make a habit of it. And don't get tricky just to justify something. Otherwise, what's the point of having a budget to begin with? No one is forcing you to budget. (At least I hope not.) So if your current budget is not working out for you that badly, maybe you need to tweak it.

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