You may have heard the terms recurring and reoccurring thrown around frequently, especially when it comes to expenses. Often, they’re used interchangeably, leading to confusion. However, there’s a key difference between the two, and understanding this distinction is crucial for effective personal budgeting—particularly in a tool like BetterBudgets.
While both terms refer to expenses that repeat, they carry different implications, and knowing when to categorize something as recurring versus reoccurring can change how you prioritize it in your budget.
BetterBudgets highlights this distinction to help you make decisions that can keep your budget both effective and adaptable, especially in months when money is tight.
The Similarities
At their core, it’s easy to confuse the two as they both mean relatively the same thing in the macro. Both expenses are generally monthly occurrences that need to be tended to. Both can be considered bills that are a must to keep.
Both expenses can be significant enough to always keep around.
Both have some level of urgency, or they would probably not be part of your plan at all.
But that’s about where it ends.
Recurring Expenses
Recurring expenses are generally more crucial than reoccurring expenses and have a bigger impact if shortchanged or missed.
I like to think of recurring expenses as expenses that must be paid in full at a specific point. For budgeting purposes, this is typically monthly, but it can be quarterly, like water, or even yearly.
In personal budgeting, these are bills like rent or mortgage, utilities, streaming subscriptions, insurance payments, or even child care.
It can even be car payments if you don’t separate debts into their own category.
The point is that you must pay in full on time, or it is guaranteed to negatively impact you. For example, you will lose power if you miss your electric bill enough. If you fail to pay your Netflix subscription, you will lose access. Some missed bills can even negatively impact your credit score.
Simply put– recurring expenses are tied to service or credit.
Reoccurring Expenses
Reoccurring expenses are bills that aren’t necessarily “due” at a certain time, and the amount may not be as rigid.
Things like groceries, gas for your car, weekend spending money, and money for your kids to go to the movies are expenses that qualify as reoccurring.
If you normally budget $1,000 a month for your groceries but can only afford $950 this month, the world will likely not fall apart because of your sacrifice. Similarly, if you normally give your kid $20 a weekend to hang out with friends, missing one weekend will likely not end in catastrophe.
In other words, these expenses can be flexible. If bills are tough this month, these will likely be the first to be reduced to make room. Other decisions can be made to mitigate the problem those impose.
Simply put– reoccurring expenses are tied to quantity.
Here’s the takeaway: understanding the difference between recurring and reoccurring expenses can make all the difference in building a budget that keeps you on track without constant stress. In BetterBudgets, we make this easier by organizing these expenses for you—labeling recurring ones under “housing expenses,” for instance. These are the bills, like rent or mortgage, that can’t be broken down and need to be fully paid on time.
On the other hand, reoccurring expenses are simply “expenses,” showing up right after housing in BetterBudgets. This category covers everything flexible—those bills that won’t hurt you if you adjust them in a tight month. BetterBudgets keeps these organized so that, if needed, you can cut back on them without much hassle.
If you haven’t already, give BetterBudgets a try. It’s free and here to help you take control of your finances with features that make budgeting intelligent, simple, and surprisingly fast. Start now, explore the different categories, and see how easy managing your budget can be.
