# Professor Adam Alter underscores the importance of tracking irregular purchases when budgeting

1 Faculty News April 28, 2016 ![Wall Street Journal logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/wsjlogo.jpg?itok=5Qt0z3WX)>

Excerpt from [The Wall Street Journal](http://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-know-where-your-money-goes-thats-a-problem-1461835800) -- "One challenge is to break down your expenses according to whether they are ordinary and recurring or exceptional and unusual, says Mr. [Alter](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/adam-alter). 'What you’ll start to notice is that so-called exceptional expenses account for a large chunk of your budget,' and need to be acknowledged as recurring spending, he says."

[Read more](http://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-know-where-your-money-goes-thats-a-problem-1461835800)