Bingo Budgeting

The word "budget" is not one that most people associate with playing bingo, but being able to budget the money you have available for bingo could actually help you to increase your enjoyment of the game and protect yourself against the risk of problem gambling. In essence, bingo budgeting is simply intelligent money management, and something that all regular players should practice. Here's how...

1 - Identify your Total Spend

The first thing you need to do in order to create a bingo budget is decide how much you can comfortably afford to spend on bingo each calendar month. Note that this figure may be considerably lower than the amount you might want to spend in a typical month, but our aim here is to identify a total spend figure that you can live with without stress or hassle. Assume that you will not win a penny and decide how much you would feel comfortable spending on bingo on a monthly basis. When you have done this, multiply the figure by 12 to get an annual total spend.

2 - Decide on a Play Schedule

Next, decide how often you want to play bingo in a typical week. Obviously this is another figure that will vary from person to person, so there is no right or wrong answer. You might decide to play once a week, twice a week, or seven times a week. Whatever you choose, multiply the number of times you want to play each week by 52. This gives you the number of times you plan to play bingo each year.

3 - Identify your Session Bank

Now take the annual total spend figure you identified in Step 1 and divide by the number of times you will play bingo each year from Step 2. Whatever figure you come up with is the amount of money you have budgeted for each individual bingo session. For example, if you have decided that you can afford to spend £600 per year, and you want to play 52 times per year, your session budget would be £600 divided by 52 = £11.53.

4 - Never Exceed your Session Bank

The final step is to stick to your bingo budget like glue. Now that you know exactly how much you can comfortably afford to spend in any session, make sure you never exceed that limit. This will allow you to play without worrying about whether or not you can afford to do so, and thereby make your bingo more relaxing and enjoyable.

Last Updated: 07/02/2008 16:41:59