discretionary

“I don’t know if you can spend half your discretionary income on a baseball game,” Schoen said.

The Biden administration extension to spend the funding “does not change anything” or preclude the rescinding of the funds now, because the extension was “discretionary” and “subject to reconsideration.”

Experts recommend setting aside no more than 10–20% of your refund for discretionary spending and using the rest to shore up your financial stability.

Whereas consumers have no choice but to bear the rising costs of necessities such as groceries, they are far less likely to accept price hikes for discretionary goods such as toys and household appliances.

However, “it would not be surprising if people had less discretionary money to spend ... if everything we have to pay for is going to be more expensive.”