Gaming can be an enjoyable part of your entertainment spending, but the costs aren't always as obvious as buying a ticket for a day out or paying for a meal. Subscriptions, downloadable content, in-game purchases and other optional extras can all add up, particularly when payments are made digitally.

Live and interactive gaming can bring additional spending opportunities, so it makes sense to decide what you're comfortable spending before you start. By treating gaming like any other form of entertainment, you can enjoy it without allowing it to take over your wider budget.

What is live gaming?

Live gaming is a broad term that can describe games and gaming experiences happening in real time, often involving interaction with other players, hosts or audiences.

Depending on the platform, live gaming can include:

• Multiplayer video games played with other people in real time

• Livestreamed gaming on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube

• Esports competitions and tournaments

• Interactive online games and virtual events

• Live-hosted games and quizzes

• Gaming conventions and in-person tournaments

• Real-time casino games with live dealers

The costs involved can be just as varied. You might pay for a monthly gaming subscription, buy a ticket for an esports event, purchase optional content within a game or spend money while using an interactive gaming platform.

Some forms of live gaming involve gambling. For example, live casino games use real-time dealers and interactive tables rather than relying entirely on automated software. As with any gambling-related entertainment, this should only ever form part of a predetermined discretionary budget and never use money needed for essentials.

Whatever type of live gaming you choose, understanding what you're spending is an important part of keeping your entertainment costs under control.

Start with your overall entertainment budget

Before deciding how much to spend on gaming, look at your finances as a whole.

Your essential expenses should come first. These might include your mortgage or rent, household bills, groceries, transport, debt repayments and regular savings.

What remains can then be divided between discretionary expenses such as:

• Eating out

• Holidays and days out

• Streaming services

• Hobbies

• Gaming

• Events and entertainment

Rather than treating gaming purchases as insignificant extras, include them within this overall allowance.

For example, if you have £300 available for entertainment during the month, you might decide that £50 can go towards gaming. That doesn't necessarily mean spending £50. It simply gives you an upper limit that fits within your wider finances.

Understand what your gaming actually costs

One of the difficulties with digital entertainment is that spending can be spread across numerous small transactions.

A gaming subscription might only cost a relatively small amount each month. You could then pay for downloadable content, an in-game item, a new release or entry to an online event. Individually, each purchase may seem affordable, but together they can become a significant monthly expense.

Take some time to identify everything you're paying for.

Look through your bank statements, payment accounts and active subscriptions. You might discover gaming services you've forgotten about or recurring memberships that you no longer use enough to justify their cost.

Watch subscriptions and recurring payments

Subscriptions have become a common part of gaming. Rather than buying every game individually, you might pay monthly or annually for access to a collection of games, online multiplayer features or additional content.

These services can offer good value when you use them regularly, but recurring payments are particularly easy to overlook.

Check your subscriptions every few months and ask whether you're still getting enough use from each one. If you haven't used a gaming service recently, cancelling it could free up money for something you value more.

It's also worth checking when annual subscriptions renew. A larger yearly payment can be more noticeable than a monthly fee, especially if several renew around the same time.

Be careful with small in-game purchases

Digital purchases can make spending feel less noticeable than handing over cash.

Cosmetic items, additional content, virtual currencies and other optional extras may only cost a few pounds at a time. However, repeated purchases can quickly increase the total cost of a game.

This is particularly important with games that make purchasing extremely quick. When your payment details are already saved, there may be very little friction between deciding you want something and completing the transaction.

Banking notifications can help because they make each payment more visible. You can also review your gaming transactions at the end of each week or month rather than considering every purchase in isolation.

If these small purchases are adding up, finding ways to stop spending money on unnecessary things can help you become more conscious of where your entertainment budget is going.

Set limits for optional gaming spending

A simple spending limit can help prevent gaming costs from gradually increasing without you noticing.

You might choose a weekly or monthly allowance covering optional purchases such as downloadable content, virtual items, new games and other paid gaming experiences.

Some platforms also allow you to set spending or deposit limits. Where these tools are available, they can provide an additional way to control how much you're spending.

You could also create a separate spending pot within your bank account for entertainment. Once the allocated money has gone, you know you've reached your limit without needing to calculate everything again.

The important thing is to set the amount before spending rather than continually adjusting your budget to accommodate new purchases.

Keep track of your gaming payments

Checking your transactions regularly is one of the simplest ways to manage your spending.

Instead of looking only at individual purchases, consider the total amount you've spent on gaming during the month.

Ask yourself:

1. How much have I spent on gaming this month?

2. Which subscriptions have I paid for?

3. Have I made any optional in-game purchases?

4. How much of my entertainment budget remains?

5. Am I getting enough enjoyment from what I've spent?

This gives you a clearer picture of your overall spending and can highlight habits you might otherwise miss.

Budget for gaming events too

Not all gaming costs happen online.

Esports tournaments, gaming conventions and other live events can turn gaming into a day out or even a weekend away. In addition to the ticket price, you may need to budget for transport, accommodation, food and merchandise.

Work out the full cost before booking rather than considering the admission price alone.

The same principle applies if you're travelling to meet friends for a gaming event or competition. A seemingly inexpensive ticket can become a much larger expense once the associated travel costs are included.

Don't let results influence your budget

For gaming that involves spending based on an uncertain outcome, your predetermined budget becomes particularly important.

Winning shouldn't be treated as a reason to increase how much you're willing to spend, while losing shouldn't encourage you to spend more in an attempt to recover money.

Instead, decide what you're prepared to spend before starting and keep that decision separate from what happens during the game.

This helps keep gambling-related gaming within the entertainment category rather than allowing it to affect money allocated to bills, savings or other financial commitments.

Make your entertainment budget easy to follow

Complicated budgets can be difficult to maintain. A simpler system may be easier to stick to over the long term.

You could divide your disposable income into broad categories such as eating out, entertainment, hobbies and travel, with gaming included within your entertainment allowance.

If you regularly spend money on gaming, giving it its own category can make the costs even clearer.

The aim isn't necessarily to stop spending money on things you enjoy. It's to know how much you're spending and make a conscious decision about whether that amount is worthwhile to you.

Know when spending is becoming a problem

Entertainment spending shouldn't interfere with your ability to cover everyday living costs.

If you're regularly exceeding your gaming budget, using money intended for household bills or savings, borrowing to continue spending, or finding it difficult to stop when you planned to, it's worth stepping away and reassessing.

For ordinary gaming purchases, that might mean cancelling subscriptions, removing saved payment details or taking a break from buying optional extras.

Where gambling is involved, spending beyond an affordable limit or finding it difficult to stop can be signs that additional support is needed. Taking a break and using the spending controls offered by the platform can be sensible first steps.

Keep gaming within your entertainment budget

A budget only works if you actually follow it. Less than 25% of people who set a budget actually manage to stick to it long-term, so making yours simple can help.

There are now more ways to spend money on gaming than ever, from subscriptions and downloadable content to esports events, in-game purchases and interactive live experiences.

That doesn't mean gaming needs to become an expensive hobby. Decide what you can comfortably afford after your essential expenses are covered, set a realistic entertainment allowance and keep track of what you're actually spending.

Most importantly, treat gaming in the same way you would any other non-essential expense. Whether you're paying for a monthly subscription, attending a tournament, buying additional content or trying another form of live gaming, the money should come from a budget you've already decided you can afford.