> When you say austerity expenses do you mean entertainment type items and non- necessary purchases?

Yeah, if you're on an austerity budget, you're only spending what you must, not what you may want to.

Nondiscretionary items would be things like insurances, mortgage, property taxes, probably half as much in groceries, student loan payments, car payment, etc.

Discretionary items are things like eating out, booze, travel, vacation, kid's activities, lunch at the office, some of your streaming services, etc

> Do you lump investment lines into that as well?

That's savings, which is not an expense