discretionary spending noun3 •The amount or portion of a person's or group's expenditures which is used for non-essential or voluntary disbursements; the amount or portion of one's expenditures which one may make as one sees fit.In this scenario discretionary spending is held to a constant share of GDP. — 2000 •The action of making such expenditures.Nervous consumers and business executives put off discretionary spending. — 2001 •(US) US government expenditures which are subject to annual review and authorization by Congress, as distinct from expenditures authorized by existing laws.Perot would cut federal discretionary spending by 15 percent, chopping items that range from the space station to the Rural Electrification Administration. — 1992 formsdiscretionary spendings
