In Cashflow, this refers to anything that you spend money on without thinking about it too much. A cup of coffee or lunch with friends.
The pretty much guaranteed process of picking up a 'Doodad' card means that you will part with some of your money and never see any return on it at all. In Cashflow this is bad, as you want to make your money work for you as much as possible.
More pricier Doodads may be spending money on a new Hi-Fi system, or taking the kids out for the day.
In the 101 game, the Doodad to avoid is the 'Boat' Card, whch is not only expensive ($1000 down and $17,000 on time) because it adds $340 to your expenses, to pay for the $17,000 loan for the boat.
So in most cases, picking up the Doodad card is a 'necessary' drain on your money, or even a money pit if you happen to do it often.
In the 202 game, the Doodad's are more 'involved' and that usually includes adding a regular bill to your monthly expenses (see the illustration above!)
There is no strategy with Doodads, as they are entirely due to the roll of the dice, so you cannot avoid them.
Just be aware that you will pick up a Doodad card a few times during any game and that you'll need some cash to pay for it, so have some set aside would be a good policy.
