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Original poster

How much disposable income do you have

113 replies

dylanjt · 24/07/2023 16:03

Nosey question after a discussion with friends! I'm a single mum of two and after rent, other bills and food, I have £300 left a month. To one friend, this was plenty! To my other friend, this was peanuts! I'm pretty thrifty and manage fine on this and we are happy. We eat out as a treat once a month, eat home the rest of the time and take packed lunches out with us whenever possible. I'm always searching for free things to do. I buy all our clothes off Vinted and love finding a bargain. Same with toys. Ebay is good for toys too. Any money that is left from my disposable income at the end of the month goes in to my savings which usually goes towards Christmas. So, how much disposable income do you have and are you ok with that amount?

OP posts:
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HaveSomeIntrospect · 20/04/2024 15:42

Nothing

FriendofSmaug · 20/04/2024 15:10

I am in my 50's retired (apart from voluntary work) and being single, no dependents, recently mortgage free my living costs are low and I have enough disposable income to do an ISA each year and put the permitted 3.6k into a DC pension (max contribution allowed if you do not work)

Didimum · 20/04/2024 15:09

About £2.5k, which includes mortgage, childcare and all the usual bills. Both work full time.

We can definitely be more frugal because we only have about £600 a month to put into savings from that, which I think it a bit silly and I’d like to save more. We have one extremely old car and only take one mid-range holiday a year, so I’m not entirely sure how we manage to go through so much.

Thequeenofwishfulthinking · 20/04/2024 14:41

Forgot to add - single parent of three. The eldest is at university. I support her monthly too.

Thequeenofwishfulthinking · 20/04/2024 14:40

Approximately £1200 after (extortionate) rent, pension, bills, food and savings.
I save approximately £200 a month and dip into this for big purchases, Christmas , holidays.
I know we are very fortunate as a family but I never feel like we have lots of money as there always seems to be something unexpected that crops up.

BonnieOX · 20/04/2024 14:32

£2,200 after mortgage, bills, car, food etc but will be going up to approx £2,700 after pay rises this month.

KittenCatt · 19/01/2024 18:22

After my mortgage, bills and other essentials I have about £500 left. I invest £200, save £100 and have £200 left to spend on any wants. It’s always spent on home furnishings and decor l, though. (We only bought our first
home 6 months ago)

SealkySkin · 27/07/2023 15:42

More than £300
Mortgage free
No debts

I currently still work FT

Thehonestybox · 27/07/2023 15:18

About £200. No kids and renting. I never know where the £200 goes though, i basically waste that amount every month on takeaways, coffees and expensive skincare products

NobodyKnowsTiddlyPom · 27/07/2023 15:05

Not a great deal. My entire annual wage goes on school fees for three kids (heavily subsidised through music scholarships and bursaries) and DH pays the mortgage and bills from his wages. His wages fluctuate quite wildly though so some months we may have a couple of hundred spare, some months, hardly anything.

Chachatrex · 27/07/2023 14:54

I don’t separate ours out at the moment as what we spend on food really varies. However at the moment I’d put it at £0 as we are starting extensive building works on our home in 4-5 weeks(!) so every penny we can possibly save is going towards that.

once we’ve done all these works and our nursery fees have gone in sept 2025 we should have plenty. But then I still won’t see it as disposable as such as will be saving as much as we can for retirement

bge · 27/07/2023 14:33

Me personally about £1.5k. Dh not sure as his income varies month by month. Probably about £1k.

TMess · 27/07/2023 14:31

About 4500 after bills, food shopping, etc. Most of it we put into savings though.

northerncrumpet · 27/07/2023 14:16

None 😞

Mama678 · 27/07/2023 14:05

About £100

SpainToday · 27/07/2023 13:50

Hufflepods · 26/07/2023 20:13

@Mojitosaremyfavourite I still would not announce ( despite it being an anonymous site) how much we have left at the end of each month though

So why come onto a thread literally titled ‘how much disposable money do you have?’ just to moan about the topic?

It's anonymous round here, so you disclose whatever you like .....

fuchiaknickers · 26/07/2023 22:24

Oh not this again.
OP, you will get several posters telling you about their gigantic salaries and they will have several thousand every month to play with (and still complain it doesn’t go far).
You will also find posters who have zero disposable income and / or are up to their ears in debt.

What use is there in knowing this?!

upsidedownandturnaround · 26/07/2023 22:05

Insane childcare costs so none really at the moment

Hey2021 · 26/07/2023 22:00

About £2000 disposable income. That is after all bills, food and petrol.

JeandeServiette · 26/07/2023 21:56

Ireolu · 26/07/2023 21:32

Not sure as I am self employed and DH also is works but does some self employed work on the side. Most of what we have left over goes into savings and we do OK so r grateful.

That's the thing with self employment. You never quite know where you are so it makes you cautious.

Ireolu · 26/07/2023 21:32

Not sure as I am self employed and DH also is works but does some self employed work on the side. Most of what we have left over goes into savings and we do OK so r grateful.

Original poster
dylanjt · 26/07/2023 20:19

Thanks for the responses everyone :) interesting to read the varied responses

OP posts:
Hufflepods · 26/07/2023 20:13

@Mojitosaremyfavourite I still would not announce ( despite it being an anonymous site) how much we have left at the end of each month though

So why come onto a thread literally titled ‘how much disposable money do you have?’ just to moan about the topic?

UrsulaIsMyQueen · 26/07/2023 17:17

People only ‘announced’ it because the OP asked the question. If only low earners/people with a low amount of disposable income answered the question, it would be a bit pointless.

Mojitosaremyfavourite · 26/07/2023 14:48

gallop17 · 26/07/2023 14:05

@Mojitosaremyfavourite no offence to me, it's an anonymous forum no one here knows who we are. I picked up the word boastful from you but wasn't meaning to specifically pick up on you, these threads always go the same way, I was merely pointing out the MN paradox that you can never win between not being grateful enough but also not being a big enough earner.

I never meant no offence meant to anyone. Be kind and all that. I was just thinking about the friends and people I know who are struggling so much. Some of them no doubt are on this site and I know if read this thread it will likely make them feel even more shit.
But it was just a question and I know that.