Personal spending amount

Have you accounted for birthdays? Work collections? I personally couldn't live on that. Hair apps, nails, friends birthdays, nights out. Depends how far you are stretched. Why don't you separate your finances? Put £200 in a separate account and try living off it for 2 months. Don't touch your other bank account

How often are you spending £30 on car valeting? Is that £20 for 1 breakfast? £100 at home bargains?

You really need to seriously address your spendthrift ways if you are going to save any kind of significant amount

You just save according to extra outgoings each month. Sometimes you have a lot extra, others not as much. X

I agree with this.

This is about priorities, not numbers.

DH and I have less than that a month, and a lot of it doesn't get spent, because for the first 20 odd years we were together we just didn't have it.

I'm still staggered at what people consider 'must haves' on here (on threads about pocket money for teens even, let alone the 'how much does our student dc need to live on? threads).

This isn't a 'competitive poverty' post, it is just fact. I automatically take a packed lunch. I take a travel mug or flask with a hot drink when I go out or a reusuable bottle filled with water from the tap. I don't understand the posts about paying £200 for a hair cut or 'I have £2K to spend on a handbag'.
However if you have always just bought a drink when you fancy one, and consider 'going out for lunch' or 'buying lunch out' a daily thing then you'd find it difficult to not do that.

As another poster said, you are probably looking at this from the wrong angle. I would be saying -
"We need to get the renovation job done this year. It's going to cost £X so we need to save £Y every month which leaves us with £Z for our own treats. I'd rather go without {insert what that might be} for 7 months and get this work done in the Summer than have another Winter of being without this improvement. What do you think ?"
He migh agree, he might completely disagree or there might be room for compromise / meeting in the middle somewhere. But I'd definitely be starting with when / how you can get the work done, before the costs rise again.

If it's you who wants to save for something, why does your DH also have to have his personal amount restricted?

I'd not want to be limited to £200 per month.

It's too tight. Particularly as he's not so bothered about what you're saving for.

£40-50 a week 'pocket money' for a grown, working adult is pitiful, unless it's done out of pure necessity. It would be a miserable existence.

You need to split the disposable income after bills and emergency savings in half. He can spend or save his half as he sees fit, you spend or save your half as you see fit. Since the renovations are more important to you than to him, you'll likely save more/quicker than he does, and that's OK.

I couldn’t spend that little , I want to live not exist .

I think it would be very tight.

If I could have £300/£350 then it might be more comfortably doable. That's probably because I have to spend just short of £100 a time once a month (occasionally twice) on train fares to visit my elderly mother. That is something I can't change.

If you can squeeze somewhat more for each of you then it might be more realistic, and you just take a bit longer to save.

I kind of agree with your partner. It's not nice to feel so squeezed and financially uncomfortable if it isn't absolutely necessary and wouldn't want to readily agree to it.

I could do this for a short period if I really needed to - if we had something we really needed to save for or we were in debt etc. It wouldn’t be fun but if we had to...
Would I agree to it if it wasn’t absolutely necessary though? No.

I spend about £600 pcm on stuff like that.

Depends what your budget is, I'd think 5% of budget is probably reasonable, which would be 10% for you both, but everyone is different.

Well I wouldn’t need that much general spending money - dont get takaways, could easily not eat out for 6 months , do my own hair. Spend £10 a week on a class and £10 a week on some cokes a couple of nights down the pub so £100 a month gives a little slack - a book for example

but my normal budget includes a household line that is most of this months incidental spend

you need to agree between you - what is reasonable to spend money on, how much and how quickly you need to save - if you need to save at a certain rate to avoid going into debt over a holiday it’s one thing, if it’s building your emergency fund you might be easier

Annual costs averaged out:
Haircut £87
Gym classes £72
Hobby subscriptions £29

Just about do-able but tight as I'd have to forego a major hobby and no extras. Id have to really want that thing I'd be saving up for.

If you're saving for something you're thinking about it the wrong way round. Start with how much you want to save and then what's left is what you can spend. It doesn't make sense to staer with assumptions you will spend on takeaways, if you don't have the money you can't spend it

I am trying to budget as I want to save for something.

How would you find it? Oh thinks he needs more.

Why does your OH need to save if it's something you want?

Honestly, I don't think I could be happy with £50 a week to spend. Obviously, it depends on your circumstances, but I usually allocate myself £800 and then shove whatever I don't spend into savings at the end of the month.

No, not enough for me. Does your OH also want what you want to save for?