To ask how much disposable income you give yourself each week?

[m1ssB]

Just interested in other responses. At the moment I don't know if I'm giving myself too much/too little to spend on myself each week so want to see what others say..

Please share

£500 per month for me, £500 for dh and £250 for each child.

I don't have a limit. I usually just buy what I need, when I need it.

I earn enough that I don’t have a limit. I spend whatever as long as it doesn’t leave me with zero at the end of the month. Some months I have hundreds left to put into savings, some months I have more. This month we’ve been on holiday so it’s a £200 left over month.

Pay day today. 😬😬

I put over £1000 into savings and I have £500 in my personal account for the month. I won't spend anywhere near that much. The rest was put into the joint for bills etc.

Sorry if this comes across as boastful, but up until April 2019 I really struggled for money every month and my savings dwindled to less than £1000. After years of hard work and exams I'm finally in a good place!

On myself personally, probably about 50 pounds a month, that excludes eating out as a family which I wouldn’t count as personal spending. This is for things like clothes, hairdressers, make up, running kit, pedicures etc obviously not all in the same month, maybe just 1 of these things.

I have much more disposable income, I just choose to invest it rather than fritter it away on stuff that I don’t need.

I think it’s a hard question to answer as people define ‘disposable’ and ‘personal spends’ in different ways.

Just in this thread you can see some people counting petrol, clothes, haircuts etc etc when others won’t. In our family all those have their own budget line so wouldn’t count as ‘personal spends’ - every family member needs clothes/shoes/haircuts and transport. Eating out would be mainly family expense unless DH or I go out individually without each other for drinks etc. If I wanted some wellies or winter boots, that’s an essential spend. If I just can’t resist those fancy heels I’ve fallen in love with for a special occasion, that’s a personal spend. A want not a need.

DH and I have ‘pocket money’ like the DC do - a lowish, frittering amount for magazines, chocolate, hobby stuff. But most spending is accounted for as part of the budget.

... Less than most, it seems.
I'm not a natural spender. We're fairly comfortable but putting a lot into paying off mortgage to pay it off as soon as possible (London prices).

I don't have a budget as such, just buy what I need when I need it. Sorry, that's not much help.

£120

Extraordinarily broad question - it doesn't matter what other people spend on themselves; you need to work out what you can afford and balance it with your other commitments and any future plans you may have.

I can spend anything from £0-£500 in a week, technically I have disposable income of about £2,000 in a week - but I don't spend it cause there's nothing to spend it on.

Bob next door could spend £2,000 a week but be vastly into debt.

It's all relative.

It's probably very specific to everyone's individual circumstances. Some people have big mortgages, some none, some like to save as much as possible, some don't etc.

We have about 3k after mortgage & all bills incl food. 1k goes straight to savings & whatever is left out of the remaining 2k also goes to savings. Some months it's more than others

No budget for this. Starting out I only spent on essentials and saved anything else, which always got spent on longer term things like buying a house. Eventually I could save to have a safety net plus cost of buying another car (basic and old). Eventually I got to a point where I could spend on small pleasures, like swimming.

My mindset though is not having a budget for this, but really pay everything else first.

It took me a while to feel I could buy something inessential, so I can see why having a budget for this can be helpful once you can afford it, so you don't just save or spend on everyone else and lose sight of you. In setting that budget, after essentials including saving, I think you need to decide what it is that would enhance your life and what that would cost and not end up spending all of it on tiny things that don't truly enhance your life and actually would be better saved for something more worthwhile.

There seems to be a BIG discrepancy between these kind of threads in AIBU and the the kind of chat you get in eg. Style and Beauty where people will discuss buying make up/clothes/skin care in a way that would definitely add up to more than £50 a week. I know that cos I spend more than that on similar stuff! MN is really confusing on this issue cos people either seem to be spending loads all the time or nothing ever.

As for me, I have no dependents but I can easily spend £400 + a month on unnecessary stuff! Including clothes, eating out, going to the pub, cinema, things that take my fancy, stuff for the house, train tickets to visit people...
I do feel like I spend more than I need to but also I’m not really a big spender amongst my peers so I have no idea what’s average.

According to the ONS

Median household disposable income in the UK was £29,400 in the financial year ending (FYE) 2019,

Not sure what the definition of d income is though

£50 per week

£0
It all goes on the bloody horse. If I was horseless then it’d be £500-£600 pcm

I have about 800 a month left after bills I try to save 500 of that so about 300 per month. I dont often spend it all

I don't really budget a set 'amount', I am pretty frugal but if I want to go out with friends for a meal I do, I only ever buy clothes from charity shops, I often make a donation to charity, I buy the occasional gift for family or friends but don't go mad. My DH has more expensive hobbies - golf, cycling etc but I don't 'police' what he spends or feel we have to have equal 'personal spending'.

Our mortgage is paid off, we have pensions and savings ... I am at the stage in life where I genuinely have everything I need and spending for the sake of spending no longer appeals.

If I could find a handyman for a week and get him to do all the outstanding DIY that would make me happy .

After all bills are accounted for, I have exactly £292.46 per month disposable to spend or save as I wish. I don’t earn much, but I can meet my bills with a bit to spare so I’m ok with that.

To be honest I don’t spend much on myself anyway - I rarely go out & don’t buy many treats. Money is all relative, it’s what you do with it that gives it personal value.

I don't have a sum. If I want something I buy it if money is there. If not, then not. Nope we are not rich at all. It's just that I can go weeks with spending very little but then blow a hundred on something...

500 a month, so about 125 a week. DH and I agreed we'd each keep this from our salary years ago when we married and we haven't increased it or amended according to how much we each earn.

DH and I have 100 each a month after all bills, petrol and food shop. We used to have more but now I'm a SAHM we had to be stricter. I was worried but actually we manage fine, although often in reality he has money left over and ends up donating it me because I naturally spend more money on our son in the course of my time with him.

[quote dollypopy]@LongPauseNoReply how much do you put into savings? [/quote]
We put in 25% of earnings into savings (split between savings and investments) but that fluctuates each month depending on how business does. Some months I earn 5 figures, some months multiple 6 figures (usually 3 to 4 times a year). So it's not a set amount as such.

I'm really sorry I've realised the above is unintentionally misleading, as we also usually manage to save around 300-400 a month between us. Obviously that is a luxury that we are lucky to afford and changes the picture quite a bit.

Roughly £400 a month which we can spend on clothing, essential repairs, dental etc., so not really disposable as such - e.g., we consider things like a new pair of glasses a luxury.

My DD needs private health treatment so for the foreseeable future we are going to spend our "disposable income" on that, and not get the repairs, clothing etc. Its just tough really.

@LongPauseNoReply thanks for answering. You own your own business I assume? good for you. Do you sell a product or a service you provide. Sorry to be nosy!