What would be a sufficient amount?

[182Seesee]

Posting for traffic...

I am getting paid monthly and I'm still getting used to it.
I want to take out a chunk to go into my savings and not have to take it back out again.
So I know I need to cover
Food 70 per week - 280 per month
Fuel 40 per week - 160 per month
Broadband/tv 35 per month
My Mobile 30 month

So that's 505.

I can leave in up to 1500 and still add into my savings but I would like to add as much as possible.
How much would you leave in for the month? I know it's all subjective but Im just looking for ideas of what others would leave/need for the month...being realistic.

Do you not have rent/ mortgage, utility bills, car/ home insurance, council tax etc?

What about rent / mortgage, council tax, TV license, car/house insurance?? You don't have anything in for clothes, meals out, presents etc.
I would give it a few months to see how your spending works out and what you're left with at the end of each month then set up a direct debit to transfer a manageable amount over to your savings every month.

I would leave about 800 in probably.

Some months aren't 4 weeks so you have to account for some 5 weeks month if you are getting paid monthly.

Don't forget that there are more than 4 weeks per month - so e.g. your food at £70/week actually evens out to just over £300 a month, not £280.

Not sure I understand - all depends on what your take-home is, what your living situation is (where are the rest of your bills?), and what you need to pay for outside of 'regular' spending - Christmas presents, birthday presents, haircuts, clothes, subscriptions like Spotify etc.

What are you saving for, as well? Are you saving so you've got a pot to cover things like car tax/MOT/repairs and things like that? Or are you saving up for a house deposit or something big so you will never touch the money you put away?

It's a bit of an open-ended question!

Are you sure that's all the bills you have? What about annual ones eg car insurance and tax, rent/mortgage isn't mentioned nor is council tax or utilities

Yeah where are the rest of your bills or are you living at home to save up a deposit?

If it's the latter, give yourself £200 spending money and save the rest.

No electric? Gas? Water? Insurance?

Sorry I forgot to say dh covers everything else. My car insurance and tax etc I pay annually so they are covered. We have 2 small dc if that makes a difference. We are not in an overly expensive area.

Well what do you spend on you - haircuts etc work that out and then put everything else in savings

Impossible for anyone else to say. How do we know how many meals out, coffees, books, presents, clothes etc you buy in a month? Just work out what you spend and save the rest.

If it's there I'll spend it I suppose, hairdresser etc is off the cards right now I suppose with lockdown. All Christmas shopping is done.

We do like a take away once or twice a month I suppose so I could factor that in.

Don’t over think it. It’s generally psychologically easier to save if you set aside the money first - so do that, and if you’ve calculated incorrectly, withdraw it again.

Why not go through your bank statements for the last few months and see what you spend? That will make it much easier to see what spending you like to have. Then, look at it more closely and decide where you’d be happiest cutting. For me personally for example, I’d take out a new item of clothing but keep a takeaway, any day! But the takeaway for me is the treat feeling and not cooking - so would be easy for me to change down from the expensive Chinese to the cheaper Fish & Chips.

Looking at your own spending habits is the best place to start!

It’s up to you, really, isn’t it? Surely you know how much you do or don’t spend?

50 % on needs
30 % on wants
20% savings

My mother in law religiously saved 20% of her wage each month from being a child (her dad taught her). The woman is now in her 60s . And as her wage went up the % of her savings went up.

I decided to follow in her footsteps last year and I’m really reaping the rewards of feeling less financially stressed. It makes me want to save more as well . Once you get into the habit it becomes easier to spend less and save more x

The first 3 months can be hard though, just commit to it ! Honestly it’s one of the best things you’ll ever do x

Why not just set yourself a budget each week for discretionary spend, and come pay day add whatever is left to your savings? Then next month you can adjust as necessary.

Thanks @Cocomarine that sounds like a plan. All I know is the more I have the more I am inclined to spend but once I hVe put it into the savings account it's harder to access BUT I also don't want to leave myself short iyswim

@Amberleaf12 that's sounds great. Thank you.

@Derelictwreck if I leave it sally there then I WILL spend it ALL 🤣

How nice to not have to worry about mortgage, council tax, utilities and insurance and just work out excitedly how much you can spend each month... 😳

@Winterwoollies my dh pays for those yes but what makes you think I have no worries about them. We are like anyone else really...a few months of no pay and we would be defaulting I suppose. We are not lavish.

[quote 182Seesee]@Winterwoollies my dh pays for those yes but what makes you think I have no worries about them. We are like anyone else really...a few months of no pay and we would be defaulting I suppose. We are not lavish.[/quote]
I’d assume in that case you would be frantically saving everything you didn’t need to spend, then.

@Winterwoollies yes hence my question...our jobs are secure (unless the whole world goes to shit I suppose (but you can never be too sure) and I can always up my hours if needs be as I only work 3 days. We have 2-3months worth of savings as it is. So yes I am trying to do more....but thanks for your "input"

Ok. My input is if you’re concerned (forgive me, your joke about how you’d “spend it ALL 🤣” didn’t read like financial concern), put everything you don’t need to spend into a savings account with a decent yield. Or allow yourself a small spending allowance for treats such as £30/week, and put all that remains away.