To ask you, if you’re one week away from payday…

[Munnymunnymunny]

How much disposable income do you usually have left? Purely nosey and nobody has to answer. I have about £300 left in my current account. All bills have gone out and I have savings and shouldn’t need fuel until after I am paid, so it will just be top up food shop, a few train tickets and anything else I need to get. I haven’t saved anything this month 😬

the opportunities are there, you just have to take them!
see also savings accounts and insurance policies re. Accidents and illnesses.

About 4K but not so long ago would have been much much less. Circumstances change.

I usually have about £150.00 left a week before payday, all bills are out before the 5th of the month, including money that goes in to the ‘food shopping‘ account.

@HungryBeagle - same here. All savings and bills sorted on payday, so also work to a zero budget by next payday. Funds allocated for everything - cars/next year’s insurance/kids’ activities/kids’ savings/holidays/mortgage overpayments etc. Approx £1000 for a month for food and sundries, £250/week spend. Did a big shop today which will last until next weekend and around £200/week for the last two weeks of the month. Would have been slightly more but bought DC coats today. I find transferring savings as soon as we get paid makes sure the money doesn’t just get frittered away.

I get paid in 2 weeks and I have £160 but that's from some left last month. After everything I have between 280-310 spare all together usually

@NotFastButFurious

Jow long do you think your savings would last if you could never work again.

How much would your insurance pay out if your child developed a life limiting illness?

if you became disabled?

Anything between £1 and £1000. Usually closer to the latter unless there has been an emergency. I'm another one who sorts it out at the start of the month. Wages going into the main account. A transfer is made into the savings account on payday. A transfer is made into a "spending account" (a Tesco one for the Clubcard points). Bills/DDs come out a few days after payday. What's left stays in the main account, just in case it's needed. If it isn't needed by the end of the month, a bit is transferred to be used for treats and the rest goes into the savings account.

We don't ever use the main account for spending because it's too easy to fritter it away. Having a limited amount in the "spending account" means we have to be more mindful with spending.

Monthly payments are not the norm here, I would hate to be paid monthly. Fortnightly is much better.

I'm usually in my overdraft by this point

I have about £4k in there. I get other income on top of salary and various payments coming out at different times (sometimes once a term so a big chunk at once). I don't keep track of it all so I just keep enough balance so that I'll be able to cover any bill that might come up (including occasional big credit card bills which get paid in full).

A week before payday - I have about £1500 left because I put most things that I can in my credit card - direct debit for that goes out around payday depending on where it falls so some months will be ok others need to top up out if savings

All savings and bills sorted on payday, so also work to a zero budget by next payday. Funds allocated for everything - cars/next year’s insurance/kids’ activities/kids’ savings/holidays/mortgage overpayments etc.

I do zero based budgeting too - everything accounted for when it comes in so I know exactly what I have to spend, have planned all the annual expenses and savings. Makes it much easier to keep on top of spending, and saving.

None. I used to be broke 3 days after payday when I was paid fortnightly. Now I am ok for the first 3 weeks but last one I always need to get DH to pay for everything. Lol. He's on about 200 a month more than me.

Anything between £200-£600 depending on what I've been doing that month

There are thousands that can't afford university, however able they may be.
Many single people struggle to pay for a house by themselves.
The fact you're the only woman is your field is just circumstance.

Who the heck do you think does the essential, but low-paid, jobs we all rely on? They aren't lazy wasters, that's for sure. And they are not well off.

Sometimes, somebody's hubris is so exaggerated that I wish bad things would happen to them, so they can see. However, there is no karma and the things happened to me, despite being acutely aware of inequalities. The insurances find a reason to stop paying out. The savings disappear like water down a large plughole.

More to the point, NFBF, you're in a privileged position whether or not you recognise the back-breaking labour put in by your delivery people, retail and serving staff, sanitation workers and the rest. There's no need to be supercilious, it isn't necessary to your good fortune.

Last month, £185 but that's unusual.

Normally £500 ish, maybe a bit more.

I had about £25 left last month.

We don't get paid monthly now, but I remember what that was like...awful.

DH and I are paid fortnightly on opposite schedules so we have pay coming in every week. The amount varies a bit depending on our side jobs.

It's brilliant...especially the months when the days work out and there are 3 paychecks for one of us. We both have two months out of the year fall that way.

So we never really have that "end-of-the-month" dread that I used to fear. It did take some getting used to but I'd not go back. USA based.

If you need somewhere to "hold" it that offers easy access, I'd put it in premium bonds as you'd be able to get to the money in a day or two, yet would be in with a chance of a big win.

I have about £4 left and no food shopping bought for the week yet.

I got paid 2 days ago and have £20 left. 🫥

It'll be interesting to know where your parents come into all of this. I highly suspect high achievers, good income etc.

I’m on stat mat pay and absolutely nothing- I’m going into my savings every month just to pay bills. Going back to work soon but then will have childcare costs so things will be better but not by much

I'm in a slightly better position now than I have been in the past. I would say I have anything between £400-£1000 disposable available to me a week before payday most months.

It goes into savings though. I used to live month to month but I had a change of job last year (left the old one because I was subjected to the most awful treatment and eventually bullied out by senior staff) and I'm much happier where I am now but I also get huge anxiety over not having enough savings to cover six months of expenses in case anything happened so that's my bare minimum of savings I want to have at all times. I therefore don't really see my disposable income as free to spend, it's my safety net.