To ask how much of this you should/could save?

[Terrazzomazzo]

After putting 1400 towards bills into the joint account. I have approximate 1800 left. Settle an argument…How much of this would you expect to save?

it is used to cover miscellaneous expenditure - coffees, lunches, kids treats, kids clothing, pocket money and fuel for one car.

How many kids?

There isn’t enough information here. How many kids? Lunch for who and how often? How much fuel? Is it for a month? Etc

2 dc age 10 and 12

£1000-1200. Assuming the fuel is just for casual driving (not long commute) and you've not got more than 2 children.

2dc
lunch for 1 adult in work or if they meet friends etc.
fill up the tank every two weeks
for a month

Depends how much you find your miscellaneous expenditure comes to…!

But this can be controlled to a point so if you could spend less and save more then what would you expect as such?

I would hope to save £1000 but in reality it would probably be about £500

A grand easily some months a bit more

I’d save at least £1000, ideally closer to £1200.

I would expect to put £500 or so into long term savings (S&S), £300-400 into short term savings (i.e. expect to spend within the year - for things like weekends away) and spend the rest

At least £900. More like £1200 most months. I don't buy coffees/lunches

£1400 savings, £400 spends.

I'd dip in for the odd splurge.

I think if you were being on the frugal side, then you could save £1300, but to be fairly relaxed and do/have things as you wanted, savings would be more like £500.

If you spending can be controlled then it implies that some of it is unnecessary. So, control your spending, save as much as you can - only you can say how much is possible.
Some months you may want to splurge a bit and that’s obviously ok, as life is also for living in the now and saving for the unknown. You are lucky to be able do both…so do both!

Long term savings £1000
short term savings (Xmas/birthdays/days out/school uniform/shoes) £300
Spends £500

Out of interest what percentage are you contributing to joint account?

It matters if you're contributing more than half or being expected to save X% towards joint savings.

If saving is my priority, would put about £1,600 into savings and if I had anything left over at the end of the month, that would go to the savings account as well. Depending on what the savings are for and when I'd be likely to need to use them, I would put some into a pension, some into a stocks and shares ISA and some into cash savings.

If I had a credit card debt, I would prioritise paying that off.

If I had a mortgage, I would consider overpaying each month it in order to whittle down the debt and save myself ££ in interest payments.

coffees, lunches, kids treats, kids clothing, pocket money and fuel for one car.

these are so completely different, they shouldn't even be in the same category.

Kids clothing, they NEED
cofffee? depends..
kids treats? does it include birthday and christmas presents?

What do you mean by "saving" ? long term? And what about holidays, under which account do they come from?

Mortgage, pension, holidays.... If you are in your forever home it's not the same as being in a rental you can't wait to get out of.

How much of this would you expect to save?
short answer is: completely depends on your existing lifestyle!

1800 left
300 spend
1500 save

If your spending can be controlled then it implies that some of it is unnecessary. So, control your spending, save as much as you can - only you can say how much is possible. Is some of it unnecessary but fun/enjoyable, so justifiable IMO (within reason!)? Is some on overpriced lunches and coffees, which you could recreate easily?
Some months you may want to splurge a bit and that’s obviously ok, as life is also for living in the now and saving for the unknown. IYou are lucky to be able do both…so do both!

Some of things you listed, e.g kids treats should be joint expenses.
Likewise the car, presuming it is for things that support family life, e.g. commuting to work, taking kids to activities

Kids clothes and treats are a joint expense (if they’re your partner’s children too) so should come out of the joint account

As others have already mentioned, some of the miscellaneous expenditure is essential, eg kids’ clothing. I’d work out a budget for those essentials, maybe put that into a separate account, and save the rest. With the figures you mention I’d aim to save £1,000 a month in an ISA or fixed term high interest account.

For what it’s worth, I’m in my late 50s and now considering retirement. I really wish I had saved more in the past, and can see how much of my spending has been really quite frivolous.

If we are saying everything else is covered bills food etc then I'd be able to save the whole 1800 most months.
I don't drive. I cycle. I don't have lunch or coffees out and aside for birthdays Christmas or celebrations I don't really spend much at all. With the kids we do free things parks walks etc

This is all irrelevant to you op though as you will live a different life so figure out what you want to spend and what you want to save.

For us all money goes into the joint pot for bills/savings etc and then we both get and agreed x amount a month to spend or save however we want to. Makes it really simple and avoids anyone feeling anything is unfair.