How much "mad money" do you have?

[DecemberGoneWild]

Assuming that you are comfortable-ish. I know there are plenty of people who dont have anything. This is for people who are fortunate enough to have some.

By "mad money" I mean "pocket money" or "selfish money" ie money that is set aside for you to blow on whatever you like and doesn't have to be accounted for.

And what do you spend it on?

I get £400 a month. It's meant for haurcits, clothes, nights out etc but I currently fritter it away on crap and then have no money to buy things I need (I need new trainers but spent it all so am currently wearing trainers that are worn and give me blisters).

Sadly I also ran up £3000 on my credit card (mostly non-essentials) so most of my £400 going forward will have to go towards paying that off next year. So I'll still be (relatively) broke!

Are you 16?
Have you never heard of the concept of saving?

I am fortunate enough to earn more than I need to spend on housing and feeding my family, but I have never (in 30 years of working) frittered any of it away. I saved towards a house deposit and after many years bought a house. I now spend it on maintenance or save it - for dental emergencies, school trips, holidays, pension. Nothing frittered. If I need trainers I buy trainers. I live within my means, have never been in debt (other than mortgage) and am quite comfortable.

I don't have any particular figure.

I have no debts - no mortgage, no car finance, no phone contract, etc. - and I max out my S&S ISA, pay loads into my pension each month and still have a good amount left after bills. But I never set a specific amount to just blow on...well...shit.

DH is similar.

I really wouldn't be happy wasting a set amount of money 'just because' but I do buy what I want, when I want, within reason.

When people talk about a specific figure like that it sounds like children with pocket money being wasted in sweets 🤷‍♀️

(I was brought up with less than sod all and struggled myself for many years, so I know exactly what it's like to be totally skint and also that I don't enjoy wasting money.)

I've just moved to 0% for 6m. I cant remember the rate after that but it's still cheaper than my current one.

I say "most" of the £400 because I need to be realistic. I still need to do things like buy new trainers. I also know that I'll just think "sod it" if I have zero spends.

Plus, I want this to become a long term habit. I'm aiming to pay off £250-£400 however, if need be, I'll drop down to £200. It will take longer to pay off but if I can get into the habit of living with £200 then once it is paid off, I can just set it up so £200 goes into savings and I wont miss it.

Does that make sense?

I dont want to (and dont need to) be penniless for the year to only then go crazy when I have spending money again. That wont teach me how to budget.

I have always paid off more than the minimum but it has been creeping up.

Jesus. The reading comprehension on this thread is on a par with my fiscal responsibility.

About £400 I spend it on meals out,coffees out,clothes,shoes/boots,bags,accessories,
books,magazines,getting my hair done,treats for other people,things for the house,fresh flowers.

Your OP doesn’t make sense. If you have been spending £400 per month plus on top of that racked up £3000 debt on non-essentials, you clearly aren’t comfortably off with a pot of surplus spending money each month.

I never said I was?

So what relevance has your question to your stated situation?

DH and I have £500 a month each discretionary spends. Roughly £100 a week or so for personal spending that we don't have to run past each other and that we can do what we like. But it also includes personal bills like paying for our phones, haircuts etc.

I save a chunk of mine (£150) into my stocks and shares ISA each month which I view as my early retirement pot. Then I tend to save an extra bit each month to pay towards DH's birthday and Christmas presents and he does the same for me out of his personal money.

The rest I'm free to fritter (or save) as I see fit. I tend to spend it going out with friends or on the occasional new item of clothing or make-up. It works for us as it's none of DH's business that I spent £100 this month on a pair of new winter boots and he can crack on spending a fortune on his air fix models.

You don’t have £400 spare op. That’s money that should be going into repayment. Post again when you’ve cleared that.

Does it matter?

However, as I said above, I wanted to clarify that the question was for people who can afford it. Not people who are budgeting each £1.

I dont want to (and dont need to) be penniless for the year to only then go crazy when I have spending money again. That wont teach me how to budget.

You've been at pains throughout the thread to demonstrate that you already know how to budget. What you lack is any kind of self-control.

I am loosing the will to live over here.

I've never said I dont know how to budget.

I have openly said I've frittered it away on crap.

I don’t really account for my money like that. But I guess I have about £1000 a month after paying into our joint account. Some of that I’ll spend on personal essentials (like my phone bill) or regular hobby costs (I have a horse who costs me £300 a month).

I’d say maybe £500 a month, but I don’t think of it as mad money for spending on fun or luxury things. Some months it might go to servicing my car. Some months I’ll put it towards a training course for work. Some months I might take a spontaneous trip to Spain. Some months it gets saved.

So it’s unrelated to your situation (the majority of your original post) and you are just curious as to what comfortably off people spend surplus income on, even though you aren’t comfortably off or have a surplus as you are currently in debt?
OK

👍🏻

And the the issue with that is...?

I thought this was what most people do. Am surprised that people fritter anything away in this day and age. Maybe if I won the lottery I might fritter some of the winnings.

That you are surprised people are not understanding your post.

On pay day £200 goes into both our personal accounts as spending money for the month.

I think in my case, I fritter because I see it as "frittering money" I guess.

Excluding the cc debt (which as I keep saying will be cleared next year and is inexcusible in my situation) I think I am trying to get out of the mindset of seeing it as "spending money" ie money to spend.

Everything else including family savings etc is accounted for so this money just sits there. It doesnt take many coffees or expensive nail polishes or hairdressing trips and take aways to blow through it.

Also, from your OP can I assume you aren’t working and your partner “gives” you this £400? I think if you were earning it yourself you wouldn’t be thinking of it in terms of money to fritter away. That might be the difference between you and some posters who have replied. Sorry if you have already mentioned this elsewhere. I haven’t read the whole thread as I am just on a work break.

Clearly enough people undetstand it because they are answering the question.

There is a little button that allows you to see all my posts if you cant be bothered to look for them.

See I do it the other way round. Bills first, then savings, then I can spend what's left (if there is any).

Hairdresser haircuts for example, I would consider a luxury. A want not a need. They are very expensive, hundreds of pounds a year, which is fine... if you can afford it.

When I was very poor I just grew my hair long and trimmed it myself a couple of times a year. If it got dyed at all it was a box job. At the moment I'm fairly flush so I'm enjoying a haircut that needs frequent maintenance (cuts and colour), but if I was skint again, the hairdresser would be one of the first things to go. At least I would change my style/colour to something that didn't need to be refreshed very frequently.