Personal spending amount

[dinkdinkdink]

I am trying to budget as I want to save for something. Would you say £200 is enough each for personal spending a month?

How would you find it? Oh thinks he needs more. 🤦‍♀️
It is for takeaways, hair cuts, pub, cafe anything that isn't in the main family budget.

You are saying that you want to save for something. Does he also what to save for it? I think this is an important point.

It really depends on what your current lifestyle and spending is like, and where you live I suppose. £200 would probably get you one night out a week if you're careful, but you couldn't get a haircut on top of that... Entirely depends what you want it for.

feels low to me but to others would be loads

£67 gym membership
£10 towards haircut
£40 - 4x coffee & bacon roll
leaves me £117 for a meal out and a few drinks in the pub
In reality I clearly spend a lot more than this each month or I'd be loaded 😂

I think it depends where you are in life. Historically I’ve lived well within that and quite easily, but as I’ve earned more I’ve started spending on more expensive things and it would be a shock to go back.

But if it’s what you had - it would be fairly easy to cut out takeaways, take packed lunches out etc.

No, not enough for me. Does your OH also want what you want to save for?

Honestly, I don't think I could be happy with £50 a week to spend. Obviously, it depends on your circumstances, but I usually allocate myself £800 and then shove whatever I don't spend into savings at the end of the month.

I am trying to budget as I want to save for something.

How would you find it? Oh thinks he needs more.

Why does your OH need to save if it's something you want?

If you're saving for something you're thinking about it the wrong way round. Start with how much you want to save and then what's left is what you can spend. It doesn't make sense to staer with assumptions you will spend on takeaways, if you don't have the money you can't spend it

Annual costs averaged out:
Haircut £87
Gym classes £72
Hobby subscriptions £29

Just about do-able but tight as I'd have to forego a major hobby and no extras. Id have to really want that thing I'd be saving up for.

Well I wouldn’t need that much general spending money - dont get takaways, could easily not eat out for 6 months , do my own hair. Spend £10 a week on a class and £10 a week on some cokes a couple of nights down the pub so £100 a month gives a little slack - a book for example

but my normal budget includes a household line that is most of this months incidental spend

you need to agree between you - what is reasonable to spend money on, how much and how quickly you need to save - if you need to save at a certain rate to avoid going into debt over a holiday it’s one thing, if it’s building your emergency fund you might be easier

Depends what your budget is, I'd think 5% of budget is probably reasonable, which would be 10% for you both, but everyone is different.

He does but not as much as me.

It's renovating.

Gym is already taken out. Oh cuts his own hair. Mine is £80 every 4 months. I mean realistically I have stuck to just 200. I do waste money though.

I spend about £600 pcm on stuff like that.

I think that has been what we are used to but we do blow it.
Too many takeaways, a car valet, new stuff for house. Tickets to somewhere. I guess I could stop this.
We could save in a year this way but Oh just doesn't want to struggle. He actually will probably find it easier than me though.

I could do this for a short period if I really needed to - if we had something we really needed to save for or we were in debt etc. It wouldn’t be fun but if we had to...
Would I agree to it if it wasn’t absolutely necessary though? No.

I think it would be very tight.

If I could have £300/£350 then it might be more comfortably doable. That's probably because I have to spend just short of £100 a time once a month (occasionally twice) on train fares to visit my elderly mother. That is something I can't change.

If you can squeeze somewhat more for each of you then it might be more realistic, and you just take a bit longer to save.

I kind of agree with your partner. It's not nice to feel so squeezed and financially uncomfortable if it isn't absolutely necessary and wouldn't want to readily agree to it.

I couldn’t spend that little , I want to live not exist .

It's too tight. Particularly as he's not so bothered about what you're saving for.

£40-50 a week 'pocket money' for a grown, working adult is pitiful, unless it's done out of pure necessity. It would be a miserable existence.

You need to split the disposable income after bills and emergency savings in half. He can spend or save his half as he sees fit, you spend or save your half as you see fit. Since the renovations are more important to you than to him, you'll likely save more/quicker than he does, and that's OK.

If it's you who wants to save for something, why does your DH also have to have his personal amount restricted?

I'd not want to be limited to £200 per month.

I agree with this.

This is about priorities, not numbers.

DH and I have less than that a month, and a lot of it doesn't get spent, because for the first 20 odd years we were together we just didn't have it.

I'm still staggered at what people consider 'must haves' on here (on threads about pocket money for teens even, let alone the 'how much does our student dc need to live on? threads).

This isn't a 'competitive poverty' post, it is just fact. I automatically take a packed lunch. I take a travel mug or flask with a hot drink when I go out or a reusuable bottle filled with water from the tap. I don't understand the posts about paying £200 for a hair cut or 'I have £2K to spend on a handbag'.
However if you have always just bought a drink when you fancy one, and consider 'going out for lunch' or 'buying lunch out' a daily thing then you'd find it difficult to not do that.

As another poster said, you are probably looking at this from the wrong angle. I would be saying -
"We need to get the renovation job done this year. It's going to cost £X so we need to save £Y every month which leaves us with £Z for our own treats. I'd rather go without {insert what that might be} for 7 months and get this work done in the Summer than have another Winter of being without this improvement. What do you think ?"
He migh agree, he might completely disagree or there might be room for compromise / meeting in the middle somewhere. But I'd definitely be starting with when / how you can get the work done, before the costs rise again.

Thank you. This is my thinking.

Oh isnt a big spender but doesn't want to limit himself.

I would probably have to give up tickets and events but I could still go for breakfast some weekends for £20. Pub night would be £30. Just no new clothes but tbf I don't need any at the moment. Takeaways can be about £50 for three of us. Car valet would be £30. Coffees out £20.
I guess it adds up. Dd can we go to Home bargains? £100 later. That bit needs to stop.

I take lunch to work or can get it free some days at work.