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 just save according to extra outgoings each month. Sometimes you have a lot extra, others not as much. X

If I have unlimited I will spend it. I need more discipline.

How often are you spending £30 on car valeting? Is that £20 for 1 breakfast? £100 at home bargains?

You really need to seriously address your spendthrift ways if you are going to save any kind of significant amount

I mean its not every month car - every 3. Home bargains similar.

Have you accounted for birthdays? Work collections? I personally couldn't live on that. Hair apps, nails, friends birthdays, nights out. Depends how far you are stretched. Why don't you separate your finances? Put £200 in a separate account and try living off it for 2 months. Don't touch your other bank account

I know there is all of that. I only buy for two friends and £25 each.
I do my own nails now. Eye brows about £6.
Good idea to trial it. He may buy that.

we budget £250 a month. Mine goes on beauty appointments as my gym membership is seperate, this is purely for me to spend no questions asked guilt free money. I’ve always got money left over.

I used to budget £300 each. Just go through your statements and see what you actually spent on average on this type of thing for the last few months

Just got personal spends? Everything else is covered so it's essentially fun money? This is how much I allocated myself each month. If I happen to have a bit more I might add in a few quid more, but I do ok. It's not miserly tight! I have wine/coffee out, buy books, have a takeaway, get a haircut, buy make up etc. perhaps I am just very careful!

I definitely don’t spend £200 a month on takeaways, the pub, coffees and hair cuts. I have about £1000 a month in personal spending money though (which I don’t necessarily always spend). But included in that is, personal travel, hobbies, fuel, my mobile bill, books, classes I might want to take, etc.

You'd have to go some to spend £100 in Home Bargains.

I went to a cafe two days and had a cooked breakfast - it was £6

If my car is looking mucky, I get the vacuum out.

I mean, I know we are all on different income levels, but you are seriously leaking unnecessary money here. The fact that your default is to buy lunch every day is wild to me.

I agree with @LightYearsAgo . It isn't that you shouldn't have 'personal spends' each, it is that you need to agree your priorities.
For some people that might be spending £££ on holidays. For someone else, they would be happy to forgo a holiday one year to have a kitchen or bathroom refurb. It's the same principle with your individual spends, only you and your dh can decide if it is more important to you to save for the renovations or if (together) you aren't so bothered about what your home is like but cba to take a packed lunch every day.

I spend £250 including gym membership because I am aggressively paying down the mortgage and by the time I have worked full time, done my hobbies and taken the kids places I have very little time left to go out and spend anything

That’s what me and dh each have, 200 each spending money, it does us fine, but for some people it would be a shock to the system if they’re used to a lot more.

Thanks so it isn't unreasonable then. Thank you.

For £200 pcm?

We do double that for personal spends and it doesn't feel extravagant. I'd struggle on £200 unless I dramatically cut back on a lot of things.

Personal spending per month to include takeaways haircuts and pubs would be more like 500 in this current climate. You could easily do it if you are frugal but hairdressers takeaways and pubs is lavish IMO

Hahah you should see my dd she is a nightmare. I have told her it is stopping. A few candles and blankets and stocking up and its £90 before I know it.
I didn't say I buy lunch every day. I take it with me or get a free one in the canteen as an in kind benefit. My lunch cost is negligible.
I do agree I leak money elsewhere.

Thanks do you find you are ever wanting more? If needed an outfit or a coat one month etc.

for things like an coat or an outfit I’d use Vinted or charity shops to keep the costs down. Everyone wants more money tbf! But it’s rarely been something I need, there’s only been a handful of occasions where it’s been urgh I really needed a bit more money.
but you cut your cloth accordingly, we don’t often do takeaways. I stock up on just the cheaper supermarket style pizzas etc for the freezer for example.

Thanks thats interesting. What does it include if you don't mind me asking. As I see a few people have included gym, mobiles and fuel.

Thanks. I am getting a bit sick if takeaways anyway as they are getting ridiculously expensive and can make nicer at home with a bit of effort.
I need to take a look at vinted.

It doesn't matter what anyone else spends, you have a finite amount of money each month.

Calling it different names is irrelevant. You're making things too complicated, decide how much you want to save each month and whatever's left over is available to spend on whatever you need/choose that month.

No need to be worrying about new coats that you don't even need at the moment.

I might have missed how old your daughter is but she needs go get real in Home Bargains 😀

Yes.

I don't go to the gym though and I'm not in London, I'm in the SW.

Clothes are a separate budget though, but just buy what I might need for the season, which isn't much at all each time, maybe one thing. I think I'm very lucky having that £200 a month to spend. Apart from a haircut, I see wine, coffee out, new books and takeaways as luxuries. They are wants not needs. If I really needed to, I could stop them all, I'm not beyond trimming my own hair.

That is true. I don't have to go for breakfast and I haven't had any alcohol since Christmas.