If you give yourself 'pocket money', how much?

[shouldaknownbetter]

I'm trying to rein in my spending by giving myself pocket money out of my monthly salary which is for all personal expenses with the exception of food bought at the supermarket (so any extras grabbed on the run would count).

I have been trying to stick to £50 a week but it's hard! It seems to go in no time. for example this week I've already spent £35 odd on a cardigan, a haircut a replacement gym locker and a couple of notebooks for work.

And I've not even had any socialising yet - can't afford to!

Is this a reasonable amount of money for personal spends? It doesn't include food bought as part of the family supermaket shop, although it would include food/drink purchased spontaneously, and it doesn't include fuel for the car either. It does include clothes/toiletries/hair cuts etc although if I needed something really big like a coat that would be budgeted separately.

In our monthly budget we have our 'personal money' as a set amount - DH and I both have the same. We also budget the same amount again for "family money".

The things that this covers are stiff like socialising/I had a massage/DH met his brother down the driving range/the DC had a trip to softplay/A party gift etc.

It doesn't cover haircuts/anything that's a big event/healthcare or necessities. Those all have their own categories.

The "personal money" is basically just fun money.

I don't think it matters how much it is as an amount. Can you afford It? Is it enough To stick to budget? What does it need to cover and for how long? These kinds of quesrions need to be considered based on your own finances. It's no good if MNetters tell you theirs is £5 or £5000 a week if its not what you earn!

We have £250 each per month for me and DP to spend as we wish. I always seem to get through mine at the speed of light though due to retail therapy addiction . Everything else, including bills,food, petrol, savings and family expenses such as holidays and haircuts is budgeted for separately. We could afford to make the pocket money amounts higher but feel that this amount is works reasonably well for us.

That's just like me Cowardley with the retail therapy addiction! I always end up putting the odd sneaky thing on the credit card, a bit like when the calories from someone else's plate don't count! (I pay this off from my work expenses each month and usually end up making a bit of money from mileage)

I'm going to try really hard to stick to £50/week with £100 a month budgeted for bigger purchases or as a buffer if I go over my £50 limit, so no more than £300 per month for me personally, if nothing else it forces me to think about what I am spending my money on and realise that it's not just some bottomless pit.... which is how I've approached spending in the past and then wondered why I am so deep into my overdraft!

It's soooo hard though with all the lovely things to buy out there! I try to avoid going in the shops but there is a big john lewis round the corner from me which beckons me regularly!

We use ynab it's a great budgeting tool with a great forum especially the journal section. It made me look at money in a different way! It's brought a sense of calm to us. We both get $50 a fortnight for fun money.

I'm trying to do this too. Probably not a great month to start as I have a hen do wedding and holiday all in the next three weeks! Holiday spends is already accounted for out of separate savings.

I'm planing on giving myself £320 a month spends. Won't last long though!

This weekend I've spend £18 in Tesco on treats. That's it. No online shopping which is a miracle. Didn't go out socialising, drank wine we already had in, went to the gym using my membership, took dc to the park and my gran to a market.

Next Friday though I'm getting my eyelash extensions filled in, eyebrows shaped, and shellac done, that's £50 before I've even gone on the hen do! I might drive to save some calories and money.

For me, my worst spends are top up shops, sporadic online orders!

I'll be having a fair few beauty treatments this month but that's coz of the wedding and holiday coming up.

I really think a budget of £320 is generous and I'm lucky to have it - I think I'd struggle with £50 but could manage if I gave up the shellac

DH and myself have £50 a week but it is to cover things like socialising, a trip to the cinema and tea breaks at work (usually make my own tea but we do have a Costa on site so we go there twice a week).
I also budget £50 to entertain the children each week (incudes £5 a week pocket money for the 2 of them).
Clothes would come out of the savings pot. I am frugal with clothes though lol.

I have just started doing this, allowing DH and I £50 per week in spends.

It's been really interesting to see how I actually spend this morning (top up
shops, snacks & coffees out) and has made me Start to analyse how much I am spending and on what.

Lots of picnics now.

I've been surprised at how much I have to concentrate on spending little/ no money. I think it shows how mindless my spending was before

Good luck op

I'm realising that it is the top up shops and random food purchases that are the killer.
My job involves a lot of meetings in costa (which I can't expense) and travelling on the road, I can only claim an evening meal if I'm home late which is rare, so the teas/coffees/snacks/lunches can really add up.

Today I spent £4 on a macdonalds breakfast (forgot to eat before left home also nothing in house then got hungry) , £3.30 on a costa (which couldn't be avoided due to meeting there) and then my colleague enticed/persuaded me to go for a pub lunch at £6. Nearly £14 on f/d how the hell did I do that?

I have invested in a thermos flask for longer journeys and made a resolution to always have something edible and drinkable in the car.. even if just juice cartons and snack bars from Aldi.

So whilst top up shops are evil, not having food in the house is more evil still!

I agree. I've been tracking the past few days and my top up shops are crippling me.

I do our weekly shop on weds.

On Sunday I spent a further £18 on tops in Tesco

Tuesday, £5 on milk, strawberries, apples in Sainsbury's

Today £11 in Iceland.

I also spent £28 in Asda but o be fair that was purely on clothes that were mostly needed.

This is ridiculous!

I never go to costa or but lunches out - always bring my own it's just these top up shops.

Going to forget the weekly shop this week and use up what we have in! X

I have started trying to aim for one or two no spend days a week. I read about the idea on here on one of the frugaleering threads. It makes me SO HAPPY if I manage a NSD!

I'm going to try that tomorrow spivey. Absolutely no need for me to go near a supermarket! Plus we have a gym crèche and soft play day planned which is covered by my gym membership x

DH and I have £85 each spending money, if we need more we just take it form savings (but try not to for obvious 'saving' reasons).

Sorry £85 per week

I'm not allowed personal money, (although I'm the main earner ffs) but expected to provide 2 bottles of prossecco every weekend (I don't drink)....

Dh and I have £10 a week each , I hate spending money unnecessary on myself, am fine with spending it on the dc. We save £1500 a month so could spend more but it would make me anxious

Not allowed Octave? by who?

We've been awful for the last 4 years but I'll be stopping PT work for becoming a childminder abw so will have less at least for a period. Will try this idea but I am really bad-have bought lots of Christmas presents already & cant resist a bargain but need to as no room for more stuff here!

I give myself £70 per month if I can afford it £0 if I can't this covers things like coffees, chocolate bar treats, clothes, haircuts, cosmetics, social events/meals, any luxury thats just for me really. If I can't afford them I don't have these.

No, but I'm starting to think I should. This week alone I've spent £90 on myself and it's only Wednesday. Not exactly typical, as I'm working away from home, so have free time to mooch round shops when I'd normally be cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and I happened to be in a town where a concert I really wanted to go to was playing and had a return ticket, so that accounts for a chunk of it.

I have about 400 euro a month. There is one big ticket item a month in rotation hair cut and colour or contact lenses. About 100 euro. Then I spend a further 50 Euro a week on things like a lunch out for me and DH, ice cream, fresh bread, drinks, family day out at the weekend. Sometimes I save the remaining 100 euro, but often there is something that comes up - visitors, birthday gifts, books for dd, an emergency that I dont feel comfortable spending joint money like my mum might need something or recently I travelled to a funeral.

Dh and I have around £400 each per month left over.
Out of this I put £75 in dc savings and £50 in a seperate savings/contingency fund in case I need anything bigger but am going to start taking £50 each payday in cash and putting it in my purse and using cash only for personal and once it's gone it's gone.
I'm really trying to stop the ridiculous crap spends and top up shops that really aren't necessary so I will see how I go.

We're cutting back drastically and have given each other £25 a week. Clothing won't be coming from this budget. I will need to save. £5 a week from this to save for haircuts/colour every six weeks.

Op, I have meetings in McDonalds and pay a £1 for tea. I also get a loyalty card which means the seventh cup is free.

As a single mum I give myself 40pounds a week if I can afford it. Get haircut at training school so 10 cut and blow dry or 30 pound colour and cut evey4 months.. Get food shopping money , kids pocket money and nine out at beginning of month in cash . It has made me think.about what I buy .

We don't do pocket money, we are pretty frugal anyway so just spend when/where needed. Doesn't having a limit make you feel that you are "allowed" to spend that money?