How much pocket money do you give yourself each week?

[CosmicUnicorn]

Hi,
I’m conscious of frittering money away in the likes of a popular coffee shop. Not good for my bank balance or my waistline! I was thinking that I should give myself a set amount of money per week for a treat (once a week).
How much does everyone give themselves, if at all, for pocket money?

To me I don't see the problem if you can afford it and it's something you enjoy. I usually make my own hot chocolate and take that to the park with me.

I went to starbucks with my sister on thursday to use up her giftcard. They also give you a £0.25p discount if you bring your own cup.

You could switch stores - Macdonald's is every 6th drink free and I think a latte is something like £1.59.

I get paid weekly. I know exactly how much needs to be put to one side to make sure I have enough for bills and shopping, and the rest is my spending money. If I have any left (which I always do) by the time I get paid again it goes half into Premium Bonds and half into my ISA, which is there for home improvements or any unexpected outgoings when required.

@Sunshinedrops85

To me I don't see the problem if you can afford it and it's something you enjoy. I usually make my own hot chocolate and take that to the park with me.

I went to starbucks with my sister on thursday to use up her giftcard. They also give you a £0.25p discount if you bring your own cup.

You could switch stores - Macdonald's is every 6th drink free and I think a latte is something like £1.59.

McDonald's have stopped that now, unfortunately. But I agree it's cheaper!

They don't have the physical cards anymore, but it's still available if you use the macdonald's app!

I would use the Pret but we don't have one local to us.

I have lodgers, either one or two and depending on this I have either £100 or £200 a week pocket money. All my salary goes on paying the bills.

We have around £400 a month spending money each. We have to get clothes for ourselves (not the kids, that's a separate budget), outings like soft play, cinema etc, meals out, beauty treatments (I get my nails, toes and brows done regularly and like massages and facials done now and then), theatre trips, presents for friends, haircuts once every four months for me. The money soon goes believe me.

I don't see the problem with this as we still save lots every month. We have a low mortgage which we are also overpaying. We both have good pension schemes.

Life is for living not scrimping every penny if you don't have to. I realise we are fortunate to live like this but we chose not to move to the massive expensive house like a lot of people I know and because of our choices we can have a nice lifestyle.

£0 and that is why I'm rich, bwah hah hah hah!

Well, not really But I can't live without coffee, and can't drink instant, so take a flask of home-brewed to work every day. I make my lunch at home, so it's healthy and inexpensive. I've had times of extreme poverty in my life, so I'm not someone with a "treats" mindset. Spending time on myself, doing something I enjoy, is how I treat myself. It's certainly cheaper than a new lipstick, or takeaway etc.

Zero/nothing.

Thanks all. I definitely think I’ll start taking my drinks with me more often. I’ll make use of the boiler at work too! Ha ha!
I think, when I’ve allocated ‘pocket money’ in the past, I feel I need to spend it all. I think I’m going to put £100 a month in a purse and try not to think about it and hope I won’t be tempted to just waste it.

[quote CosmicUnicorn]@TowerOfGiraffes
I mean what money you allow yourself for personal spends/fun money like lunch out or cinema trip.[/quote]
Oh ok. Well obviously that'll depend on household budget, won't it? Bit weird to refer to disposable income for adults as "pocket money". To me that refers to the few pounds a week you give to small kids to buy stuff?

I mean what money you allow yourself for personal spends/fun money like lunch out or cinema trip.

Well that is going to depend on your budget, and to some extent your life stage. It is irrelevant if someone says they allow themselves a fiver a week for treats or if someone says they have £500pw, if your budget is different. Also, to some extent, depends on circumstances / where you work / if you work. If you work in a set place, you will generally have a kettle and use of a fridge and some way of making your own coffee, same as if you are at home, whereas if you are on the road, or out and about you are more likely to have to buy a coffee.

I'm in the fortunate financial position that I don't need to budget the way you do just now OP. However I still have the mind-set that buying a coffee in a shop/cafe is a "luxury". I rarely do it.

A bought sandwich a day is a ridiculous amount to spend too ( I usually took in leftovers or made a sandwich myself)

Save your money for something worthwhile. Use your thermos or your cafetiere (which is what I used at work). Don't fall for the hype.

I do a budget each month on You Need a Budget which I find brilliant for a sense of control. You put in all your budget needs for over the year (eg MOT, Christmas) and decide each month how you want to allocate your cash. I'm paying my contribution of university maintenance for two young adults, overpaying (a bit) on mortgage, saving (a bit) for emergencies and next summer, so things disappear fast. My pocket money is low down on the list because I care more about having some sense of control in emergencies and being able to retire sooner, having paid off the mortgage. So I allow myself £40 pocket money a month, (but have separate lines for birthday presents, haircuts, etc.) YNAB has been lifechanging for me and changing my approach, I'd really, really recommend it.

I don't allocate myself money but I have a cappuccino or an espresso once a day so that's about £5 a week.

Why not do it the other way round? Decide how much you would like to save each month, pay bills, cars, clothes etc and then see what you realistically have left over to have as fun money

If you want nice coffee at work, I have this
www.bodum.com/gb/en/11067-01-travel-press And keep a bag of ground coffee in the fridge.

I don’t drink coffee (yuk) so there’s a saving straight away.
I have started using my Thermos more.
I have a lot more disposable income available but if I were to treat that as ‘fun money’ I’d fritter it away to zero - I’m like that - hence why I wanted to set a limit. But, even if I set a limit, I still would spend all of that. I think the best approach would be to try to not allocate anything and develop a ‘only get if necessary’ approach to spending.
I do save £1000 a month from my disposable income.

@redmapleleaves1

I do a budget each month on You Need a Budget which I find brilliant for a sense of control. You put in all your budget needs for over the year (eg MOT, Christmas) and decide each month how you want to allocate your cash. I'm paying my contribution of university maintenance for two young adults, overpaying (a bit) on mortgage, saving (a bit) for emergencies and next summer, so things disappear fast. My pocket money is low down on the list because I care more about having some sense of control in emergencies and being able to retire sooner, having paid off the mortgage. So I allow myself £40 pocket money a month, (but have separate lines for birthday presents, haircuts, etc.) YNAB has been lifechanging for me and changing my approach, I'd really, really recommend it.

Is ‘You Need a Budget’ free?

As a side note, I saw on here a good idea which I have started. I have a standing order to transfer £10 every Friday to a separate current account. This alone covers my MOT, service for the year and any other (small) emergency. This is on top of normal savings but it's a good amount a year for day to day expenses and I don't notice it - just like buying a bottle of wine on a Friday.

Other than that I am a spreadsheet fanatic - everything is accounted for then the rest split three ways between DH, family days out/anything to do with DD and me.

@CosmicUnicorn no not free www.youneedabudget.com/pricing/ but I pay annually. You can have a free 34 day trial and it is a bit fiddly to start off, but it has helped me save thousands and thousands over the last six years.

@redmapleleaves1 thanks - I’ll take a look!

£100 a week, most of which goes on clothes, eating out and haircuts.
I rarely buy coffee out

Each of us has £250 a month for clothes, hobbies, whatever. On top of that we have some additional budget for cinema/going out, but due to combination of Covid and pregnancy we haven't used it that much. We save each month for holidays.

None.
Had a year on furloughredundant due to covid so am frantically rebuilding savings.

I'm doing Xmas properly for ds but not spending a penny more than I need to myself.
We'll be fine but probably another six months before I can relax.

€100 a week, I don't drink coffee but do often grab food on the go. Or sometimes I'll go in to a dark restaurant/bar to get a hot chocolate I don't want just so I can have a quiet corner to breastfeed my baby while out and about.