How much to you spend on 'extras'?

[Moomoomeemee]

I know this has been done, but think times have changed.

Just wondering what people spend on extra things other than rent/mortgage, utilities etc?

I'm trying to budget and wondering what is reasonable ATM.

Phone is £10
Gym (can't cancel) is £42

Other than that it's things like petrol, half the groceries, carparking charges (shouldn't be too many) and kids' activities (two kids primary school age), clothes for me and dcs. I don't really go out, drink alcohol or smoke etc.

What would you budget?

*do

Without knowing your income, how much you have left over after all your bills, how far you generally drive / amount of petrol required, and . what activities have to be paid for it’s hard to gauge. If you really needed to cut costs on food, are prepared to only buy second hand clothes, and the activities are cheap ones like Guides, you could probably get by on £500 average a month. If you have to drive 50-plus miles a day for your commute, and the activities are e.g. horse riding then you’ll need to budget far more.

No-one can answer that question as everyone has different amounts of money available and priorities.

Even things like food can vary enormously. Some people will say they couldn't possibly feed their family on under £250 pw, others will say that this will last them nearly a month.

How far away is work/school/family etc?

Do you want to be able to afford to eat out, hobbies, activities, holidays, beauty treatments, clothes. The amounts people spend on this vary massively according to their likes and dislikes, and amount of money available.

Do you want to overpay your mortgage, be able to afford to move to a more expensive house, undertake home improvements, replace your cars etc etc?

All you can do is see what is left after your essential costs, minimising these where possible, make sure you're saving for emergencies and irregular expenses, and split the rest according to your priorities so you can afford as much as possible that's worthwhile to you.

I'd distinguish between extras that are essential (e.g. food) and those that aren't (e.g. going out). Things like clothes fall into an inbetween category as everyone obviously needs clothes but there is a wide spectrum between absolutely minimum necessary and buying whatever your fancy.

I think the spreadsheet on the MSE site is useful as it list off everything that you might possibly spend money on, so it's easy to remember everything.

When budgeting I always start with what I'd like to spend and then adjust down where there is discretionary items.

Thanks, yes, I know 'it depends' is the most accurate answer to this question, but I was curious what others budget as I want to know what's normal / reasonable.

We do overpay our mortgage and are hoping to be mortgage free fairly soon. So with that in mind, I'm trying to keep things fairly minimal without going without iyswim. So I won't order takeaways all the time or spend lots on a new handbag, but I will take the kids to softplay and cinema and buy food they like and not make them live on lentils all week

So it sounds as if you’re just wanting to make savings where you can rather than desperately trying to keep the wolf from the door and needing to get everything as low as possible? You could live well on £250-£300 a week for groceries, children’s activities, joyful sundries and the occasional item of clothing to be replaced only when needed. Petrol and parking - add up how much you need to use for commuting, school run, an average weekend travel etc and add that on.

But normal and reasonable still varies because we all cut our cloth according to what we having coming in. Me telling you I spend the better part of £1,500 in the average month just on food, socialising, frippery, and random things I see that I want to buy is meaningless unless we earn the same amount.

But there is no normal/reasonable, that's the point people are trying to make. Everyone has different circumstances so what is reasonable for one person might not be for another.

You've said nothing about your income, mortgage size, whether you have any debt, disposable income after essentials like mortgage, council tax, utilities, transport etc.

You've said you'll do things like soft play/cinema, and buy nice food. Other people might not be bothered about soft play/cinema and would rather have a takeaway than something nice from the supermarket.

Some people spend a lot on clothes/accessories/beauty treatments. Others spend their money on other things. If you have unsecured debt, it's probably best to really cut down on all of these things.

Everyone should try and make sure they have savings in case of loss of income, need to replace a car/boiler/washing machine etc. If you're freelance and can't work if you're injured and your car, boiler and washing machine are all 15 years old, you'll need more in savings than if you have a desk job and get 6 months full pay if you're off sick.

Thanks @ComtesseDeSpair, that's helpful.

@BarbaraofSeville, sorry you find my post too vague. You are very welcome not to look at it 👋

Gym £180
Cineworld £18
Eating out and coffees with friends not when with DH £200
Botox/fillers £70
Hair £35
clothes £150 or more
Taxis and bus fares £120
Indoor hobby £10
toiletries/make up £50
Phone £10-£18

@Moomoomeemee We have paid off our mortgage. Apart from utilities and council tax, our bills also include the cost of afterschool club and holiday clubs as DH and I work full time.

As for my extra, my phone costs about £9. I walk or run to my office (so no need for gym membership). I usually have between £50-80 spending money a month. I don't necessarily spend it and sometimes keep in a saving for later purchases.

I can actually afford to increase the amount of spending money as my share of bills only amounts to £600 (excluding cost of childcare which cost about £1700 annually, but including food and family treat - take away, eating at cafes, which is about £150/week). However, my source of enjoyment is food and, as I am already on the brink of being overweight, I don't see much point splashing money to eat out or have take away too often. I can do it financially, but health wise, it will ruin me.

Gym for husband and I is £50 a month. PT for two teenagers is £50 a week in total. I don't count these outgoings as extras tbh.

I spend about £200 a week on food including some school dinners, some take aways, some coffees or lunches out, odd drink out, supermarket alcohol....sometimes less if I get good bargains. I know I could cut this down but I don't need to. I count the meals out and alcohol as extras....maybe £20 a week. But many people would count my nice coffee as an extra, which I understand.