How much disposable income do you have each month?

[summersadness1]

Ie after all bills mortgage food etc.

Money to do what you like with/save...

Wondering whether I have stretched myself with my outgoings.

After setting aside money for Christmas and a holiday, DH and I split what's left.

There's not a lot leftover for us to share though... around £500.

Some interesting figures here. Those who have little to no disposable income what does your money go on? I’m guessing bills etc just intrigued as to what outgoings everyone has.

This month, we will have about £400 left after all the essential spendings.
We are a family of 4, 2 children, 9 and 13. DH and I are both working full times. Monthly combined taking home pay is around £2400. £137 child benefit and £60 tax credit. Total available to spend is about £2600 per month.

Mortgage - £400
Council tax - 102
Gas and electricity- 70
Water - 36
Mobile and internet - £55 (3 x sim only mobiles)
Life insurance and house insurance - £20
TV licence - about £13 (we are paying this off yearly)
We pay car insurance yearly, equals £40 per month. Road tax £30 per year.
Each week, we are taking out £200 cash to spend, this includes petrol - £40, dc’s violin lesson - £12.50 for half an hour, math and English tutor - £30 for an hour. So roughly £120 for groceries and toiletries. By the end of the week, I usually have no cash left from this £200. I have seen other mumsneters feed family for 4 under £80 per week, I genuinely can’t figure out how!

This month we have also paid DC’s (13 year old) school meal for next term £256. Changed one tyre - £65, DC’s school trip (9 year old) for next year (one of the installments) - £40. School uniforms - £156

It has been hard to entertain the kids during the school holiday without spending money!

Im in shock at some of the amounts on here, make me realise how skint we are.

I can't believe I've never sat down and worked this out. After all bills and DD's I'm left with £1175.70,

This doesn't include food bills but as it's only me and I shop at Aldi I can do it cheaply. I'm clearly buying more gin than is necessary 🙈

it does seem that even without a mortgage to pay or rent as I have paid mine off I have a lot less disposable income than the majority of people

@Wehttam of course all our money goes on bills etc. Or do you think we're spending it on fags and booze while our kids go hungry and rent is unpaid? Contrary to the comments on this thread, living almost hand to mouth is the norm in the UK for around a third of families these days.

IMO a more interesting question would be "Those who have £00s + left over each month and treat it as spending money, why is it not being thrown into savings/investments etc?" I cannot fathom being so frivolous with such a large sum, personally. I would have no idea how to spend it all in a single month!

£15.83 from my 'main' salary, topped up with whatever other work I do throughout the month. I'm retraining so I've taken a hug salary cut. Realising that this might not be sustainable till DS gets 30 free hours

After all bills, fuel and food paid for we are left with about £1600 per month we save quite a bit from this and put money aside for an annual holiday. I allow myself £250 fun money per month to spend on nice things like going out or getting hair done or buying treats for DC. We only in this position due to being older and having paid mortgage off and no childcare bills anymore. I remember being skint all the time very well. To me £250 seems like a fortune but would be nothing to some people.

£1500, we are not high earners (£60k household income, late 20's) but this thread has highlighted that we do have a fairly decent disposable income and should be grateful for that.

I think people are counting their disposable income differently in this thread OP-- you would have to be absolutely crystal clear about what people are and are not to count to get any meaningful comparison

About £2500 but we have no mortgage or rent and DS has long since left home

£2400 after mortgage, bills, food and petrol. That covers our savings, holidays and going out/spending money.

Single, no kids, no mortgage - take home about £3kpm post pension, bills very low. I save £800pm in regular savers. I have no subscriptions at all.

Bills are c£200pm. So this leaves about £2k to do anything I like with - which includes setting sums aside for annual bills like car repairs, insurances, landline phone contract which I pay annually to save £30! After all that, still over £2,500 'spare' for food, going out, clothes, holidays. I usually manage to save some extra as well.

I'm very lucky.

@VanGoghsDog you've got 10 times my amount

I have no disposable income at all - I put my food, petrol etc on my credit card because I can't cover it otherwise. My bills are exactly my wage every month (I have a lot of debt to pay off which is why they're so high)

@OldGrinch

It's embarrassing but - live alone (do now have lovely DP who wants to pay for everything!), no kids, saved like mad in my thirties to pay down the mortgage, a;ways frugal with bills and never take any monthly subscriptions, now 51 and at the highest salary level I will probably in a professional career...... It wasn't always like this, I still remember when avocado was a treat :)

The more we earn the more we spend, it’s terrible

We aim to save every month a few hundred or so but often we decide to treat ourselves after so many years of hardship

About £1500. DP has more because he earns more. We are fortunate to be comfortably off, but we have worked hard.

It would be easier for me to answer "How much month have you got left after your disposable income?"

My spare funds left over comes from quarterly sales bonuses, every 3months. Embarrassingly each bonus is in low 5 figures. I do however contribute to charity every month and volunteer my time in a professional capacity to children who otherwise couldn't afford to benefit.

Define "disposable"

it all depends on

• age
• location
• children
• inheritance
• shopping habits

because its possible to have lots left over on a small income
or stuff all left over on a big one

I have -£33:40 every month. And I pay bills, council tax, mortgage and the children’s hobbies. My prick of a partner sometimes will give me fiver.... then lord it over me for a few days!!

Between 400 -700 pm left over at end of the month

@VanGoghsDog how are your bills £200pcm?! That cants be right surely, if your paying gas, electric, water, council tax etc that would blow that right away!