What do you think is a sufficient amount??

[182Seesee]

I am getting paid monthly and I'm still getting used to it.
I want to take out a chunk to go into my savings and not have to take it back out again.
So I know I need to cover
Food 70 per week - 280 per month
Fuel 40 per week - 160 per month
Broadband/tv 35 per month
My Mobile 30 month

So that's 505.

I can leave in up to 1500 and still add into my savings but I would like to add as much as possible.
How much would you leave in for the month? I know it's all subjective but Im just looking for ideas of what others would leave/need for the month...being realistic.

One thing to remember is that there are not exactly 4 weeks in a month - you'll come unstuck at some point using that methodology. If you spend £70 pw on food and most of that is on a regular shop on a set day of the week, there will sometimes be 5 of those days between pay days.

Remember that some expenses occur irregularly so you should expect to put money in savings and take it out again - eg Christmas, car expenses, insurance, white goods replacement, holidays. Are you talking about money for these things, or money over and above this?

I don't really understand what you mean by 'leaving money in'?

The easiest way to save as much as possible is to spend less, and that's more a function of not buying things (or increasing your income), rather than where your money is. So if you want to save more, you need to buy less, rather than worry about which account your money is in - you can always move it later if you find its left over.

What about rent? Travel?

If you give us a better breakdown of income and expenditure, you'll get better advice, OP.

Check your bank statements - when you were weekly paid how much did you spend in a month? That's how much you need with no adjustment to spending. Use that as a starting point.

@HollowTalk my dh covers everything else.

@BarbaraofSeville yes I will remember that for other months but between this months payday and next months there's 4 weeks (I think 🤣)

If I leave it there I will end up spending it all though.

It's hard to advise if we don't know your salary, but why not have more than one savings pot - short term (clothes, hair, hobbies etc), medium term (holidays or house/car repairs) and long term? Most bank accounts now let you have lots of different pots to keep money in, though the longer term savings would be better in an ISA.

My salary is about 1800 after tax (I normally save 300 regardless but we are saving for an extension and I would like to save as much as possible but still live iyswim and once I have added to the savings I don't want to take it back out. , I only work 3 days a week at the moment though so I do take the dc to places (pre Covid more so!)

It depends how much you spend. Check back over the last few months of your bank statements.

If I leave it there I will end up spending it all though

You could separate your money into different accounts. Are you literally talking about discretionary expenses, eg coffees, clothes, cosmetics, bits and pieces from shops etc?

So get your wage and on payday decide how much you want to save and send that to your savings account. You need to leave money to pay your phone bill and broadband. You then need to cover the food, fuel and your personal spending. If you normally stick to those amounts for food and fuel, you could pay for these out of the same account as the phone and broadband and leave the money there to pay for them.

You could then use another account for the things that you buy with this money that you spend because it is there - something like a Starling or Monzo account would be good, as all the transactions show up instantly and you can see what you've spent straight away on an app on your phone.

You decide on the amount you allow yourself to spend and send the money to this account on payday. You can spend until its gone but then you don't allow yourself any more until next pay day.

Would that work? I don't know because I don't understand how 'If I leave it there I will end up spending it all though' works. If I want something and I have money, I buy it, if I want something but don't have money, or think the thing is too expensive/poor value for money, I don't. If I don't want anything, I don't buy anything, even if I have money, the money would just stay in my account.

I was going to say the same as Barbaraofseville definitely don't count a month as four weeks. 4.5 is more like it.

I just set up weekly transfer from checking to savings and treat it like another weekly expense/bill.

This is what I do -

Salary after tax, pension, student loan = £2,612

Joint account for all bills and food = £900
Mobile phone = £36
Savings = £1,200

I then have £476 left to spend which is basically anything I want for myself and any travel. I also use Starling so have pots set up in there for things like holidays and Christmas which I put anything leftover at the end of the month into. However, I do dip into these if I need to at the end of the month. The money that goes into the joint account also covers a couple of days/meals out a month if we go out as a couple.

The £1,200 goes into a lifetime ISA and a savings account that I have to give 3 months notice to withdraw so they’re not easily accessible. Both with Moneybox

Also should have said, all of this happens automatically on payday. I like to have it all organised and know exactly how much I have to spend at all times

It’s 4.3 weeks per month.

I would probably see how I go for 3-6 months and save what’s left at the end of the month. I’d then go over spending and budget as needed if I feel I’m spending unnecessarily.

I round up the food shop monthly so say I spent &50 a week I would round it upto £230 for the month

I pay £900 into joint acc to cover household and fuel food etc and then I have about &40 in personal stuff come out of my normal account.

I try to allow £200 for the month for disposable for coffees or lunches out,anything dc need extra and then the rest I spread between a saver account and premium bonds.

Been pretty shit this year due to Covid so savings have had to dwindle a lot to cover some big extras and I've had around £700 a month less coming in but hopefully come January I can start again