Monthly allowance for social stuff

[Snoods]

Morning all. I am determined this year to actually save some money. Probably like most of us, thinking new year new start and sort my finances. I know we are all different in terms of earnings and outgoings and how we like to live, but how much money per month would you say is enough for your social life and clothing etc? I’m an average earner so understand we are all different. I currently have about £500 after bills, food, travel to work and pension contributions, and seem to spend it all. Meals out probably twice a month, pub for 2/3 drinks every other weekend or so, takeaway once a week, bit of make up or clothing (usually a new top or lipgloss or mascara monthly), meet up for a coffee with someone maybe once a month. It doesn’t add up to what I actually have so I obviously spend more than I think I am. I am going to try and use cash and have so much weekly. Any other tips? Thanks in advance.

I have about that. No kids and savings/pensions already accounted for however realistically I don’t spend it. I have around £200 left each month unless there are birthdays or big occasions where I spend more. Your spending habits look similar to mine

You need to look at your statements and add up all those little spends that you may forget about to see where it all goes and what you can cut back on that you are maybe just wasting. I have my banking app and regularly check it and am very mindful what I’m spending.

I should add it a big advocate for enjoying life and doing things that make you happy, however I was also in debt by my late twenties so learned the hard way to manage my money. No debt apart from the mortgage and regular savings these days.

Set up a monthly standing order for transfering a set amount to a savings account on the date you are paid each month. Once you have a decent emergency pot set aside, plus sufficient savings funds to cover your annual one-off bills, set up another standing order for investment savings.
If the money leaves your account on the day you are paid, you will treat it like other bills and outgoings.

@seekingasimplelife

Set up a monthly standing order for transfering a set amount to a savings account on the date you are paid each month. Once you have a decent emergency pot set aside, plus sufficient savings funds to cover your annual one-off bills, set up another standing order for investment savings. If the money leaves your account on the day you are paid, you will treat it like other bills and outgoings.

This is a good idea. On pay day I always transfer my set amount of savings for holidays/general day to day emergencies in one account and then I have a smaller amount put into my long term account.

Anything I have left before pay day I leave in my normal account to create a buffer or I transfer to one of my savings.

Thank you. I think maybe saving before I spend is something I need to do, rather than seeing what’s left.

£500 is quite a lot to spend on non essentials for one person, is that money just for you, or are you paying for DC days out and other costs too?

Definitely save for annual and irregular expenses and also emergency savings, car replacement etc before spending on day to day 'stuff'.

Once you've decided on your personal spending money, you could transfer it to a Starling account or similar, as that will tell you what you spend all your money on. Or if you've recently spent money on a card, you could download a few months of transactions into a spreadsheet to analyse them and see what's been spent in different categories.

DH and I both have £50pm to spend on whether we want plus other budgets like toiletries and clothes. We use a joint account with starling which offers virtual “pots” so I transfer different amount to the pots. If the money (for example) has been used from the eating out budget then we either talk about moving it from somewhere else or something or we don’t eat out! It sounds strict written down but we both enjoy holidays and expensive hobbies so it felt better to be budgeting all money in too!

It’s just my share. Only really had this amount for about a year now, so been enjoying it, seeing friends when able and taking Mum for coffee etc, but I know I need to save. Never saved though as never had much spare until the last 12 months.

Some great advice. Thank you everyone

Personally that's a lot of money to spend on eating/going out. We're absolutely terrible at saving "just because", so we've done things in reverse, big purchase on interest free installments (that forces us to save to to speak). We're a family of six and the most we've ever spent on similar things is about £350. The standing order option does work btw.

Thank you. I appreciate your comments. Definitely helping me sort my finances

Could you choose cheaper places to eat out or halve the takeaways? I agree about checking your bank statements and working out where the money is going and how much you are spending.

If you're currently spending £500 a month then I'd try cutting down to £400 next month and put £100 away, see where you go from there. As you become more mindful of your spending you'll probably find you can put more away.

Thank you. Takeaways are off for now due to lockdown weight (again), so hopefully this will help

As part of this, re-assess your spending on leisure.

On one hand, £500 of leisure spending from an average income, is probably quite a lot. Do you actually need to spend all that?

To think if it a different way, can you identify a leisure spend budget that will work for you and spend that, rather than just seeing whatever you have as available for leisure spending? Lots of people spend everything they have..
They take the view, that if it’s there, it’s available to spend. This is a key reason why lots of people have very limited savings.

Could you be happy with what £300 of spending would get you? For example, although takeaways are off due to new year diet, could it just be 1 per month instead of per fortnight? Can you reduce the regularity with which you buy new clothes? Just ideas to reduce spending.

Most people have some areas they really love and don’t want to cut down on. Fair enough. However, keep that list small….come it extends to loads of things, there’s a loss of sense of what really matters to you and prioritising. A bit if prioritising is a good way to reduce spending without feeling hard done by.

I will do. As I had a few years with so little spare money I have enjoyed being able to do things when I’ve wanted to. But I also recognise I have enough to save too and need to get into the habit. Thank you