disposable income

[Minxmanc]

I know that there have been a few of these threads, however... how much do you have left over as totally spare money each month when every last thing has been accounted for? I am talking about money that you can spend/waste on whatever you want.

Genuine question ... what difference will it make knowing what random Mumsnetters have left over? Surely the answers are going to be anywhere between £0 - and very possibly in overdraft to several thousands?

Not many people are going to be so tone deaf as to say £3K or whatever so any answers are not likely to be a fair representation of even Mumsnetters' incomes? .

What @Ragwort said.

Also, people define 'disposable income' in very different ways. Some people count what they have left after their regular monthly direct debits, others will have savings pots and spreadsheets that account for food, travel, and all manner of annual and irregular expenses, sometimes going as far as mortgage overpayments, extra pension contributions, emergency funds etc and say they have very little disposable income.

Threads like these do nothing except generate a list of meaningless random numbers and provide a good illustration of how to do a survey really badly.

Why do you need to know how much randoms have. How odd. Some will have nothing. Some thousands.

How will you compare these figures?

what about people who have savings set up to cover Xmas, holidays, bdays as direct debits into separate pots?

people whose household incomes vary by multiple zeroes?

just what will this thread do?

any "disposable income" could be dumped on the mortgage or invested or set aside for the next car purchase (hopefully 8+ years away) then there is christmas and the potential of nicer family gifts? so really what is disposable income because i plan for future expenses not just today's.

I'd say around £400-£450 after rent and all bills have been paid, including gas/electric, petrol and food. I don't have any children though so I know this makes a difference, however I do live by myself so my salary covers everything. I try and put most of it into savings as I'm hoping to buy my own place in the next few years.

Why do you ask OP?

Absolutely zero.

But I have a very expensive horse. Some people would describe the money I spend on
her disposable. From my point of view her bills are fixed-I have to pay them just like I pay the mortgage. It’s not an option to not (unless I have her shot as she’s too old to sell).

When she does die I’ll be circa £700pm up. When nursery stops it will be £1500. Until then I’m absolutely broke in between paydays as every £1 and more is allocated to bills.

I’m not sure how useful that is @Minxmanc?

£600 which I split between my husband and myself.

In a few years when my son finishes childcare it will increase significantly.

Are you trying to figure out if you should have more or less left each month, OP?

It depends. A lot of what makes me ‘well off’ isn't the money left over in my account. I had a higher disposable income 10 years ago but I had nothing to show for it .

My personal experience it really depends. For instance I was earning 10k more per annum at the start of the year but I wanted to work closer to home than a 100 mile commute a day. Whilst I earned more I had bills to go with that and debt so I had 200 left per month we managed. I’m about to pay the last of my debt earning less so I’ve saved more and have 600 theoretically to myself per month despite price rises due to cutting back where we can. , whilst this is disposal I am saving significantly for what lies ahead in terms of mortgage rates/energy bills/unexpected bills until my earnings increase in a couple years.

€520 a week disposable between my husband and I. Covers everything outside of bills, mortgage, savings, fuel and groceries.

My budget doesn't have a million categories for things like gifts, clothes, car repairs etc. These things just come from our disposable income as needed.

About £550 a month. Have one dc. This pays for my gym, phone, clothes, nails etc. My husband has about £1500! Don't mind as he pays for holidays and meals p
out mostly. We eat out alot.

I have just under £1000 per month, I can spend it on anything that I like and I have no bills to pay with it.