What is a reasonable budget

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We are trying to be efficient and sort out our finances.

On paper we should have money left over every month but we seem to spend it on nothing

i've suggested setting a budget but DH isn't keen.

What do you think is a realistic amount for.2 adults and 2 teens as 'spends' every month?

Doesn't need to include food, petrol or clothes jst money to spend on whatever we like e.g going out with friends ,hair cut, takeaways, money for children to spend whilst with friends, eating out.?

I have a figure in mind but not sure if I'm way off.

How long is a piece of string really. What kind of things do you all do at the weekend? Cinema? Long walk? Trip to the park? Where do you eat out- McDonalds, Nandos, TGI’s? How often?

It is totally income dependent. Some people will manage on very little and others will have high earnings and allocate loads.

Do you teens work ?

This is our budget, my two DC are only 12 and 10- I presume parts of the budget may increase as they get older though.
Me 3100
DP 4100
CB 280
Total 7480
Housing
Mortgage: 1900.
Insurances(life, house): 150
Total Housing: 2050
Utilities
Electricity 150
Waste collection: 30
Broadband & TV: 70
Mobile phones x3: 60
Total Utilities: 310
Food & Groceries
Groceries & household food: 500
Dining out / takeaways: 200
Total Food: 700
Transportation
Fuel: 250
Car insurance & tax: 150
Maintenance & NCT: 100
Public transport / Parking: 20
Total Transport: 520
Education & Kids
School books, uniforms, fees: 50
Activities, sports, clubs: 50
Pocket money/treats: 60
Total Kids & Education: 160
Entertainment & Lifestyle
Family outings, hobbies, gifts: 200
Subscriptions, books, etc.: 60
Miscellaneous expenses (haircuts,nails): 60
Personal spends: 200 x 2 = 400
Total Entertainment: 730
Savings & Miscellaneous
Emergency fund / Savings: 2,000
Holidays (monthly allocation): 500
Clothing: 200
Miscellaneous buffer: 300
Total Savings & Misc.: 3,000
TOTAL MONTHLY SPENDING: 7,480

Impossible to make any suggestions as you haven’t given enough information.

How much is left after your bills, food, fuel and savings go out?
Do you want to save more?
Do you have debt?

I don't want to give too much info as that isn't always helpful. I was trying to gauge was is realistic without being accused of a stealth brag etc.

No debt.

On paper we should have £3k a month left and we literally end up with nothing.

It's shocking and we are careless with our cash. We don't save to month and any saving are built up from bonuses.

I have suggested £1200 a month and try to save £1800 a month.

You need a good budget, and accountability to yourselves!
no one else matters

We have about £200 each for personal spends after paying for everything, including savings. We're comfortable.

If you have £3k effectively going missing every month, you need a proper budget. One where you account for everything coming in and going out, with monthly amounts set aside for regular annual costs (eg. Christmas, car insurance). Put money into savings immediately after pay day and live to your budget.

Where is your spreadsheet? How will you know without one? This should include your savings. You can then divide up whatever figure is left.

60-90 days of no personal spend.
write down all expenses.
once you actually know what’s left discuss personal fun money MAX
me $500 fun dh 1000 fun.

I recently felt the same, on paper we should have around £2,000 spare each month and it was confusing why we didn’t…but then it dawned on me that purchases such as a new van for my husband, paying off a small student loan and having a nice holiday had all used any spare cash we had

so we do have £2,000 spare but it ends up getting spent on something!!

If you’re not going to list outgoings impossible to say. Set a budget if money is being wasted each month

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/

Use the budget planner. It makes you think of everything. Then start putting money aside for Christmas, school uniforms, holidays, car servicing/mot/tax etc (set up direct debits to separate accounts). Get bank statements out and be honest.

Best place to start is take a month and put everything you spent in a spreadsheet in categories

take your statement for say September and look through where the money went - if you have an account like Monzo you can categorise payments as you spend them and it will give you the categories so you can see at the end of the month how it compares to the month before etc

when I did this for the first time, I found we were spending loads loads more on food than I thought - you’ll also see how all the little things add up, spending £50 here and there on clothes or shoes for the kids soon adds up!

Have a go at a budget/spending plan with YNAB, first month is free. I’ve used it for over a decade and the method is a game changer. I’m a chartered accountant and self professed personal finance nerd!

Wanting to save £1.8k from that £3K disposal income sounds sensible but surely would mean huge lifestyle changes for all of you. Are you really ready for that? But once you make that mindset shift save x amount as soon as you both get paid.

But information isn't just helpful, it's essential otherwise you're asking people to guess a number between nothing and £X000. What is realistic depends on your disposable income, life stage and priorities.

The number would be very different if you had no savings and were renting vs being mortgage free in your forever home with secure jobs, good pensions, savings for Christmas, car replacement etc etc and there's a huge range between those extremes.

Plus people define their leftover money differently. Have you accounted for car repairs, insurance etc, Christmas, holidays, school uniforms etc before getting to the £3k leftover?

@Statsquestion1 do you not have to repay most of that child benefit with your DP 's take home of £4100pm?

No we are in Ireland, child benefit is not means tested here. Thank god.

You want to work out what you are currently spending it on and then working out if you are happy with how you are spending the money
Look at annual costs of the activities/treats and see if you are still happy with the cost of not looking at reducing frequency to still keep the benefit but reduce cost.
Useful multipliers
365 for daily
250 for work days
100 for twice a week
50 for weekly
12 for monthly

Then adjust your spending based on that.
If you want to be saving do that first transfer the money as you get paid so it's never available.
Check your monthly outgoings includes annual costs averaged per month

Issue is everyone has a different idea of fun and If you actually have money then Unless you have any kind of self control you will waste it. It’s obvious you both lack self control. Our hobbies are fortunately not that expensive and neither of us like shopping at all. What do you actually like doing? That is what you need to really think about.

I sat on a very high hill in Wales 2 days ago above Lake Bala could see for miles. I had a packed lunch with me, it’s needed as there is no cute coffee shop there. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than being somewhere like that.