Would £50 be enough monthly for…

[pinkponie]

If you had a few Starbucks/Costas a week, makeup / skincare top ups and clothes?

I started another thread about doing hardcore saving with my dh for two years for a bigger deposit for a house. I’ve crunched the numbers and this would leave me with X amount, once I’ve taken out paying for my nails and paying for my baby’s music groups, this is what I’d have monthly for coffees/makeup and clothes. I’d say that I don’t really need any more clothes, maybe a few skirts/tops off Vinted when we hit summery months but that’s all, not a new wardrobe or anything. I’m fine for shoes. The only makeup I replace monthly is concealer and mascara which costs about £16 for both a month. I have a surplus of brow, lipstick and foundation products. The only socialising I do nowadays is mum and baby related, hence the costas and baby groups. I don’t know, is it just unrealistic? I’ve already covered my nails, baby groups and gym membership separately.

Join octopus energy and you get a free caffe Nero every week. Buy some Nailberry raspberry effects as a under and top coat and you get a healthier gel manicure.

Not for 2 years, no.

it is not worth scrimping to that extent & being miserable for 2 years, especially when you have a baby.

you should be enjoying your maternity leave, not worrying about meeting up with groups because you can't buy a coffee.

its bad when you literally can't afford it, but to restrict yourself to not meeting friends, buying a new pair of jeans or a jumper because you have chosen a ridiculously strict budget for 2 years is madness imo.

£50treat money a month isn’t a lot (professional nails and high end make up are definitely a treat!).
I would increase to £75, and
get espressos at coffee shops, get the apps (for free coffees), and do your own nails.
In summer, you won’t go to coffee shops anymore, more playgrounds, where you can bring your own coffee anyway.
Get vouchers for your birthday.
Go on a couple of market research online panels for some extra money for minimal time.

Winter is nearly gone. Can you suggest to the parents at the baby groups that you meet up at a park with a blanket and a few toys?
We’re all different but agree that nails and coffees and make up are not where I would get the most pleasure if I was on a very tight budget.

This is a really clever idea.

You could also do Boots recycling. Spend £10 in Boots and at the same time recycle 5 items (very easy if you have a baby as you can recycle wipes and nappy packets). You then get £5 of Boots points to spend on your next shop.

Also Boots are great at letting you ‘stack’ offers (most places only let you do one). Last week I loaded my Boots card with extra points offers, used the No7 £10 voucher they give out, and did my recycling. My make up should have cost £35 but (including £9 of Boots points) only cost £16 - plus I got a really fab free gift bag of No7 skincare miniatures.

I don’t wear make-up or do my nails but I would hate to be limited to £50 a month (obviously if there was no other choice that’s different).

Well, thst totally depends on the person.

Personally, my spends on that sort of stuff is
Coffee 0
Nails 0
Baby (kids) groups £7 (a month - 50p a session)
Make up 0
Skin care - about £10 a quarter so 3.33 a month

Where are you putting hair? That would add about £10 a month for me.

So, yes totally doable for some. But grab a coffee and a £5 group a week, and you will blow it all.

If you’re looking to save money, is it possible to meet your friends with their babies at each other’s houses? There was a group of 4/5 of us used to take it in turns and provide a homemade cake, it was much more relaxing than trying to keep the kids happy/contained in Costa.

I recently discovered that they accept the wrappers nappies come in and empty wipes packets even if they didn’t come from Boots originally, so if you recycle 5 of those every time you spent £16 on mascara & foundation you’ll get £5 worth of advantage points

Where on earth do you live? I’ve literally never seen a baby group or class for 50p.

I could but I don’t drink coffee and buy my clothes new from Vinted.

I don’t think it’s going to be enough for you.

Thank you so much for all of the replies. Dh said that my makeup doesn’t need to come out of the £50. My actual budget is higher than £50 (it’s £125) but out of that, my nails are £35, baby’s groups are £40, hence leaving me with £50. Dh is very frugal with himself, hardly ever buys himself anything (apart from his hobby stuff but that’s usually only once or twice a year).

Why is the baby class a cost out of your personal money and not joint though?

When I went to baby groups, teas and coffees were supplied. Is that not a thing anymore? It was the 2000s. Can you not just take a water bottle and have a coffee before you go or when you get home? Also why would you need clothes and makeup weekly? Oh and do your own nails.

Honestly non of it sounds like ‘hard core’ savings. Nails, coffees, gym memberships, monthly make up, baby classes.

Yep. I did this . Went to a church hall Mums and Tots once a week- met a few mums and we would meet up at the park or at each other’s houses too. Also had a few friends at work who had babies over the same year and we would meet at each other’s houses every 2 weeks.

She’s not buying the coffee to have a coffee, the purpose is to extend socialising with people you might have met an hour ago at a bay group in order to make friendships and connections while off working and looking after a baby.
The people suggesting making a coffee at home are missing the point.

Honestly, if you are 'hard core' saving, you need to cut out the nails, monthly mascara and Costa coffees. Those are treats rather than essentials.
If you aren't actually doing any hard core saving and intend to still buy all these things, £50/month is not much. Decent underwear could easily cost two months of spending.

@gozbecause DC’s paid for clubs are out of DH’s account. Not so much out of my spend money but just one of the few bills I have. If we looked at it that way, DH’s personal budget is being eaten up by older two’s clubs. Plus I guess I’m choosing to take Dd to paid for classes. I do take her to the free ones twice a week but the rest locally cost money.

Exactly @goz thank you!!!

Every time? Maybe suggest a walk or park visit sometimes. The time at the baby group is the socialising time isn’t it? Well it was at mums and tots type groups.

Babies don’t need classes. Try a few meet up type groups. I would always feel 100% better after a mother and baby group.I’d walk 30 mins grab a drink, chat, babies and toddlers socialise and play them walk home. Baby would then sleep. Great.

It’s clearly not every time though when she has £50 to cover any socialising or any clothing or makeup needs monthly.

That’s right, also formula tub lids/scoops, nappy sack wrapper, dummies, toothpaste tubes, nappy cream tube/tub etc.

It sounds like you can’t afford the nails. Surely it makes more sense to cut that than social activities?