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.

If I need mascara or concealer it is bought in supermarket with food shop. Save your money for coffee with your friends if that makes you happy. Get a card and take your own cup always as it's 50p cheaper a cup.

@pinkponie are you employed / currently on maternity leave?
Your budget seems v tight to me and I think it’s more important to give yourself more wiggle room and be realistic than to be “hardcore” as you set yourself up for a fail and less likely to hit your target.

If going back to work soon, I would give yourself an extra £20-30/ month which would act as a buffer and could hopefully be easily clawed back once back to work.

If no increase in income is expected soon, then as many other pp have suggested I would go down cutting out paid for coffee and socialising alternative mums houses / parks etc. I say this because I never stopped at coffee but was always persuaded by cake or food as I was always starving. This easily creeps up to £8 each time you pop in. Also found as others have stated the kids played better and it was generally more relaxed.

And if you have a birthday coming up could you request a UV lamp so you could do your own gel nails at home? Groupon etc often have deals on for these. Monthly salon expenses will undoubtedly cost a lot more than a few coffees a week so this probably be where you can make the most efficient savings - once the two years are up you can go straight back to salon?

good luck - I’m sure you can and will do it and it will feel amazing when you do!

Maybe you should suggest meeting at each others houses or in the park with a flask when the weather gets better? It's almost certain that there's a few people in your group struggling with reduced disposable income who will welcome freedom from the obligation to spend money in coffee shops, so an easy win.

Whatever your thoughts about coffee, mascara or any other non essential, most people have a finite income and you can only spend each pound once so have to prioritise.

Also, seemingly small expenses can add up massively over time, so really worth thinking about whether it's worth it to you to spend nearly £200 a year on mascara and concealer or around £500 a year on coffee (based on 2 or 3 coffees a week at an average cost of £4 a time) as well as quite a few other non essentials, as in the OPs case, where her other thread illustrates that her 'hardcore' budgeting still includes an annual overseas holiday, decent food budget and about £200 a month for days out/entertainment while they are supposedly saving hard to move house in a couple of years.

Do your own nails. Perhaps have basic manicure once evry few months?

cut back on starbucks. The coffee is crap anyway

I do think they are more likely to succeed if they are realistic about how much they can cut back on. It’s a bit like a diet, if you go too drastic you can end up packing it in.

This might sound very anal but I have a spreadsheet where I have my expected spend over 12 months for each of our ‘pots’ including in that my personal spends, it’s quite easy for me to predict what I’m going to spend on hair, Botox, sports memberships etc, so then it shows me what I have left for the less predictable things like clothes, and gives me a budget to stick to.

How much do you spend on having your nails done, and how often? It’s easy enough to give yourself a manicure at home, especially if you keep your nails fairly short and use just clear polish.

I use the UKLash tubing mascara, it's £16 but will last months so ultimately cheaper than the one you use. Highly recommend.

I totally get why the coffee meet up is important to you but could you suggest meeting at a local park & do a pram walk & talk with other Mums & take a flask of coffee from home? Maybe alternate between meeting in a coffee shop & a walk so you're halving the costs of coffee each month saving a bit. Also I'd look into these new powder dip nail polishes or gels that you can do at home to save on salon prices or visit your local College where the student are always needing models & charge a lots less than regular salons.

Not really. But a lot of folk don't have their nails done don't buy coffees and hardly ever buy new clothes. So it can be done. You just have to get used to doing without these things

Maybe, I used to give myself a £10 a week budget for everything so I could probably do that. I usually only buy cosmetics after xmas with my xmas & b'day money, and my clothes are usually secondhand. Coffee is my biggest personal expense, but using the apps you can get a lot of free ones.

16 quid a month on mascara and concealer?!

I wear a full face of make up most days and could still not get through that amount. is this a magic brand that is going to transform my face and necessitate some spending and if so please share the details :)