If you spend a lot/ are high maintenance....

[negunslean]

How much do you spend?
I’m using an excel spread sheet to track spending during the year. I have separated out clothes in one column and beauty in another. I would classify myself as high maintenance. Regular nails, hair cut and colour and clothes. I am interested to know what others spend (if you don’t mind disclosing) monthly or annually, if you consider yourself a high spender in that area. Just interested in trying to gauge where I am on the spending scale!

Not as much as you lot .

Hair cut and colour is £50 every six weeks.
Do my own manicures and pedicures.
Use any old shampoo and shower gel.
Have a large stock of moisturisers, skincare and make up that I need to use up before I buy any more.
Ditto underwear, clothes, shoes and bags; I have so much and need a good clear out, to be honest.
Perfume for birthdays and Christmas.
No gym, as I run.
No treatments, massages, spas, if only I had the time.

So I reckon a grand all-in, to allow for the hairdresser and replenishing anything that I run out of over the year.

Lovely to see a non-judgemental thread, each to their own.

You will be happy to hear, fascinated that I work in financial services/pensions and I put a HELL of a lot of money into my retirement savings 😊

I agree with the implied statement that it is one of the most important things you can save into.

I'm VERY low maintenance by the standards of this thread:

Zero on beauty treatments/manicures/pedicures/waxing etc etc.

Zero on hair (trimmed once every 18 mth at most and not coloured).

Zero on exercise stuff (just walk/run).

Maybe £15 a month make up and moisturiser.

Maybe £120 a month on clothes and shoes.

But I feel extravagant/frivolous with that clothes spend compared to most friends. And, no, we're not particularly low income etc...

Ooh, I forgot, I use an epilator / razor, so minimal ongoing cost for that too.

Erm, £5 pm haircut, £35 pm gym, no make up or nails, etc, occasional physio appt. Clothes on a one out, one in basis, usually from a supermarket. Big bottle of H & S from Costco, Boots moisturiser...that's it.

No wonder I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards...

I’m not in the UK so have converted to sterling for this thread. Live in a ridiculously expensive city.

Hair- full highlights every three months at £180 a pop plus £55 each time in between for a toner top-up

Nails- acrylic overlay on my natural nails plus Shellac at £35 every three weeks

Make-up- about £150 each month. Have a bit of a Charlotte Tilbury and Mac addiction

Skincare- monthly facial at £90, products probably £50 each month

Brows- £35 for a wax and tint every month

Lashes- £55 for a lash lift every two months

Toiletries- probably £100 each month including expensive shampoo and conditioner to maintain my highlights, and lovely bathing products)

Clothes- varies but probably an average of £200 a month, including shoes

Bags- bit of a hobby Probably £1,000 a year

Just added it up and it comes to a bit over £10,000 a year. Yikes! I pay 50% income tax so it’s the equivalent of £20,000 from my gross salary. Scary when you look at it like that!! Might need to reassess.

Also a bit scary to see I spend that much on beauty, but very very little on health and well-being (gym/exercise etc).

Most of you spend more than I earn! Within the next 5 years I'd love to be able to spend much more on myself. Regular nails and hairdresser visits will be the first thing I start doing when I have spare cash.

This is a fascinating thread.
I'm seriously low maintenance compared to most on here.
Hair - cut & blow dry every six weeks about £30. Highlights every three or four months cost me £80.
I wear very little make up as I don't like the feel of it on my skin. It's just a special occasion thing for me, so negligible spending there.
I do my nails myself when I want them done, but just polish.
I never go to beauty salons for anything, I do everything I need to do at home.
Exercise is walking or cycling, which is free of course, and we have gym equipment at home so I don't need to pay gym fees.
I probably spend a couple of hundred a month on clothes & shoes, but I have little interest in bags.
I could afford to be higher maintenance if I wanted to, it's just not my thing.
I don't think I look too bad, considering the minimal effort I make. I know I scrub up well, anyway

Oh God. I shudder to think how much I spend. Breaking it down:

£240 per quarter on haircut and highlights
£25 every other month on brow and lip wax
£75 month gym membership
£30 month(ish) on mani-pedis
£500 per year (ish) on dermatologists appointments and prescription creams.
£250 per year other makeup/skin care/hair care.
Clothes - Probably £5000. I LOVE clothes.

Live in NYC though, so basic standards of dress/grooming are very, very high and prices tend to be astronomical.

Re: how much we spend and how much we earn. I probably spend about £250 a month, split equally between hair / clothes / make up and osteo / spa. So, about £3,000 a year. I earn £1K a month (took a £35K lay cut to go part time, had to drop a grade etc to get the hours I wanted) but fortunately my DH has a good salary for our area. That £250 is basically most of my disposable ‘free’ money a month so if I’m treating him to something for his birthday etc then I need to save it from that, so less clothes etc. I don’t compromise on my wellbeing (spa and osteo). No gym fees as I walk / run with the dog. I do miss the high after a session though and wish I had more time to do yoga.
It would be interesting to know what people spend on their well being in contrast to make up spend etc.

In terms of percentage of salary it's not a lot - I'm a high earner and my luxuries come after prioritising a whole load of other family expenditure (house renovations, school fees, holidays, ECAs)

We have a family health club membership and tennis club. My DH plays golf (although not anywhere pricey) and my eldest rides.

In terms of wellbeing I consider spending on my appearance a significant part of my wellness- it's good for my mental health. But I also spend significantly on Pilates and physiotherapy with the occasional PT session - probably comes in at about £400 pcm

And I should add life hasn't always been like this. I'm 40 now but there have been times when the DC were young when I couldn't afford much at all

I don't spend much on clothes as what I buy tends to last but oh so much money on appearance. I am also trying to cut back on buying makeup and just try and use up what I already have. That being said I have spent about £175 so far this year, £90 on two beautiful eyeshadow palletes that I couldn't resist, £25 on a lovely lipstick, a few little bits from a new range in Boots and £35 to replace a highlighter that is running out. But I have made a promise to myself not to buy anymore eyeshadow palettes this year. They are beautiful but I invariably revert to using some old favourites so I am going to restrain myself.

£25 a month approx on cleansers, serums, moisturisers etc
£70 a month on cut and colour (averaged over the year)
£80 a. month on mani/pedis
£15 on eyebrow maintenance
£60 a month on Botox (averaged over the year)
£10 a month on teeth whitening gel for the trays I have to maintain the laser whitening I had last year for £300
And I am having a non surgical face lift soon which will cost about £3000.

I cancelled my gym membership last month as I was finding it monotonous but now do a yoga class at £10 a week and am thinking of adding a Pilates class a week which will be £22 a time but they are as much about health and flexibility as appearance. I am in my late fifties and am terrified of becoming immobile or developing a hump.

This is fascinating. I'm poor and don't have a lifestyle which requires this stuff.
I do my own eyebrows, don't bother with makeup other than occasional eye pencil which I've had for a few years.
Moisturiser £1.99 from Lidl. Nivea cleanser I've had since last year, not sure how much it was. Body moisturiser I had for Christmas.
Cut my hair myself and have stopped colouring it.
Recently bought a bundle of second hand Summer clothes from ebay plus a jumper and couple of tops so have spent about £40 on clothes this months but that isn't a usual expenditure for me.
Boots I buy once or twice a year with birthday/Christmas money.
No judgement of anyone else, if you have the money, why not spend it on what pleases you. :-)

Fascinating thread! Me (40s single parent, work f/t), fairly low maintenance.

£60 every 8 weeks for cut and colour;
£65 for lash extensions- occasionally but they are hugely worth it;
£60/month gym/spa- go 3 times a week
Very little on cosmetics/skincare, am blessed to have good skin and look out for the S&B bargains
Almost zero on clothes as I have set myself a challenge to buy no new clothes this year.

A few years ago I had my legs/lady bits lasered, cost £2k but worth it. Starting to grow back so thinking of getting a Lumea.

I've had periods in my life where I've had £000s a month to spend on myself and £0!
At the moment I could spend at least £1k and still have money to put away into a pension and pay off our mortgage faster (which we are doing). But I'm not.
I've learnt that exercise (including yoga type stuff) , eating well (I gave up alcohol when we were broke and immediately lost 7lb in weight) and spending time on yourself is an investment and will do more than botox, expensive skin creams, and designer clothes can ever do. Imho.
But good luck to those of you that want to spend that - each to their own...

Fascinating thread, makes me feel better about just spending £50 on some skincare stuff which will hopefully look after my early 40s skin better and last many months. For the rest -

Makeup - once in a blue moon so negligible, occasionally tint lashes.
Hair - £30 cut once a year, colour at home so £3 a month, conditioner maybe £1/month
Mani/pedi - never had
Walk/cycle every so no gym membership.
Clothes, hard to estimate as I don't replace things often, maybe £30 per month on average.

Which adds up to less than 2% of my income, and will be even less when I go back to full time. Hmm. As I get older I feel that I probably will need to spend more, I'd be interested in what area of self care people think would be the best investment?

A lot

Makeup: £100-120 per month
Pedi: £25 per month (do my own mani)
Beauty treatments (laser hair removal, massages, anti-cellulite stuff, acne scarring treatments): about £500 every two months
Hair: a bit neglected, I'd say no more than £300 a year
Clothes, shoes, accessories: too much probably in the region of £3,000 a year

God, it's embarrassing!

@Madonnasbiggestfan I completely agree with you, eating well, limiting booze and doing exercise has more impact on my appearance than any amount of spend on beauty treatments.
Saying that Id still spend more on nails, hair and clothes if I could afford it!

Not a lot this particular year as I’m pregnant

Make up : £200 a year (if even actually) - but I do get a Lancôme mascara every Christmas from DH and a nice expensive lipgloss. I usually buy one palette a year and the rest would be bits and bobs.
Skincare : I’ve fairly good skin so not much needed there £50 every 3 months maybe?
Hair : not much but desperately an area I actually need to spend more money on - £100 every 4/5 months. You can tell tho as my hair isn’t in the best condition.
Mani/Pedi/brows etc : £40 every 2 months - I like to get shellac as it lasts longer, esp pedi and like my eyebrows being shaped.
Clothes : not much - as I said I’m pregnant so I’ve just been living in my baggy clothes but I am planning a complete overhaul once baby’s here. I’ve had enough of being scruffy
Bags though I got a Chanel classic flap this year. I fucking love it. Like love it. It might have cost me but I don’t plan on buying any more handbags for the foreseeable future

Ah, forgot perfume! I like Penhaligon's and Tom Ford, so around £130 twice a year.

For the PP who asked upthread, I'm single, no kids, work full time in a professional role.