What do you roughly spend per week?

[incognito1991]

At the minute I’m spending around £130 per week, not including bills, main food shop but does include petrol, and bits needed in between shops. I do go out a lot and buy unnecessarily, I have a 2 year old so often go to soft plays etc. Looking to see if I’m averaging or can make cut backs, have just took a car on HP and will be going off on maternity leave soon. just curious as to what others spend really

I can't really judge spends per week. Some weeks I'll book activities for the kids that could be £100 or more, some weeks we might go to softplay and get a coffee etc, other weeks we might just go to the park or play at home and spend absolutely nothing. Sometimes I get my hair done and then nothing again for months.

I think you just need to decide what your budget is based on your circumstances and stay within the limits.

130 not including food ?

how much is soft play these days? At this time of year soft play , swimming pool and library days out most weeks can’t believe that’s 130 a week

Your question is meaningless. Most people spend to their means and simultaneously consider themselves poor. I know people (my parents) with disposable income of £2000 a month who think they are poor. Trying to explain to them that a lot of people earn money wage is pointless. They literally don't believe me.

No only bits I need out of the weekly shop, I spend around £60 on petrol then when I take my daughter places but mostly just stuff in the shops/coffee etc that’s why I said I do know I spend unnecessarily

Well if you are buying a lot of unnecessary things (per your op) then you can make cutbacks, no?
Knowing what I spend is irrelevant and does not help you in any way.
i suggest putting together a budget for all categories eg food/snacks out/utilities etc and then sticking to that.

Yes I certainly can, was genuinely just curious as to what others spent per week, personally I do think mines abit much when I could be saving it

I don’t think anyone can ever judge anyone else’s spends, sometimes I’m so exhausted in work I’ll buy some form of a dinner to stop me being exhausted/ downright fed up with life. Sometimes your kids need extra clothes/ you need to get medicine/ vitamins, somethings broken, you need hoover bags, you drive extra etc etc etc. Some people on mn will have worked out a perfect system, some won’t but will judge you as if they have.

Far too much, I HAVE to cut back now as its insane and I am so worried about war breaking out

But other people have different disposable incomes and priorities so how does that help you?

Some people prefer day to day spending, others want to prioritise things like holidays, which they might not be able to afford if they're spending a lot day to day.

Others aren't interested in coffee/stuff/soft play etc so don't have these things. Some may need or want to prioritise their pension.

You're going to end up comparing yourself with a load of random numbers between 0 and hundreds per week.

You need to make the best of your own circumstances, review bills to check for the best price, be honest about wants vs needs, make sure you're covering essentials, both day to day and longer term and then work out what's left over to spend on non essentials and prioritise accordingly.

Have you done a budget? Have a look at:

Do a money makeover and potentially save £1,000s - Money Saving Expert

To work through sensible priorities, have a look at:

The UK Personal Finance Flowchart | UKPersonalFinance Wiki

On what?

It varies because apart from eating out which has quite a cost these days I don’t buy much at all. I’m also at a very different stage of life as retired.

Comparison to others is a waste of time. What you need to do is look at your own spending pattern because you admit to spending unnecessarily. My spending pattern over my life has been really lovely holidays and prioritising savings. But I decided I wanted to retire early as soon as I started working as I have always loved trying lots of hobbies and activities. I think some people shop out of boredom, could this be you?

Not a lot. If you are not including food it can range from zero to perhaps £50/75? This week I had to buy batteries, a door bell, top up food £30. I did buy petrol (£60) but I only buy that about once every three/four weeks. Today I’ll have to pay for parking and going to a coffee shop so around £15. But last week I spent £30 the whole week. Ok so on average I’ll say £50.