where do people get the money?

bigmaz · 5 August 2014 at 9:08PM

This has been on my mind for a while. I earn a not too bad wage, and my wife has a small income. After all bills, food shopping, petrol etc. We have about £750 per month spending on anything we want. To me, that seems like a lot of money, but the money just dissapears. Now, I see so many other people eating out a lot and having nights out a lot, but we never seem to have the money to do all this stuff. We don't eat out a lot or have a lot of take always. If we have a night out, maybe spend about £80, it ruins us for the rest of the month. Where do these other ppl get the money? They don't seem to have amazing jobs, just normal incomes.

Hermia · 5 August 2014 at 9:15PM

If £750 is just disappearing a month I would suggest keeping a spending diary to see where your money is going. You should be able to live reasonably well on that so you perhaps not watching the money as much as you think.

As for how other people have the money to do nice things, there could be many reasons. Maybe they are putting it on credit, maybe they are making big saving elsewhere, maybe they have some other source of income, maybe they are using vouchers and coupons. It could be anything. I have a friend who has two nice holidays a year and other people can get quite snotty about it, but she is frugal in other areas of life and is also brilliant at travelling on a budget.

krlyr · 5 August 2014 at 9:18PM

It might be worth keeping strict records for a month or two of what that £750 gets spent on. It does sound a lot to me - OH and I have £100 each of 'free money' and manage to have a couple of nights out. However, a night out for us might be a nice meal - around £20-30 - but we're not particularly big drinkers, which saves money.

You might find that once you write down what you're spending on, that you find several ways you could cut your spending and free some cash up for other things. Or you may find there are several expenses that you could really be classing as bills - for example, that one-off TV subscription you kept going, or that extra you spent topping up the food shopping or petrol, etc. as prices have risen.

meritaten · 5 August 2014 at 9:20PM

yes you have a 'disposable' amount of £750 per month. and yes this is a lot of money - its a monthly income for some people! and you say blowing £80 on a night out ruins you? so where is the £670 going? you need to keep a spending diary for the next few weeks. keep all receipts (ask for them even for small amounts). write down EVERY single purchase you and your OH make. I bet its the small amounts you don't even notice which has added up and eaten into whats left. like when you pop in for a magazine or paper and pick up a chocolate bar, a bottle of milk shake, oh and some gum, and while you are there you need a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. There you go - Tenner gone!
you don't notice because your brain is still telling you that you only went in for a paper/magazine......................and do this every day...........see where I am going?

edit - rofl, see - three of us posted saying virtually the same thing! must be right!

PasturesNew · 5 August 2014 at 9:22PM

If you're blowing £750/month without enjoying it or knowing where it went then you need to spend 1-2 months accounting for EVERY penny you spend to see where it whistles off to.

It can be surprising how much it costs to do nothing, for free. e.g. there's a fairly good market not far from me ..... it's free. But, if I go that's £5 in fuel, £2 in parking, £2.50 on the statutory hotdog, £1-2 here and there buying small bits/bobs at the £1 stall ..... so that's £10 disappeared and it'd still be the morning!

It's easy, if you're not watching what you're doing, to splash £5 here, £10 there, hand over £20 somewhere else.... stop for lunch, have a drink, buy something you don't need for your home, pick up a takeaway on the way home, open a bottle of wine - and you could be looking at £50 just gone on "nothing".

melanzana · 5 August 2014 at 9:29PM

I reckon you don't have 750 a month EVER, because the disposable income is spent week by week on THINGS! You know, teas, coffees, treats, Eaten bread, soon forgotten.

But that's fine if you enjoy those things. It can just disappear very quickly!

Don't think about it on a monthly basis, but weekly, and then it might be a better bet for you.

Budget. Leave aside the excess in a tin if you don't want to pay for a separate "happy account" at the bank.

But try to shove a twenty quid note in a tin now and then. You won't miss it, and you will enjoy it when you go to it!

zaax · 5 August 2014 at 9:38PM

A brought sandwich at work can cost £2.50 and thats £100 / month (for 2)

hoglet121 · 5 August 2014 at 9:44PM

Don't worry about anyone else and what they're doing, just concentrate on you. You have no idea whether those people you see out are also being ruined for the month by going out, or if they're using credit and digging themselves into a big hole, or if they've budgeted carefully for the expense.

I'll echo what everyone else says above in that you really need to keep a spending diary if you don't know what your 750 pounds is going on. I know from my own mistakes that it can be gone in a flash without you even noticing if you're not on top of it, so take time to get into the habit now of making concious decisions regarding your spending and keeping track of where it's all going.

Once you get into the habit of keeping track, I find it quite enjoyable. And there's a lot more cash left in the bank account which is REALLY enjoyable... ;-)

hoglet121 · 5 August 2014 at 9:45PM

zaax wrote: »

A brought sandwich at work can cost £2.50 and thats £100 / month (for 2)

A brought sandwhich will cost very little..

A bought sandwhich will cost you 2.50....

IrishRose12 · 5 August 2014 at 10:33PM

I wish I had your pay packet then OP. I get £768 in my wage after tax. My Hubby gets £842 after tax. We get no benefits, have to pay for children's uniforms (not entitled to school uniform grants) and children aren't entitled to free school meals. We are in debt. I work 30 hrs a week and he works 40 hrs a week. Even though I shouldn't...... I still allow myself to a treat or 2 a month. Nothing big, but we still manage it. We also manage to go to the pictures and a meal once a month on a Monday night. This night only because the place where we eat is an all you can eat restaurant and it's 2 for one on Mondays.

It's not much, but we are just about getting by. We survive month by month. Not the right or a nice way to live but it can't be helped. We don't own our own house so pay rent every month, and have no savings..... Bar what we have started to save thanks to the help and support of the people on this forum.

If you're managing to literally waste that amount of money and have no idea at all where it's going, you really need to have a look at what you are doing.

Imdaewen · 5 August 2014 at 11:18PM

The little things in life eat it all up. (And the house!)

Do a spending diary or look over previous statements. Put things in categories (urgent, luxury etc) and see where it goes. If it doesn't look good then look around the forums for tips etc on how to improve in that area.

I wouldn't worry about other people - they might be eating out to avoid the bailiff in the evening, they could be heading into a spiral of debt OR they are secret drug dealers! You will never know. Even if you are thinking "But I'm careful with my money and I can't afford THAT!"

(And yes, I think the same way too sometimes!)

And I would love a new car, a tablet to replace my phone, a holiday, a new camera, redecorate the living room, etc. Buuuut because I have been working hard on my "Annual Essentials Saving pots" I just don't have anything spare to put on a car loan, holiday, new technology.

I've also worked out that just going to work (petrol, car wear and tear, insurance, home food, parking) costs me £320.67 a month.

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where do people get the money?

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