How much do you put aside a month for fun?

Tixy

snowqueen555 wrote: »

I calculated wrong, its £100, not £120.

No, I don't like going out too much into town because most of the nights are a waste of money, but I'm bored at home and don't have many close friends that I could go visit or cook for.

I would say that if you can afford to also pay £500 off your debts then £120 isn't loads. I do think when you are single and young it is easy to spend a lot of going out to pubs.
That said £120 is a lot to spend when you are not really enjoying yourself very much.
As the people you drink with don't sound like close friends I can see it might not be easy to talk to them about this. Maybe you could start going on only every other week, or agreeing to join your group later on in the evening (could you say you were late home from work perhaps). How many hours are you out for? If you normally go out at 8.30, could you say to friends that you will meet them at 10? Or depending on how far away you live, could you occasionally drive rather than drink, that way your drinks are cheaper and if you give mates a ride home they might pay you a couple of quid.

But like others have said it sounds like you would like to do something more interesting with your social money. Have a read around some of the suggestions to see if there is something you are interested in.

If none of those suit what about looking to get a second job working in a bar your friends go to. That way you earn some cash and still get to either socialise with your current mates, or meet more people and find people you have more in common with.

Hermia

snowqueen555 wrote: »

I calculated wrong, its £100, not £120.

No, I don't like going out too much into town because most of the nights are a waste of money, but I'm bored at home and don't have many close friends that I could go visit or cook for.

I was tempted to have a nice takeaway tonight but I resisted, life just seems so boring when I cannot spend anything, thats how boring my life is

--

I might go clubbing 3-4 times amonth, and eat out a lot but I've cut that out. This past month I went out twice into town and spent about £100 altogether, this makes me feel a little guilty considering how much less some of you have, but this is a 'typical' spent for partygoers these days

I just need to social interaction, i can't stay at home and watch movies all day or surf the internet without getting depressed

I cannot think of anything more depressing than spending money I don't have on activities that I am not particularly enjoying! You don't seem to get any real enjoyment from your nights out which is really sad. Is there really nowhere else you can meet people where you live? Do you not have any hobbies? I'm not saying get rid of your current friends, but you really sound like you need to widen your social circle.

stroppyjock

£50 a month for me and partner, but we do a lot of free stuff and use this money for coffee's or a lunch time beer etc. Not big into going out clubbing.

Think it might be age related to. The younger you are the more you spend. If I said to my 18 year old daughter a nice day out was a visit to the botanic gardens and nice lunch, i can just imagine the look of pity! :rotfl:

fakeplastictwee

I only earn about £210 a week after tax. I just paid off my £1000 overdraft (got out of it once but ended up going back into it with moving house). The only way I could do it was by having 2-3 months with very cut down entertainment expenditure, managed to live on £50ish a month but this included petrol and extra food bits that needed buying. I'm really glad I did it over the winter months because I've freed up some money ready for festival season

My entertainment budget is probably a lot higher than it should be, around about the same as yours, but I'm prepared to sacrifice new clothes/gadgets etc. so that I can go out with my friends. I don't go hammering it in clubs but we got to our local every weekend and have a catch up and really enjoy ourselves. I'd think twice about spending that sort of money if I wasn't really enjoying myself though...

If you want to get rid of the debt, why not try and have a really cheap month and not go out drinking so much. See if you can suggest some cheaper things to do with your mates, it might surprise you

moremoneythansense

Snowqueen,

I don't know how old you are and whether you do want to make new friends but I met one of my closest friends at line dancing - she is 20 years older than me but she is absolutely fantastic and I even had her as my 'bridesmaid' at my wedding.

If you need/want exercise I would recommend trying line dancing - it is for lone people, you turn up, dance and get chatting to whoever's next to you in the line - moving round each week until you find someone you click with - there were loads and loads of lovely people at my class from all ages (I'm not exaggerating they ranged from about 10 to late 70s) we had some fantastic social nights .

It's usually relatively cheap too as exercise classes go and then you get the social side (usually once a month -when you all just party (cheap wine/beer from offy and get squiffy for next to nothing. The xmas aprties were fab too - jacobs join and bring your own beer!

Sorry, I do tend to ramble but I hope that makes sense... :rotfl:

snowqueen555

thanks for the replies people

I finished uni not too long ago and since then I have lost most of my friends and of course I am in a low paid job (better than nothing of course so I am lucky in that respect)

I will certainly take on board everyones comments and look at clubs and things, but it all seems rather daunting, and do any of you just get so tired after work? Am I making excuses?

I'd love to learn a language, I took a class a few years ago but tbh I was too shy and ended up leaving and wasting that money

moremoneythansense

Hiya! Me again:p

Yes I get so tired after work but unfortunately needs must. In the past I have always had 2nd jobs (not for about 10 years now) and I always found working in the 'local' pub one of the best. You get to meet loads of people, you get paid, you get tips, you get to dance to the music and entertain those who are waiting and everyone's happy!:D And, when you're bored you can nip in and sit at the bar and there'll almost always be someone there you know to chat to.

If you do your shifts at weekends (or whenever you don't do your main job) that helps with not being so tired after work. Or, you can do them during the week when they tend to be quieter so less hard work but at least you're not home alone bored. You only need to do it for a year or so until you get your foot in the door and meet new people.

I would recommend the line dancing if you're shy as at first it doesn't involve talking to anybody (just concentrating!) but it is definitely more sociable than an exercise class per se.

A language is good but I always find there's not much time to meet new people in proper 'classes' as everyone is learning - so it's ok to relieve the boredom but not much help in finding a new circle of friends.

One final point, just be careful you don't wish for things you don't want - you could end up with the opposite effect of having loads and loads of new friends and no money (or no time) to spread yourself thinly enough to keep in touch with them all.........!;)

Pixiechic

Hi Snowqueen,

If you don't mind me asking, how much do you earn? What are your outgoings/living expensives? Although you are in debt on your overdraft, which I assume is authorised then you can get that paid off quite quickly by the sound of it. It is very strange when you come out of uni, your life is kind of turned upside down, I know. This though is where you start finding your feet and working out what you want and enjoy. I am 28 and have never been a big drinker or clubber but I did those things when at uni as it was kind of the done thing. I wasn't a regular though. Nothing worse than waking up with an expensive hangover and an empty purse! Friends take a while to build up and of course, so does the confidence to make them but it can be done. You sound like your on the right track though! I had a massive look at what I was spending and stopped buying all the rubbish like, coffees and magazines and little things that add up. Too be honest it hasn't been any hardship at all but I am shocked by how much I have managed to save. We don't go out a huge amount mainly due to location but we have a bottle of wine sometimes have a take away, go to the cinema on orange wednesday! I am quite a keen gardener now and am learning how to use my sewing machine! Now the weathers nicer its easier to do free stuff as the outdoors is full of things to enjoy.

josephine82

Snow Queen

It is really daunting joining new things and doing things on your own- but its really worth it.
I did an Indian Head Massage course a few months ago to improve my confidence and feel better about doing things 'on my own' as such. It was great as it was quite social, you got teamed up, you had to chat to people, and it was great fun.

Cinema is a cheap night out- on orange wednesday- and all girls like to go to the cinema, right? coupled with a bag of treats from Tesco and you are sorted :rotfl:

I certainly couldn't cope with another job- my job leaves me knackered in the evenings and most of the time I get home, eat and lie on the sofa until bed time! but if you could fit in a pub job a couple of nights a week, that might help you pay off the overdraft, you'd be in a social environment while being paid and you might enjoy it.

Maybe check out your local library- mine has loads of flyers and posters for things going on and you might find something you are really interested in.

Good luck:D
Jo

HappyMJ

josephine82 wrote: »

Cinema is a cheap night out- on orange wednesday- and all girls like to go to the cinema, right? coupled with a bag of treats from Tesco and you are sorted :rotfl:

I agree I've just watched quite a few movies over the last few weeks using the £1 Cineworld tickets from MyCityDeal. Keep an eye out for free tickets on MSE and stay away from the snack bar at the cinema. There's nothing wrong with taking a £1 bag of treats into the cinema.