How much money per week for "spends" after ALL bills have been paid.

pault123

Hey guys,

After every concievable monthly expense you can budget for has been paid, what would be a reasonable amount each week to have for "spends"

money you can simply spend on absolutely anything. Beer money to put it one way or "profit"

I'm working on a new budget and need to have a reasonable figure to work off.

At the moment its coming to around £40 a week, thats after all my bills have been covered including.

Mortgage, Credit cards, Council Tax, Water, Gas/Electric, House Insurance., TvLicence, Car finance, Gym, Mobile phone, Car insurance, Internet/phone line, Cinema pass. Food shop each week. Fuel for car. Lottery tickets. Haircut. Lunch at work.


What is your "spends" figure?

DarkConvict

You need to allocate it as entertainment in your budget.

Basically 5-40 a month seems about suitable, as each pound off your debts saved a fortune in interest in the long run.
Credit/deb is short term gain, so to get out of debt u have to do short term pain to get the long term gain of getting out of debt.

elvis86

pault123 wrote: »

Hey guys,

After every concievable monthly expense you can budget for has been paid, what would be a reasonable amount each week to have for "spends"

money you can simply spend on absolutely anything. Beer money to put it one way or "profit"

I'm working on a new budget and need to have a reasonable figure to work off.

At the moment its coming to around £40 a week, thats after all my bills have been covered including.

Mortgage, Credit cards, Council Tax, Water, Gas/Electric, House Insurance., TvLicence, Car finance, Gym, Mobile phone, Car insurance, Internet/phone line, Cinema pass. Food shop each week. Fuel for car. Lottery tickets. Haircut. Lunch at work.


What is your "spends" figure?

I started a thread about this the other day, though I find it hard to budget every conceivable expense on a monthly basis (eg dividing my annual spending on clothes and holidays by 12 to give an accurate monthly figure).

For me, I exclude rent, utility bills, mobile bill, car finance repayment, car insurance, gym membership, and the remainder is mine to spend. Out of that I have to buy food, petrol, clothes, beer, holidays etc. As I see it, these are all my flexible expenses, so in effect it is up to me how I spend my "spends".:D

By my definition, I have approx £500 per month "spends". Spend maybe £40 on petrol, £60 on food. Leaves £400. I also have a credit card which I'm trying to chip away at, anything paid off that has to come from my "spends".:(

catmiaow

Mine is around £10-15 a week. I am lucky though as have no debt except my mortgage which is low, I pay TV licence and car insurance annually. I put money away each month for family birthdays, xmas, holidays and ou courses.

postingalwaysposting

When I was in serious debt and just started on this site I had a budget of £3 per week but I did have a £3 a week subscription too. Now I generally have a £20 a month 'buffer' but I try not to spend anything. I am not a social creature and would generally prefer to entertain myself.

However everyone is different and the place they live/chose to go to will dictate thier budget. If for instance you decide on a whim to go out for coffee with a friend. In some areas you can get a coffee and cake for <£3 however somewhere like London etc you will pay a premium.

The best thing to do is keep a spending diary. If you write down every little thing you spend in a week and look back over it you will see 1/2 are not required. You will then start putting things back/avoiding shops as you don't want to spend money. I promise you after a month you will have shaved at least 1/3rd of your weekly spends.

property.advert

As my month runs 13th to 12th I've just done this month's or rather next months. After some dental allowance (£55 I hope) and allowing for all the bills (rent paid today), I have just under £200 for the month which includes shopping for food etc. I'm quite well stocked up in the freezer, I've £55 of M&S vouchers I can use before the end of the year and all toiletries and washing come household things are more than enough for a couple of months.

What is killing me is paying £6.30 or £10.00 to go to an interview for a job or to see a couple of agencies. Now I know I can claim it back but in my line of work I cannot have the JSA phoning up prospective employers asking whether I have attended an interview. My credibility would be shot to pieces. Last week I had two of these and I had to put my dental off as a result. What with looking for work so much my survey income has fallen from around £150/200 a month to near zero last month.

What I find though is that buying when on offer can halve a food budget. Loyd Grossman sauces are reduced from £1.70 to £1 in Asda and toilet rolls are on offer as well. Last month was washing liquid so I've 6 months supply of that as well. Got some ham joints at around 25% of regular prices and froze them. Ready meal curries are in the freezer at half price and mince was reduced to 60p from £2.00 plus. If sliced meats are your thing but you cannot eat all you could buy on offer just freeze them. They taste the same half a year later. They taste better at low prices as well !

I've cut my electric bill by nearly 40% versus the old pay as you go method and I've Sky knocking over £100 off my small TV subscription to renew. Reduced bread is no good for sandwiches but frozen and then straight into the toaster it is exactly the same.

It is winning the little battles over time which wins the war.

What is good is that if I pull down one of these jobs I'm up for then I won't be going back to spending and instead of wasting 80% I'll be saving 80%.

gonzo127

unfortunatly it really does depend on you situation,

my monthly 'spends' budget is £10 for the family of 5 so not much at all, but when you consider we try to use our clubcard vouchers for days out instead of food it really helps, got a family annual pass to a couple of zoos/wildlife parks so can just go to one of them when we want (petrol allowing) i live by the seaside so a nice walk along the beach and a game of crazy golf is always fun, picnics etc so we still do quite a lot just doesnt cost a lot

pault123

Perhaps my £40 a week/ £160 a month "entertainment" budget is a bit excessive then?

I think its more of a perception of how I view my budget spreadsheet, as I list every single expense whether it be variable or fixed it seems my entire wages are all allocated. Even though some of it goes to luxury items like gym and cinema pass. So when I see £40 a week "spends" I think its not a lot of money left for myself.

elvis86 wrote: »

As I see it, these are all my flexible expenses, so in effect it is up to me how I spend my "spends".:D

By my definition, I have approx £500 per month "spends". Spend maybe £40 on petrol, £60 on food. Leaves £400. I also have a credit card which I'm trying to chip away at, anything paid off that has to come from my "spends".:(

If i did my spreadsheet in this way and had "spends" for food, fuel and lunches my £160 a month would become more in the region of £400-£500 which would certainly give me a perception/feeling of being a lot richer and better off.

I think it may be harder to allocate funds as well in this way though?

gonzo127

have you posted up your SOA recently? might be worth it just for extra advise on this as we can look at what other bits you have which you might not have thought about

also do you use the multi bank/savings accounts to help with your budgetting?

Empty_pockets

My spending money is £65pw. That is money I can drink, give to charity, spend on whatever I like.


I have circa 15K of debt but am still able to pay £500+ every month. I earn well above average.

Empty_pockets

Pault123 I think you should continue with the way you do your budget sheet. Thats how I do it. Mobile phone, gym etc are on it and budgeted for.

The 65/280 spends covers other things.
This month as an example
Spanish lessons 50
Hotel 48
Washing line 10
Beer 73
Oil + filter 20
Stamps 2
Clothes 36
Boots for Mrs 50