Weekly Spending Money

rlcbec1984

I am currently paying off debt but I was just thinking about what the average person allows themselves per week in terms of spending money. Excluding household bills, petrol, car costs, food shopping, presents for people... what do you allow yourself for buying personal items and for going out etc... How does everybody else work their finances? Do you draw out a bit of money each week? I used to just draw out money as and when I'd used up what was in my purse but that was not good for me? Do you save up separately for holidays? Any advice on how you all organise your finances?

curlytop12

hi there,i've done much better since having a few different accounts to put money into on payday.
eg.car stuff/holiday/emergency/clothing/social.
obviously its a monthly amount.
good luck.
G

mildredalien

I've found it much easier to budget when I withdraw a set amount at the start of the week and only spend this. That way I can keep track much better than drawing out £10 here, £20 there...

To be honest most weeks I spend very little outside of food/petrol/household costs. Maybe about £10? If I have something planned it might go up to £30 or so. Lately I've been drawing out between £30 and £50 a week to cover ALL costs including food and socialising.

As for holidays, from my experience on the boards they come at a very low priority when it comes to managing debt Personally I have a separate savings account for my holiday savings (going on a 'once in a lifetime' holiday later this year). Although I know I could pay off my debt a lot quicker if I wasn't going on it, that's not going to happen so I just have to be sensible about it!! Outside of this I don't budget for holidays at all though.

canidothis

I have a spreadsheet up and running which shows my normal outgoings and how much to allow for each, at the moment I can just about afford to give myself £10 a week pocket money but to be honest I rarely spend it all, its for odds and sods during the week but I work full time and always make lunch and never buy it, I never nip in to the corner shop for drinks or chocolate etc so that £tenner can get transferred to another outgoing and when the debts go it will get saved :j

backinbusiness

All bills paid by DD.

SO to an ISA.

SO to a "Surplus Account"

£150 drawn cash on a Monday morning for the whole week to cover:- groceries, school dinner money (if not packed lunch), petrol, papers, socialising etc. If I can't afford it I don't do it. I aim to have some left over - this gets added to surplus a/c too.

bib

rlcbec1984

Well I live with my parents so I have to give them £60.00 a week. So I just wondered an average amount for me to have per week just for fun really lol - like going out, clothes etc. I used to think I was depriving myself with £30.00 a week but reading other messages on here, then I think that's very generous. I am going to Florida this year and I'm going to thoroughly enjoy it because I've never flown before so it will be a once in a lifetime holiday. In the meantime, I have a debt management programme ongoing and I pay £262.00 a month to creditors. After my holiday though, I want to pay my boyfriend back £60.00 a week to money he borrowed me to pay off debts and I really want to learn to be frugal with whatever's left without feeling like I can never have anything. He's going to be doing a teacher's course for a year but then in the New Year of 2013, we want to buy our first house together and I want to have cleared debts by then and not feel like I'm weighing us down and making things difficult for us because of debt I built up before I met my boyfriend. I never thought I'd meet such an amazing man to spend my life with and now I want to prepare for our future.

feeling-good

Just a thought although I am not saying you are not entiltled to enjoy yourself. Would it not be better to clear as much of your debts as possible before you even start thinking about going on holidays to Florida ? Also if you are on a DMP you have almost certainly got defaults and late payments on your credit file, so buying a house ? Good luck in getting a mortgage in the next 6 years. Shoot me down if I am wrong though folks ....Just my thoughts....

serverking

sorry rlcbec1984, can't see you getting a mortgage if you've been on a DMP within 6 yrs... just also enquiring - how, if your bf paid off some debts for you, you still have to shell out £262 to creditors, or are they additional debts?

I've got late payments (maybe about 6 in last 6 months) and it shows on my credit file and messes things up... I've been 'eligible' for a loan from high street banks but the unpaids make them jumpy...

Ur bf is a good guy to pay off your debts... he must b loaded - cant he apply for the mortgage just himself - rather than you possibly being declined again?

rlcbec1984

Yes what my boyfriend paid off were additional debts. He paid off about £4000 for me. I probably have about £2000 left to payback on my DMP. My boyfriend's not loaded by any means but he doesn't think we'll have a problem getting a mortgage. He just thinks we'll have to put up a much larger deposit. If the worst comes to the worst, we'll just have to rent for a while.

serverking

all the best, I hope you get yout mortgage - I'm hoping my bank can re-structure a loan (I want to extend it) as I need to make a purchase myself - I want to repay sooner - but I need that little bit more. The only issue is I've had a few late payments... fingers crossed for tomorrow when I see the bank manager....

Thankfully it's not one of those backstreet places like EveryDay loans - so all should be well:cool: