We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that dates on the Forum are not currently showing correctly. Please bear with us while we get this fixed, and see Site feedback for updates.
Do you have personal spending money?

Hovel_lady
Posts: 4,291 Forumite
Hello everyone,
My partner and I have always had some personal spending money that we can spend without comment from the other person.
Now we have decided to pay off our debts once and for all I'm wondering whether we should be still doing this.
We won't be debt free for 8 years as things are being paid at the moment and our personal money would go towards reducing that. But I don't want to be without any "fun" money at all for that time.
Do you have any personal money and if so how much?
Would help me gauge if we're being sensible with this or not.
Any thoughts greatfully received.
Thank you
My partner and I have always had some personal spending money that we can spend without comment from the other person.
Now we have decided to pay off our debts once and for all I'm wondering whether we should be still doing this.
We won't be debt free for 8 years as things are being paid at the moment and our personal money would go towards reducing that. But I don't want to be without any "fun" money at all for that time.
Do you have any personal money and if so how much?
Would help me gauge if we're being sensible with this or not.
Any thoughts greatfully received.
Thank you

0
Comments
-
Hello,
I think it's really important to retain a little 'fun' money when you are working hard to pay off your debts otherwise it's like binge eating, you'll feel deprived then 'binge' by spending a huge wadge of cash instead of the small amount which you have already figured into your budgeting.
Bobbly x"Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." (Montgomery, L.M.(1908). Anne of Green Gables.)
Debt Free Nerd No. 186 Debt was £16,534.03 Now £9,588.50
0 -
it best to do a soa and see if you actually have any money left over to spend!mfw'11 No68- 55k mortgage İO--little to nothing saved! i must do better.0
-
I think you definitely need some wiggle room to play with otherwise you would go mad - it's like going on a diet and only eating fruit and veg - you'd soon get sick of it and have a blow out! I would say something like £20 a week - for stuff like a nice lunch at work on a friday or a drink after work or whatever - anything you don't spend that week either save it in an emergency fund or chuck it at your debts. My parents aren't in debt (that I know of) but my mum still gives my dad £20 pocket money for putting a bet on or whatever (he had a gambling problem when they first got together but he's totally cool now
) so I think it's good practice
xxx
Life is too short not to love what you do.0 -
A soa is the fundemental place to start because if you have arrears that will take 8 years to clear it is obvious that you have been spending beyond your means.mfw'11 No68- 55k mortgage İO--little to nothing saved! i must do better.0
-
Thanks for your quick replies :T
We have a SOA and can "afford" the personal money we currently have. At the moment it's £40 a month each.
Half our debt is a loan with 6 years to run. 4 credit cards that we only pay the minmum and an overdraft. We are reducing the overdraft as a priority at the moment as the bank is likely to want to reduce the limit again when it's due for renewal.
Is £40 too much?0 -
Always try to have some fun money...some personal spending money. It might only be £10 per week and require a bit of juggling of other numbers in the SOA but you can squeeze it in. If you budgeted let's say £200 per person per month for food and other groceries but shopped around and only spent £150 then you could reward yourself by using the excess £50 on yourself for anything you wanted. That's how I would do it anyway and if shopping really one month did come to £200 well it doesn't matter as it's been budgeted for.:footie:
Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S)
Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money.
0 -
personally i dont spend anything on myself. i am married with a daughter and everything i spend is for the family. We dont have any debt and save regularly but that is for the future--retirement and any bills that crop up(we dont loan money which avoids debt!)mfw'11 No68- 55k mortgage İO--little to nothing saved! i must do better.0
-
Me and DH have £60 a month each for spending which we don't have to account for. It mostly gets spent on parking money, lunches, cigarettes etc. Anything that's left goes towards debt.
When I first started budgeting, I tried to allocate every penny and we were both miserable. This way works really well for us, although I'm sure some would think it's too generous.Total Debt Sept 2010 - £24,132.38 / Current - £0.00/ 100% paid
DFD - [STRIKE]Aug 2014[/STRIKE] 24th Aug 2012
£10 a day // Jun - £64/£300 / Jul - £133/£310 / Aug - £281/£3100 -
My opinion is that £40 a month each is about right. It's not worth recinding this priviledge for the amount of debt it will pay off. As others have said, if you cut it back, you'll have a blow out. If you take this £40 (unless both parties are totally onside), it will only foster ill feeling. You have a long way to go in your journey and the last thing you need is to be snipping at each other for want of £40.Debt Free! Long road, but we did it
Meet my best friend : YNAB (you need a budget)
My other best friend is a filofax.
Do or do not, there is no try....Yoda.
[/COLOR]0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 348.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 452.4K Spending & Discounts
- 241K Work, Benefits & Business
- 617.3K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 175.7K Life & Family
- 254.1K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards