"pocket" money for adults.

alizee

Me and my husband have decided that avoiding spending on our debit cards is probably a better option to help us save money and pay our debts.
So we're thinking about each having a certain amount of pocket money per week/month.
This would include any lunches at work (if we're too lazy to make it at home - might be a motivation to do that!)
and for me - any make-up, magazines, salon visits, coffee with friends, basically anything i want to buy that isn't for the house or groceries.
for him it would be things like the occasional computer game, pint with friends, any computer accessories he wants.

Now, what would be a reasonable amount? i'm a bit lost when it comes to that, the idea is to be more restrictive with our spending and compromising on things - on the basis that when it's gone it's gone. i know it sounds a bit like what people would do with their children but we are quite young and immature with money and i can't think of a better way to discipline ourselves with the spending.

TIA!

Plans_all_plans

Well what do you currently spend?

You should each keep a spending diary on an average week and tot up what you've spent on. Then you can decide whether £100 a week, £50 a week or £25 a week is realistic.

Personally my husband and I have about £25 a week each (I always go over, he always comes in under!) But mys sister who is childless allows herself £100 a week.

Kittendreich

Work out how much spare money you have after paying all the essentials, decide how much to save (or pay of any debt) and divide that by two! You might want to spend £100 pocket money each week, but actually only have a fiver!

It is a good way to make sure you can each spend without feeling guilty or resentful.

balancelife

good plan! we have a joint account and our own personal accounts. we worked out how much we needed to contibute from our wages to the joint account based on us both having £250 a month left for our own personal things and wants. like meals out, birthday presents, treats, magazines, when I decide we wanted new bedlinen or the kids fancied a new bucket and spade or I wanted a new pair of flipflops etc, I spend (not excessively!and usually save a bit) relatively guilt free and my hubby looks on thinking I didnt need things but happy that Im not spending all our money and he saves a lot of his share or buys plants, paint, tools, pints etc. I dont do it with cash but some of my friends do and thats probably a good way to do it to avoid going over.

gonzo127

yep sort out a SOA http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html - once this is done (and be honest as the only person you will hurt with an inaccurate one is yourselves) if you are happy to post it up although the debt free wanna be forum is best for going through SOA's i bet most people in here would also be good

once you have an accurate SOA you can then sort out a reasonable budget for your pocket money - always keep in mind 'reasonable' is according to circumstance

fannyanna

Hubby and I both have £300 per month each as spending money. It sounds a lot but we both spend a lot on petrol (last month I went over my £200 budgeted for petrol) so it ends up being more like £25 per week.

LilacPixie

hubby and I have an 'allowance' £100 PM each and that has to do things like hair cuts and luxury items. Currently its in hold as i'm on Maternity leave and poor

Errata

Go for a month spending only on what you NEED not what you WANT. That will give you an indication of how much extra might be available for wants and what's acceptable to both of you.

inkie

We have £50 each for spends per month. That is for purely spending on ourselves - or saving up for something more substantial. Meals out, coffees, haircuts etc still come out of our joint current account.

alizee

thanks for the great replies! i was thinking a reasonable amount would be £50 a month each. our incomes vary a lot so this would be manageable with no commission or overtime.
I'm quite low maintenance - i dye and trim my own hair and rarely visit a salon so i would use the money as everyday money and also try to save for treats. perhaps we could do a plan - increase the amount if we have lots of overtime/commission. We're trying to do this as we are struggling at the end of the month with very little money left. According to our SOA we should have £200 a month left all together so we really need to curb our spending, that's why i want to limit spending on cards, or just make £50 per month the available amount on the card.

Jesswithwings

we do this and it works out brilliantly for us. We have £200 a month but we'll be dropping it to £100 each when/if we move to our new (much more expensive) house. DH plays golf, buys his lunch every day and goes to the pub etc where as I might have an ice cream or starbucks every now and then or buy a cheap primark top so I never ever spend all my money so I save it up and then treat myself and the kids or it goes back into the bank to pay for shopping etc.