Do you give you and your partner 'pocket money'

Catty89

Trying to budget now that i am on maternity wage and have started giving me and OH £20 per week each 'pocket money' this can be for whatever we want but also has to include new clothes, meals out etc.

I thought this was quite a good amount but its crazy how quickly money can be spent.

So do you do this? I think OH isnt too happy with it, i have gave him the whole months amount but in envelopes for each week, having a feeling itl all be gone by week 2.

xx

Person_one

If that's how much you can afford to spend on non-essentials then I can't see any other way around it! You'll both get used to it, but it'll take discipline at first.

74jax

No we don't but I have in the past. I used to split what was left after bills paid into weeks.

danih

Nope, but we do need to. Just got to get motivated to be diciplined about it.

penelopedee_2

Yes we do this, and I dish it out on a Friday when our boys get their pocket money too. I've found without it we would never save or anything and no-one in the house understands that we might have money in the bank but we also have dd bills coming out.

To be fair we've had major money issues in the past and this is the only way I can get the family on board about spending sensibly etc. To make it easier for DH I transfer the money each week to his bank account so he can save or spend as he wants, rather than handing cash over.

Its not ideal, but its the way we manage at the moment. And I do have actual pots and bank saving pots to hide money into too, for emergencies, holiday funds, pet bills etc.

pavlovs_dog

We've always done this.

Our wages go into a joint account. All bills, savings and our pocket money are budgeted for. Our pocket money is transferred by direct debit to our individual accounts. Anything for the house comes out of the joint account, and anything 'frivolous' comes out of our own money. It means he can buy video games and I can buy clothes to our respective hearts content safe in the knowledge that we're not eating into the money which covers the essentials. There's no quibbles over who has spent what, and we both know how much money we have to play around with. Neither of us are big spenders so £80 a month each is more than ample for our personal needs.

Might not work for everyone but it suits us.

maman

If you and OH have looked at the household budget and £80 a month is what you can afford then £80 it is. If you've decided without him then it's time you had a discussion. It'll be hard for him to accept if he doesn't understand the reasoning or maybe he has a better idea.

Personally I wouldn't have separated it into weekly envelopes. I think it's a bit patronising to suggest it has to be £20 a week. Surely he can work out himself how to stretch it? Maybe not?;)

We don't actually have any actual cash changing hands. DH and I put aside all the money needed for bills (through DDs in a special account) and pay off the monthly credit cards (food & fuel) and what's left in our own accounts is ours to save or spend. BUT we both have the mindset that it's really there to save for when we really, really want something or need something.

So I wouldn't think 'Oh I've got £20 to spend what shall I buy?'. I'd happily go through the week/month spending next to nothing but knowing I had plenty there when I needed it. Once you've built up a cushion it's surprisingly comfortable.:)

I do sympathise though as my DD2 is dreadful with money. her DH has to give her a strict limit how much she can spend. The other week we were at the shops and she had some money from Ebay. She wasn't happy until she'd spent it all and IMO on 'stuff' that she didn't really need.

itsmethatswho

Yes, I do this, we pay all our bills first, or set the money aside for later bills, I then transfer money into our savings accounts and work out how much we need for food, this goes into a pot, and how much we have 'spare'. We will then split this between us to do what we both like with it. I find it works well as we both know where we stand with money, all the bills are paid, and we can spend guilt-free :-)

lollipopsarah

It's what my mum and dad used to do.
Nowadays I get £100 on friday for the shopping and hubby tops up with fags if I need them.
If I have anything left (haha) i get a lucky dip and treat myself with any winnings - again haha but I did win a tenner the other week, I should have got my hair cut but treated myself to half a bottle scotch instead.
xx

Goldiegirl

No, we don't have pocket money, we just get money out of our account if / when we need it.

OH asks me to get his money out when he needs it, as it's more convenient for me to do it, but we don't have set amounts or allowances.

Octobergirl

I used to be in control of ALL finances as OH wasn't too hot with figures. We went through a bad patch in our marriage and split up - a small part of the problem was that OH felt controlled.

We got back together, both now have sperate bank accounts. OH transfers a set amount to me to cover his share of mortgage/bills. He keeps £300 spends pm (this breaks down as £100 pocket money, £200 petrol & phone). I also get £100 spends per month. He now seems happier that he is in control, although its taken a couple of years for him to learn how to manage his money!!