After all of your bills... how much do you have left over?

thorsoak

Personally, it is more a case of how much do I have to feed/cloth myself after all the bills are paid! Can I afford to go out/put petrol in my car? etc (and don't tell me my car is not an essential - having a bus pass is no good if there is not a bus service!)

Faith177

About £400 after everything household bills, food shop, bus fare to work all my direct debits

Trina90

About £850 - £1000, which we try to put into savings (difficult at the minute though as dishwasher broke, now the the back fence has fallen down, plus need new flooring as cat keeps widdling on the carpets!!):( I guess we should count ourselves lucky that we have this money spare though!

getmore4less

dilemma10 wrote: »

Just a general nosy question really. I've always wondered what the 'average' amount of money people have left over, after bills, is... and what do you do with it? What is a good ratio in terms of proportion of income used for bills?

Spend a third, buy a house with a third and save/invest a third.

Retire after 25years with a paid for house

LandyAndy

getmore4less wrote: »

Spend a third, buy a house with a third and save/invest a third.

Retire after 25years with a paid for house

'Sounds good if you say it quick' as my mother would say.

LandyAndy

*max* wrote: »

Of course it is, but it's also a wonderful opportunity for people to casually mention how well off they are.

Isn't that the truth :rotfl:

TBagpuss

It's difficult to say because it depends on how you define bills- for instance, I have a 'bills account' that all my regular payments go out of, but that includes things like my pension and regular savings, as well as household bills, but doesn't include food and petrol

I think 1/3 housing cost, 1/3 savings and 1/3 bills and general living is a good balance if you can manage it, but that many people, particularly those on lower incomes are going to be spending a much higher proportion of their income on housing costs.

annandale

Buy a house with a third assumes that a third of someone's income would pay their mortgage

There are people who can't get on the property ladder full stop.

thriftylass

I also have heard of the 1/3 thumb rule, but it goes out of the window if you have to pay childcare and 1/3 (nearly half of our income at some point) went on that. Then we had nothing left just enough to put a bit aside for the MOT, xmas etc.

trailingspouse

Nothing - anything 'left' is put into savings which in turn pay for holidays, car repairs/replacement, unexpected emergencies etc.