monthly spending, what is the norm

Robert221

Hi,

After all the direct debits and necessary standing orders, we end up with around 1500 pounds per month to spend on food, grocery, petrol, parking, other necessary purchases and unexpected costs, and when possible going out.

I cannot say we are comfortable, but we are also not struggling. I think the word is, we are ok. We do not save every month and some months we end up with slight overdraft.

I am of course not asking others how much they have per month, however was wondering what people think of 1500 pounds per month after all dd and so. Would you categorise it as tight budget or normal one? We are family of 4, two adults and two children.

Thanks

Robert

castle96

Well off I would say. Time to start saving ?

SnowTiger

Robert221 wrote: »

After all the direct debits and necessary standing orders, we end up with around 1500 pounds per month to spend on food, grocery, petrol, parking, other necessary purchases and unexpected costs, and when possible going out.

I cannot say we are comfortable, but we are also not struggling. I think the word is, we are ok. We do not save every month and some months we end up with slight overdraft.

I am of course not asking others how much they have per month, however was wondering what people think of 1500 pounds per month after all dd and so. Would you categorise it as tight budget or normal one? We are family of 4, two adults and two children.

You might find it useful to complete a SOA (Statement of Affairs) and a spending diary for a few months to give you some idea of where your money is really going.

£1,500 a month (nearly £400 a week) should be enough for non-essentials (IMO).

Shakin_Steve

£1500 a month is actually only £338 a week in a 31 day month.

mgdavid

not enough detail.
If both of you have a 50 mile commute then fuel could be £500 a month, but maybe you both work 'round the corner' and hardly do any miles at all.
In similar vein what are 'other necessary purchases, how much roughly? Unexpected costs should ideally come from your short-term ready access savings fund, it's recommended that you should have at least 6 months-worth of expenditure stashed away as a safety net.
On the face of it you should be well off and able to contribute extra to pensions and savings.

Ben8282

There is no norm. People spend according to their means. Some would love to have that much money to spend on themselves while others would consider it to be insufficient. Your question is unanswerable.

daveyjp

You definately need to see where your money is going if you don't feel it is enough.

If your bank has a 'wallet app' or similar which categorises all your spend download and use it.

You can then strip out the unavoidable costs such as commuting, school lunches etc and see how much spend 'disappears'.

trailingspouse

What matters is how it feels for you.


Do you feel that money is a bit tight? A quick way to track your outgoings is to use your debit card for absolutely everything for the next month or two. Then basically your bank statement will become your spending diary and you can settle down one evening and go through it, allocating spends into categories. You'll see quite quickly where the overspends are happening - or alternatively you'll reassure yourself that you're doing OK.


I started doing this on 1st Jan 2018, so coming to the end of a year of tracking spending. It's been quite revealing!

Towser

This is not counting the end of Oct, Nov and Dec of course.
I spend for a family of four. OH spends important stuff such as mortgage and electric. You can see the proportions I spend in.

All categories Amount (£)
Total money out 17730.36
Food & Drink
4385.37
Entertainment & Leisure
2373.95
Savings & Financial
2200.00
Clothing & Grooming
2073.58
Uncategorised
1919.87
Household Bills & Utilities
1552.82
Cash Withdrawals
1121.41
Childcare & Education
513.00
Bank Payments & Transfers
510.50
Home & Garden
278.63
Retail (Other)
254.20
Motoring Expenses
219.38
Business & Donations
206.77
Holiday
55.83
Healthcare
55.60
Public Transport
9.45

getmore4less

Do a proper budget and a spending diary.

You need to know where it goes to make informed choices on what you want to change.

The SOA is a good starter tool but you need to do a full year ahead planning where to spend.

A good budget(plan) has very few unexpexted spends, most thing are predictable, the when and costs are not so you build up buffer funds to cover.

kwame41

As others have said do a 'real budget' and update it daily or whenever you spend.

Unless you drill down into the details you will never know where you stand.

Then you can move forward with your plans. You have said you are 'ok' with a better understanding of your finances, where you can make savings etc you could be more than 'ok'

Lots of free budget templates around.