average spare weekly income

kimwp

Jo1923 said:

iim trying to budget …once paid all debt, petrol . food , etc i’m left with £85 a week ,i suppose i was just wondering really  

Are you putting anything into savings? If not, try to put at least half off that into a regular saver (so £150-200 into a regular saver on pay day) or

If you are carrying debt (not paying it in full every month), put this towards to paying off your debts if they have interest applied.

If you have debt and you don't have enough savings to fully pay it off, then you don't really have anything "left over" tbh.
 

sausage_time

I agree with @MattMattMattUK - figure out where you are spending first.  Why not record absolutely everything for one calendar month (to catch monthly subscriptions and bills).  If you can use simple spreadsheet and divide transactions onto categories.  Some suggestions:  Food (perhaps divide into Supermarket, Eating Out, Takeaway, ...), Drink, Bills, Car, Pets, etc.   

You may be surprised. I was when I did this back in the 1980s (using a very old spreadsheet called "sc").

BridgetTheCat

I earn just over minimum wage, but still manage to overpay my mortgage, put a bit extra into my pension and have a week’s off-peak holiday every other year.

Every year on my birthday I put £500 into a wee easy access savings account and that’s my ‘frivolous spending’ money for the year. So, just under £10 a week. Once it’s gone it’s gone - I don’t top it up until my next birthday.

I don’t think I’m especially frugal but I never buy anything I can’t afford. I have no consumer debt. I prefer to save up for things - it’s psychologically much more satisfying to watch a little pot of money grow than to spend on tick and have another expense every month until it’s paid off.

boingy

It's often subscriptions that gobble up a large chunk of income without you realising it. Lots of small sums like £20 or £30 per month. A friend of ours was complaining that she never had any money despite earning a decent wage and it turned out she had 3 or 4 video streaming services (Netflix etc), Audible, Amazon Prime and other stuff plus a gym membership that she never uses. She actually got embarrassed when she added it up, especially for a couple of them where she no longer even had the app installed!

Petriix

Do people really budget on a weekly basis? Don't most wages and bill payments in/out happen monthly?

Personally I find the concept of 'spare' money quite strange. All my money is in use all of the time, earning as much interest as possible until it's needed - I have maybe 10 regular savers earning between 6-8% and a stocks and shares isa but the total monthly pay in exceeds my regular income so it becomes a juggle and some don't get funded in some months.

Any 'spare' money sits in the best easy access savings account I can find - currently up to £4k in Santander Edge saver at 6% and anything over with Chase at [4.55%]. I move money back to my current account on the day before each direct debit goes out while all spending is done on cashback credit cards where possible which allows me to earn interest on that money for longer.

I don't have a specific savings target and my savings go down in some months and up in others depending on which annual bills come around (insurance and holidays etc.) so it's definitely a longer term game with me. My earnings are quite variable too because I work a split between a part time PAYE job and self-employed freelance work which is more sporadic in terms of how much money comes in when invoices are paid. 

Ultimately I live reasonably frugally most of the time which allows me to be a little frivolous occasionally. I eat out maybe once per month, make use of free cinema tickets from Lloyds and socialise at my/friends' homes which keeps costs down.

The long term aim is to pay off the mortgage while paying as little interest as possible. At the moment I'm in the very lucky position of having a fix way below the current base rate so I put the money aside rather than overpaying as I can earn more interest than I pay out. My frivolous spending simply reduces the virtual pot that will eventually go to into the mortgage, but that pot also covers the emergency fund and any bigger spending like a new appliance or DIY project.

I used to track things in more detail but, as I've already reduced costs wherever possible, I'm happy with my spending and don't want to reduce my quality of life by cutting other non-essential things like Netflix and Spotify though they could go if necessary. 

Middle_of_the_Road

Petriix said:

Do people really budget on a weekly basis? Don't most wages and bill payments in/out happen monthly?

Personally I find the concept of 'spare' money quite strange. All my money is in use all of the time, earning as much interest as possible until it's needed - I have maybe 10 regular savers earning between 6-8% and a stocks and shares isa but the total monthly pay in exceeds my regular income so it becomes a juggle and some don't get funded in some months.

Any 'spare' money sits in the best easy access savings account I can find - currently up to £4k in Santander Edge saver at 6% and anything over with Chase at 4.8%. I move money back to my current account on the day before each direct debit goes out while all spending is done on cashback credit cards where possible which allows me to earn interest on that money for longer.

I don't have a specific savings target and my savings go down in some months and up in others depending on which annual bills come around (insurance and holidays etc.) so it's definitely a longer term game with me. My earnings are quite variable too because I work a split between a part time PAYE job and self-employed freelance work which is more sporadic in terms of how much money comes in when invoices are paid. 

Ultimately I live reasonably frugally most of the time which allows me to be a little frivolous occasionally. I eat out maybe once per month, make use of free cinema tickets from Lloyds and socialise at my/friends' homes which keeps costs down.

The long term aim is to pay off the mortgage while paying as little interest as possible. At the moment I'm in the very lucky position of having a fix way below the current base rate so I put the money aside rather than overpaying as I can earn more interest than I pay out. My frivolous spending simply reduces the virtual pot that will eventually go to into the mortgage, but that pot also covers the emergency fund and any bigger spending like a new appliance or DIY project.

I used to track things in more detail but, as I've already reduced costs wherever possible, I'm happy with my spending and don't want to reduce my quality of life by cutting other non-essential things like Netflix and Spotify though they could go if necessary. 

Chase is currently 4.55%

Petriix

Middle_of_the_Road said:

Petriix said:

Do people really budget on a weekly basis? Don't most wages and bill payments in/out happen monthly?

Personally I find the concept of 'spare' money quite strange. All my money is in use all of the time, earning as much interest as possible until it's needed - I have maybe 10 regular savers earning between 6-8% and a stocks and shares isa but the total monthly pay in exceeds my regular income so it becomes a juggle and some don't get funded in some months.

Any 'spare' money sits in the best easy access savings account I can find - currently up to £4k in Santander Edge saver at 6% and anything over with Chase at 4.8%. I move money back to my current account on the day before each direct debit goes out while all spending is done on cashback credit cards where possible which allows me to earn interest on that money for longer.

I don't have a specific savings target and my savings go down in some months and up in others depending on which annual bills come around (insurance and holidays etc.) so it's definitely a longer term game with me. My earnings are quite variable too because I work a split between a part time PAYE job and self-employed freelance work which is more sporadic in terms of how much money comes in when invoices are paid. 

Ultimately I live reasonably frugally most of the time which allows me to be a little frivolous occasionally. I eat out maybe once per month, make use of free cinema tickets from Lloyds and socialise at my/friends' homes which keeps costs down.

The long term aim is to pay off the mortgage while paying as little interest as possible. At the moment I'm in the very lucky position of having a fix way below the current base rate so I put the money aside rather than overpaying as I can earn more interest than I pay out. My frivolous spending simply reduces the virtual pot that will eventually go to into the mortgage, but that pot also covers the emergency fund and any bigger spending like a new appliance or DIY project.

I used to track things in more detail but, as I've already reduced costs wherever possible, I'm happy with my spending and don't want to reduce my quality of life by cutting other non-essential things like Netflix and Spotify though they could go if necessary. 

Chase is currently 4.55%

My mistake. Edited.

Jami74

I reckon £85 buys quite a lot of odd take-aways, coffees and little treats in a week! I guess though it's not much for anyone with alcohol or nicotine needs though.

I've never specifically budgeted a set amount of money but could look back over my spreadsheets and work out what I have spent on non-essentials. For me there's still room in my mortgage, ISAs and savings accounts so I wouldn't intentionally keep a sum of money back. The odd take-aways, coffees and little treats come from things like bank switches, rewards, cash back etc so they're sort of free.

oldagetraveller1

"can i ask what is the average amount people have each week for spare cash "

You most certainly can.

Rob5342

Petriix said:

Do people really budget on a weekly basis? 

I budget on both a "weekly" and monthly basis. When I get paid I put money to cover all my bills into a Monzo bills pot along with spending money into four other pots. I divide the time to the next payday into four roughly equal periods and each time one of those starts I empty a pot and make it laat until the next period keeping an eye on the app as I go. I allow £300 per period and after my food shopping and petrol i normally have £150 or so lefr to cover the 7 or 8 days until the next period.