I’ve just added up all of my scheduled payments in Monzo and after I’ve put aside money for my bills, mortgage, savings etc I’m left with a whopping… £380 per month to live off!
It’s tough but within my scheduled payments I am saving for car service/tax/MOT, a music festival I go to every year, a relatively big holiday fund and some other bits like a small gift fund.
What’s left gets spent on general spending in the month. For me this would include groceries, eating with friends (my main hobby!) and activities. I pretty much end up having nothing left at the end of the month.
Just interested to see what strategies others might have?
After all my bills go into the joint and I put money aside in a pot for food and transport I try to live off £100 a month. Hopefully in 2 months time that will increase to about £200.
Wow! That’s really impressive! How do you find living off £100? Does that include any memberships or anything? Your food pot, is that groceries or eating out?
I’m genuinely interested, because I’m really trying to manage my money well but sometimes even though I’m saving so much, it feels like my money is just disappearing and I’m not sure why!
It’s really really difficult and I don’t always succeed. Also when I say I live off £100 that is just meant to be for me, doesn’t include food or petrol.
I have a wife, 2 kids, 2 dogs, a mortgage and a tonne of debt.
Every month I will go over our budget which includes all bills from household down to children’s clubs etc.
Anything that is house or children, we split 50/50. Anything that is debt we cover individually depending on whose debt it is.
We then put all that money into our joint account and that’s it. It stays there.
The food shop is split 50/50 and all of that comes into my Monzo account and put into a pot to last a month. That is £500. Every week me and my wife will agree on what to have for tea each night, what lunches we’re likely to have and anything else we need and then get the ingredients we need for that week. Usually go to Aldi first and whatever I can’t get I’ll pick up from Morrisons on the way back.
I then budget £120 a month for transport, which mostly covers petrol but truth be told I have gone over it every month bar 1, maybe 2 since September.
That leaves me with about £300 a month. I put £200 of that to one side as ‘back-up’ and £100 is then for me for the month. More often than not it goes on the kids, one takeaway and then something for me. But it always goes.
Sometimes I have to dip into the £200 back-up but whatever is left of that goes into the locked holiday pot. Once the holiday is paid off I will then be able to utilise a bit more for myself. Hopefully to go to Spurs new stadium next season!
You’re correct in that I would have a lot more if I didn’t save for the “big ticket” items.
It’s difficult to say how much I spend on eating out, because I actually rarely eat out. More often than not I am eating in with friends as we all love to cook. My friends are mostly Filipino and Nepalese and unfortunately what’s cheap for them back home, isn’t cheap for us here. However, I’m not a drinker, smoker or a party person so this is how I justify this.
I’m at peace with saving/putting aside quite a lot as it’s my way of saving and it allows me to do a lot of things I wouldn’t otherwise be able to.
It’s the fact I somehow manage to flit away what’s left which frustrates me a bit.
Thanks for this reply Richard, it’s really appreciated and a great insight. My wife and I save pretty much the same way except we don’t have kids or dogs… just a cat and two rabbits!
It’s interesting that you guys keep your debts separate and spend your own money yourselves. I always thought, going into marriage that everything was split and that we were an exception for keeping things separate other than the household bills and mortgage.
I wish you success in your holiday savings mate and that you get to the new stadium!
We have merged the debt a little bit. For example, one of my credit cards has been used to take over her debt because it was interest free. So debt is in my name technically but she is paying it off.
Any debt that we have incurred for home improvements is split between us as well.
But as to our own money…I think it’s the best way to go. I can’t imagine sharing all my disposable with my wife. It is my money and her money so we should get to choose what to do with it without questioning…within reason of course…
My Wife and I share all the household stuff equally, so mortgage, utility bills, holidays, food etc. That is what our Nationwde account is for and we both deposit an equal amount into it every month. Everything else that is an independent spend of each other, we pay for ourselves. I’ve recently just managed to convince my Wife to open a personal Starling account. I want her to have her financial independence. If something unexpected crops up, we can rely on each other to ensure the matter is dealt with, but otherwise, what’s hers is hers and what’s mine is mine.
My husband and I have always had a joint account into which our salaries are paid and bills deducted. However I opened my monzo account last month, and we have decided to move our own “spending money” out of the joint account and into our own Monzo to last the month. I’m hoping this way we can control our own spending better. For example at the moment after bills and a little into our savings, we have £1200 left to pay for food, petrol and any other expenses yet we still burn through it and live month to month. I’m hoping by doing this we will be a bit more thoughtful with our spending. Last month was my first month and I put £100 into my monzo as “spends” and I’m pleased to say there’s still some left over. We’ve agreed that any left over in the joint at the end of the month will be split into our individual and household savings accounts.
My Wife and I have our salaries paid into our own accounts and we pretty well much know month to month what the joint bills are, hence the equal amount each we pay into our Nationwide account. I like the fact that the money left over in my own account is mine and I know she feels the same. We did have a ‘gasp’ moment the other week when we showed each other how much we’ve got in our own accounts and she definitely spends more than me
Money into our own accounts. Split monthly bills evenly and pay it into the joint account. Then we out everything else on the Tandem card and split it evenly.
Interesting thread. My partner & I recently moved in together & as he’s employed he’s currently in charge of bills, rent etc and as I am self employed with variable income, I am paying him half each month but as & when I have the money. He has a specific diet he has to follow so food is both shared & individually bought.
It’s been 6 weeks & we are only now finding out what kind of costs we need to cover, estimating only gets you so far.
I have a son and I find childcare quite expensive especially in the holidays, I should probably set up a pot to save for that!
I get it from work. I think the system has changed now but I effectively get a wage reduction in return for vouchers and I don’t pay tax on them either.
My wife also has variable income. So we’ve set all our big bills to come out of the joint just after my payday and she adds in as and when.
Mine fluctuate a little but it’s interesting to see them all in one place. Downloads things like your car insurance details and other contracts on your behalf too so they’re easily accessible.
Mine and my wife’s salary gets paid into our Monzo joint account and then we both get £200 a month each for spending on ourselves which is transferred to our personal Monzo accounts. Anything left in the joint account is used for food, petrol, rent, bills and savings. The personal money is for clothing, going out, drinks and hair cuts, nails etc. I’ve got £70 left out of my £200 this month which will go into my personal savings pot which I’ll use for some “useless” tech purchase
