Disposable Income per month?

Hedge

Hedge

Hedge

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,609
Location
Somewhere in the middle.
Obviously its not something everyone wants to say, but today I was trying to see how much cash I have left over from my wages once everything is paid out.

I always seem to end up skint because im crap with money, but on working things out I think I probably have a pretty decent amount of disposable cash left after my key outgoings.

I get around 1k a month after food, accommodation and tax etc. Out of that 450-500 goes on debt and I guess I have 4-500 quid a month left for normal things like fuel, clothes and pub visits etc.

4-500 quid a month to spend on myself never seems to go far, but i imagine people with mortgages, wife, kids etc dont have a great deal more than that themselves.

How do you fare from your wages each month? (if you dont mind ofc)
 
I'd say after all my bills are paid and food taken into account I am left with around £600 thats after putting £100 in my savings account. Not sure how it fairs against others but I seem to do ok, similar predicament to you as I'm always skint towards the end of the month!
 
Being new year and all im gonna have to try and sort something out with regards to my spending. £100 a week should be perfectly comfortable, considering my breakfast lunch and tea are all covered on base.

It just seems to fall through my fingers. Bloody frustrating.

Maybe people could also add how they like to manage their money so they dont fall short come the end of the month, might help me out! :)
 
Depends really on what you mean by disposable income, but we're very lucky. Once the budget is paid for (all bills, food, mortgage etc) everything goes into various savings accounts.

The one we use for monthly things, ie day to day - dinners, random events, etc and therefore I suppose to be what you mean by disposable income gets £600/month. Anything left over goes into a joints savings account.
 
Last edited:
I find that the more I earn the less disposable income I have. WTF is that all about? I guess it doesn't help that I now commute to the USA on a monthly sometimes fortnightly basis though.

When I get my salary into my bank account, I know exactly how much I should have as disposable income. I always take about 25% of that and stash it in a separate account and do my best to forget about it. That way, I plan on a smaller disposable income but should I need more I always have that slush fund to dip into. If you can build up a bit of a slush fund and keep it topped up it makes unexpected purchases/expenses easier to deal with.
 
Around 1k a month between us after bills by my rough calculation. That is left to cover our individual mobile bills and the rest is either good for savings or "spending money".

Depends on the month though really, if it's a bad month (insurance/MOT/Broken washing machine/etc) then next to bugger all :D
 
Hedge said:
Maybe people could also add how they like to manage their money so they dont fall short come the end of the month, might help me out! :)
Click to expand...
Accounts, lots of accounts.

As my partner and I do things a little differently I'll just say what I do, and applies to singletons anyway. Wage comes in. Immediately it's transferred to a savings account. From there, £300 goes into my ISA. Some goes into our JSA (joint savings account) number 1 (for holidays). Some goes into JSA 2, for the mortgage (this is an account to build up large amounts of cash to by equity as and when the market is favourable). Some goes into JSA 3 - this covers all bills, food, etc. £300/month goes into JSA4 which is for luxuries. The rest stays in the savings account.
 
Sorry to sidetrack a bit but I suppose it's relevant. Is it possible for one person to have two current accounts with two different banks?
 
I suspect you could probably save a fair amount each month by doing a few simple things:

1. Ensure that any vendor you purchase services from has you on the best rate. That includes things like gas and electricity, mobile phones or any other regular payment. In some cases you may have to threaten to leave, but in almost all circumstances you can reduce your costs by switching to a cheaper provider or demonstrating an intention to leave to your current provider.

2. Refrain from impulse buying. If you see something you like in a shop, go home first and think about it. If you still want it, go online and you'll likely find it cheaper, even with a delivery charge. If you don't really need or want it, you'll save a fortune! :p

3. If you spend a fair amount of money on fuel, sign up to petrolprices.com. You can check for the nearest and cheapest prices. You won't save more than a fiver or so a month, but every little helps!

4. Do as much purchasing as possible using a credit card with cashback. Again, you won't make millions, but it's free money. If you earn over £30,000/yr and spend a fair amount, get an American Express card, if not then use an Egg Money card.

5. Ensure that your debts are in the cheapest place possible, and that ANY savings you have go towards paying these off. Saving rates are far far less than debt rates, and you'll be just burning money in most circumstances. You can balance transfer credit card debts to a 0% card for a small fee, but you won't be charged any interest for a year or more. If you are paying minimums, then most of your payment will be interest, so you can then start paying it off rather than perpetuating the debt. If you have a lot of credit card debt that you don't think you can easily repay, consider a consolidation loan. A personal loan interest rate will be much much lower than a credit card, and your payments will go towards paying it off rather than the bank's money chest.

Lots of useful information here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com

I'd be surprised if doing the above you couldn't save net gain than £100 a month, unless you have things very well set up as it is.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;15630062 said:
Is this not the issue here? After mortgage and such my wife and spend less than 10% of our remaining income on debt (soon to be zero %).
Click to expand...

Yeah the debt is the biggest sting for me, 150 goes on credit cards, and 300 goes to my mother to cover 200 towards 1200 i owe her, car insurance and 30 quid mobile bill.

Without these outgoings id be in a pretty tidy situation really. Living on an RAF base with all meals covered and roof over head costing £15pm is a bargain
 
The easiest way to free up your money is to write down everything you spend.
Absolutely everything.

What I don't spend goes into savings every month, so there's no money 'sitting around' for any length of time.
 
We have these threads all the time, and the smug posters come out of the woodwork everytime with their Liz Jones-esque 'why can't YOU do it' retorts.
 
i have about 300 pounds but to be fair it should be less i should pay more off my credit cards. However i woul dbe miserable as hell working all week and without a bit of money to show and get by on, i also love a drink
 
Yamahahahahaha said:
The easiest way to free up your money is to write down everything you spend.
Absolutely everything.

What I don't spend goes into savings every month, so there's no money 'sitting around' for any length of time.
Click to expand...
I'd say the easiest way, unless you withdraw an awful lot of cash, is to review your current account and credit card statement history. It will certainly show you where to target your cost cutting and what vendors to call to reduce costs, for example.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom