How much?

[troyw]

Just curious...

How much does everyone here allow for "personal" money each month? My wife and I are doing well at saving each month but I have done a poor job of making sure she gets adequate personal funds.

Thanks,

[bjl584]

I leave myself about $100 a month as blow, I won't lose any sleep over, I don't care what I spend it on, money.

[disneysteve]

I don't think anyone can tell you how much is enough for you and for her. It all depends on your income, expenses, debts and goals. Do the two of you have a written budget? If so, does it approximately match up with 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings?

[troyw]

I don't think anyone can tell you how much is enough for you and for her. It all depends on your income, expenses, debts and goals. Do the two of you have a written budget? If so, does it approximately match up with 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings?

I have a figure in my head but I was curious as to how much everyone here gets. We do have a written budget and follow it closely. What do you define as "wants" - car replacement, vacations, etc.?

[kork13]

In theory, I allocate about $300/mo for me to use however I please (as a ROT, 3-5% of income). Realistically, I just make sure that all of my expenses are paid, that I'm saving according to my goals, then I spend whatever remains as I choose. It just happens that my "discretionary" spending tends to amount to around $300, so that's what I use as my figure for what I "allow" myself. Sometimes it's closer to just $50, sometimes it's as high as $500 or more. Also, that's above and beyond general savings that I set aside for large purchases, trips, or whatever.

In general, I find the "meet your goals/obligations, then enjoy the rest" philosophy to work pretty well.

[NolaP]

I'm new to this board and am currently saving to put a down payment on an apartment. I have never been able to follow a personal budget before. Is that a general rule of thumb, to spend 3-5% on yourself and use the rest for bills, savings, etc.? I know I've got some work to do in this area this out, but I figure if I get my bills out of the way, I can work on discretionary spending and then save the rest. Or is this backwards? Savings first, then discretionary? I also have a small credit card debt to pay off. Should I pay this off before I save money for the apartment, or work on both at the same time?

[littleroc02us]

Just curious...

How much does everyone here allow for "personal" money each month? My wife and I are doing well at saving each month but I have done a poor job of making sure she gets adequate personal funds.

Thanks,

What's funny is that my wife and I allocate $100 for allowance every 2 weeks to use for anything we want. It makes it seem like were kids but it works great. She saves all of hers and I spend all of mine.

[bjl584]

I'm new to this board and am currently saving to put a down payment on an apartment. I have never been able to follow a personal budget before. Is that a general rule of thumb, to spend 3-5% on yourself and use the rest for bills, savings, etc.? I know I've got some work to do in this area this out, but I figure if I get my bills out of the way, I can work on discretionary spending and then save the rest. Or is this backwards? Savings first, then discretionary? I also have a small credit card debt to pay off. Should I pay this off before I save money for the apartment, or work on both at the same time?

I would start a new thread and lay out your situation in detail. Be as specific as possible listing interest rates, balances, income, etc. You are more likely to get an answer.

[disneysteve]

Is that a general rule of thumb, to spend 3-5% on yourself and use the rest for bills, savings, etc.?

One rule of thumb you'll hear often around here is 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. So your personal spending money would come out of the 30% piece for wants. All the necessities like food, housing, utilities, gas, etc. come from the needs portion and then 20% goes to savings, typically 15% for retirement and 5% for other stuff.

[MonkeyMama]

We both get $50/month to spend on whatever - no questions asked. IT might have been $100/month when we both worked.

Obviously, that is not our only luxury/fun money. It's just the 100% "treat ourself and no judgement from the spouse" money. Everything else we have to agree on, first.

Obviously, this number varies greatly person to person - just works for us.

[Slug]

$250 each. This is all personal travel, food, clothing, presents for spouse, massages, make-up, haircuts, sports leagues. Basically anything that benefits the individual. $100/mth goes to a family travel fund.

[snshijuptr]

20% of our budget goes to Wants. This includes cell phones, entertainment (Netflix, movie theater, etc), shopping, party supplies, restaurants, etc. We also use $200 of this money for extra savings since we "want" more than we can afford. If we were unemployed, we could greatly reduce or do away with these expenses.

We also set up a "Frivolous" account for large Wants like vacations, concerts, plays, large purchases. The Frivolous money is 15% of any extra money we make over our budget every month.

For reference, Needs includes car payment, annual expenses, groceries, rent, utilities, gasoline, education and work supplies, etc. If we were unemployed, these expenses would not change very much. Savings includes retirement, down payment, paying cash for a car, and boosting our EF.

My husband and I do most things together and aren't really into gifts for each other so spending on ourselves isn't much of an issue. If someone wants something, we check the budget and spend the money.

[feh]

We don't have a set amount.

[troyw]

Interesting responses...thanks for the input. Personally, I can get by with little to no money each month but I feel guilty about my wife b/c she contributes nearly half of our monthly income. I want her to enjoy the fruits of her labor...within reason.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

To state the obvious: If you two are in disagreement about personal spending money, you need to figure something out together.