How much left at end of month?

[KnackeredSwede]

I’m considering new work opportunities in light of the IR35 stuff due to come in next year.

When mulling over a job offer, it got me thinking, how much is a good amount to have left at the end of the month, completely free?

I know everyone’s situation varies massively, but after literally every expense, I should have £746 left at the end of the month to save, spend, our aside for car repairs and maintenance etc as I see fit. Should usually be a bit more with some overtime. No kids yet, late twenties and other half working and contributing albeit not equally.

How does this compare to the average person? I often wonder how some of my friends who earn a lot less but have bigger houses etc get by, not that it’s any of my business, but personally I’d feel better having more disposable left like I do currently while doing contract work, but I’m prepared to admit I’m basically a disguised employee with regards ir35 so happy to have less disposable to be compliant.

Anyone care to share their own circumstances? A bit personal perhaps but should be interesting.

[Monkeylegend]

Have you been reading pibby's thread, he seems to be the same amount short each month, maybe you could help each other out.

[CX53]

I tend to find I usually have too much month left at the end of the money!!

My disposable after bills, fuel and food is similar to yours. I still manage to rinse most of it and try as I might, the bills that can pop up like car tyres or having the guttering cleaned always catch me out. I wish I was better with money.

I too wonder how some of my mates manage earning less than I do with a bigger mortgage, newer car and one of them in particular still manages to save quite a bit - I think some people are just naturally good with money while others, like myself, are not.

[Nobody nowhere]

I try to have at least £1k left after all monthly expenses save the grocery shopping. It never works out that way. There’s always a random unforeseen expense. Last month it was two rear tyres. That set me back the best part of £500. If, even after all the unforeseen expenses, I have £600/500 left I’m a happy bunny.

[wrencho]

This thread will be like nectar to the Muscular PH Director Type bees!

[Black_S3]

Don’t think there’s an answer that will help you much as no 2 people have similar circumstances when you include all the factors. It really depends on your housing position and ability to raise a good deposit, even if that’s a gift.

[designforlife]

If i've got over £100 left then it's been a good month, usually £10 or £20...that said it's been a long time since i've dipped into my overdraft.

Should probably just hand in my PH card already.

[mattnovak]

wrencho said:

This thread will be like nectar to the Muscular PH Director Type bees!

Or catnip to the strays.

[otolith]

Nobody nowhere said:

I try to have at least £1k left after all monthly expenses save the grocery shopping. It never works out that way. There’s always a random unforeseen expense. Last month it was two rear tyres. That set me back the best part of £500. If, even after all the unforeseen expenses, I have £600/500 left I’m a happy bunny.

I think the bloody things can see my current account. Thinking "I should have a decent wodge to put into savings this month", and I end up needing a new washing machine and an electrician callout. And last week the car went into limp mode, which probably means that the other bit of the turbo regulator system that last time they thought we could probably leave for now can no longer be left for now.

[Nobody nowhere]

otolith said:

Nobody nowhere said:

I try to have at least £1k left after all monthly expenses save the grocery shopping. It never works out that way. There’s always a random unforeseen expense. Last month it was two rear tyres. That set me back the best part of £500. If, even after all the unforeseen expenses, I have £600/500 left I’m a happy bunny.

I think the bloody things can see my current account. Thinking "I should have a decent wodge to put into savings this month", and I end up needing a new washing machine and an electrician callout. And last week the car went into limp mode, which probably means that the other bit of the turbo regulator system that last time they thought we could probably leave for now can no longer be left for now.

Circumstances do seem to collude. We’ve just moved in to our house, (when I say just, I mean 11 months ago) which after a complete top to bottom back to brick and start again hasn’t thrown up up any “oh my god, how much? Bills. I’m hoping once we have all the things we need the expense will ease up but I’m not holding my breath.

[romeogolf]

I track this in a spreadsheet so easy to get figures. For two of us together, no kids;

Income: £4,120/month.

Regular Expenses/Direct Debits - Listed only in the order they leave the account:

Mortgage £980.34
Council Tax £146.99
Water £46.23
Vision Express (Contact Lenses) £15.23
Electricity & Gas £103.71
Car Loan 1 £173.48
Phone Bill 1 £12.99
Car Loan 2 £262.42
TV Licence £12.94
iPhone upgrade plan £63.95
Phone Bill 2 £12.78
Sofa Loan - 48 month 0% £27.12
Internet £44.12
Carpet Loan - 48 month 0% £76.65
Renault Zoe Battery Hire £79.00
Renault Zoe PCP £24.68
Gym Membership 1 £19.99
Gym Membership 2 £19.99
Polar Subscription + Charges £9.78
Total Average: £2,132.39

Of the ~ £2k leftover about £200 gets saved and the rest is spent on general life stuff. Food, clothes, social lives etc. Probably £60-70/week at the supermarket, £150/month in diesel, eat out once or twice a week, one of them might be a take-away instead. Not big drinkers out the house, but always have stuff at home, included in supermarket shop. We also have two cats and probably spend £50/month on food/litter. fk knows where the rest goes, but we're always down to a tenner the day before "pay day".

(All costs go on credit card, paid off in full. We run our budget from the credit card cut-off day, not the actual pay date.)

[Jimmy Recard]

I’ve just increased my pension contributions massively for this reason. Seems silly to be taxed on money that will just earn 1.5% and I’m not going to spend. Might as well save the tax and get it earning for the long term

[JulianPH]

romeogolf said:

I track this in a spreadsheet so easy to get figures. For two of us together, no kids;

Income: £4,120/month.

Regular Expenses/Direct Debits - Listed only in the order they leave the account:

Mortgage £980.34
Council Tax £146.99
Water £46.23
Vision Express (Contact Lenses) £15.23
Electricity & Gas £103.71
Car Loan 1 £173.48
Phone Bill 1 £12.99
Car Loan 2 £262.42
TV Licence £12.94
iPhone upgrade plan £63.95
Phone Bill 2 £12.78
Sofa Loan - 48 month 0% £27.12
Internet £44.12
Carpet Loan - 48 month 0% £76.65
Renault Zoe Battery Hire £79.00
Renault Zoe PCP £24.68
Gym Membership 1 £19.99
Gym Membership 2 £19.99
Polar Subscription + Charges £9.78
Total Average: £2,132.39

Of the ~ £2k leftover about £200 gets saved and the rest is spent on general life stuff. Food, clothes, social lives etc. Probably £60-70/week at the supermarket, £150/month in diesel, eat out once or twice a week, one of them might be a take-away instead. Not big drinkers out the house, but always have stuff at home, included in supermarket shop. We also have two cats and probably spend £50/month on food/litter. fk knows where the rest goes, but we're always down to a tenner the day before "pay day".

(All costs go on credit card, paid off in full. We run our budget from the credit card cut-off day, not the actual pay date.)

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you should perhaps consider tracking the remaining £2,000 a month in as much detail.

Taking into account what you wrote after the list the is a missing c. £1,000 a month. Also putting 5% of your income into savings is not going to make for a great retirement unless you have some other serious workplace pension arrangement.

Not trying to be judgemental at all, just highlighting this in case you hadn't considered it.

[untakenname]

Can anyone recommend a decent spending tracking app?
I seem to be wasting around £1k a month or so after the essentials (rent,food,bills etc...) and having a look at my bank statements at the end of the month there's not really many big ticket items on there, last month I've had to shell out the annual £830 for car tax but I still seemed to have spent around the same monthly total as usual.

[Integroo]

We save between 3 and 6 grand a month between us. Young DINKs. Don't yet own a home though - but in no rush.

[Mazinbrum]

untakenname said:

Can anyone recommend a decent spending tracking app?
I seem to be wasting around £1k a month or so after the essentials (rent,food,bills etc...) and having a look at my bank statements at the end of the month there's not really many big ticket items on there, last month I've had to shell out the annual £830 for car tax but I still seemed to have spent around the same monthly total as usual.

I transferred my current account to Monzo to track my expenditure, I find it really good.

[eliot]

untakenname said:

Can anyone recommend a decent spending tracking app?
l.

Pen and paper
Notepad
Or push the boat out - spreadsheet


You don't need an app, you need discipline.

[designforlife]

untakenname said:

Can anyone recommend a decent spending tracking app?
I seem to be wasting around £1k a month or so after the essentials (rent,food,bills etc...) and having a look at my bank statements at the end of the month there's not really many big ticket items on there, last month I've had to shell out the annual £830 for car tax but I still seemed to have spent around the same monthly total as usual.

For many years i've used a simple excel spreadsheet which i update daily, nothing fancy, just total outgoings... my finances are typically planned out around 6 months in advance.

This spreadsheet is my absolute bible, and has enabled me to meticulously plan and adjust my finances over the last few years, would be lost without it.

You can obviously get much more technical with it, but my principal goal is to use it to budget monthly spending and plan ahead. When you start recording things daily like this, its a lot easier to see where the money goes, and to set yourself spending limits.

[toon10]

I use my own sheet like designforlife.

I copy and paste my internet banking through the week into a month sheet then look at the summary sheet at the end for totals, averages and anything in red means I've gone over budget. The month sheet is easy to fill out. The columns on the right correspond to the budget spend in the summary. Whenever I get a payment (i.e. sofa) I just go tot he sofa cell on the right and type "= {cell reference}"

(Figures are made up for effect)

Monthly sheet:



Summary:



I have a nice house, nice car, I like watches and hi-fi and like to travel so my normal monthly disposable income can be anything from nothing to a couple of hundred pounds. I could easily downgrade my lifestyle and have more but I choose not to.

[Monkeylegend]

All these spread sheets, wow, you guys really take it seriously.

I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.