How much do you spend on yourself?

ronib

GSM yes I don’t understand the idea of having to spend more money. Some bank adviser once said this to me too. I was surprised.

Humble bragging at its finest.

Nowhere near £250 each on personal expenditure. I budget £50 a month for clothes, make up etc which is more than enough for me. This is probably because I don't buy many clothes these days as I have more than enough in my wardrobe to suit my needs.

We are very open with our finances, joint account for everything, plus a separate account each. My private pension is paid into my personal account, and I transfer all of it, bar around £100 into the joint account, DH does the same. Any major purchases are discussed, but otherwise we are fortunate that we can pop out for lunch/buy shoes without impact on joint finances.

Blimey! My ex had a secret stash of money too …

I was very surprised to find that one of my married nieces has a Stash of savings that she calls her “running away fund”. She and her husband, who is very nice and quiet and caring have a joint bank account but she syphons off some money each month to save herself and it is all top secret.

Her sister told me this and says she knows several other young Mums who do this. News to me.

Long ago I had a joint account with my then husband. It was a terrible idea.

loopyloo - what’s a ‘hair pot’ ? Just curious, that’s all ..

Such variation in spending power!
On the whole I should need to spend very little. Lovely comfortable home and interesting garden, but, as an Easter treat I bought a terracotta pot for my strawberries and this morning ordered an silver antique hair pot from oxfam.
I keep an eye on the accounts but we make joint decisions on things.

Maggiemaybe

^One thing DH and I have never argued about is money. Always had a joint current account, salaries paid into it, now pensions.^

If I need something, I buy it, DH likewise.

But we have modest tastes, so not often needing things.

Exactly the same here, Calendargirl. I guess we go out a lot, together or separately with friends, but neither of us buys a lot of “stuff” these days. I’d have to go through the accounts spreadsheet to come up with a figure, but really it’s just never been an issue - as long as there’s enough in the account it doesn’t matter which of us spends what.

Much the same here. With the exception of separate savings a/cs I used to have (before helping dds with house deposits) all our money from whatever source has always been ‘ours’.

One thing DH and I have never argued about is money. Always had a joint current account, salaries paid into it, now pensions.

If I need something, I buy it, DH likewise.

But we have modest tastes, so not often needing things.

Exactly the same here, Calendargirl. I guess we go out a lot, together or separately with friends, but neither of us buys a lot of “stuff” these days. I’d have to go through the accounts spreadsheet to come up with a figure, but really it’s just never been an issue - as long as there’s enough in the account it doesn’t matter which of us spends what.

Probably the monthly figure quoted here I spend in a week. For example, I bought expensive glasses last week, but decided to buy an additional pair plus sun glasses. If I buy a pair of shoes, I often buy more in other colours. So I guess I probably spend a lot more than some.

I cannot quantify what I spend. No make up, no nail or body treatments. Good dry cut every 6 weeks and £18 for that, pedicures etc not needed, if I want a pedicure I do my own feet. I love good, very dark chocolate and one bar can last a week. My exercise is either cycling, walking or using my stretch bands. No need to pay for a gym

I do love my hobbies and can spend on re-building my fabric or spinning stash. Overall I am well under OPs £250 a month, last buy for myself was a leather knitting bag, very much wanted as it was designed by a knitter and made in Denmark and will be very tactile. I won`t receive it until july. I paid for that last month

GSM yes I don’t understand the idea of having to spend more money. Some bank adviser once said this to me too. I was surprised.

One thing DH and I have never argued about is money. Always had a joint current account, salaries paid into it, now pensions.

If I need something, I buy it, DH likewise.

But we have modest tastes, so not often needing things.

Have never understood women who buy new clothes say, then hide them from their husband or pretend they’ve had them for ages. Either they are being unreasonable with their purchases, or he is being unreasonable with his reaction.

We have a joint current account and individual savings. We never buy anything large without discussing it. I have a hairdo and nails monthly. Our biggest expense and our only subscription is for golf which I have just paid for the year £2240. Many clubs are much more expensive but this one is very local and very friendly. We know we are fortunate to be able to do this.

I spend very little on myself. I don’t get my nails or hair done and I buy things on clearance or even at charity shops. However, I do spend on the grandkids for birthday, Christmas etc. I enjoy spending it on them rather than myself.

I am retired so rarely buy new clothes, handbags or shoes. If I do spend, I tend to buy things for the house rather than for myself.

Do not have many subscriptions either, Netflix, a few e-books from Amazon. My mobile phone is quite old- only 16gb, on a monthly SIMs card.

I managed to clear all my debts recently, so can now put aside money every month to do up our house bit by bit.

I’ve just had a treatment plan from my dentist and my next round of treatment is going to cost £8000+ (no that’s not a typo). So that’s where my life savings are going! 😱

I live on a careful budget but don't really go without anything I need.

M0nica

All our bank accounts are nominally joint for the simple reason that in the days before mobile phones, the internet and internet banking , days when DH's work took him to remote regions of the world for indefinite periods. I did all his personal banking for him, paying credit card bills, checking statements etc etc.

I used to be in charge of all the finances too, from our joint account, as DH was often away but it was a relief when he said he'd take charge of utilities, Council pretax, insurances etc after he retired. We do discuss them.
They're all rising rapidly despite doing comparisons

Not much at all, I’m a cheap date😄
Have a very busy life so not much time for browsing and shopping, which is just as well.

Sod all.

All our bank accounts are nominally joint for the simple reason that in the days before mobile phones, the internet and internet banking , days when DH's work took him to remote regions of the world for indefinite periods. I did all his personal banking for him, paying credit card bills, checking statements etc etc.

Horses for Courses, but there's no way I'd ever want a joint bank account, that's not a problem for us and we discuss where all our joint investments are and they are split between us, ISAs, Wrap Investments, Building Society monies etc. I pay for the housekeeping. I have dds going out for my phone, gym membership, several charities, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Prime membership, I'm thinking of adding Apple tv. He pays all the bills, anything to do with both our cars, servicing etc., he also fills up my car, his dds go out on his golf club fees, gym membership, his phone, a couple of charities and all our energy bills, council tax. Holidays, breaks, restaurants, come out of our joint money, unless it's one of our birthdays then we treat each other. I pay for my clothes, hairdressing, cosmetics, but I don't think I spend vast amounts. Hairdressing is probably my biggest extravagance I go every six weeks for highlights. I certainly don't have the retail therapy urges I once had, I find all that quite boring these days. We both buy books, but also use the library too, He buys his clothes and golf related stuff. We are very much agreed on not having to justify what we spend on ourselves, so for example if he wants a new golf club, or a one to one lesson from the golf pro which he does quite a bit in the summer months, or I want something say some one to one yoga, or perfume, things that could be deemed occasional extravagances, these come out of our own individual bank accounts, we might mention it but don't ask each other if it's ok, because we don't feel we have to and are both sensible as far as outgoings are concerned.

I have drawn and painted all my life but during the 10 years that DH was ill I abandoned it altogether. A year ago I started going to a U3A painting group and, after a couple of months, I began to think I would really like some new paints instead the 30 year old ones I was using. I have now spent an astronomical (to me) amount of money on some top quality paints, brushes and oil pastels. They are the sort of quality I have always dreamed of using and if I don't have them now when will I?