spending/fun money -how much

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-09-2004
spending/fun money -how much
7
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 12:06pm
Just curious how much you budget for spending or fun money a month. I am pretty sure that we could cut back in this area but I wanted to know see how far off we are. I was budgeting $50.00 a week for each of us but as March was really our first month with a budget I tweeked that to $40.00 a week starting in April.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-27-2005
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 2:53pm

My hubby and I budget out $100/ month EACH. Now that doesn't include our date night budget, this is just our "we don't have to explain purchases" money. It took us a while of trying different amounts to come up with our current spending budget. We WANTED to spend less but every time we budgeted less than $100, we would end up having to pull money from other areas to cover our spending.

Cristin

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2006
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 3:17pm
Hi,
I have budgeted $50/mo. for each of us. In addition, each one of us gets $35/mo. for clothing/haircuts. I don't know how long we can stick to this but we are trying.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 5:17pm

We have 0 currently but have never gone higher than 40 a month. That was just money for hobbies though, eating out, haircuts or clothes would have separate budget items.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 6:30pm

I don't have a specific amount set this way. I actually have a category called 'household expenses' and it is in that money. I use that money for groceries, gas, haircuts, gifts and eating out, fun money. I have been doing $175 every 2 weeks for that but it isn't enough. I am increasing it to $225 every 2 weeks (because I got my raise) with the intent that I will shove $25 of that into what I am calling a freedom account that I can tap for gifts or whatever when it adds up to more than I can bear to do out of that $200 a payday. I know there are times like May and June that I will be totally screwed because both parent's birthdays and Mother's Day and Father's Day come one after another so I needed to figure something else out. I did it this way though because I'm more likely to be frugal with the gas and groceries if I know I can have 'fun' with whatever I save. I also don't feel nearly as inclined to go crazy with a gift purchase when it is coming out of MY money (duh, like it ever wasn't! LOL). We'll see how it goes. This is really only the 2nd full month of trying it. BTW, I am also saving in a Christmas Club for those gifts/expenses. It won't be enough but I am also planning on absorbing some expenses out of my regular budget/freedom fund.

Of course, I'm single so this is all a lot more simple for me. I make the mistakes or right choices and bear the consequence or the benefit. I envy you guys your relationships but recognize it makes this a lot tougher.

Peg

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-13-2003
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 7:45pm

Well, in our situation (dh only works part-time jobs and we never know how much he will be bringing in), we allow ourselves $10 a week for me and $15 a week for him. That's strictly "fun" money (although I admit ya can't have a whole lot of fun for $10, LOL!!) and doesn't include gas for the cars or food (unless he's out at a client and wants a slice of pizza or something).

Amy K.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 5:28am

We get $20 a month. Actually, Dh gets it. I don't really like to spend money anymore, it means I have to go somewhere where I can buy things, and stuff I want to buy tends to be either expensive or far away.

Dh takes the $20 and buys himself coffee and me occasional treats. I like the surprises, and he likes giving them to me. :) (Me = spoiled rotten)

We also budget $200 a month for gas, $0 per month for clothing, and $150 per month for food. This has worked so far while we've been broke - it's pretty hard to spend money you don't have. We'll see how well we do after we come back from the wedding next month, where we have to use our credit cards. We havem't used them in a while, and I remember being pretty fond of them.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Tue, 03-21-2006 - 12:25pm

I budget $10 a week for the entire family. We rent movies from the library for free, rarely eat out, and we ask for board games during gifting holidays, so we have a nice amount of those to play around the house. We also like to go to the local parks and play ball games together or just walk and talk for exercise. Most weeks we dont even use that $10. :-D

Pat :-D