[cameo]

Hello,

In order for DH and I to try and save money, we are trialling a new budget. Apart from all bills, kids stuff ie: footy boots, ballet classes, dentist visits etc, we are allocating ourselves $100 a week each. At first I thought it sounded alot but after you buy a pair of new pants for DS ($20), present for DS friend ($25) couple of coffees ($15), birthday present for DD ($30) then you are not left with much for that week.

So, my question, do you have an allocated budget to spend each week, if so, how much and what do you spend it on? Just curious to hear how others manage.

Thanks!

[busymumof1&1/2]

I have only just done up a real budget for DH and I, but am still in the early stages. I would guess that the $100 play money is actually quite alot, as this is not just for yoursself, but also for presents, clothing etc for the kids. IMO these should be in another part of your budget, and you should set a more realistic $ amount for yourself. Maybe work out how many coffees, magazines etc you would normally buy in a week, and add a little extra just in case. You could then use the difference between this and the $100 and put this into savings.
Or each week take out the $100, and save anything left over at the end of the week, you could even use some of this if anything came up, and say at the end of 3 months, count your savings, and revisit the $100 limit.

[sparkles30]

Ahh, yes, I'd warn against the $100 play money! Technically I get $200 a week "play money", which sounds huge. But out of that comes anything other than standard groceries I need for the kids (so any activities, clothes, haircuts, outings, etc, plus most things for the house ie new towels, any new furniture, etc). Plus anything for myself. To be honest, I'm rarely left with much more than money for coffees etc for me.

My husband often brings up that I get over $10,000 a year and acts like I spend it all on shoes or coffees etc... It is a source of tension, so I'd be more technical with it and make sure your play money is only spent on you!

[Roselet]

I think $100 is pretty generous - but then if you've already done the budget and this much is available then good for you. However, you've fallen into the same trap as pretty much every woman I know in the same position (partnered and writing a budget) where she assumes responsibility for gifts - and child expenses - out of her "play money". DH and I get the same amount of spending cash each week ($50 each) but I take responsibility for gifts - around Christmas and the peak birthday period this means I actually get no money for me at all in a typical week. SO I've rejigged the budget recently to allocate a DD to a Christmas fund, and gifts will be bought with that money instead of my money. (I did try making DH take over the thought cost of gifts for his side of the family - it typically resulted in no gifts being bought, so I've taken that back on and just accepted he's not a gifty person - he manages to choose thoughtful gifts for me and that's enough.)

So - to properly respond to your query, IMO you need a separate part of the budget for gifts, a separate part of the budget for children's predictable needs (ie clothes etc), and then your separate spending money which should be the same as your partner's spending money.

Just a little query - how come DS's friend gets a gift nearly as pricy as DD? Are you being super generous to your child's friend?

[Guest_tigerdog_*]

TBH yours sounds a bit unfair to you re. you buying stuff for kids - can you allocate a separate amount for this? If not, half the cost should come out your DH's share as they are family expenses. My DP and I had the same thing, most of my spare $$ after basic living expenses went to savings for the bigger bills, eg. rates, winter gas bill, car regos etc while he got $400-500 per week to spend on himself, which he always did and was broke before the week was out (no joke - and yes, my fault for letting it go on!).

[~~mumsie~~]

Yes I do have a budget now that DP and I have separated and I am trying to save for a bond and some new furniture and also have rego, servicing and tyres due all the the same time!

From our pays, we each put what is necessary to cover the joint bills + child care each fortnight into the joint account. We also maintain a $120 float at all times for clothes for DD, surprise doctor visits, medication, etc. ETA: everything in this account is paid for 50/50 even split. If we fall below the float, we each contribute half of what is needed to bring it back to $120.

From my account, I have all bills direct debited each fortnight, the day after my pay day. I then keep grocery and petrol money plus about $50 in my account and sweep the rest into my savings account so that I cannot access it.

This means that if I want something, that I need to then login to my internet banking to transfer the funds - makes me seriously consider whether the purchase is necessary or not!

The money in my savings is allocated (via a spreadsheet) to: car rego, tyres, servicing, Christmas, upcoming birthdays, Easter, dance/soccer fees, etc etc).

This has allowed me not just to save (a lot) of money in a short period, but it also helped me to quit smoking!

This post has been edited by ~~mumsie~~: 30/03/2012, 12:36 PM

[PatG]

My suggestion is that before having a fast budget to stick to initially just spend wisely for several months but track every single cent you spend. Then combine this day to day spending with other larger, less regular costs (quarterly bills, car rego etc) and then look at where you are possibly overspending, and how much is left over.

Obviously each child is going to have a birthday - therefore create a gift budget (e.g. will only spend $80 on each child's b'day present/s). If you know you got to around 6 other birthday parties per year create a budget for those gifts too.

Weed out the necessities from the non-necessities and create a budget for the non-necessities. Non-necessities would include bought lunches, coffees, magazines, getting hair done (rather than just trimmed which is probably a necessity) etc. Then work out how much each person should get for themselves to spend guilt free each week/month. You may decide it is only $10 a week but nothing to stop you saving up for that dress you don't need but would really like! I don't think this money should include money spent on children, fuel, tolls etc.

[cameo]

There's some great ideas there, thanks all.

Yes, DH does not have these expenses and I did realise that the other day! Bit unfair I think so might have to re do that.

I am trying to put all the expenses into the $100 - including Easter eggs, presents for other kids, presents for DD (her birthday is in a month) and all a variety of stuff - even things for the school fete. This is simply not working as I am running out of money every week and have no money for things that I would like ie: waxing, pedicures or things for the house.

So might have to re do this as the money was meant to be for fun things like coffees etc and if there is money left on the weekend, we can use that for dinners out.

Thanks all for replying, I would still love to hear others budgets etc and what they do.

And for the PP who asked, friend got a gift card, and one present was for DD but I am buying a present each week so that it's not too expensive (yes, I am being that anal!!!)

[callmefroggie]

I agree that it is not fair that gifts etc come out of your play money. We use ING and have a variety of saving accounts such as bills, gifts, medical, savings etc and a calculated sum is automatically transferred from our everyday joint account on pay day. We then each get $200 a fortnight play money, from which we buy christmas and birthday presents for each other, plus any extras we might want, and the money left in the joint account is grocery and petrol for the fortnight. We currently live off my husband's wage, even though I am working, but our first baby is on its way, so I imagine there will need to be some tightening of this budget, but it works well for us.

ETA The beauty of this system is that almost all our money is earning us a little bit of interest which is nice.

This post has been edited by callmefroggie: 30/03/2012, 01:19 PM

[HollyOllyOxenfre...]

We have a similar system - we each have $150 a fortnight play money that goes into our separate accounts. When we were paying off our credit cards we were really, really strict - this money had to buy clothes (apart from essentials), haircuts, going out etc. Now that we no longer have the credit card debt and have actual savings, we're a bit more relaxed - most expenses come from the joint account and then our play money is for daily things (coffees, lunches etc).

Since I've been at home with DS I'm rarely spending all of mine, so some fortnights I leave a bit in the main account to spend on DS, sometimes I'll split a bit more towards DH (eg; I get $120 and he gets $180). Because we've been doing it so long it's pretty equitable - if I buy lunch for us one day when we're out, DH will pay for takeaway one night and things like that.

At the moment I tend to buy little things here and there for DS (and I'm sure this will increase as he gets older) out of my play money where DH doesn't, but the flipside is that he goes to work every day and sometimes buys coffees and lunches at work - I don't have that expense. On the rare occasions one of us is broke before the end of the fortnight the other bails them out - it's never a matter of bad luck, you spend all your money