How much disposable income do you have?

**tfboy** · 29-07-2008, 00:46

Reading up the other thread on paying keep, I wondered how much disposable income people tend to have.

I wonder because I seem to be doing probably better than average - the amount of people I know in full time employment only say they can come out for a work do currynight at the beginning of the month because they don't have enough cash left at the end.

It's all pretty much of a shock to me. In my case, I'm earning a respectable amount, I have a mortgage, and pay for all the house-related bills (mortgage, council tax, utility bills, insurance, etc). SWMBO pays for the food shopping. OK we don't often go out much and even if we did, I suppose we ought to count it as part of the disposable income.

But judging by what many other friends say, it sounds as if they only have say £100 a month to spend on luxuries of their choice, whether it be pampering products, a few nights out on the town, etc.

In my situation, once I remove other bits as well as house-related costs (car running costs, bike costs, charity contributions, etc), I still have a fair amount left in my back pocket which most of the time goes to my savings and allows us to treat outselves every now and then.

So what ball park are you in?

Lady Elanore · 29-07-2008, 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfboy

Reading up the other thread on paying keep, I wondered how much disposable income people tend to have.

I wonder because I seem to be doing probably better than average - the amount of people I know in full time employment only say they can come out for a work do currynight at the beginning of the month because they don't have enough cash left at the end.

It's all pretty much of a shock to me. In my case, I'm earning a respectable amount, I have a mortgage, and pay for all the house-related bills (mortgage, council tax, utility bills, insurance, etc). SWMBO pays for the food shopping. OK we don't often go out much and even if we did, I suppose we ought to count it as part of the disposable income.

But judging by what many other friends say, it sounds as if they only have say £100 a month to spend on luxuries of their choice, whether it be pampering products, a few nights out on the town, etc.

In my situation, once I remove other bits as well as house-related costs (car running costs, bike costs, charity contributions, etc), I still have a fair amount left in my back pocket which most of the time goes to my savings and allows us to treat outselves every now and then.

So what ball park are you in?

I think YOU have to start the ball rolling

smstext · 29-07-2008, 01:00

can i be added to your charity contributions? at the end of the month its usually a case of breaking into the money that is taken by sirect debit and placed into my savings account, more so since i changed jobs, petrol is a big factor too.

**tfboy** · 29-07-2008, 01:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Elanore

I think YOU have to start the ball rolling

It's difficult to work out because I have some odd months with a lot of expenses, for example I pay my uber-expensive car insurance in full in one go...

But for argument's sake, say I have around £500 I save which I can otherwise use as "spare cash".

Quote:

Originally Posted by smstext

can i be added to your charity contributions? at the end of the month its usually a case of breaking into the money that is taken by sirect debit and placed into my savings account, more so since i changed jobs, petrol is a big factor too.

Are you registered as a charity?

I'm quite picky on this - I have one or two I have contributed to and refuse to contribute to any others as I hate it when they try and emotionally blackmail you into paying making you feel guilty if you don't. I've made my choices and am sticking to them

Last point, in my personal circumstances, I have recently had a fair amount of DispoInc (©,®,℗,™,

) but working my **** off elsewhere means I'm never home to spend it

Tom_vRS · 29-07-2008, 01:29

About £300/month now the vRS has gone... but in reality I should probably be paying that off the credit card...

Due a nice payrise in October (and extra £3k or so), so that will come in handy.

cheezemonkhai · 29-07-2008, 02:41

About £50 spare at the end of an average month due to massive fuel bills.

Blade404 · 29-07-2008, 02:44

None.. I have myself a nice house of cards

RobClubley · 29-07-2008, 02:45

All of my money goes to my mortgage and credit card!! Shouldn't have pre-spent half a year's spending money on flights and holidays I guess!

Lummox · 29-07-2008, 07:00

Easy, none what so ever. In fact my total earnings from my day job doesnt cover all my outgoings and I have to take on extra work to survive at the moment. Was due a wage rise ages ago, also supposed to have be trained to the next level where I work and thus on a higher wage but there is no money in the company to fund either so I was told.

Great.

devonutopia · 29-07-2008, 07:39

Sounds like someone can afford to come to Trax then.

I have pretty much nothing left over really. £100 if I'm lucky, but then my salary has jumped up by around 50% since I started 2 years ago, and once I'm qualified I'm hoping for much better money still. Working toward the reward at the moment.

mlister5500 · 29-07-2008, 08:10

im moving from germany to uk and i will be losing about £500 a month

tdirob · 29-07-2008, 08:25

None really. Even though I've had a couple of payrises since we moved in together, most of my money goes on the house now and I have to do overtime to pay for any luxuries and anything to do with my car

ap0gee · 29-07-2008, 08:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfboy

...I still have a fair amount left in my back pocket which most of the time goes to my savings and allows us to treat outselves every now and then...

Was going to reply 'not a lot', but then we put over £100 per month into savings every month and always have a bit left over for clothes and CDs and the odd night out when the in-laws agree to babysit, so it's not got to a hand-to-mouth stage yet by any means.

Then again, we used to put significantly more away this time last year, so I guess our disposable income has definitely decreased significantly. Of course, had the Gordonator done something similar, I'm sure none of us would be feeling the pinch quite as hard...

daiking · 29-07-2008, 08:36

it feels like eff all

but probably about £200 per month over the year. The problem is when you fritter that away in the quiet months and are left to find £500+ for jollies like hols in the expensive months.

Used to have loads of disposable income (>£1K) that was spent/saved but since the wife has been on statutory maternity pay it feel like every penny has been spent. Bad time to lose so much regular income.

Good job we've saved for a rainy day

edit to add: doesn't help when you mortgage goes up from 4.79% to 6.59%

symonevans · 29-07-2008, 08:40

Well, seems I'm a lucky boy.

I live at home so I have well over a grand if not more some months.

I'm very sensible with my money and have a few saving accounts. Already filled up a ISA and since april (new tax year) I have saved up 7k.

But this is going to be a house deposit in the future as I'm only 20. (21 tomorro hehe)

ap0gee · 29-07-2008, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by daiking

Used to have loads of disposable income (>£1K) that was spent/saved but since the wife has been on statutory maternity pay it feel like every penny has been spent. Bad time to lose so much regular income.

Well that's true. SWMBO has just finished her maternity - we had to take £5k out of our savings to cover that...

soviet · 29-07-2008, 08:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfboy

Reading up the other thread on paying keep, I wondered how much disposable income people tend to have.

I wonder because I seem to be doing probably better than average - the amount of people I know in full time employment only say they can come out for a work do currynight at the beginning of the month because they don't have enough cash left at the end.

It's all pretty much of a shock to me. In my case, I'm earning a respectable amount, I have a mortgage, and pay for all the house-related bills (mortgage, council tax, utility bills, insurance, etc). SWMBO pays for the food shopping. OK we don't often go out much and even if we did, I suppose we ought to count it as part of the disposable income.

But judging by what many other friends say, it sounds as if they only have say £100 a month to spend on luxuries of their choice, whether it be pampering products, a few nights out on the town, etc.

In my situation, once I remove other bits as well as house-related costs (car running costs, bike costs, charity contributions, etc), I still have a fair amount left in my back pocket which most of the time goes to my savings and allows us to treat outselves every now and then.

So what ball park are you in?

Hi,

I would be saying here about £2000 per month to be coming in for retirement here, of which about £800 would be the disposable, I think.
This is not so good and I am needing to mark the time until my pension is coming at aged 60. I am the fortunate one that I do not have the mortgage now.

Soviet

Lance · 29-07-2008, 08:56

All now seems clear on why the Skoda's

Dr Zoidberg · 29-07-2008, 09:12

I'm probably towards the better end of the scale as I've always been pretty careful to leave myself a decent amount of breathing room in case of the unexpected.

I've got a noticable amount less after buying food and fuel , same as everyone else , but I try and save at least £200 most months and can still afford days/evenings out towards the end of the month

**tfboy** · 29-07-2008, 09:29

Hmm, thanks for the replies.
It really does show a contrast in variation.

I guess I'm lucky in my position to have such a lot, although of course it gets saved into ISAs and an online savings account.

Although when I do spend, it tends to be lots in a short amount of time. Just back from our holiday and that was a grand or so (I paid for SWMBO) so that's eaten up a couple of months' savings quota. Then when I bought the car, I paid for it outright in cash, but that put about a year's dent in the savings...

I feel for you guys who struggle to make ends meet. I hadn't realised it could genuinely be so tough for you

gilesk · 29-07-2008, 09:34

Its weird, I always seem to have about the same percentage regardless of what I get paid, when I moved to a new job and got more money I still had the same percentage left.

Tom_vRS · 29-07-2008, 09:35

The biggest thing for me is that as I've recently paid off my biggest loan, and I've got rid of the finance on the old vRS, I'm no longer living from month to month, waiting for payday etc. I do have to be careful though, and do make sure I stash away atleast £200 a month. (£100 into instant access savings, £100 into an ISA which I don't want to touch). I'd love to save 3 times that, and I will be able to when I'm debt free in less than 2 years time.

However, I do owe about £5k on credit cards (down from over £10k this time last year), and I do have a couple of loans that are coming down with about 12 months and 18 months respectively.

I know it would make more financial sense to clear the cards instead of saving, but it does feel nice to have that buffer stashed away should the worst happen.

One things for sure, I couldn't afford to move out from the parents', certainly not until I'm debt free anyway.

faboka vrs · 29-07-2008, 09:52

Due to past debt we're paying around a grand a month to loans and credit cards. This leaves us with next to nothing. Hoping to free up around £500 each month this time next year which can then go to child minders

Like Ross I dont earn enough to pay the bills that come out of my account so each month Nicci has to transfer around £250 to cover the bills. She then has to pay the bill that come from her account and then pay for the food and fuel. I simply have a debt card in my wallet that I cant use

craig0031 · 29-07-2008, 09:54

i have quite alot as i have a pretty decent job and not much to pay out, at the moment im saving £550 a month for my vrs after paying bills which leaves me with an extra £100 a week (400 a month) for partying it up

not bad for a 20 year old

29-07-2008, 00:46	#1
tfboy C+ à Paris! Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tilehurst, Berkshire Posts: 6,325 Members Car: "Fake" Black Magic vRS Thanks: 21 Thanked 76 Times in 66 Posts	How much disposable income do you have? Reading up the other thread on paying keep, I wondered how much disposable income people tend to have. I wonder because I seem to be doing probably better than average - the amount of people I know in full time employment only say they can come out for a work do currynight at the beginning of the month because they don't have enough cash left at the end. It's all pretty much of a shock to me. In my case, I'm earning a respectable amount, I have a mortgage, and pay for all the house-related bills (mortgage, council tax, utility bills, insurance, etc). SWMBO pays for the food shopping. OK we don't often go out much and even if we did, I suppose we ought to count it as part of the disposable income. But judging by what many other friends say, it sounds as if they only have say £100 a month to spend on luxuries of their choice, whether it be pampering products, a few nights out on the town, etc. In my situation, once I remove other bits as well as house-related costs (car running costs, bike costs, charity contributions, etc), I still have a fair amount left in my back pocket which most of the time goes to my savings and allows us to treat outselves every now and then. So what ball park are you in? __________________ Xavier

29-07-2008, 01:00	#3
smstext 2.0 FSI Sport. Join Date: May 2007 Location: oxon Posts: 9,650 Members Car: Octavia Mk2 FSI Sport Thanks: 11 Thanked 302 Times in 270 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? can i be added to your charity contributions? at the end of the month its usually a case of breaking into the money that is taken by sirect debit and placed into my savings account, more so since i changed jobs, petrol is a big factor too. __________________ Oxon Meet Feeler 2009 please add your input, click here

29-07-2008, 01:29	#5
Tom_vRS Briskodaholic Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Fenland, Cambridgeshire Posts: 11,542 Members Car: '97R BMW 328i Saloon Thanks: 679 Thanked 433 Times in 310 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? About £300/month now the vRS has gone... but in reality I should probably be paying that off the credit card... Due a nice payrise in October (and extra £3k or so), so that will come in handy. __________________ 97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green.

29-07-2008, 02:41	#6
cheezemonkhai Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,575 Members Car: Thanks: 111 Thanked 512 Times in 475 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? About £50 spare at the end of an average month due to massive fuel bills. __________________ Cars make CO2 and trees absorb CO2. By driving your car you're feeding a tree and helping the environment.

29-07-2008, 02:44	#7
Blade404 ASBO-less Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The land of smoke & mirrors Posts: 4,231 Members Car: Black Focus Thanks: 80 Thanked 95 Times in 67 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? None.. I have myself a nice house of cards __________________ One brush to tar them all! Ford Focus Titanium in Panther Black For information about joining the briskoda.net folding team click here..

29-07-2008, 02:45	#8
RobClubley Midnight Mod! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Aotearoa - land of the long white cloud Posts: 7,005 Members Car: 2004 Octavia vRS Estate Images: 1 Thanks: 155 Thanked 161 Times in 134 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? All of my money goes to my mortgage and credit card!! Shouldn't have pre-spent half a year's spending money on flights and holidays I guess! __________________ Corrida Red 2004 Octavia vRS Estate - It's the bestest Skoda in New Zealand! Whaia te mātauranga, whaia te māramatanga - Pursue knowledge, pursue the wisdom of knowledge www.pimpmyskoda.co.uk www.clubley.org Facebook

29-07-2008, 07:00	#9
Lummox Cupra Bush King Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Newport Pagnell Posts: 22,458 Members Car: Mk2 Golf GTi 16v and building a 20VT MK2. Images: 2 Thanks: 22 Thanked 753 Times in 633 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? Easy, none what so ever. In fact my total earnings from my day job doesnt cover all my outgoings and I have to take on extra work to survive at the moment. Was due a wage rise ages ago, also supposed to have be trained to the next level where I work and thus on a higher wage but there is no money in the company to fund either so I was told. Great. __________________ www.unit18.co.uk Remapping Service now available, PM for details.

29-07-2008, 07:39	#10
devonutopia Mongreller Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Exeter / Devon Posts: 30,081 Members Car: Skoda Fabia Mongrel Images: 5 Thanks: 75 Thanked 352 Times in 295 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? Sounds like someone can afford to come to Trax then. I have pretty much nothing left over really. £100 if I'm lucky, but then my salary has jumped up by around 50% since I started 2 years ago, and once I'm qualified I'm hoping for much better money still. Working toward the reward at the moment. __________________ Jason - Only a Skoda. Custom Fabia Bonnet Lifter Kits - £45! Click Me. Cheesy bonnet lifter video to "raise me up" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnGECEi5Oc See the mongrel's 260bhp Dyno Video!

29-07-2008, 08:10	#11
mlister5500 Briskodian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: catterick garrison Posts: 201 Members Car: 2007 octavia vrs Thanks: 9 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? im moving from germany to uk and i will be losing about £500 a month __________________ ps3 id is bob5500

29-07-2008, 08:25	#12
tdirob Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Wrexham Posts: 1,193 Members Car: Golf GT TDi Thanks: 25 Thanked 34 Times in 32 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? None really. Even though I've had a couple of payrises since we moved in together, most of my money goes on the house now and I have to do overtime to pay for any luxuries and anything to do with my car __________________ Golf GT TDI - Standard (at the minute)

29-07-2008, 08:36	#14
daiking DILLIGAF? Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: manchester Posts: 2,573 Members Car: Mazda 3 1.6 Thanks: 69 Thanked 96 Times in 82 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? it feels like eff all but probably about £200 per month over the year. The problem is when you fritter that away in the quiet months and are left to find £500+ for jollies like hols in the expensive months. Used to have loads of disposable income (>£1K) that was spent/saved but since the wife has been on statutory maternity pay it feel like every penny has been spent. Bad time to lose so much regular income. Good job we've saved for a rainy day edit to add: doesn't help when you mortgage goes up from 4.79% to 6.59%

29-07-2008, 08:40	#15
symonevans Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,143 Members Car: Fabia vRS Thanks: 8 Thanked 50 Times in 49 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? Well, seems I'm a lucky boy. I live at home so I have well over a grand if not more some months. I'm very sensible with my money and have a few saving accounts. Already filled up a ISA and since april (new tax year) I have saved up 7k. But this is going to be a house deposit in the future as I'm only 20. (21 tomorro hehe)

29-07-2008, 08:56	#18
Lance Briskodian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: NORTHANTS UK Posts: 1,198 Members Car: Thanks: 5 Thanked 19 Times in 19 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? All now seems clear on why the Skoda's

29-07-2008, 09:12	#19
Dr Zoidberg Briskodian Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: On the back of an AA truck with a failed turbo Posts: 10,745 Members Car: Octavia II 2.0 TDi Elegance Thanks: 30 Thanked 194 Times in 145 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? I'm probably towards the better end of the scale as I've always been pretty careful to leave myself a decent amount of breathing room in case of the unexpected. I've got a noticable amount less after buying food and fuel , same as everyone else , but I try and save at least £200 most months and can still afford days/evenings out towards the end of the month __________________ Alex "I laugh in the face of danger, then I hide until it goes away" www.drzoidberg.co.uk

29-07-2008, 09:29	#20
tfboy C+ à Paris! Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tilehurst, Berkshire Posts: 6,325 Members Car: "Fake" Black Magic vRS Thanks: 21 Thanked 76 Times in 66 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? Hmm, thanks for the replies. It really does show a contrast in variation. I guess I'm lucky in my position to have such a lot, although of course it gets saved into ISAs and an online savings account. Although when I do spend, it tends to be lots in a short amount of time. Just back from our holiday and that was a grand or so (I paid for SWMBO) so that's eaten up a couple of months' savings quota. Then when I bought the car, I paid for it outright in cash, but that put about a year's dent in the savings... I feel for you guys who struggle to make ends meet. I hadn't realised it could genuinely be so tough for you __________________ Xavier

29-07-2008, 09:34	#21
gilesk MadridBriskodia Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,044 Members Car: Thanks: 16 Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? Its weird, I always seem to have about the same percentage regardless of what I get paid, when I moved to a new job and got more money I still had the same percentage left. __________________ who'd have thought it eh?

29-07-2008, 09:35	#22
Tom_vRS Briskodaholic Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Fenland, Cambridgeshire Posts: 11,542 Members Car: '97R BMW 328i Saloon Thanks: 679 Thanked 433 Times in 310 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? The biggest thing for me is that as I've recently paid off my biggest loan, and I've got rid of the finance on the old vRS, I'm no longer living from month to month, waiting for payday etc. I do have to be careful though, and do make sure I stash away atleast £200 a month. (£100 into instant access savings, £100 into an ISA which I don't want to touch). I'd love to save 3 times that, and I will be able to when I'm debt free in less than 2 years time. However, I do owe about £5k on credit cards (down from over £10k this time last year), and I do have a couple of loans that are coming down with about 12 months and 18 months respectively. I know it would make more financial sense to clear the cards instead of saving, but it does feel nice to have that buffer stashed away should the worst happen. One things for sure, I couldn't afford to move out from the parents', certainly not until I'm debt free anyway. __________________ 97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green.

29-07-2008, 09:52	#23
faboka vrs Briskodian Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Merseyside Posts: 6,048 Members Car: 2004 Fabia vRS TDI PD130 Thanks: 14 Thanked 46 Times in 46 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? Due to past debt we're paying around a grand a month to loans and credit cards. This leaves us with next to nothing. Hoping to free up around £500 each month this time next year which can then go to child minders Like Ross I dont earn enough to pay the bills that come out of my account so each month Nicci has to transfer around £250 to cover the bills. She then has to pay the bill that come from her account and then pay for the food and fuel. I simply have a debt card in my wallet that I cant use __________________ John 2004 Skoda Fabia vRS - Xenons - Heated Seats - Cruise Control - Passenger Airbag Deactivation switch - Side Airbags

29-07-2008, 09:54	#24
craig0031 Briskodian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Cambridgeshire Posts: 589 Members Car: Vauxhall Astra 1.8 16v Thanks: 23 Thanked 24 Times in 22 Posts	Re: How much disposable income do you have? i have quite alot as i have a pretty decent job and not much to pay out, at the moment im saving £550 a month for my vrs after paying bills which leaves me with an extra £100 a week (400 a month) for partying it up not bad for a 20 year old __________________ *Craig Laurence*