Doing budget-spending money?

[Toonces2]

I am getting a p/t job and have been working on a new budget and debt repayment plan. I think I'm too eager to pay off the debt quickly because I forgot to allow for blow money or spending cash. This is above and beyond gas and food ect.

What amount do you allow for spending money in your budget?

I'm trying to go as low as possible as I would like to be debt free except for the mortgage in 2 years. But I also dont want to deprive ourselves or not account for extras that come up here and there.

[Momto2Boyz]

We haven't been doing this becuase money has been so tight, but we are going to start adding this into our budget.

DH and I are both going to give ourselves $20/week for "extras." It can cover lunches out, pop, etc. whatever we want, but would feel guilty about buying otherwise!

[treeluva]

I think you should be as realistic as possible when you start and then start cutting down from there. Record everything you spend money as "blow" money for a month (or a week-if you are like me, it is the same things that get you!) and then budget that amount for those things. After you have it budgeted, make it a game to see how many of those things you can cut out...

That's what I did and what I am doing. It is just an ongoing project. Coca Cola is my vice... whether I get it from the store when I go shopping OR if I just run to the store to get one. Now I am concentrating on eliminating pop from my everyday budget and diet. If I go 7 days without buying one, I reward myself by going to get... a Coke. LOL. I know it sounds funny, but I have cut down my consumption of coca cola a lot by making it a reward/treat instead of an everyday common occurance!

[Ceashels]

I agree that you should keep track of what you are spending it on. We started the budget with the idea of $50 but after the first week we dropped it to $40 and the second week it was bumped down to $30. Many of the purchases were for things that would have been covered in other areas of the budget and so we now spend very little that isn't accounted for.

[Greebo]

What ceashels said. So far this week I've spent all of $10. $6 of that was for breakfast once this week, and the other 4 was for some sugar-free Rita's after a very HOT evening working on our renovation project.

I used to blow through $100 a week on parking, lunches, sodas, etc. Going to a limited "blow money" allowance has made me stop and think about everything I used to do w/o any consideration.

[freebs]

We dont have blow money, things are too tight to figure any of that in. I buy my pop on sale in a 2 liter and that is included in the grocery budget.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I don't budget any spending money for myself. I find that money is better being used for the kids, the house or paying bills. That's just the way I am. My mom was that way too.

DH gets money for smokes and that's his spending money. It's about 60 bucks a week. He used to get more money for things like playing poker with the guys but he's cut that back severely in the last six months. I figure 60/wk is better than it used to be.

[LexTysMommy]

I budget for things like eating out, going out, and shopping trips to walmart..etc. Other then that I dont consider myself having money to "blow" but spend it and track it to see what i spend on monthly.

[FrugalMomof3]

DH and I usually dont give each other "blow" money but we do spend the money I make from my taking care of my grandma every week. It's $100 BUT we use this for everything meaning if I need milk or bread, it comes from that.. yard sales and flea markets also come from that.

If I HAD to make a budget of it, I would give each of us probably $50 a week. Most often times DH will still have $40 or more while mine would be gone since I use mine to purchase other things for the home

[Kitchen Mama]

We each get $20 a week to spend on what we want. Any left from mine I save.

[DonnainME]

We are too tight to give blow $. I do allow things occasionally though.

I get income like commission - no guaranteed amount, so its hard to budget in the first place.

[Mrsokdee]

I tried to include "blow money" in our budget but find that I spend "my" money on little trips to the grocery store and stuff for the kids. DH on the other hand will see just how much he can get me to pay for before he touches his money. Sometimes, I wish I could be selfish.

[angelbumpkin]

We each get $20 a week allowence. I usually don't spend mine or if i do its not even close to all of it.

[nuisance26]

~I budget $50 a month each to DH and myself for pocket money. It also covers entertainment. DH used to get $100 and I got $50(I don't work outside of the home so I'm less likely to need breakfast money or co-workers birthday stuff or whatever)but DH would spend every penny and MORE on video games every month. He still overspends a bit but I take it from my pocket money so it doesn't affect the budget. My advice for you is to follow the Tightwad Gazette's advice. You should give yourself as little as possible and bump it up as necessary until you feel comfortable.~

[paintedsky]

I think it depends mainly on how much you make and what you have left over as well as what you are putting towards savings/paying bills. For me, I couldn't do with only $20 a week. It'd be nice if I had some restraint though to really save up more.