What % of income do you spend on Fun?

[Im2frugal]

I have been married 2 years. I'm 30 years old. My wife lets me control our finances and in those 2 years we have paid off all our debt except our home and have been saving for retirement. But I have realized not everyone enjoys saving as much as me. So does anyone out there put aside a portion of their income for fun, entertainment, or things like that? Even if its not an exact percentage, what can the men and women on this forum suggest I do?

[rennigade]

Me personally, no. I dont sit aside money and say..."ok, this money is entertainment." Im discipline enough to not blow all of my money on "fun" stuff or other things I really do not need. I still keep track of what I spend my money on so I know where the money goes each month.

[NetSkyBlue]

4% of my monthly take-home pay, if you count my internet service as "fun." I do, most of my fun activities are internet related.

[Im2frugal]

Thank you both.

Another point when I say fun includes things like vacation and the like.

[feh]

I'm a member of the "no budget" crowd, so no, I don't alot a percentage to entertainment. That works for us, because we live below our means and monitor our spending closely.

[bjl584]

I don't really know. I know what I save, but I don't really track fun money.

[Im2frugal]

I'm a member of the "no budget" crowd, so no, I don't alot a percentage to entertainment. That works for us, because we live below our means and monitor our spending closely.

I don't budget either. But how can you suggest putting a reasonable amount aside or what might be a reasonable amount to spend on a vacation, night on the town, and so on? I don't like spending money but to please everyone in the home, I would like to spend a few more pennies than we were as we worked out of debt.

[feh]

I don't budget either. But how can you suggest putting a reasonable amount aside or what might be a reasonable amount to spend on a vacation, night on the town, and so on? I don't like spending money but to please everyone in the home, I would like to spend a few more pennies than we were as we worked out of debt.

Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder. We plan to take one nice family trip per year, an occasional dinner out...but I don't set aside a fixed amount. It's a judgment call.

As long as you're saving enough for retirement, large purchases, etc, what you do with the surplus is up to you & your spouse.

[disneysteve]

My wife lets me control our finances

Let me start by saying I'm a bit troubled by this statement. Managing (not controlling) your finances needs to be a joint effort, something the two of you do together. You need to be on the same page, both be aware of the numbers, and work together to achieve common goals, whatever they may be.

When you sit down together and discuss likes, dislikes, goals, and preferences, the answer to your question will become much more clear. Does your wife like to travel? If so, you guys should be setting money aside for your next vacation. Is dining out something you both really enjoy? If so, then think about how often you'd like to be able to do that and how much you typically spend and work that into the plan.

We don't budget either so I can't give you a number of percentage. As someone else alluded to, it also depends on what you count as "fun". That might be your premium cable package, your Netflix membership, your internet access, your gym memberships, etc.

[kork13]

I normally save 5% of my gross monthly income toward short-term goals, which does include vacations, weekend trips, and the like. Whenever I do something like that, I spend what I spend, and pay the credit card bill out of those savings. Additionally, I normally have about 5% of my monthly income that is unallocated, that I can use to cash-flow smaller "fun" expenses like a night out or tickets for a show, but that unallocated income also pays for any other random, miscellaneous expenses in a given month, like new clothing, auto maintenance, and general spending on whatever I may happen to need that month.

I honestly don't know or greatly care how much I actually spend, just so long as I have enough between my cash-flow & savings to cover it. And if I don't have enough saved for something, I don't do it until I've built up my savings for it.

[kyoko]

My husband and I currently have 5% of monthly net income towards entertainment, such as dining out, movies, and*allowances for both of us.

As an extreme saver and debt eliminator, I even had a problem allocating 5% of our income at*first as my husband started his business, we dumped a lot of money into it and got into a huge debt. I wanted to use every single penny to pay down our debt. At that time, I sacrificed so much that I deprived myself. I even forgot how to spend money on myself and have fun. I was miserable. Soon I realized how unhealthy lifestyle I had and decided to spend some money to treat myself. I*still have a little trouble, because I tend to save my allowance... But you always need a balance.

On the other hand, my husband is quite a spender, he has no problem spending 20% of our income if he is allowed! So 5% work for both of us at this time...

[Leraldo]

There is one thing everyone should keep in mind. Everyone should have saving and plan future retirement but we are living here and now. Money on your bank account are just numbers if you don't use them for your life. And they have tendency to lose value because of the inflation...

Personally I saving only money that I can put aside easily without limiting my current demands to much.

[EarlyRetirementJoy]

There is one thing everyone should keep in mind. Everyone should have saving and plan future retirement but we are living here and now. Money on your bank account are just numbers if you don't use them for your life. And they have tendency to lose value because of the inflation...

Personally I saving only money that I can put aside easily without limiting my current demands to much.

It's not necessary to spend money in return for quality of life. Many of life's most wonderful aspects are free for the taking - enjoying the great outdoors, time with family and friends, creative cooking at home. Be careful not to buy into the fallacy that spend = happiness.

[snafu]

I hadn't track entertainment costs and when I went back and looked at totals spent the variations were a surprise. I think a lot has to do with what we consider 'entertainment.' We do a lot of activities that have no $$$ costs attached for example our Chinatown's Business Organization sponsors as huge, annual, weeklong festival [everyone's encouraged to buy food and tons of stuff] but the entertainment and fun is free.

We go to the Symphony's Sunday matinees for a donation of food for the Food Bank, meet friends at the off leash dog park, condo assoc. social events, City's skating, swimming, programs are free and get DVDs from library. We get tickets for Theatre or concerts from re-sellers who find they can't attend and offer a discount mostly because we travel for work and never know our schedule to buy tickets when they first come out. Since January the weather has been so awful we've mostly stayed home or visited with neighbours.

I like the idea of having a 4% line item for entertainment. I'll start that in March.

[cypher1]

I suppose I really don't track my entertainment funds or have a specific account for them. I've cut down on going out to the movies and bars. Eating out is still a factor or social event.

While I just got a Glock 19, I consider it more of a tool, but would still count as entertainment for shooting range. Buying and working on cars is hobby/fun first also. I think I need to get out more.