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Keeping up with the Joneses

lovemoney staff
by Lovemoney Staff lovemoney staff on 08 September 2011  |  Comments 6 comments

Find out if you're spending more than the average.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Have you seen the lovemoney.com MoneyTrack tool?  We think it’s one of the best money management tools out there and our users seem to really like it. 

Tracker works by automatically aggregating all of your online accounts and credit cards in one place. You can see how much money you’ve got and how you’re spending it. That’s because Tracker automatically categorises your spending into distinct categories so you can see your complete financial picture. 

You can also set budget targets for yourself and see if you’re hitting them. On top of that, you might also find it interesting to compare your spending with the average UK household. Take a look at these figures: 

Average UK household spending 2009 

Spending categories

Average household spend per category

Food & non alcoholic beverages

£3,320

Alcohol & tobacco

£1,225

Restaurants & hotels

£3,517

Clothing & footwear

£1,900

Recreation & entertainment

£3,913

Source:  Office of National Statistics  

If you’re spending more on food than the average household, maybe it’s time you to try and cut back. You could get lots of money-saving ideas here. 

And if you’re curious about MoneyTrack, why don’t you test it out? It’s a completely free service with a mobile app too.

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Comments (6)

  • Mike10613
    Love rating 599
    Mike10613 said

    If the average family is spending £3,320 a year on food, they have to budget. Spending more on restaurants than on food would suggest that Lovemoney tracker users have money to spare. Maybe they eat in restaurants 50% of the time? It would be thrifty to cut down the restaurant meals and buy more food. I added those household spends up to £14,000; I know a lot of people who don't earn that much!

    Report on 12 September 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • isobelsgrandma
    Love rating 35
    isobelsgrandma said

    Wow! It doesn't include petrol or utilities. In fact, apart from food and clothes, it's all luxuries. Who are these average people? I've never considered myself poor but I think I must be, happily so.

    Report on 12 September 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • conwp1
    Love rating 2
    conwp1 said

    mike10613 you will notice the statistics come from the Office of National Statistics for the whole of UK not the lovemoney tracker.

    Report on 13 September 2011  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • Tony Blair
    Love rating 0
    Tony Blair said

    What?? £8655 per year spent on alcohol, tobacco, hotel, restaurants, recreation and entertainment. Who are these people? That's £721 per month to spend on luxuries after all the bills have been paid. I can't believe that this is average. Someone on an average salary could never afford to spend that if they have a house, family and car(s) to pay for first.

    I'd also like to see how a family with that much to spend on luxuries manages to get by on £64 per week for food. Less than £10 per day for all meals for a typical family of 4. That's very hard to do. I'm not sure anyone would live on that level of food and then spend more than that on restaurants and hotels. I know these figures are from 2009 but come on, let's get real!

    Report on 10 October 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • fnc
    Love rating 0
    fnc said

    they spend more on restaurants and smoking, alcohol and recreation than I earned last year.

    how about some real tips for people living below the line to help them get out of it and have a reasonable standard of living besides.

    Report on 29 November 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • mrsakpoguma
    Love rating 0
    mrsakpoguma said

    im sorry but my husband and i work full time,we have four children.. we cant afford alcohol if we drink , tobacco,if we smoke, hotel, restaurants, recreation and entertainment.oh and luxuries. .Who are these people who spend £8655 a year.That's £721 per month to spend on luxuries and item above.after all the bills gas/elc. rent etc. have been paid. I can't believe this. .we are a average working family.we cant afford on our salary..xxx

    Report on 12 April 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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