Your monthly budget?

[corbuso]

A simple question: What is your monthly budget or the average money that you spend each month in whiskies?

Thank you for answering

[vitara7]

being a collecotr,my monthly budget is set on simply what i can lay my hands on at a good price, sometimes ill spend as little at £100 - £150 in a month, other months around £1000 or more, just depends on what i can get.

[vitara7]

in january just past as an example, id say ive spent just over £600

[peergynt323]

I think around $300/month on average?

[Badmonkey]

My monthly whisky budget is now down to $0.00. I have imposed a 5-month moratorium on new whisky purchases in hopes of making a dent in my collection, saving some coin, and infusing a touch of sanity back into my spending habits. Lucky for me, I have more than enough heavy fuel in the collection to keep me running through the winter and spring.

Prior to the imposition of the moratorium, I was spending about $150/month on whisky, more if you include tastings and festivals.

[Frodo]

I usually buy in bulk when I find a nice sale, so the concept of a monthly budget is foreign to me...

[Muskrat Portage]

Averaging over the past 168 months that I've been keeping track of my collecting and based on how many SMs I own, estimating at $100.00 per unit, I would calculate that I have averaged $75.59 per month since 1992. Based on the bottles I have left at present.
Muskrat

[misa]

Way too much. Collecting and drinking probably do not go well together. 600-1400 euros per month about covers it. My girlfriend would do bad things to me if she ever found out. But hey, it´s my money (in my dreams).

[Muskrat Portage]

Way too much. ... My girlfriend would do bad things to me if she ever found out. But hey, it´s my money (in my dreams).

Misa:
Never anger the woman who knows where you sleep!
Muskrat

[Di Blasi]

I voted the least possible, because I don't have a regular monthly budget. I buy very little here in Norway normally, and mostly save it for when I travel to insure my kroner goes a bit further with good exchange rates and special bottlings and things I can't get over here.

[misa]

Way too much. ... My girlfriend would do bad things to me if she ever found out. But hey, it´s my money (in my dreams).

Misa:
Never anger the woman who knows where you sleep!
Muskrat

Who says she does?

[Muskrat Portage]

Muskrat

[Deactivated Member]

What's a budget?

[Di Blasi]

I'm once again saving coins in a coffee tin, so if I do make it over to Scotland in April I can blow it all on whisky!!!

[Deactivated Member]

We had a similar question a while back--I think it was how much do you spend in a year. My immediate answer now is as then: I don't know, and I don't want to. And as then, I feel (unfortunately) compelled to figure it out.

Like many, I don't have a monthly budget. My spending is sporadic, and peaks in October, when I visit Scotland. When I divide total spending for 2006 (which was almost certainly less than for 2005) by 12, my average monthly expenditure comes to:

US$72.92
£37.95
Cn$23.58 (theoretically--it's almost all earned credit)

or about US$165/month.

I'm really surprised it's that much, but it really is concentrated in spots--all of the UK purchases (nearly half the total) were in October, except for one mail order, and a good part of the US purchases were a few expensive bottles. I don't expect to spend as much this year. Of course, I didn't expect to spend that much last year, either.

[Paul A Jellis]

No idea. I don't give myself any sort of budget, when there is a space on the shelf I fill it.

If I am going up to Scotland I will re-stock with quite a few bottles, next week I shall be in Cornwall and will pop into Constantine Stores (better known as http://www.drinkfinder.co.uk) to buy a few bottles, just before Christmas I took advantage of the Supermarket deals and some months I don't spend anything on whisky.

Like some others I don't want to work out just how much I spend on whisky, I'll only worry about that when I can no longer afford it!

[TheLaddie]

How long is a piece of string?

Depends on what takes my fancy and how much money I have got.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I usually buy in bulk when I find a nice sale, so the concept of a monthly budget is foreign to me...

Ditto but I'm not overly eager to divulge what I spend at the same time

[les taylor]

I just hope my accountant doesn't work out how much I spend. Personally I don't want to know.

[Bullie]

Eh... Well, none of the above... Just about every penny I earn, after paying the bills. Just about £450-550 a month average. But then I count in tastings, bottles, literature, courses and whiskytravels.

[vitara7]

ive not even included whisky travel in mine...

last year, went to islay for the weekend at the start of the festival, and spent about £1500, not all on whisky though, but the weekend cost me that. went to barcalona the following day for a week and spent less on the weekend...

but its worth it though, going back again, and again and again....

[Ardbeg311]

More than some on this forum and less than others. Actually, when I sat down just to see the numbers it was a bit of an eyeopener as I didn't think I was spending that much. The positive spin I put on this is that I actually have not drank that much money in scotch and that unopened bottles, therefore, shouldn't count.

[fishboy]

I probably average about £100-£150 permonth, but it varies. For example in January I only bought 1 bottle for £22. but in the summer when I'll be on Islay for 2 weeks i've no doubt I'll more than make up for it (last year I spent £1500 - although half of that was on a cask!)

Fishboy

[Rory B Bellows]

The lowest, otherwise the phrase "we can't afford more furniture" is not a sufficient excuse. Unless that furniture is meant to store more malts, then I'll try to phrase it carefully.

[Mark]

I have become quite sensible with my buying. I realised it made sense to stock up around Christmas time when all the supermarkets are offering great savings on whisky. For example last Christmas one offer Tesco had was a bottle of Highland Park 12 for £15, i bought 6 bottles saving around £60.

Mark

[Leither]

I realised it made sense to stock up around Christmas time when all the supermarkets are offering great savings on whisky.

Mark

Ditto for me at xmas time of year Mark, I stock up on standard malts - you'll also find the same happens around May and early June in the build up to Father's day. Tesco in particular are one to watch - last year they had £5 off the majority of their malts. The great thing for us UK consumers is that Asda and the likes follow suit and they then undercut each other.

Other arguments suggest that supermarkets are squeezing suppliers too much but I doubt if the distilleries are losing money and it gives them a great opportunity to move stocks fast. Meanwhile us consumers benefit.

[kljostad]

I don't have a monthly budget as such, but if I take what I spend on whisky in a year, and divide it by 12, I guess it will be between 80-110 £.

[mithril]

I picked the middle option but like many here I choose it because it was closest, not not really accurate. I try to budget myself a new bottle every pay cheque but I don't really set a dollar amount on so the amount spent can vary from 2 $60 bottles to 2 $120 bottles. $50/bottle is about the cheapest you can find SMW in my area and $65 - $95 is the range for the most common expressions.

[titus]

I follow a simple yet rewarding (sometimes) principle.
I take $100 dollars to the casino every month, no more, no less.
I play some blackjack. If i lose, well i lose, if i win and i have on numerous occassions, then the winning goes towards WHISKY!!! (Yum yum)

I 've been lucky enough to win $1200 on one occassion. You can imagine the lovely drops i bought!

[Aidan]

My budget is under €60 per month. Unfortunately, it seems I spend far in excess of this every month.

I'll have to stop. I have enough.

[IainB]

My budget is under €60 per month. Unfortunately, it seems I spend far in excess of this every month.

I'll have to stop. I have enough.

That's the point. There's a big difference between the concept of a budget and the concept of actual spending. (I'm an accountant, I know these things.) The question should maybe be what's your budget and how much do you actually exceed this on average.

That said, I think I'll refrain from putting any actual figures up here - my wife knows I post to this forum! I find the best justification for myself comes down to three things:

(1) I used to go out a lot more before I had children and the money I now spend on whisky is a lot less than what I spent on going out. In the old days (4 years ago) with taxis, clubs etc. the average night night was at least €100 plus (without even eating out). Now if I go for a few pints in the local the average night out costs €20 - €30. So there's €70 p.w. that can be spent on whiskey.

(2) Even with most of the better whiskies, when you break it down to cost per measue (Irish measure is 35.5ml, so therefore about 20 in a 700ml bottle) it still works out cheaper than the price of a pint of Guinness in the average Dublin Pub!

(3) It's also an investment , kind of. I just worked out the other night that if it all went horribly wrong and I'd no money to spend I currently have enoungh whiskey in the house to get me drunk 3 days a week for about 4 years.

Yes I know, the things accountants think about are kinda weird.

[martin grant]

What a great accountant type answer Iain!

Like you I spend much less on going out since becoming a father. Unlike you I've never actually sat down and worked out how much I'm saving by staying in of an evening. This is something I'm going to have to work out this afternoon, in a futile attempt at convincing my wife that by spending cash on whisky, I'm actually saving money.[/img]

[Ganga]

I set a budget of $50-100 a month. And the accountant is correct. The measure is whether you make budget and if not by how much did you exceed said budget. Looking at this, my annual budget would be $600-1200. I probably spend more on the order of $1600-2000. It's usually those couple of months where you find the "gotta have it" bottle.

[Feldrin]

I have no idea how much precisely, seeing as how it goes in bursts over random times. I do know it is getting more and more. First it was one bottle at a time, preferably something around 30 euros, then it went up to a total of 50 euros and the last time I went I reached the 70 euros. But that did get me a bottle of Longmorn 15y and a Monkey Shoulder.

So, as far as I know, it’s below a 100 Euro for sure. And I don't think I'll get above that soon. Being a student doesn't quite mean a huge budget.

[Onefortheditch]

My spend on whisky is only dependent on negotiating cupboard space with my wife!! I get another shelf, I spend

And I just don't understand why we need all those clothes and crockery and other stuff?