Britney Spears' lavish spending habits revealed
By Aislinn Simpson
Life may be hard at present for US pop diva Britney Spears, but she must take some comfort from the thousands of pounds she has to spend on clothes, dining out and partying each month.
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The 25-year-old was forced to reveal her lavish spending habits as part of the long-running court dispute between her and ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody rights over the couple's two children, Sean, 1, and Jayden, 2.
The pair were sent to live with their father last month after Spears drove without a valid licence.
According to court documents, Spears has around $737,000 (£352,775) to play with each month.
A notorious party animal since her divorce from dancer-turned-rapper Federline in July, she splashes out $102,000 (£48,823) on entertainment, gifts and holidays, $16,000 (£7,658) to ensure she never need wear the same outfit twice and $4,758 (£2,277) eating out.
Combined, the $122,758 (£58,759) a month - or $1.47m (£705,118) a year - the troubled star spends enjoying herself dwarfs the $500 (£239) a month or $6,000 (£2,872) a year she gives to charity.
To counter her hedonistic lifestyle, the diva spends $86,397 (£41,355) on health insurance premiums and other medical costs - believed to include regular stays in rehabilitation.
She also spends $61,271 (£29,387) on mortgage payments on her two US homes. And she still pays her ex-husband a total of $15,000 (£7,180) in child support and $20,000 (£9,573) in spousal support, although the latter ends on November 15.
Federline, by comparison, is a model of frugality. His biggest monthly expenses include $7,500 (£3,590) in rent and $6,000 (£2,872) in security, according to his financial declaration.
His clothing budget is an eighth the size of his former wife's at just $2,000 (£957) a month. He also spends about twenty times less - $5,000 (£2,393) - on entertainment, gifts and holidays, and three times less - $1,500 (£718) - on eating out.
Federline earned more than $500,000 (£239,332) in 2006, mainly from entertainment and endorsement deals, but after business expenses, he took home just $7,436 (£3,559) that year.
Spears' $100m fortune - accumulated through the sale of over 76 million records worldwide since she shot to fame a decade ago - looks set to inflate further with the release next week of her first album in four years, Blackout.
The title "refers to blocking out negativity and embracing life fully," said the star's record label Jive, and is expected to sell well, despite Spears' refusal to promote it.
The court documents released also revealed that Spears' children were removed from her custody last month because she was photographed defying an order not to drive them until she had a valid driving licence.
She subsequently obtained a temporary licence.
