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Reasonable Amount to Live on Per Week?

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Jaelor
Jaelor Posts: 80 Forumite
in Old style MoneySaving
Hi All

I'm posting quite a lot on the 'Debt Free Wannabe' board at the mo and I've been trawling through this board to get some helpful hints.

At the moment, me and DH are living on around £297 per month :eek: - this is for all food, petrol, spends, etc - basically, anything that isn't a bill!!! I've managed to make progress on the grocery front and will join in the challenge for October. I'm currently due my first baby on the 22nd September and with various benefits, cut backs, etc, we'll be up to around £107 per week - that's for me, DH & bubba.

Is this do-able?

J
Jaelor :hello:

We all make mistakes - that's why they put rubbers on the end of pencils

«13

Comments

  • AnnaV
    AnnaV Posts: 531 Forumite
    I don't have kids so have no idea but just wanted to say congratulations on your pregnancy xxx
    Anna :beer:
  • MATH
    MATH Posts: 2,941 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    It's tight buy yes it is doable. Once all my bills are paid by DD and Mrs MATH has her monthley allowance I know that providing there is still £280-£300 left I can cover all food for a family of five, clothes for me and the three kids, children's club subs and have £10 to put some petrol in my car.

    Most months there is a lot more left than £280 but when needs must I know we can survive on much less.
    Life's a beach! Take your shoes off and feel the sand between your toes.
  • apprentice_tycoon
    apprentice_tycoon Posts: 3,300 Forumite
    Can you just outline exactly what the £107 has to pay for? and then everyone will chip in with great ideas for you
  • Jaelor
    Jaelor Posts: 80 Forumite
    £107 will need to cover....

    All food for hubby and me for the month
    Petrol for one car (around £47 to fill up every fortnight, so a big slice of it...we are getting a smaller car in April, but stuck with this for the while as its an employee car scheme thing)
    Nappies
    General spending money

    We're not going out or anything at the moment, and I'm paying more attention to shopping but could do with some tips on the grocery front.
    Jaelor :hello:

    We all make mistakes - that's why they put rubbers on the end of pencils

  • Curry_Queen
    Curry_Queen Posts: 5,589 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Jaelor wrote:
    £107 will need to cover....

    All food for hubby and me for the month
    Petrol for one car (around £47 to fill up every fortnight, so a big slice of it...we are getting a smaller car in April, but stuck with this for the while as its an employee car scheme thing)
    Nappies
    General spending money

    We're not going out or anything at the moment, and I'm paying more attention to shopping but could do with some tips on the grocery front.


    Have I read this right that you're paying £94 a month on petrol leaving just £13 a month to cover everything else? :eek: :confused:
    "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"
    ~
    It is that what you do, good or bad,
    will come back to you three times as strong!
  • bonnie_2
    bonnie_2 Posts: 1,463 Forumite
    dont forget your child benifit and tax credit for the nappies and milk etc without petrol you would be able to do it but not with.
  • Ticklemouse
    Ticklemouse Posts: 5,030 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    No CQ - it's £107 PER WEEK with £94 per month spent on fuel.

    Try the washable nappies route - although make sure you get the ones that fit your baby. I spent a fortune of ones for DS2 and they never really fitted him and leaked all the time :( Sold them on ebay, so there could be a good place to look.

    Menu plan and thus plan your shopping list. If you can, do bigger shops and get it delivered - there are lots of Tesco's online vouchers around which more than cover the delivery adn then you also only buy what you need. Get fresh fruit/veg from the market as and when. Remember you can bulk buy and freeze milk, cheese, raw and cooked meats, butter as well as your HM meals.

    Read through sarahsavers thread - she had to fund 4 on a VERY limited budget for a while. I'll see if I can find it....

    Here you go - there may be something useful in this thread...
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=24210

    HTH

    TM
  • culpepper
    culpepper Posts: 4,076 Forumite
    The old terry squares were all we used nappy wise.They were just folded differently to fit the bubs as they got bigger.
    I found wiriting down EVERYTHING we bought and how much it cost was an eye opener.It showed me where all the money was going and let me concentrate on reducing the greatest expense. It was a bit of a bother to do but so useful.Some things like branded shampoo,soaps etc could be reduced just by buying non branded.
    Writing a list is very useful too.I only go for things on the list and if I see something I didnt write down,I'll only buy it if its essential eg.If I saw yeast but it wasnt on the list I'd buy it because we couldnt make bread otherwise but if I saw raisins and I knew we still had currants at home ,I'd leave them as we have an alternative.
  • apprentice_tycoon
    apprentice_tycoon Posts: 3,300 Forumite
    There is a thread here on having a baby 'old style'
  • Jaelor
    Jaelor Posts: 80 Forumite
    Sorry - I didn't make myself very clear, £107 per week to live on which I guess around £22 of needs to go on petrol.

    Many thanks for the thread link - definately a few ideas in there for me to try!
    Jaelor :hello:

    We all make mistakes - that's why they put rubbers on the end of pencils

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