Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

cw18

slowlyfading -- I don't think it's actually much cheaper for a 'singleton' compared to a couple...... things like Council Tax only come down 25%, water rates (if you're not on a meter) don't get reduced, and you still use as many pans etc when cooking !!

Income Support gives £60.50/week for a single person (over 25), but only £94.95 for a couple (where both are over 18).
(these equate to £3146 a year for a single person, or £4937.40 for a couple)

So they reckon a single person needs 63.7% of the income of a couple in order to maintain the same standard of living.

So if a couple needs £4k, then a single person should need £2548 (plus they'd get rent and council tax on top of those figures!)


Hmmm...... actually, I can see where you're coming from!! But do you include things like a car or travel expenses in your budget? IS wouldn't expect you to be paying for things like that


ETA: If on income support you'd also get free dental treatment, free prescriptions and free eye checks/glasses -- and this can add up over the year too !!

slowlyfading

Thanks guys! and cw, I do include petrol and car stuff in my budget, shouldn't i?

cw18

if the car is only/mainly for work commuting, then Nyk's [STRIKE]rules[/STRIKE] guidelines say not.

as I don't have a job anymore I can't discount mine -- but 99% of the use was personal anyway, so I'd have included mine had I been doing this challenge even 5 years ago

slowlyfading

Oh right - I use mine mainly to get to work.. hm..

tryingtodobetter

I put a percentage of car costs into my budget for this as I use it for both work, Uni and running around in (not literally).

carolbee

Hi all,

This is my first budget for 2009- to be continually refined/reduced of course!

House/contents
insurance £235
Internet £180
Birthdays £150 – plan to make presents/be money neutral on this
Xmas £150 – as above
BT/18866 £360 – estimate, both kids live abroad, we use ‘call carriers’ to keep cost down
Pet food/vet £240 - estimate
Contact lens £120 – will shop around when I need them next
Fuel £1600 – based on current DD, annual review due on this April, am keeping weekly note of usage, and will change level of monthly DD so they don’t have the use of our money, thanks Martin
Food/toiletries £3000 – this must be seriously reduced
Leisure £600 to include hair cuts, this includes the cost of ie taking a bottle when going out to dinner.
Anything else £365

TOTAL £7000


I plan to go back to keeping a daily record of exactly where each penny goes from 1 January. As insurance, internet provider etc come due for renewal, I plan to shop around for best deal/cashback etc

Not including: Mortgage, council tax, water bills, car expenses, TV licence, boiler maintenance. Clothing and things like spectacles, large household expenses come out of separate amount budgeted for every month

As we tend to budget monthly, and some things are estimates, anything we don’t spend (and I don’t intend spending it all) will be swept into a separate savings account in case of need. I find I budget better being ‘given’ a bit more, and get a thrill out of beating the budget – each to their own!

sophiesmum_2

Bails -alphabet fridge magnets - saw these in morrisons last week for 99p, they were hanging off one of shelves in baking aisle . I was looking for silver cake board at the time for work.

the_cat

OOOOOOOHHHHHHH

Just popping in between preparing things for charity dinner. I got an email to say I'd won a 'beauty hamper' worth £30:j :j

Now I 'should' save it for a birthday present for my SIL as part of money neutral challenge.............. erm, anyone got some spare willpower to send my way:rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Lucky you :j :j
Mmmm nope sorry can't send you any spare will power at moment i am needing it all myself to resist the choccies and mince pies here:rotfl: :rotfl: , maybe have a peek at it when it arrives and see if you really can't live without it:rolleyes:

I am supposed to be setting questions for tomorrow nights quiz evening and hot pot supper but seem to have wandered onto here:rolleyes:

carolbee

sending the_cat will power - I have some left over as I didn't use it when the choc called 'Carolbee come to me', feel free to use it all, after all it's nearly xmas.