Can I live off £75/week?

Legacy_user

Hi

I have worked out if I can survive on £75 / week (for clothes, food and entertainment) I can pay my debts in 3 years.

Has anyone else done this or am I being too hard on myself?

I have a DMP but the estimated end date (2017) is so depressing I'd just rather not live for 3 years and get back on my feet.

Most of my friends are better off than me and enjoy going out drinking, dressing up etc. . so is there a place to meet other skint folk to hang out with?

Thanks!

the_cat

How many of you would the money have to cover?

If only for you, I would say it is very do-able, in fact I would say it was very generous!
If for a family however, I would probably have a different answer......

gonzo127

have you got a SOA ready which you can post up here if not please use the format in the following link
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
untill we see that its difficult to say exactly what you can do it for, however £75 a week for groceries, clothes and entitainment should be easy enough for one person, as its roughly £300 a month now since i know you can live of between £60-100 a month for groceries for one person having £200 a month for clothes and entitainment would be incrediable! (i would love that much)

true27

Hi,

I would say £75 is very generous and therefore easily doable!

I have a weekly budget of £50 for 2 adults, 1 child, 1 dog and 1 cat which covers food, clothes, entertainment, petrol and flea/wormer for the animals.

I don't know about a place where other skint people meet up (apart from on here ) but there's no reason you can't still go out with your friends - just go less often or buy cheaper drinks and don't get into buying rounds. Tell them you're saving up for something if you don't want to tell them about paying off debts.

HTH x

Tixy

For one person - yes I think so, £25 for food, say £20 for entertainment (which is quite generous) and say £5 for clothes all come to only £50. Is that really all you want to spend it on though - or does it need to cover haircuts, presents, toiletries and make up etc? what about travel/motor costs such as road tax.

There are loads of things you can do that aren't all about going out drinking and wearing new clothes each week. What are your hobbies etc? any night classes you would like to do etc? You might meet some more interesting people that way. Or what about having nights in with your friends instead sometimes, all bring a £5 bottle of wine and rent a DVD, or orange wednesday cinema tickets for a £1. Also keep an eye out in the weekly MSE email for deals and bogof offers at restaurants etc.

You may find your friends don't have as much free cash as it appears, they may also be in debt and unsure how to stop spending as well.

System

Hi guys

Thanks for making it seem do-able!

The-cat, yes it is just me.Gonzo, I am about to move so just working out what I have, but will do an SOA once I have. Tixy, yes haircuts etc would be included in that. If I have them!

Thanks for the tip True. I have the terrible fear that people will think I have been silly if they hear I have debts. Telling them I am saving up is a great idea!

tessie_bear

true27 wrote: »

Hi,

I would say £75 is very generous and therefore easily doable!

I have a weekly budget of £50 for 2 adults, 1 child, 1 dog and 1 cat which covers food, clothes, entertainment, petrol and flea/wormer for the animals.

I don't know about a place where other skint people meet up (apart from on here ) but there's no reason you can't still go out with your friends - just go less often or buy cheaper drinks and don't get into buying rounds. Tell them you're saving up for something if you don't want to tell them about paying off debts.

HTH x

my goodness u do well to cover all that on £50...what do u eat if u dont mind me asking

System

OK, Here's roughly what my SOA will look like:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1569
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1569
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 395
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 7
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 12
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 837

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
DMP............................15000.....180.......0
Total unsecured debts..........15000.....180.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,569
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 837
Available for debt repayments........... 732
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 180
Amount left after debt repayments....... 552
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,000
Net Assets.............................. -15,000
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I wanna aim to pay off about £500 / month

zarazara

Ashamed_of_Bristol wrote: »

OK, Here's roughly what my SOA will look like:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1569
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1569
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 395
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50

---

this is high, cut down,go PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100

---

this can be reduced,see Old Style thread,take sandwiches to work,buy reduced things at the supermarket.,drop a brand.
Clothing................................ 20

---

use what you have for now
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 7
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10

---

reduce to £8 or less
Haircuts................................ 12

---

leave an extra week between cuts
Entertainment........................... 100

---

reduce to £50 or less
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0

---

there should be something here.
Total monthly expenses.................. 837

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
DMP............................15000.....180.......0
Total unsecured debts..........15000.....180.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,569
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 837
Available for debt repayments........... 732
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 180
Amount left after debt repayments....... 552
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,000
Net Assets.............................. -15,000
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I wanna aim to pay off about £500 / month

and dont forget to cut up the credit cards and dont apply for any more. Use cash. If you dont have it you cant buy it.

PasturesNew

A single person, over 25, living alone in self-contained accommodation, who is unemployed gets rent and council tax paid ... and £65.45/week to cover all bills, clothes, food, life - AND jobhunting costs. So £75/week is easily doable.

Souk08

Hey, I spend about £40 a month on food (take lunch to work and cook proper food from scratch, it's so much cheaper) and then £50 a week for fun i.e meals out, meals in with friends, booze out and in, few clothes, haircuts and toiletries. I do well on this most of the time and have a fabby social life too. Friends all know I want rid of the cards this year and accept that I have to plan ahead a bit. I split my spare cash up and take out my budget each week so that I can only spend that. Toiletry shop in Savers, go to a trainee for your haircuts, go for 2 for 1 food, get your mates round for food at urs, buy wine on offer and go for it!