MSE News: The £14,400 minimum cost of living

Ames

You can eat good fresh food cheaply. And of course fresh isn't always best, unless it's straight out of your garden, which wouldn't come under food spending anyway.

tbh444

Having lived in various houseshares I think a big problem is expectations re. heating - many people these days seem to expect an entire house to be constantly warm through winter so e.g. a t-shirt is comfortable, personally I try to use the heating only when it's properly cold and after putting a layer or two hasn't done the job (I'm sure this was the norm in the sixties). With ever increasing gas prices this can make a big difference to outgoings and has been the cause of much frustration coming home to find it on full blast on mild September days!

[Deleted User]

To be fair on the original researchers who put together this report, I don't think they're muddling up 'need' and 'want' at all. It's suggesting that there is a minimum standard of 'living'. It's living, not merely existing. Otherwise, you could readily argue that the minimum cost of living would be nothing more than the cost for the provision of water and food that covers the core categories of nutrient.

It's a theme I see throughout this site, especially on the DFW wannabe board. Some things like the internet aren't really 'luxuries' in this day and age. People deserve the right to have some kind of a life. You can't reasonably expect people to lock themselves in a tent and eat rice all the time. The minimum standard merely reflects this.

In terms of the internet, it's also demonstrated that those without internet access are at a financial disadvantage to those who are. They can't access jobs, certain education, discounts and much more. Compare the non-MSE user with the MSE-user and see how much one saves over the other, for example!

saccerzd

Having seen this £14,000 figure, I feel very lucky for how I've lived this year! Of course, not having children makes a huge difference, but I still think you can live reasonably well on less than £14,000 depending on your circumstances - the figures given for cultural activities and clothes budget seem very high in the link.

I'm a student renting with my girlfriend in York. We pay £300p/m each for rent, around £50p/m on food and I also have to pay for running a car. We don't pay council tax (yet!), but have all our other bills to pay. I get some money from my parents if I'm a bit short, but nothing significant. I also have a credit card, which is paid off in full every month.

Income for the past academic year:
No student loan
£5000 advance from a job I'll be starting in September
£100p/w from part-time job (this is a maximum - it's less during exam periods etc)

which equals roughly £10,000. Even taking into account money from other sources, it's nowhere near £11,000.

On that budget, we eat out fairly frequently, go to the cinema/theatre occasionally, pay £20p/m gym membership and, generally, as long as we're not stupid or extravagant with paying for things, we can budget for anything we want to do. I try and minimise paying for clothes and electronics as much as possible.

We like to travel and also seek out cheap deals for holidays. In the past year, we will have been on 3 holidays abroad: 1 weeks Austria skiing (over New Year!) in a youth hostel, eating out every night; 1 week all-inclusive 4* in Fuerteventura in June; and hopefully a couple of weeks cheap travelling in Eastern Europe next month. Hand luggage only for all the trips definitely keeps costs down, and we share taxis or get buses.

It's my first post here, but I just wanted to say that it's still possible to live fairly well on a budget

ViolaLass

The problem is 'living' versus 'existing' is such a subjective thing. We can all roughly agree on the things we absolutely need - a secure home, food, clothes etc - but what constitutes the extras that, while not wild luxuries, make life pleasant is up to the individual. I'm not sure a survey that averages out everyone's answers ends up being applicable to anyone.

What does the answer tell us? Has anyone had the calculator tell them that they need less than they're earning? And what are you supposed to do if the calculator tells you that you 'need' twice as much money? You'll still going to have the amount that you have and you really need to learn to live within it or earn more (and who isn't trying to do that anyway?!). I just don't see that the calculator is very pointful.

mancub764

£14400- I wish. I am on a pension of £653 p.m. net- £520 after paying maintenance. I have been trying to get work for ages without success. I am not entitled to benefits as this amount is too high for me to be eligible. I manage to run my car, pay my bills, drink alcohol, smoke and occassionally have a two for £9 at the local pub. I dont have much of a social life, cant afford holidays, and cant treat my children when I see them every other weekend. I now have three paper rounds on a Wednesday paying about £16-17 p.w.

No particular point to make other than it can be done on a lot less than £14000 although you have to give up luxuries which for me is easy as i am totally non-materialistic.

Cheery_Daff

Oh dear, I'm £6000 a year short! Oops!

Should save that by not spending £76 a week on food for 2 of us (!), £15 on clothes, £19 on 'household goods and services', £16 on 'personal goods and services' and £64 on social and cultural activities (a month more like between the two of us!)

I guess the interesting thing is what it says about what the people asked considered to be a minimum cost of living.

paulwf

ViolaLass wrote: »

The problem is 'living' versus 'existing' is such a subjective thing. We can all roughly agree on the things we absolutely need - a secure home, food, clothes etc - but what constitutes the extras that, while not wild luxuries, make life pleasant is up to the individual. I'm not sure a survey that averages out everyone's answers ends up being applicable to anyone.

What does the answer tell us? Has anyone had the calculator tell them that they need less than they're earning? And what are you supposed to do if the calculator tells you that you 'need' twice as much money? You'll still going to have the amount that you have and you really need to learn to live within it or earn more (and who isn't trying to do that anyway?!). I just don't see that the calculator is very pointful.

I don't think their research is really aimed for individuals to use. I know they have a calculator but that seems to be a bit of a gimmick to broaden the reach of their results.

If you read their press release - http://www.jrf.org.uk/media-centre/MIS-2010 - it doesn't look like the intention is for any of us to sit down and compare our SOA against their suggestions (although that could be a very good first step if someone is massively overspending).

Rather it appears to be aimed at government social policy makers, those that decide whether benefits track the CPI or RPI and what the minimum wage should be etc. Obviously the treasury aren't going to abide by it's findings but it does present policy makers with a realistic picture. As before alternatives to this report are mostly arbitrary and therefore of little use such as setting poverty levels at some random level below average income.

PasturesNew

Just to be a pedant (we do that here):

saccerzd wrote: »

I'm a student renting with my girlfriend in York. We pay £300p/m each for rent, around £50p/m on food and I also have to pay for running a car. We don't pay council tax (yet!), but have all our other bills to pay. I get some money from my parents if I'm a bit short, but nothing significant. I also have a credit card, which is paid off in full every month.

£300/month is very very low.

saccerzd wrote: »

Income for the past academic year:
No student loan
£5000 advance from a job I'll be starting in September
£100p/w from part-time job (this is a maximum - it's less during exam periods etc)
which equals roughly £10,000.

Didn't the academic year start in October? So that's just 9 months, not 12? Making your £10k now be equivalent to more like £13-14k?

If you were single and not a student, you could probably add £2k/year just because most rents aren't £300/month and council tax will be nearly another £100.

There's a world of difference between being a student on a limited income - and living your life on one, alone too.

Not being mean, just jotting down my thoughts.

ViolaLass

paulwf wrote: »

I don't think their research is really aimed for individuals to use. I know they have a calculator but that seems to be a bit of a gimmick to broaden the reach of their results.

If you read their press release - http://www.jrf.org.uk/media-centre/MIS-2010 - it doesn't look like the intention is for any of us to sit down and compare our SOA against their suggestions (although that could be a very good first step if someone is massively overspending).

Rather it appears to be aimed at government social policy makers, those that decide whether benefits track the CPI or RPI and what the minimum wage should be etc. Obviously the treasury aren't going to abide by it's findings but it does present policy makers with a realistic picture. As before alternatives to this report are mostly arbitrary and therefore of little use such as setting poverty levels at some random level below average income.

Thanks for that. If the intention was to help the government define what constitutes poverty, then I can see how the exercise could be more useful than it initially appeared.