How much do you live on per month?

Soundgirlrocks

MasterPoo wrote: »

£200 on food for 3 adults??? I'm doing something wrong and after writting how much I do spend on food its actually insane. I'm a single mom with 2 boys (16 and 10) and I spend £400 pcm on groceries!:eek::mad: I WANT TO REDUCE THIS!!

Hi Check out the Old school thread they ave loads of ideas on how to cut the grocery bill

Jebrelli

After bills, savings etc have been paid I tend to have around £500 left for the month for 2 adults. Commuting takes up about £150 of this and food/going out/everything else is about £200/month. If I'm good with cooking in bulk and bringing food to work, sometimes I can have £200 left at the end of the month, which gets transferred to savings.

I don't think I'm particularly good at saving on the small things - like having a takeaway coffee every day - so I'm always tempted to start a spending diary to see how much more I could save.

I paid off a £2,500 student overdraft in about 18 months, and continued my savings, using roughly the same budget above. It wasn't a huge debt, but the relief I felt at getting rid of it and removing the overdraft facility was amazing!

Svenena

I spend £60 per week on food and entertainment (eg meals out, wine, pub, cinema, etc), and I find it plenty, without having to shop at Lidl/Audi etc. I shop at Tesco, and about half the stuff I buy is branded goods. This is just for myself. I'd say the split is about 50/50, so £30 for food and household supplies, and £30 for fun stuff. When I was at uni, and trying to clear some debt, I managed on £27 a week for food AND entertainment, although that obviously meant careful planning and buying cheaper things. Definitely do-able though.

I have no idea how you manage to spend £100 a week! I often don't even spend the £60 (especially if I don't have a night out). Spending diary is definitely the way to go, so you can see what it is all going on. How much of the £100 a week goes on cigarettes?

dreamdreamer

It wasn't a huge debt, but the relief I felt at getting rid of it and removing the overdraft facility was amazing!

Getting rid of my overdraft is still the best thing I've done while debt-busting. Made it sooooo much easier to budget and was the debt that depressed me the most because I saw it every single time I logged onto my internet banking or withdrew money.

If I have a bit of money left over at the end of the month (its not normally above £40, the budget it tight!) I treat us to a takeaway on the weekend and the rest goes into my e-savings account. At the moment there's about £260 in there which I'll probably use for xmas presents.

goodgirl80

have a look at this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3010820

Lucy1010

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

I like these kinds of threads, probably because I am quite nosy. We are a family of four and I budget £350 a month for food, clothes, entertainment, kids activities etc. Food comes in at about £250 so that leaves me with £100. I would rather not spend this though, my mantra at the moment is "I WILL NOT BUY ANYTHING THAT IS NOT ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL".

For anyone who has not faced their financial demons, do it now. After a bit of practice I can manage a very tight budget quite well, the debts are slowly going down and I am happier than I have been in years. I have discovered that the kids dont need endless treats and expensive days out in the holidays and buying "stuff" is not the way to make your life better.

I am finding all responses SO HELPFUL, thanks, please keep them coming. I felt like a pauper compared to my friends but when I see just how many of you manage with families on less than I budget as a single person, it really inspires me.

What about the unexpected though? Say your car breaks down and costs £100's to repair, do you guys save as well as pay debts? From the advice I have heard from Martin Lewis, you shouldn't save but put all your extra cash towards your debts.

Lucy1010

Svenena wrote: »

I spend £60 per week on food and entertainment (eg meals out, wine, pub, cinema, etc), and I find it plenty, without having to shop at Lidl/Audi etc. I shop at Tesco, and about half the stuff I buy is branded goods. This is just for myself. I'd say the split is about 50/50, so £30 for food and household supplies, and £30 for fun stuff. When I was at uni, and trying to clear some debt, I managed on £27 a week for food AND entertainment, although that obviously meant careful planning and buying cheaper things. Definitely do-able though.

I have no idea how you manage to spend £100 a week! I often don't even spend the £60 (especially if I don't have a night out). Spending diary is definitely the way to go, so you can see what it is all going on. How much of the £100 a week goes on cigarettes?

I don't know how I do it either... I guess it's the smoking, cigs are a staggering £6.70 per pack and I tend to smoke about 15 a day on a bad day.... I enjoy wine so my money is spent on that too but I am careful and always look out for the special deals. As I said I cook all my own food from scratch and take my own for lunches at work.

backinbusiness

Lucy1010 wrote: »

What about the unexpected though? Say your car breaks down and costs £100's to repair, do you guys save as well as pay debts? From the advice I have heard from Martin Lewis, you shouldn't save but put all your extra cash towards your debts.

I read and understood Martin's sentiments re. not saving when in debt, but COULD NOT bring myself to empty my savings completely. I kept £500 there, and whilst I may have saved myself some interest had I paid debts off sooner with it, the peace of mind it gave me was incalcuable.

I got into debt partly through crashing from crisis to crisis without proper budgeting, so once I'd FINALLY grasped the concept of budgeting, I was never going to risk being without something for (genuine) emergencies ever again.

Now the debts are gone - I am saving with the same (insane) fervour I applied to paying off my debts.

BiB x

Lucy1010

backinbusiness wrote: »

I read and understood Martin's sentiments re. not saving when in debt, but COULD NOT bring myself to empty my savings completely. I kept £500 there, and whilst I may have saved myself some interest had I paid debts off sooner with it, the peace of mind it gave me was incalcuable.

I got into debt partly through crashing from crisis to crisis without proper budgeting, so once I'd FINALLY grasped the concept of budgeting, I was never going to risk being without something for (genuine) emergencies ever again.

Now the debts are gone - I am saving with the same (insane) fervour I applied to paying off my debts.

BiB x

Thanks, I am keeping £100 per month back (not from my £400 budget) from my salary for emergencies like the car but want to up this to £150, I do not want to spend on my card on emergencies ever again, it's what has got me into this mess in the first place (oh and the added comfort that I had a partner who helped with the mortgage and bills) now he's gone it's just me and my salary

Svenena

I'm sure it's been suggested elsewhere on this thread (I did read it through earlier, but don't remember it all now), but if you post an SOA, people will be able to suggest where you can make other cutbacks.

I think putting aside some of your money for emergencies is a great idea, but once you've got a bit (say £500, if you're worried about car breakdowns), chuck everything else at any debts, because you'll probably be paying huge amounts of interest. The sooner you can clear debts, the sooner you will have excess money each month to put towards savings.

Once you've cleared your debts, putting money away every month for both emergencies and annual costs is an excellent idea. So for example I put aside £81 a month in a "car" account, which is a 12th of my annual cost for insurance, tax, MOT, repairs and fuel.