How much do you live on per month?

Catslovelycats

re comments about Martin
I'm sure I've seen him advocating the idea of building up savings of about 6 months' worth of salary alongside paying off debts.
Something I'm trying hard to do.

HappyMJ

goodgirl80 wrote: »

I agree with you, but I spend £25/week on ALL groceries for two humans, and one grown up cat. And we eat quite a bit

That really isn't much. Assuming the cat has about £5 worth of cat food, litter, flea and worming treatments, toys and so on every week that leaves you £20. Let's say £6 on cleaning products such as washing powder, dishwashing liquid, sponges, scourers, soaps, deodorants. That £14 left for food for 2 at only £1 per person per day. Well done....CCCS recommends a lot more at £45 for 1 person for 1 week.

stubruscooby

currently im on £20 for electric and £30 per month on food

HappyMJ

stubruscooby wrote: »

currently im on £20 for electric and £30 per month on food

Well done...Not sure how you do it but £20 per month buys me 5kw of electric per day @13p/kw. My base usage is 3kw per day so £20 per month would give me 1 hour of heating per day. I use a lot more than that. The electric heater is on around 8-12 hours per day costing me £90 per month.

As for food for £30 per month it helps when you a part time chef and can get cheap or free food and it also helps when you can eat at your families and friends homes on a regular basis.

beachie

HappyMJ wrote: »

That really isn't much. Assuming the cat has about £5 worth of cat food, litter, flea and worming treatments, toys and so on every week that leaves you £20. Let's say £6 on cleaning products such as washing powder, dishwashing liquid, sponges, scourers, soaps, deodorants. That £14 left for food for 2 at only £1 per person per day. Well done....CCCS recommends a lot more at £45 for 1 person for 1 week.

I have budgeted £15 for the above for me and my cat and seems to work.

By going at the right time to the supermarket I can get a weeks worth of food for around £5. I try and make my meals at around £1 a day. :-D

Looking at the above, £6 a week on cleaning products is a huge amount!

£45 a week for 1 person sounds a massive amount - £6.42 a day!

Sunday afternoon I got the following:
Pack of 6 sausages x 2 - 19p each
Pack of mince - 30p
French Bread - 30p
Bag of carrots - 20p
Bag of potatoes - £50p
Cheese - £2 (instead of £4)
Loaf of brown bread (stays fresh longer) - 30p

The above totals £4.18 and my meal plan for this week is:

Monday Breakfast - Cereal with milk (repeated everyday)
Monday Lunch - Cheese and Mayo french stick.
Monday Dinner - 2 Sausages and mash with gravy with carrots.
Tuesday Lunch - Cheese and Mayo french stick.
Tuesday Dinner - Curried Cottage Pie with carrots.
Wednesday Lunch - 2 sausages in frech stick.
Wednesday Dinner - Left over cottage pie.
Thursday Lunch - Jacket Potato with cheese.
Thursday Dinner - Carrot Soup.
Friday Lunch - Left over carrot soup.
Friday Dinner - Cheesy Chips - made with potatoes/cheese

And I will still have cheese, a couple of sausages and some potatoes left so will have cost £4.18 this week!

HappyMJ

beachie wrote: »

I have budgeted £15 for the above for me and my cat and seems to work.

By going at the right time to the supermarket I can get a weeks worth of food for around £5. I try and make my meals at around £1 a day. :-D

Looking at the above, £6 a week on cleaning products is a huge amount!

£45 a week for 1 person sounds a massive amount - £6.42 a day!

Sunday afternoon I got the following:
Pack of 6 sausages x 2 - 19p each What on earth are these made from? 8 rubbish value sausages are 50p containing only 32% pork.

Pack of mince - 30p Same here!!! 30p for beef mince?

French Bread - 30p
Bag of carrots - 20p Where from carrots are 7p each so thats 3. Even a tin of baby carrots are 19p.
Bag of potatoes - £50p That's about 5.
Cheese - £2 (instead of £4) Is it on special every week?
Loaf of brown bread (stays fresh longer) - 30p Cheap rubbish value bread.

The above totals £4.18 and my meal plan for this week is:

Monday Breakfast - Cereal with milk (repeated everyday)
Monday Lunch - Cheese and Mayo french stick.
Monday Dinner - 2 Sausages and mash with gravy with carrots.
Tuesday Lunch - Cheese and Mayo french stick.
Tuesday Dinner - Curried Cottage Pie with carrots.
Wednesday Lunch - 2 sausages in frech stick.
Wednesday Dinner - Left over cottage pie.
Thursday Lunch - Jacket Potato with cheese.
Thursday Dinner - Carrot Soup.
Friday Lunch - Left over carrot soup.
Friday Dinner - Cheesy Chips - made with potatoes/cheese

And I will still have cheese, a couple of sausages and some potatoes left so will have cost £4.18 this week!

Looks like a well balanced diet. No thanks.

£6.42 per day for me includes absolutely everything. And not the cheapest of the cheapest specials at 7pm at night depending on if it's in stock or not. (I really do like shopping at that time though). It includes drinks as well and a takeaway every now and again.

curlytop12

determined_new_ms wrote: »

ok suggestions are

1. shop at the discount shops - I shop at Lidl & Aldi (I used to have a Nettos in our town but it recently closed ) then do top up shopping at Asda - go at the times when they discount foods (there's a thread in the os board about this :T)

2. whenever I cook something "wet" curry/spag/chilli/sweet & sour etc I add red lentils & whatever veg is on offer to bulk it out

3. try to have 1 or 2 meat free days a week (spanish omlette or jacket pots & tuna/salad/baked beans & cheese )

4. work out which basic stuff is ok & use it - pasta/rice/some cleaning products/some biscuits/tinned toms again there is a whole thread on what basics are ok where

5. meal plan and work out weekly menu based on what you have

6. make your own cakes for snacks during the week while the oven is on cooking something else - cheap, cheerful and at no extra energy costs

7. spend some time on the os board really is fantastic :money:

8. buy a slightly bigger chicken & roast and then make 1 or 2 additional meals out of the leftovers

9. invest in a slow cooker you can then get cheaper cuts of meat and slow cook - again some delish recipes on the os board

it took some time to get there, I have to do it on my own if my oh comes with me I'm bgugered! I also buy a sack of spuds from a farm for £3.50, store in the garage & that lasts 3 months & use star drops for cleaning. hths x

love your planner,thankyou!
G:A

serious_saver

Each month we each put £550 into a joint account which covers rent, all bills, including council tax and all groceries. Our groceries probably average at £200 for both of us but our shopping trolley is largely filled with discount ranges and special offers. Our food shop has definitely been creeping up in price recently though despite our best efforts to keep it down. Our biggest expenditure without a doubt is running our cars. I generally allow about £200 per month on pocket money for myself and the rest goes into savings. If I need to buy anything else I will take money from my savings but I always feel guilty so I tend to take out only what I absolutely need. I haven't been as good this month because I've bought myself an new phone and booked a holiday.

beachie

HappyMJ wrote: »

Looks like a well balanced diet. No thanks.

£6.42 per day for me includes absolutely everything. And not the cheapest of the chepest specials at 7pm at night depending on if it's in stock or not. (I do like shopping then mind). It includes drinks as well and a takeaway every now and again.

I said that I went at the right time so got it all reduced from Mr S at about 3.45pm on Sunday.

Pack of 6 sausages x 2 - 19p each - Reduced from £1.99 each. Pork and Apple.

Pack of mince - 30p Reduced from £2.99

French Bread - 30p
Bag of carrots - 20p Originally £1 (on offer)
Bag of potatoes - £50p 1kg pack.
Cheese - £2 (instead of £4) Special Offer
Loaf of brown bread (stays fresh longer) - 30p Hovis Best of Both

HappyMJ

beachie wrote: »

I said that I went at the right time so got it all reduced from Mr S.

Pack of 6 sausages x 2 - 19p each - Reduced from £1.99 each. Pork and Apple.

Pack of mince - 30p Reduced from £2.99

French Bread - 30p
Bag of carrots - 20p Originally £1 (on offer)
Bag of potatoes - £50p 1kg pack.
Cheese - £2 (instead of £4) Special Offer
Loaf of brown bread (stays fresh longer) - 30p Hovis Best of Both

I do love a good special when I come across one. It's not possible for me to do that. I shop online and get everything delivered. Therefore everything is fresh. If I were to actually go to sainsburys at the right time it would have to cost me a taxi journey to get home. Making it not worth doing.