£200 a week family of 5?

Oldernotwiser

z1a wrote: »

We have 2 kids, 13 & 7 Y.O. and have about £550/week after bills, and we can't save on a weekly basis, struggle to save for hols etc.

You struggle on £550 a week?:eek: After bills and housing costs?:eek::eek:

z1a

We don't struggle, but we are only just keeping our heads above water. I do smoke quite a bit though.:(

hcb42

There are only 2 of us and we spend about £50 a week on food, and we dont buy processed food on the whole and only frozen food tends to be that frozen fruit, for smoothies etc, we cook from scratch etc, and that covers packed lunches x 2 per day. We sometimes go a week with no real food shop, e.g. this week I am away in a hotel so we havent bothered much other than fresh stuff for his lunches etc, as he can live off the dregs in the store cupboard and fridge.

Now, my wine bill ,that is another story £200 a week might be a struggle there rofl.

allan673

"id like to struggle on £550 per week spare cash, my heart goes out to you. i wouldnt sleep at night."

2 adults here, food bill is £60 per week.

z1a

It's NOT £550 / week spare though, at the end of the week it's all gone - no spare money!

MrsBartolozzi

z1a wrote: »

It's NOT £550 / week spare though, at the end of the week it's all gone - no spare money!

It would be a very good idea for you to keep all your receipts and note down exactly how much you spent and on what. Do this for the coming week to let you see where you might cut down.
Could you take say £50 out of the bank and put it in a savings account/ hide it in a drawer and consider it spent already? If you don't need it by the end of the week put it towards savings (I find that if I have a goal in mind for my savings - eg holiday that regarding the money as "money for Egypt" rather than just money I can't spend helps.)
Consider taking out a set amount for groceries/petrol etc and then spending only that amount. This will focus your attention on how much you are spending at the time rather than blindly typing your pin in and not really seeing the total (if you know what I mean).

jen245

2 adults and 1 child in my house, and we spend between £50-£70 a week on food, depending on what we need, and that includes packed lunches for me and my son. I take £10 out at the start of the week, and make that last the week for my work expenses. Every spare penny we have left over, goes into savings.

MrandMrsB

slup wrote: »

Sorry but that's complete nonsense. You "have to" spend £30 per day just for the two of you? Do you shop at Harrods?

I used to buy my wholefoods from Harrods because they were cheaper than the local wholefood stores, and they delivered FOC. The services was superb, and they were ever so friendly. Very useful when one has to go shopping with children.

As for a couple spending £30 a day on food, it is easy to do so if for instance they buy a three-course ready meal each from M&S, lunches out or buy ready-made sandwiches.....I suspect that is the norm in London.

When I lived in London in 1970's I had plenty of income so I did not need to worry about how much I spent on food / going out. Rent on flat, food and household bills came to £40 a week, which was around half my income, so the rest was pocket money. How things have changed!

Having said that, since I married we have a low income, even though Mr B had a demanding professional job. We live in a beautiful yet deprived part of the country, where wages are low, and after paying school fees (cheapo private school), we only had enough for food and bills left over, so no luxuries at all.

At least we were prepared for our low income during our retirement! Our joint state pensions are under £200 a week after paying council tax, and we have a detached house / two acres of "gardens" to maintain. We are not starving since we have plenty of savings to dip into if necessary, although we are not doing so at present. We eat a lot of veg, and fruit when it's available, so spend almost half our income on food. Compare that with my position in London in the 70's!

MrandMrsB

z1a wrote: »

We have 2 kids, 13 & 7 Y.O. and have about £550/week after bills, and we can't save on a weekly basis, struggle to save for hols etc.

What? Really!

adamc260

Sainsbury advertise the 'feed a family of 4 for £50'... cant be £150 extra for 1 more person? I'd defo assume you could slash that by a lot