food budget per person per week

Standingtall

Vicky - you thanked me for the advice I gave you earlier so please, listen to me now. This forum is called Debt Free Wannabe - if you are on this forum then the implication is that you want to be free of your debts. So:

If you seriously want to be debt free then you need to cut down on your spending in every way. This means no fancy organic food - trust me this is a luxury and not a necessity. People in Africa and India do not have such choices - ask their opinion on value food and whether it is good for you.

So:

Yes, it is your personal choice as to what you eat - but you are saying you want to be debt free and currently you owe outstanding money to your creditors (this is why you have a DMP).

Therefore;

You need to cut back - you have live, I believe, a luxurious life style (I am sure this is what you said elsewhere but correct me if I am wrong), and, to many you still live a luxurious lifestyle - certianly relative to many people I know.

If you are serious about getting out of debt then this has to stop.

Seriously, people will stop responding if you do not react more enthusiastically to suggestions.

I have had to stop my shopping at Sainsburys even, this is now a once monthly luxury. I hate shopping at Lidl and I hate not having take aways. I hate not being able to spend a fortune on silly bath bombs in Lush, I hate not being able to buy nice wine and having to dye my own hair. I have also had to stop having Botox and I hate my wrinkle.

However:

I LOVE being able to sleep at night and I love my new black (not red) bank balance.

Please don't take offence, and please listen - I think it is fantastic that you are asking so many questions and wanting to find out more, but you must come accross as more committed toward dealing with the reality of your debts and tackling them.

HappyMJ

Standingtall wrote: »

This means no fancy organic food - trust me this is a luxury and not a necessity. People in Africa and India do not have such choices - ask their opinion on value food and whether it is good for you.

I thought curried goat was organic? Not certfied as such but I'll bet it is....and it's quite tasty.

rising_from_the_ashes

I think what Hidden's getting at Vicky - is that suggestions are made but you are often very reluctant to change things - eg the meat.

I'm sure most of us would love to be able to afford meat & veg boxes etc but many of us can't - as has been said, an Organic Chicken costs around £7 - way cheaper than you're paying but still very good quality & you're not giving up everything - it's about compromise.

Same with your other threads - many people suggested getting rid of the Dishwasher and something else that I can't remember which were costing around £65/month - and you were adament that these weren't going.... Same with Love Film etc.

Unfortunately, sacrifices have to be made whilst debts are cleared - honestly, once you start, it's not that bad..... however, if they aren't made then one of two things will happen a) it'll take you a lot longer to clear your debts or b) you'll get into debt again.

vicky1001

to be honest what wrong with £40ppw the CAP guideline is £35

Hiddenidenity

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

I think what Hidden's getting at Vicky - is that suggestions are made but you are often very reluctant to change things - eg the meat.

I'm sure most of us would love to be able to afford meat & veg boxes etc but many of us can't - as has been said, an Organic Chicken costs around £7 - way cheaper than you're paying but still very good quality & you're not giving up everything - it's about compromise.

Same with your other threads - many people suggested getting rid of the Dishwasher and something else that I can't remember which were costing around £65/month - and you were adament that these weren't going.... Same with Love Film etc.

Unfortunately, sacrifices have to be made whilst debts are cleared - honestly, once you start, it's not that bad..... however, if they aren't made then one of two things will happen a) it'll take you a lot longer to clear your debts or b) you'll get into debt again.

You explained it so much better than me

barbarawright

vicky1001 wrote: »

to be honest what wrong with £40ppw the CAP guideline is £35

So why not aim for the CAP guideline?. I think you're a two-person household so that would save you £40 a month which is £480 a year which you could put towards your debts or use it to budget other luxuries like the haircut which apparently the money you were given for Christmas isn't enough for.

HappyMJ

vicky1001 wrote: »

to be honest what wrong with £40ppw the CAP guideline is £35

The CCCS recommends a figure somewhere betwen £185 and £341 per calendar month on food, toiletries and cleaning products...i.e groceries. That's from £21 to £39 per person per week on everything. If you spend £44.95 on a meat pack for 2 for 2 weeks that's almost half the budget (£11 per person) just on meat.

rising_from_the_ashes

vicky1001 wrote: »

to be honest what wrong with £40ppw the CAP guideline is £35

By all means put the £35 down in your SOA for the debt charities but look at ways of reducing that to as little as possible as you'll not be able to get more credit for a long time.

Why would you want to "waste" money spending more than you have to?

Any savings that can be made need to be saved for "the unexpected" - appliances break down & need replaced, cars need work done etc etc. If you're on a DMP you really need to make sure you've some money put aside to cover these as you can't get more credit.

Or .... what about the odd treat (trip to the movies, takeaway once a month etc) - wouldn't you rather spend less on your groceries and maybe have a takeaway or trip to see a new film on payday????

vicky1001

Standingtall wrote: »

Vicky - you thanked me for the advice I gave you earlier so please, listen to me now. This forum is called Debt Free Wannabe - if you are on this forum then the implication is that you want to be free of your debts. So:

If you seriously want to be debt free then you need to cut down on your spending in every way. This means no fancy organic food - trust me this is a luxury and not a necessity. People in Africa and India do not have such choices - ask their opinion on value food and whether it is good for you.

So:

Yes, it is your personal choice as to what you eat - but you are saying you want to be debt free and currently you owe outstanding money to your creditors (this is why you have a DMP).

Therefore;

You need to cut back - you have live, I believe, a luxurious life style (I am sure this is what you said elsewhere but correct me if I am wrong), and, to many you still live a luxurious lifestyle - certianly relative to many people I know.

If you are serious about getting out of debt then this has to stop.

Seriously, people will stop responding if you do not react more enthusiastically to suggestions.

I have had to stop my shopping at Sainsburys even, this is now a once monthly luxury. I hate shopping at Lidl and I hate not having take aways. I hate not being able to spend a fortune on silly bath bombs in Lush, I hate not being able to buy nice wine and having to dye my own hair. I have also had to stop having Botox and I hate my wrinkle.

However:

I LOVE being able to sleep at night and I love my new black (not red) bank balance.

Please don't take offence, and please listen - I think it is fantastic that you are asking so many questions and wanting to find out more, but you must come accross as more committed toward dealing with the reality of your debts and tackling them.

thankyou standing tall you are truly fantastic - ok my situation is that the only shops we have here are sainsburys and co-op and they are not the best i here for being debt reducing i think you said you had to stop that - and the reason why i get riverford food is my life a few years ago was hard we considered horrible things we had 4 meals a week if lucky just to pay for roof

rising_from_the_ashes

For me .... I can honestly say I hated giving up Sky - but I did it for 7 years whilst I cleared my debts.

Yes, I do have it now - it was "my treat" to myself when I cleared the debts and when I had to give it up, I promised I'd get it back once they were gone (but only the basic package!)