How much to live on per week

frizz2

Hi Cousinit,
Welcome! Can I ask do your children live in halls or in a shared house? My oldest son is in year 12 and younger is in year 10 and I am saving for the future costs. How much do you budget for that, their living costs? Thanks.

catony

It just depends. You can't give your son the money as others do. :(That's really hard to decide the monthly cost.

Fire_Fox

rubytuesday wrote: »

Oh my god you really are from another planet!

Perhaps you would care to enlighten us what our children should be eating?!

She's making a roast dinner with chicken tonight - going to have a go at making her own stuffing - is that ok with you?

Sometimes she'll make a mozzarella salad is that ok with you?

She also has a cheese fetish probably her biggest expenditure - is that allowed?

My daughter is eating well she loves good food and is enjoying cooking and trying out new recipes but has the brains to be able to budget which is just as well really.

Please please do enlighten us with what they should be ingesting.

Oh and she is doing yoga and Pilates regularly so I hope that meets with your requirement for exercise!

They should be consistently meeting or exceeding all our healthy eating guidelines (with adjustments for food allergies, vegetarian etc), eating a diet that includes a balance of ALL the nutrients the body needs for health.

It's possible on a very tight budget, but generally would include little muscle meat but instead getting protein from dairy, organ meats and fish. IME most people - on all budgets - don't eat enough oily fish nor mineral rich foods (beans, lentils, nuts, seeds).

Yoga and Pilates are great but only work on a couple of aspects of fitness, hopefully your daughter is also getting the recommended 10,000 steps every day plus more intense cardiovascular exercise for at least twenty minutes three times a week.

HTH.

rubytuesday

Thanks Firefox I think she is doing pretty well with meeting her dietary needs apart from the oily fish - she doesn't like it so you have a point there.

Same for me although I do take high grade EPA fish oils.

She also goes to the gym and most certainly does the required steps as she walks to and from University each day which is about half an hour each way and she sometimes does that twice a day.

She frequently phones me out of breath as she is in the process of climbing up a steep hill somewhere.

I will ask her today how much she has been spending on food lately as she has been making cutbacks on going out galavanting and although she is now drinking alcohol again she has cut right back as she doesn't seem able to 'process' it anymore.

Right she reckons since she has cut back on drinking and galavanting she is spending less than £40 a week and about £20 a week is on food. She was getting online deliveries and small top ups but is now decamping to Morrisons which she reckons is really cheap.

Fire_Fox

rubytuesday wrote: »

Thanks Firefox I think she is doing pretty well with meeting her dietary needs apart from the oily fish - she doesn't like it so you have a point there.

Same for me although I do take high grade EPA fish oils.

She also goes to the gym and most certainly does the required steps as she walks to and from University each day which is about half an hour each way and she sometimes does that twice a day.

She frequently phones me out of breath as she is in the process of climbing up a steep hill somewhere.

I will ask her today how much she has been spending on food lately as she has been making cutbacks on going out galavanting and although she is now drinking alcohol again she has cut right back as she doesn't seem able to 'process' it anymore.

Right she reckons since she has cut back on drinking and galavanting she is spending less than £40 a week and about £20 a week is on food. She was getting online deliveries and small top ups but is now decamping to Morrisons which she reckons is really cheap.

Sounds good. :j

Fish oils are a great substitute providing you take a high enough dose and consider your intake of bioavailable vitamin D in the winter (and summer if you use sunblock) as this is in few foods. There are triple strength fish oil capsules on eBay at a good price. Does she not even like salmon? If she does she's probably like trout which is cheaper. You can retrain your palate: I gagged the first time I opened a can of pink salmon, now eat canned salmon, mackerel and pilchards plus fresh trout, mackerel and sardines.

If she is physically active she should consistently exceeding the official healthy eating guidelines, it's not just calorie requirements that go up, but needs for all nutrients. I often double needs for a five times a week moderate to intense exercise regime.

Morrisons has some great quality stuff and I hear good things about the new 'store of futures'. Apparently they are looking to introduce home delivery soon.

rubytuesday

Firefox the fish oils I take are called Mind1st and they are the ones that have been used in medical trials.

She will eat salmon under duress and I also try and eat it occasionally and also mackerel when it's in season but although I don't mind them I'm not really that keen.

I remember catching my own mackerel in The Isles of Scilly when I was a little girl and the bed and breakfast cooked it for me and I loved it!

Really she is eating pretty much along the lines of what we do at home and also trying new recipes from some cook books I bought her so things like lentil and red pepper sauce, aubergine bake, potatoe and spinach bake, bolagenese and the dreaded afore mentioned chilli's and shepherds's pies - actually cottage pie really!

She's like me and more of a veggie than a fruit person. Also I expect like me she has her days where she exceeds her quota and then others when she doesn't meet them.

Sometimes I am able to eat about ten fruit and veg portions including pulses and juice and then on another day occasionally I might have a piece of breaded fish and home made chips for dinner and realise that my only fruit and veg has been the accompanying peas!

I don't have a Morrisons nearby so never use it. Home delivery would be good.

looby75

fish is the one thing I don't have to worry about my daughter eating, she loves the stuff, especially if its in sushi form. We met up today and went for lunch and we walked past a shop thats under refurbishment she noticed the sign on the boards. Her favourite Japanese restaurant (Nudo for anyone in Newcastle) is opening a bento box bar and she actually squeaked with excitement lol

rubytuesday

Oh actually the girl does like sushi too Looby.

looby75

I've tried it and I really just can't get away with it. It's not the fish that I dislike its the texture of the rice it's too "claggy". My son tried it today for the first time and said he didn't like it.....yet ate it all :rotfl::rotfl:

rubytuesday

I don't mind it myself - the boy absolutely loves it!

He is in Australia at the moment and walked several blocks to a sushi bar only to be greeted by a closed sign!

He was so disappointed!