So how much do you spend every month after paying your bills?

LandyAndy

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

We spend very little after all our usual outgoings.

OH has a cinema pass which is £15 a month, but he uses it weekly, so gets his moneys worth and it also gives him a break from looking after me.

We budget £80 a week to cover all food, groceries, branded products in poundland, 1 x take-away and petrol. There are 3 adults and we usually have about £10-£20 a week left which goes into a tin for treats. We eat well and that does 7 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and drinks etc.

PP
xx

80 a week. You have, say, 15 left over each week. So. 65 a week. You have one take away. For three that has to be 15. That leaves 50. Petrol. You surely have to put 15 in a week or it isn't worth having a car. That leaves 35 to feed and water three adults. And you eat well??

:eek:

tiny_courageous

It's often the little things that add up. You say a couple of coffees out is a drop in the ocean, yes it is, but those soon build up to a regular cost.
The demotivator is a great tool for seeing how much those drops in the ocean actually cost over the year.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/demotivator/

A coffee here and there, the odd magazine, nipping to the shop for a treat, it all adds up.

Are your mobiles in contract or is there scope for negotiating the cost down? If you go out for a meal, do you make use of clubcard rewards, 2 for one offers etc?

We're a (currently) childless couple and probably spend about £200 a month on food (including the odd meal out). I do make use of companies like Approved Food to buy things like pasta, rice, flour in bunk, and always take a packed lunch to work.

Mrs_Ryan

Mine and OH's joint income is about 2.5k monthly. Our food bill is horrific- about 400 quid a month. (There's just the 2 of us) Petrol for OH is about 120 a month and public transport is 50 for me. My mobile bill alone is usually about 130 quid and our Sky package is 64 a month. Bills come to about 400 quid and OH's car loan is 230. OH gets DLA which pays for his prescription card and his car costs (his condition means he is unable to use public transport and we live in quite an isolated rural area so he has to run a car) OH doesn't tend to spend much on himself but I usually have about 500 or so spare every month dependent on my shifts which goes on the rugby usually

judywoody

Wow, thanks for your input - I don't know how some of you guys manage to keep the costs so low..I will try and write it all down. But I have to be honest, I think my idea of healthy eating is somewhat different to other people... I eat loads of greens for example and fruit - And I mean loads..like 2 pounds of greens a day and 5 pieces of fruit like Bananas (cheap), Mangos (expensive) and Oranges (somewhat cheap)..I don't like apples and pears which are naturally very cheap. And if you have ever seen the price of greens in the supermarkets and add it up you'll faint..haha..
I do buy stuff like organic Miso (5£ a jar..but lasts a while), the bread I buy is 2£ a loaf (flour, water and yeast..that's it - and locally baked..I tried to do it myself but it never turns out to be the same...), I buy brown rice, wholewheat everything, I buy Soya Milk which is 1£ a pack as well as I don't like the taste of the own brande and so on. I try to save on other stuff though..I am using approved foods and I buy lots of household stuff at home & bargains, we don't have a car, I hardly buy clothes, only in charity shops and ebay and sometimes Primark. Together we spend about 80£ on bus fares a month - not worthwhile getting a monthly ticket. T-mobile won't let us make amendments to the monthly price.


So I am somewhat quite high maintenance in some areas but not at all in others. I am going to write down all my spendings from next month to see how much I really spend on food and then I will update my post :-)

pigpen

I paid the necessary bills and allocated £400 a month for clothes/shoes etc (with 8 children that is a killer bill) I got the food budget as low as possible.. down to about £500 a month for 10 of us.. since DS3 was dx with diabetes that has increased to about £600/£650... that includes all cleaning stuff, nappies, cat food etc. the rest went off the debt with the highest interest.. sometimes that was a fair chunk other times it was next to nothing.

Now the budget is the same minus the £400 clothes/shoes budget which is down to about £150 with the same number of people and a much lower income. Get the sky cancelled or downgraded.. you are living beyond your means and £64 is a stupid amount to pay fo a couple of hours tv you don't need.

TBH I think you should cancel the charity payments.. they might be important to you but if you have debt you cannot afford to be giving money away elsewhere.. Look at the tesco mobile deals.. there are some bargainous ones on there.

Shop around for utility prices.. you should be able to make savings there, my electric is £100 a month and I have a lot more appliances than you (3 freezers, 2 fridges, 2 washing machines, 6 or 7 computers/laptops for a start) we are on monthly billing with british gas which is much cheaper than any we have been on before and have duel fuel discounts.. gas is still £120 a month mind (heating, hot water and hob)

and sell everything you don't need.. ebay, car boot, free ads etc.. and the money goes straight off the debts.

judywoody

Utility wise I am already on the lowest price, I shop around every year - we don't have gas so don't get dual fuel discount. As we work from home we spend more on electricity.
Well I can reduce the charity for the time being to 10£ and save 10£ elsewhere. I don't have anything to sell believe it or not :-) All the electric items we have are necessary for work. I could offer you some worn out knickers ;-)
We don't have a TV or stereo or game consoles - I think all our money goes on perishable items like food or stationary or things that can't be sold like travel tickets.

I think the one thing I can and have to change is to get more veg and fruit from the arabic market not matter how far it is. So this is my next goal :-)

PollyOnAMission

Great idea to start a spending diary; it's what helped me realise where all my money was going.

If you have a smart phone there are apps you can get to make it easier. I use one called EasyMoney and I record every penny I spend, all categorised so I can see where it goes. It's really good!

judywoody

I wish there were apps that let me scan the code on the receipt and then automatically sync it with my phone ..haha :-)

paulineb_2

Aldi do a super six which changes every couple of weeks, yesterday I got broccoli for 49p, leeks 49p, tatties, 49p. I make loads of soup (Im also vegan). I bought a hand held blender from Tesco, 6 quid and it means I dont need to use lentils to bulk out the soup which I would normally do if I made a chunky veg soup.

I cut down my donations to charity when I was on a reduced income, but I give old clothes and stuff thats only fit for the bin (the charity will get money for recycle)

I use approved foods also. Ive managed to find stuff like spelt, polenta, tofu, coconut milk wholemeal pasta and rice on there. I can make a thai curry with or without tofu for about £2, probably less and the leftover veg goes in soup.

If theres a Morrisons near you, they reduce fruit and veg prices quite early on in the day, have got some good bargains in there.

Not sure if you drink, but for a time last year I made wine from kits, used a site called the art of brewing, they sell wine kits and you get about 25 bottles for about £30, once you buy the equipment, its easy to do, if I can, anyone can.

I dont make bread from scratch but I got a breadmaker as a present a year or so ago and again, approved food sell the mixes quite cheaply.
I dont work from home but Im home a lot and my electricity bill is only £14 a month or so. Its very easy to get into the habit of leaving lights and applicances on when you actually dont need them to be on.

And yes, I agree, keep a spending diary. How much would a monthly bus ticket cost? Im asking because its much cheaper for me to get a monthly ticket than it would be to pay for individual journeys.

Once your mobile contract ends, get on the lowest tariff you possibly can.

LittleMissAspie

I allocate £150 a month to our groceries pot. That includes cleaning products, loo roll etc. We actually have a negative amount in this pot right now because we've been overspending, so the idea is to come in under 150 to make it up. I view and budget for groceries as a bill, it's an essential after all.

We don't eat cheap carbs but I am vegetarian and boyfriend eats a small amount of meat. Do you have any farmer's markets nearby? They are usually on Saturdays and you should be able to get cheap fruit and veg there. http://www.localfoods.org.uk/ I know it's hard when you don't have a car though. Are you able to cycle to places? That would save on some of your bus fares too.

I would not pay money to charity while you are in debt, personally.

Aside from bills, I give myself £60 a month pocket money to live on. This is just pocket money though as I save for bigger purchases. I have pots for clothes, holidays, toiletries (bit of a weakness of mine), health items and contribution towards boyfriend's car costs.

Why do you need life insurance if you have no children or mortgage?

What's NHS2?

This is what I do with my money after bills:
Pocket money 60
Mortgage overpayments 100
Holidays 30
Presents 30
Toiletries 10
Clothes 10
Health items 20
Fund for new laptop 20
Car costs 40

Boyfriend sorts his own money out, there's no way I'm getting involved in that!