Average monthly outgoings family of 5...

ronaldadio

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

We budget for £200 -£250 on food/groceries for 2 of us and I shop mainly at Lidl with one shop a month at Waitrose. We do probably also spend around £200 - £300 on entertainment/meals out etc but that includes an £85 joint country club membership we have for gym, spa, pool and keep fit classes. We use it a lot though and we get 15% off the restaurant there as well .


Rent depends on where you live and what accommodation you have. Is travel costs included in your budget somewhere or is that in the £200 per month. That seems low for a family of 5 but I guess it depends on what you do.

The £200 a month for going out, clothing, emergencies is not always spent. It is put in an account.
Travel in the form of petrol is £60 a week. The eldest 2 have cars and they pay for their own travel.

ronaldadio

meer53 wrote: »

You could halve the food budget quite easily, just try Aldi/Lidl for a month, you'll be amazed at how much you will save. Do your other 2 children contribute to the budget ? What does your youngest son do which costs £75 per week ? To me, what you're spending sounds way above average, but then everyone has a different lifestyle, post a full SOA, this will help people give constructive advice about reducing your outgoings.

Yes, the 2 eldest contribute.
We shop online for food and get it delivered. We are both self employed and time is important. However, I do think we can cut down on that area.
My youngest son is a contracted rugby player but is also at college. £75 a week covers bus/ metro, food & supplements and we also give him £20 a week spending money.

chuckley

Dowsett wrote: »

£900 a month on food - wow, we (family of 4) spend £200-£300 a month.

We dont buy clothes every month. Ok we might need to buy them some months, but not every month.

Not sure what house you live in, or what area but £700 rent seems a bit high.

Can your 18yo not pay rent?

well considering London is 600+ pm for a flatshare or 1000k to rent a 1 bed flat....

I'd say a 4-5 bed house for 700pm is an absolute bargain.

But I suspect this is so far north you're in the sea.:rotfl:

OP, 900pm sounds a lot but for a fam of 5 it's really not once divided. However I clean a good £200 just on myself a month, I could make it cheaper by the likes of lidl,aldi and iceland but I can't stand their food.

Yes you could make a few cuts here and there, but if you have teenage boys in the house, I know they can eat 3x the average person per meal. You actually have to hide food from them. Your Rugby son would probably eat 5x.

And you always look at them and think 'where does it all go' as it NEVER shows on them!

getmore4less

ronaldadio wrote: »

What I'm asking is aimed more at what people pay, not what we can afford.

Why are you asking?

it is easy when you can afford things to throw money away.

People are giving you clues that £900pm for 5 is VERY high.
to get an idea of like for likeyou have to be covering similar things so break your £900pm down eg:
Pets
people
Booze
will be more inline with others that just cover the people bit with their spending.


The big one is where is the other £1405pm(£16860py) going

•£???? Annual payments put aside into account
•£200 a month for going out/ clothing/ emergencies
•£900 a month for food/ groceries
•£300 a month for my younger Son still dependent.
•£695 a month rent

Similarly with the £200pm is that really for 5 or just 2/3 the oldest should be paying for just about everything they need themself except the household stuff and food.

enthusiasticsaver

I too am not sure if you are asking out of interest or actually want to reduce costs. On the ages of your children except the youngest I would be expecting them to contribute. Our daughters were working weekends and holidays from 16 all through sixth form and university so I don't really know why your son can't get a job while still doing sports. Juggling work,study etc is a life skill he will need to learn some time.

Dird

You say £3500 but you only list £2000~ big difference.

Why does your son need £300/month? Give him his bus pass to/from rugby (£80/m?) and £10/week for socialising (that's like 4 pints). If it's not enough he could get a pt jobs on days he's not training/playing

chuckley

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I too am not sure if you are asking out of interest or actually want to reduce costs. On the ages of your children except the youngest I would be expecting them to contribute. Our daughters were working weekends and holidays from 16 all through sixth form and university so I don't really know why your son can't get a job while still doing sports. Juggling work,study etc is a life skill he will need to learn some time.

boys mature a lot slower than girls. and some can't multi task at all and just have to focus on one thing until they're mentally ready to add another.

Especially if they already struggle with education. Focusing on the course they want to do while being financially supported is a lot better than juggling course and job, just because 'you're 16 now'.

Kernel_Sanders

So you have five people of working age sharing a single house, and each paying a fraction of the council tax that I do as a single person. Why do you have money problems?

ronaldadio

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

So you have five people of working age sharing a single house, and each paying a fraction of the council tax that I do as a single person. Why do you have money problems?

I never said I had money problems lol

The reason I'm asking is that I've looked at lots of things that make up the £3,500 and to see if I'm paying far too much.
The reason is my eldest two are moving out and have bought houses. My daughter moves around April and my eldest around October. So this time next year there will be 3 of us and my youngest will be paid full time from November.
I'm trying to get a handle on where we will be. I know £900 for a family of 5 is at the higher end of what normal people would pay but I'm trying to find out what people normally pay. I've worked it back and it is £6.41/ person/ day.

I'll list for you all, nothing to hide.
They are based on 12 payments per year NOT every 4 weeks
Rent £695 - agreement until Nov 2017
TV license - £12
Gas/ Electricity - £250 (Looking into this)
Sky - £120 (Looking into this)
Water - £70
TalkTalk ( house phone/ internet) - £50
Vodaphone - £100 (3 mobile phones - looking into this)
Council tax - £150
Petrol £300 (Both cars)
Car insurance £80 (both cars)
Food/ groceries/ toiletries - £900
Son bus pass - £120 (needs 2)
Son pocket money - £90
Son food/ supplements - £90 (These 3 will stop as of October when he is full time and paid full time)
Life assurance - £10
Car payment - £186
Dog insurance - £23
Annual bills savings - £125 (Car tax, car service, holidays)
Going out £100
Clothing/ emergencies £100 (Put into savings account)

That is that.
We are happy to pay for our youngest son in the same way we were with the older 2.
Some people might be inclined to "Let them find out the hard way" but I would prefer to give them the best start and opportunity we can. The oldest 2 have done very well, have good jobs, built up big deposits for houses and are a lot more set than I was at their age, so my wife and I are both happy.

As a side issue Kernel Sanders, u could move to an area where the council tax is a lot cheaper

Dird

TalkTalk ( house phone/ internet) - £50

It's worth looking into this too if you're not locked in a long contract. I guess that's Fibre? Virgin offer their 50m equivalent for half the price & you could earn cashback. Although my guess is that once it's just the 3 of you then normal 17m broadband would be fine for you & is even cheaper