Budget help

enthusiasticsaver

A budget is variable so there is no one size fits all. You need to sit down and look at what they are spending now and whether it can be reduced. An average family of 4 would spend around £250-£300 per month on food but many spend less and some much more than that. It depends on whether they eat a lot of meat which is more expensive and cook from scratch or mainly convenience foods and choice of supermarkets. Clothes would need to cover school uniforms and shoes for the kids so £25-£30 per month sounds reasonable and haircuts for 4 people every 6-8 weeks could be covered by around £20 a month if it is dry cuts and not a fancy hairdresser.

in_need_of_direction

Not much that I can add but would recommend that they don't try to skip insurance which is always a temptation when cash strapped. I know, I did it!

StepChange_Rachael

Hi,

It might be useful if the family contact a money advisory for debt advice tailored to their financial situation. There are many variables that need to be taken into account when working out best solutions.

If they are worried about contacting someone directly then they could use StepChanges anonymous online Debt Remedy tool, it’ll also help give an idea of average spends based on the household which might help when working out a realistic budget.

You can find the Debt Remedy link here.

Hope this helps,
Rachael