£1 per day advice

trailingspouse

When we did it, the thing we missed the most was tea and coffee. We both take sugar, and we decided that paying for something that was nutritionally zero wasn't something we could justify - and buying tea and coffee that we wouldn't enjoy was just daft. Instead we just drank tap water.
And our principles had to go out of the window - we couldn't afford free range eggs or wholemeal bread, for example. Fruit was relatively expensive - we bought veg, but not fruit, and we missed it.
And finally, after just 5 days, we'd both lost weight.



My conclusion is that, yes, it can be done. But it's hard. And it's not healthy. Only do it if you really have to - and make sure you're squeezing the pennies out of everything else and claiming every benefit before you decide you need to do it long-term.

Novice_investor101

Many, many years ago when I was 18 (early 2000's) I had to live off £68 a week. That included £35 pw for rent in my bedsit room, £1 coins to go in the electric meter in the room - I used to get a bag of 20 £1 coins from NatWest every week, & £11 for a weekly bus ticket to get to my part time job. I was at college.

The bag of £20 in coins had to pay for the tiny bit of electric I used, & food. In winter it was a bit tough as the room temp would get down to 5c...., so I ate less & used the tiny heater a bit more & put £1 into the bathroom meter for a steaming hot bath twice a week to ward off the pneumonia. In between, it was a strip wash in the little sink in my room.

The most I had for food was £10, the least £5, a week. That was in winter. In summer I actually tried to save a bit so still stuck to £10 a week for food.

Bear in mind that in 2000, £10 would buy more than it can now, it was still a struggle. The memories of those two years make me proud of what I've managed to achieve now. & Even now I still spend only about £50 a month on groceries/household/toiletries etc as a single person - with a freezer & who batch cooks from scratch & typically only eats two meals a day (could never afford breakfast when I was young so just don't have the appetite for it now).

Living off £10 a week on food to feed 4 does not sound any fun. Unless there is absolutely no choice, don't do it. It's miserable.

K80_Black

Have you tracked what you're spending currently? If you haven't, you might be in for a big shock.

I thought I spent about £240 a month for me and the OH including booze and household goods. After tracking it for 3 months, we spend closer to £350 (and yes, a large portion of that is wine!).

If you're spending a lot monthly currently and make huge dramatic changes to try to get down to £124, you'll probably give up a few weeks in because you keep running out of things and everyone is hungry and depressed.

You'll probably be happier overall if you start by tracking what you spend now, make small changes and see where you can save easily and where spending the extra money is worth it. You can still make goals and try and reduce your budget further along the way - but doing a challenge like this is like going on a fad diet. You'll do it for a week, or a month, then get bored and end up where you started or worse.

Just my opinion

candygirl

I think £2 a day's a more realistic challenge nowadays, so you all get the right diet n nutrients.
£56 a week is still very cheap for a family of 4 x:D

Working_Mum

I keep a track of all of my spends in my "spends book" and I set myself a goal of reducing my food shop spend by a third in 2018 - I am on track to almost halve my weekly shopping bill by the end of the year - it is currently running at £68 per week.

It doesn't include cleaning/laundry or personal items like soap etc - but the £68 covers all food and alcohol and treats for myself and 2 hungry teens!

Good luck on your journey, it's all about getting the right balance so you can eat healthily, enjoy what you eat and stick to your budget!

buildersdaughter

I just realised that as you say 'going to do..' it implies either that you are expecting a downturn in finances or need to save very seriously, but you do have some notice. So I am going to suggest, if possible (and you may be able to use Xmas gifts to do this) you begin with a good store cupboard and an emergency cash box.
This has been done through 4 generations of my family when 'setting up home' and makes all the difference.
Although you can't really plant until spring, you could also request a gift of pots, compost & herb seeds. How I bless being able to use herbs freely instead of blanching at supermarket prices!

mumtoomany

In case you are still looking for ideas try some of these:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1007423

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1157641

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=826653

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=326929&highlight=50p

Hope these help. M2m.

Siebrie

A few years ago, I went back to university for a fulltime year, after working for a few years. I had a very strict budget of €50 per month for just me. I completely emptied my pantry, and ate every last tin (water chestnuts, and eel soup, included. I was very proud of myself ). I baked potato bread, dried and reused coffee grounds, used a lot of tricks from a WW2 cookbook, and did not manage.

I enjoyed myself tremendously, though. It was quite a fun experiment, and I knew it would be a year, max.

I am currently reading a blog called A Working Pantry. It's a bit clumsy to navigate, but worth the read.

candygirl

Siebrie wrote: »

A few years ago, I went back to university for a fulltime year, after working for a few years. I had a very strict budget of €50 per month for just me. I completely emptied my pantry, and ate every last tin (water chestnuts, and eel soup, included. I was very proud of myself ). I baked potato bread, dried and reused coffee grounds, used a lot of tricks from a WW2 cookbook, and did not manage.

I enjoyed myself tremendously, though. It was quite a fun experiment, and I knew it would be a year, max.

I am currently reading a blog called A Working Pantry. It's a bit clumsy to navigate, but worth the read.

Eel soup? :eek:_pale__pale__pale_

Wraithlady

candygirl wrote: »

Eel soup? :eek:_pale__pale__pale_

Difficult to get hold of, I would imagine...:whistle: