How to live off £50 a week

nicetomeetyou

£50 for weeks groceries coffees/meals out at Wetherspoons. I don't need to buy cleaning products. I have a cinema pass that gets 2 people into the cinema for free. I have a bus so free travel. I don't have alot of outgoings.

I get a personal allowance of £500 a month from social services as they act as my appointee, I am able to ask my appointee for money for big purchase if needed.

Thus is what I would like my monthly outgoings to be..
- £200 for groceries/eating out (£50 a week)
- £13 nationwide account fees
- £47 phone bill
- £290 save

I'm struggling to keep to this budget. I've never been good with money, How can I stick to a £50 a week budget? Am I leaving myself sort or is £50 a week enough just for food? Any tips to stick to it?

strawb_shortcake

Can you not cut your phone bill down? Seems pretty high.

How often do you eat out? Even at wetherspoons that's going to be at least 10% of your budget if you go once a week.

Presumably you food budget is just yourself? I'd bulk cook and freeze. I know some older people freeze loaves of bread and just take two slices out the day before they want to use them.

Do you really need the account at a cost of £13 a month?

Willing2Learn

If it were me, I would complete a Statement of Affairs (SOA). I would keep the monthly groceries budget separate from my entertainment budget.

Why is your phone bill so high? Have you checked out a SIM-only contract as it will save you money? Also, do you use the extras included with your Nationwide account?

nicetomeetyou

I'm tied into the contract for another 20 months

The account fees includes insurance for my phone. I looked on gadget insurance quotes and it was nearing £14 just for phone insurance, with nationwide I also get commission free cash withdrawals aboard, I need to to ring them up and see if I'm able to get travel insurance which is included in the account fees but I have a pre-existing condition.

The food budget is just for myself.

I don't know how a Statement of Affairs will work with me. This is the only outgoings out my £500 a month PA.

I'm not struggling for money. Only have £260 credit card debt which will be paid off end of month. I want to save £290 a month. I want to learn to manage off £50 a week but don't know if its practical. I have no resilience not to spend money. I buy crap. I have stopped drinking alcohol and I don't smoke. I am very very wasteful with money.

elsien

Have you tried keeping a spending diary?
I think you need to identify how much of your £50 a week is going on food to eat at home, how much is more expensive ready meals/takeaways (if any) and how much is eating and drinking out.
£50 a week is more than I spend on food but I rarely eat out because I can't afford to. I suspect it's your coffees etc that may be hoiking the bill up.

Willing2Learn

Apart from the things you have listed as outgoings, don't you need a budget for clothing, presents for family, TV license, internet/broadband services, electricity, gas and water? And I still think you need a separate category for entertainment (Wetherspoons)...

MissMollyJ

I think if you’re eating out often or having coffee out often then £50 a week will probably be a struggle. It depends on what food you eat at home too. I could easily spend £30-40 a week going out for food and coffees. Equally I could manage on a £20-25 a week budget for just me because I would eat a lot of pasta/rice and lentils/toast and soup etc.

You have wiggle room for reducing savings and increasing your entertainment etc budget. It depends on lots of things. I agree a SOA would probably be good

elsien

I suspect the utilities etc are paid directly by the appointee.

dreaming

£50 per week for food/eating out is very do-able but it depends on what you eat/where you shop/and what you mean by eating out. If you shop at place like Aldi/Lidl and cook things from scratch (rather than buying ready-made meals) then you can tailor the budget fairly easily. If by "eating out" you mean the odd cup of tea and a cake then that is in the budget, but if you mean going out for a slap up meal then it definitely isn't.
The other thing to bear in mind that £200 isn't actually £50 per week - it's more like £46 pw to account for months being 4 and a half weeks long. This can throw a budget out quite quickly. Maybe you could reduce the savings budget a little - say every other month or so to see how that works?

nicetomeetyou

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Apart from the things you have listed as outgoings, don't you need a budget for clothing, presents for family, TV license, internet/broadband services, electricity, gas and water? And I still think you need a separate category for entertainment (Wetherspoons)...

If I need money for things like clothing/presents I ask my appointee for the money and he puts it into my account. I live in a shared house and he pays into the shared account that covers utilities and broadband/Sky TV. My supported living manager manages the account.

I would like to spend £30 on food and £20 om entertainment a week... I do go out for a lot. I want to cut back.

nicetomeetyou

dreaming wrote: »

The other thing to bear in mind that £200 isn't actually £50 per week - it's more like £46 pw to account for months being 4 and a half weeks long. This can throw a budget out quite quickly. Maybe you could reduce the savings budget a little - say every other month or so to see how that works?

I get £125 every Thursday. Dose that mean I have more then £50 a week?