How to live off £50 a week

Willing2Learn

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

I get £125 every Thursday.

If you get £125 per week, then that is the equivalent of £543 every month. If you calculate your spending budget using months instead of weeks then you may find it easier.


£543 available for the month
- £200 for groceries/eating out
- £13 nationwide account fees
- £47 phone bill
- £283 save

MissMollyJ

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

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

That means you have £541.66 a month in total if you multiply by 52 and divide by 12 but it may be easier for you to work out a weekly budget as you get money weekly.

dreaming

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

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

Sorry - not sure what you mean by this. Obviously if you get £125 pw then that is what you have per week. However that then works out to £541 per calendar month. Budgetting can be difficult if you are not using the same basis of time to work it out. It would be easier in that case to work your budget out per week to keep it in line, I think.

dreaming

Ok - so thinking this through I can see that although you get your cash each week some of your bills are monthly - phone and bank account fees. Assuming you want to continue to save the same amount each month then you actually only then have about £44 pw for food so you immediately have a £6 shortfall if you are basing your food budget on £50 pw.
Is it possible to have your cash transferred monthly, or to ask your appointee for help in budgetting? The alternative is to reduce the savings slightly - say to £250 per month.

Terry_Towelling

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

£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?

If you have a bus, why not charge people to travel in it and supplement your income?:)

Eco_Miser

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

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

Is this £125 all for you to spend, or is some of it kept by your appointee for the bigger things?

nicetomeetyou

Eco_Miser wrote: »

Is this £125 all for you to spend, or is some of it kept by your appointee for the bigger things?

This is my personal allowance for me to spend on myself. My appointee pays all other things and I can ask him for money for holidays and other stuff.

Katiehound

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

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.

I think you may find that the travel insurance will not cover you if have a pre-existing condition.Or it will give you travel insurance but with an add-on premium. Are you likely to be travelling abroad to use that insurance?

You need to write down all your outgoings for a week, then you will see where you might be able to save. Buying meals out & even coffees soon mounts up especially if you are aiming to save for something.

Eco_Miser

Eco_Miser wrote: »

Is this £125 all for you to spend, or is some of it kept by your appointee for the bigger things?

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

This is my personal allowance for me to spend on myself. My appointee pays all other things and I can ask him for money for holidays and other stuff.

Then you are getting £125 a week, and you need to put aside
£3 every week to pay your bank fees,
£11 a week to pay your phone bill,
£50 a week for food - best to split this between eating out, and preparing food yourself, leaving
£61 to save long term.

As a comparison I spent an average of £20 a week on food last year, though I don't go into Wetherspoons or buy coffees very often when out.

MovingForwards

You seem to be feeling a little better now, which is good to read

Perhaps increase your weekly budget:
1. Allow £20 for Wetherspoons, that way you have enough for a meal, coffee(s) and pudding.
2. Allow £5 for coffee.
3. Allow £40 for food shopping.

It will mean you are saving a little bit less each week for holidays / spending money / general savings, but you won't be restricted to a tight budget.

I recall you previously asked for guidance with budgeting and it's great you have asked again.

All of use can sit here and say your budget can be improved, but only a few members will have understanding of what will work for you.

Personally, I dont think locking your budget right down is the way to go. You have the things you like to do (meal out, coffees) and those weekly treats are good for you.

I also do not think asking for a monthly allowance is the right way for you to go, at the moment, however, that will change in the future; it can also go back to weekly if anything happens.

Do you keep a record of your budget and spending? I think a notebook where you write down your weekly allowance, then add everything you spend it on, will also allow you to start to recognise patterns and potentially give you advanced warning things are sliding for you.

The record will be a simple one:

Income £? 01/01/2020
Wetherspoons £7.50 meal 02/01/2020
Wetherspoons £1.09 coffee 02/01/2020
Costa £2.39 coffee 04/01/2020
Phone £? 05/01/2020
Bank fees £? 05/01/2020
Tesco £12.41 06/01/2020
Tesco £5.00 07/01/2020
Savings £45 07/01/2020

Income £? 08/01/2020
Then start it over the following week