How much to live on

Nebulous2 · 26 October 2025 at 1:40PM

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Organgrinder · 26 October 2025 at 2:56PM

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Thirty!!! It is a good deal but I hardly use my debit card so it's not one for me!

(Omg...I'm turning down free money!!)

Lifematters · 26 October 2025 at 6:48PM

littlemissbossy said:

littlemissbossy said:

Me 51 Hubby 56

Hubby has been retired for about 18 months, I'm reducing my hours from 3 days per week to 1 day per week from March 23

Council Tax 173.00 197.00
Gas & Elect 150.00 125.00
Line rental & broadband 30.00 27.00
Sky 56.00   59.50
Water 33 46.00
Charity 11.50 11.50
TV Licence 13.50 15.00
Lottery 16.00 0
Food/drink/toiletries etc 170.00 170.00
Petrol 80.00 80.00
Going out 150.00 150.00
Car bills (insurance/road tax/service/mot) 45.00 80.00
House insurance 10.00   15.00
Misc 20.00   30.00

= £958 per month x 12 = £11500 ish = £1006 per month x 12 = £12072

My personal pension contributions 1560 pa 1560 pa
Holidays 2800 pa 2800 pa
New car 2500 pa 2500 pa
House (repairs/renewals etc) 2500 pa 2500 pa
Contingency 2000 pa 2000 pa

£22860 per year £23432 per year

Hope I haven't missed anything.

eta: my employer pays for my mobile phone and hubby has PAYG £10 every three months or so.

I thought I'd give a quick update on my figures from Feb 23. (updates in bold).

Me 54, hubby 59.

Just £170 per month / £40 per week on Food/drink/toiletries? How so low? Two of us in our 50s and we spend more than double that. We never buy takeaways either. 🤔

Nebulous2 · 26 October 2025 at 7:09PM

Organgrinder said:

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Thirty!!! It is a good deal but I hardly use my debit card so it's not one for me!

(Omg...I'm turning down free money!!)

Either do I, but I can make an exception. You get 60 days to do it in. Some of the people in the savings board will buy 30 individual bananas, or 30 carrots at a self-service checkout, and rattle through it very quickly.

Nebulous2 · 26 October 2025 at 7:12PM

Lifematters said:

littlemissbossy said:

littlemissbossy said:

Me 51 Hubby 56

Hubby has been retired for about 18 months, I'm reducing my hours from 3 days per week to 1 day per week from March 23

Council Tax 173.00 197.00
Gas & Elect 150.00 125.00
Line rental & broadband 30.00 27.00
Sky 56.00   59.50
Water 33 46.00
Charity 11.50 11.50
TV Licence 13.50 15.00
Lottery 16.00 0
Food/drink/toiletries etc 170.00 170.00
Petrol 80.00 80.00
Going out 150.00 150.00
Car bills (insurance/road tax/service/mot) 45.00 80.00
House insurance 10.00   15.00
Misc 20.00   30.00

= £958 per month x 12 = £11500 ish = £1006 per month x 12 = £12072

My personal pension contributions 1560 pa 1560 pa
Holidays 2800 pa 2800 pa
New car 2500 pa 2500 pa
House (repairs/renewals etc) 2500 pa 2500 pa
Contingency 2000 pa 2000 pa

£22860 per year £23432 per year

Hope I haven't missed anything.

eta: my employer pays for my mobile phone and hubby has PAYG £10 every three months or so.

I thought I'd give a quick update on my figures from Feb 23. (updates in bold).

Me 54, hubby 59.

Just £170 per month / £40 per week on Food/drink/toiletries? How so low? Two of us in our 50s and we spend more than double that. We never buy takeaways either. 🤔

I'm always astonished at what people can do. @Humboldt is always an inspiration.

We are not far off 4 times that, for 3 people though.

Organgrinder · 26 October 2025 at 7:56PM

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Thirty!!! It is a good deal but I hardly use my debit card so it's not one for me!

(Omg...I'm turning down free money!!)

Either do I, but I can make an exception. You get 60 days to do it in. Some of the people in the savings board will buy 30 individual bananas, or 30 carrots at a self-service checkout, and rattle through it very quickly.

I know......I might change my mind yet!

Gimmeaminute · 27 October 2025 at 9:01PM

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Thirty!!! It is a good deal but I hardly use my debit card so it's not one for me!

(Omg...I'm turning down free money!!)

Either do I, but I can make an exception. You get 60 days to do it in. Some of the people in the savings board will buy 30 individual bananas, or 30 carrots at a self-service checkout, and rattle through it very quickly.

Aye, or you could do multiple orders of 10p sim cards on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vodafone-Endless-Roaming-Network-Exclusively/dp/B07DLYWX6W/ref=sr_1_1_pp?crid=151709SD1OUWI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KyjQkVkVmQhM4E93Q0HM_4ePIbRIkGegbtd2uZ4QDtOguWcdbnSVUg7P7uVJxyGySoYFkQhunwZZaWp7GBpkZEqojJUuHNy5Zg_qrLUV8feUE4CAGMkNfG6Rtfhzn6CotqoI1vahO2D_Gd1P7pXmYZYRcUEdKA-qviTj8--YDsSVjY-a2KvGxLs4Z44S0P-hQkYowCjhSikGK6EWuctCLCe942mSgO-sZW2AB8eWVa4.yyNR-Xbu3h8zwDX_IswDpjFequm7Q76ZaXlzwTFM6SI&dib_tag=se&keywords=Cheap+sim+card&qid=1761598676&sprefix=cheap+sim+card,aps,243&sr=8-1&th=1

WYSPECIAL · 27 October 2025 at 9:55PM

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Thanks, just signed up for this.
Kids and step kids have all signed up for Top Cashback and this offer too so I've got four referrals out of it as well.
They're now all sending referral links to their friends so a money saving lesson was had too!

littlemissbossy · 29 October 2025 at 3:47PM

Lifematters said:

littlemissbossy said:

littlemissbossy said:

Me 51 Hubby 56

Hubby has been retired for about 18 months, I'm reducing my hours from 3 days per week to 1 day per week from March 23

Council Tax 173.00 197.00
Gas & Elect 150.00 125.00
Line rental & broadband 30.00 27.00
Sky 56.00   59.50
Water 33 46.00
Charity 11.50 11.50
TV Licence 13.50 15.00
Lottery 16.00 0
Food/drink/toiletries etc 170.00 170.00
Petrol 80.00 80.00
Going out 150.00 150.00
Car bills (insurance/road tax/service/mot) 45.00 80.00
House insurance 10.00   15.00
Misc 20.00   30.00

= £958 per month x 12 = £11500 ish = £1006 per month x 12 = £12072

My personal pension contributions 1560 pa 1560 pa
Holidays 2800 pa 2800 pa
New car 2500 pa 2500 pa
House (repairs/renewals etc) 2500 pa 2500 pa
Contingency 2000 pa 2000 pa

£22860 per year £23432 per year

Hope I haven't missed anything.

eta: my employer pays for my mobile phone and hubby has PAYG £10 every three months or so.

I thought I'd give a quick update on my figures from Feb 23. (updates in bold).

Me 54, hubby 59.

Just £170 per month / £40 per week on Food/drink/toiletries? How so low? Two of us in our 50s and we spend more than double that. We never buy takeaways either. 🤔

We shop at Aldi, usually around £30ish per week and then £50 ish per month at our local farm shop. We might get a few cans of beer or a bottle of wine from Aldi using our “going out” money.

Sometimes a takeaway 2-3 times a month, that’s “going out” money too.

angieb15edin · 29 October 2025 at 8:46PM

Nebulous2 said:

Organgrinder said:

Well I decided to switch banks following Halifax's termination of the rewards account. I've exhausted all the switches as sole accounts so a new Nationwide joint account. £175 switch incentive. 5% current account interest. 6.5% regular saver up to £200/month and 1% cashback on debit card spends. Plus of course the potential bonus payments.

It really does seem a very good deal.

Mrs O is thinking of doing the same as her sole account.

So potentially £350 just in time for Christmas. :-)

Have you seen the Santander one from Top cashback? A £100 Amazon voucher plus £20 from TCB. Don't need to switch, only need to open a new account and make 30 debit card payments.

Thanks for this
ive just opened one
I spend a ridiculous amount on Amazon so the £100 will come in handy

How much to live on

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