2020 planning

little_green
little_green Posts: 652
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edited 10 October 2019 at 5:53PM in Debt-free wannabe challenges
have started to plan for 2020.
have made a few edits to my spreadsheet & happy with the way it's looking.
I'll also be using this new format for the remained of the year in a way to test it out & roll out any bugs before the new year.
I've ambitiously decided I want to increase the amount I save per month, unfortunately what i've realized through calculations is that it's somewhat unrealistic.
What i'm interested to know is how much you budget per month for the following
- food shopping/household buys (eg washing up liquid)
- eating out (takeaways/restaurants)
- personal allowance (to spend as you wish on treats for yourself whether its a choclate bar or new clothing).

I'm in a household of 2 adults. We will both pitch in £50 for the first 2 totaling £100 (for each) for the month & then both use £100 of own money freely.

honestly £100 in total is more than i want for dining out but in all fairness that's only like £50 twice a month which a restaurant can easily add up to (for 2 diners).

also how feesalbe is £100/month for 2 adults monthly shop?

how much do you spend on yourself each month for luxury/treat items? £100 seems frivolous :(

thanks in advance

Comments

  • We are two adults and two cats and spend £300 each month on food and household. We live in the back of beyond so we don't eat out. We have £110 between us for entertainment - that's some TV channel subs, buying a movie to watch etc., books and video games. I don't think that either of feel deprived on this but again we don't go out much because the travel is too much hassle.
    Whatever
  • Hi, I’m a single person plus 6 year old boy plus 2 cats and 1 dog! I budget £150 per month for food/household shopping as £25 pet food, £25 household stuff so washing powder, cleaning stuff etc and then £100 left for food at approx £25 per week. It’s tight! But you do find a lot of cheaper recipes and batch cook stuff. I’ve also stopped buying unnecessary things like kitchen roll (I now use old clothes cut up into rags for mopping up), I reuse old bread bags for sandwich bags etc and I’ve recent invested in some beeswax wraps in place of cling film. I have to say that A1di has been instrumental in reducing the shopping bills, as is H0me bargains for household. Tins and frozen veg is also excellent for bulking out recipes to go a bit further.

    I have various saving pots for things like presents and clothes so I allow myself £10 a week for me. We don’t do take always, eating out, pay for tv or holidays (at the moment). This is all so I can overpay the mortgage and get rid of it in a few years so when my son is older we can holiday to more unusual places to have some great experiences. It does kind of become a bit addictive so be warned !!!
    Grocery challenge SPC #023 SPC 12: £125.86[/COLOUR]:SPC 13: £214.98: SPC 14: £297.41 SPC 15: £237.27 SPC 16 £335.39; SPC 17 ? MFW #21 Mortgage start Dec 2015 £79,950; January 2024 £26,105 2024 OP £150/COLOR]/£1,500 MFiT T6 #3 £13,159/£25,500 (51.60%)
  • Little-green, if £100 seems frivolous then keep what you feel comfortable to spend and save the rest....
  • thanks all for the responses.
    wow @Hettyhound that's a strict budget well done on keeping to it. Definitely better to be ambitious. Yeh i totally understand what you mean about things getting addictive.
    re £100 seeming frivilous i guess it's just bc I don't actually need anything. I have so much clothes & whats worse is my social life is somewhat lacking so it's really not like i have that much of an opportunity to actually wear them (laughs & cries) ... but seriously, i just feel like if i have so much stuff do i need more? The way i "justify" it to myself is that majority of my clothes are from boo sales or charity shops thus at times i do hav moments of "oh i'll just treat myself to that its new & although i have lots they were all preownded & didnt cost much". But i feel guilty bc I didnt actually NEED the new items.
  • Hi,
    A little late with replying but there are two of us (adults) other half eats a lot lol so we budget and do well with 200 pound a month. I have 50 pound a month spends but have only spent 13 pounds for the past year. Takeaways are hit and miss, if we do have it's pay day and 15 pounds but we don't do this every month and we don't eat out at the minute. Not sure if it helps.
  • Hello everyone,
    2 of us in our house. Me and my teenage daughter.  We make lunches for work/college and I budget £50 per week. Anything left each week goes towards extra debt payments. So far this year only not been able to do that once so I think I've over budgeted but I like the system I have in place. 
    I have £10 a week for personal spending and that doesn't have to go towards hair, beauty or clothes as I have 'sinking funds' for them. So each payday I put money into different categories so its always there when I need it.
    Prescriptions/ medicines gets £20
    Hols/days out get £15
    Hair/beauty gets £15
    Christmas/birthdays gets £25
    Household gets £25
    Car maintenance gets £20
    Home maintenance gets £10
    I can tweak as necessary as in I've only just started the prescriptions one this year and I'm not entirely sure this will meet how my meds are staggered. This is a new requirement but it can be adjusted if it's not enough. 

    Household is my favourite because it means I dont have weeks in my grocery budget where I need all the things and have nothing left for food, it also stops me from buying a different shower gel each week when I dont use one a week ( I've got a shower gel problem ). I got to £25 by doing a rough calculation if I needed 1 of all the necessities in that particular month I could cover it. 
    My hair one pays for a trim every 3 months and hair dye every month.
    Car maintenance covers mot and repairs and sundries like de icer.
    I have noticed this year when tracking any unbudgeted spending that it is mainly parking and I'm thinking of setting up one for that too.
    I think that's my 10 x two pence worth. I'm jumping back into things after an horrendous couple of years and would love to join in the community again. 


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