After all bills how much do you have left for food and other non-bill things?

Deepthnker

You've resurrected a Zombie........

I have 2628 before everything. After bills mortgage petrol food. I'm left 120 per week. This doesn't include savings.. of 650 per month.

544.66 mortgage.
330 bills water gas electric council tax phone
380 food.
220 petrol
£650 savings.
120 left is days out on Saturday. Clothes. Clubs for the kids. Gym exact.

Personally you need to budget in the savings. Or do without a car

My savings pay for car insurance and car repairs and holidays.. as well as retirement savings.

I'm a single parent but very lucky to have free childcare or it would be very different as I work... My parents and the kids dad...

I feel what I have is very manageable.

I have £300 a month for petrol and food. It’s shite!

You're asking the wrong question OP. Knowing what other people have left after bills doesn't really make your ends meet.

£400 for food, fares, clothes etc sounds very tight and is likely to be below average.

If your rent has gone up, could you be entitled to universal credit towards the increase?

Have you fully reviewed your budget, have a look on moneysaving expert for help with this.

If you have any debt, you might benefit from debt management advice. Unsecured debt is low priority and shouldn't be paying it if you can't meet all your household essentials.

qualitygirl lucky you - but I don't think you're helping!? You know you have loads of spare cash.

£6-700

If you have Instagram I would really recommend this mum saves money.

They are a single income family and she is really frugal and has worked her way out of debt and into savings using vouchers, reselling clothes/toys/budgeting etc.

If not her there are loads of accounts online that can advise a penny-pound sort of thing.

£400 for everything after bills will be fine for a few months, but it isn’t sustainable long term when you need to think about replacing big items of clothing (winter coats, boots etc) as they need it and furniture or electrical items wearing out or breaking.

Is there any scope for increasing your working hours? Downsizing so your rent is lower?

Take home monthly
6200
Bills monthly (actually 4 weekly)
Electric 100
Childcare 400 (term time only)
Life insurance 70
Waste 25
Broadband/tv and phones x2 95
Food 480
Fuel 280 (car isn't very fuel efficient but its not a big deal!)
Kids activities 50

I can't think of anything else

So 6200 -1500 = 4700 left

So not including food and kids activities then over 5k

We pay house and car insurance and car tax annually.

No mortgage/rent

And put your new rent figure into the calculation

Can you check if you're entitled to UC?
With your increase in rent and the changes to the earnings threshold, you might qualify for the housing element. (Dependant on your income)
Do a calculation on entitled to. It's worth a look. I can't remember what date the threshold changes/d so check that too.

I'd struggle to just do food for 4 for £400 pcm.

I would think you would need around £75/week for food for all of you which doesn't leave much for anything else.

You will need to buy clothes, school activities, kids parties, occasional McDonald's.

Yes you won't starve but you need to see if you can get more help. Where is the ex? Is he helping out?

There are so many variables but for an approx tool use this

ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

It’s from The Institute of Fiscal Studies

There is also how you feel amongst your contemporaries. All our neighbours, close friends and relatives are mainly professionals on really decent incomes.

We have a substantial amount left over. At one point we were in top 5% of earnings before I became ill.

Really asking for assistance with outgoings would be more useful to you op. Plus however tiny the amount you can save even if just occasionally. It’s not having money for essentials such as a washing machine breaking that often plunges people in to debt.

When is the first increased rent payment due?

If not for a couple of months, I would start putting aside the difference between the old and new rent now. Even if it's just £100 at the end, it would be a small buffer for a very tight month in the future.

£100 per week for food and other essentials (excluding bills) sounds tight, but I'm sure it can be done

Doing it short term is quite different from long term

Good luck. Hope things work out for you

I don’t think any of us advising you how much of our income is disposable would be of any benefit to you.

£400 is doable however it doesn’t leave much for fun things, not that you need them as there is loads of fun activities that cost very little.

That sounds really low Op, are you getting everything you are entitled to? Also check with your children’s school to see if you can get free school meals even if you aren’t entitled to them because technically you earn too much. They might have a hardship fund for certain children and that extra hot lunch might make things a bit easier on the food budget.

I don't think it's enough. Obviously depends on the age of your children, but I think £400 is do-able short term, or if you're also putting money aside for things like Christmas and school uniforms and treats, but not long term without getting into debt. I know because I've been there!

Are you claiming everything you're entitled to? Can you increase hours at work?