Possible to live on 178 a week?

That sounds doable then, as you’re planning for Christmas, Gas/Electric are pretty low and presumably you’ll be done paying your mum back soon (and stop paying a phone contract)

Yes it’s possible, but just the absolute basics. How long would this be for? And what are your savings and pension looking like? You'll need enough for an emergency savings pot, clothes for your DC, activities/days out, birthdays and Christmas.

What about clothes, days out, haircuts, birthdays, school trips, other car related costs like MOT, repairs, insurance? Do you have a partner who's paying for these?

I think it's tight but doable if you eat cheaply and it's a small property and it's literally just those 4 things but I'm confused about the setup when you mention it's just one adult because I'm wondering who's paying for clothes etc.

If everything can be done on foot would be it better to get rid of the car and associated bills and then get the occasional taxi when required?

For how long? What do you mean about 'everything else' being paid? What about annual/irregular expenses like insurance, hair cuts, replacement white goods etc etc?

What happens when the car needs insuring, MOT, servicing, repairs etc? How is that going to be paid for? Do you actually need a car if everywhere is in walking distance? Would it be better to sell it, walk when you can and use occasional taxis?

To answer your question, yes it is possible to feed you and 2 DC, pay for gas and electric (as long as you're not trying to heat a large and/or inefficient property) and use a small amount of petrol on that amount of money, but it's not going to be easy and it really depends on how comprehensive your budget is for other essential costs.

Sounds doable. X

Yes i’d say its enough just for food and petrol. You can keep your food budget under £100 for 3 of you.

edit to say didn’t realise gas & elec too. No it’s not enough.

Oh dear 🤔. Will be hard

My gas and electric is about £70 a month (though I know that's very low) and I spend about £60 a month on petrol. So on the basis of /those/ costs and no other bills (i.e. insurance, mobile, internet, MOT costs for the car, car tax) I think it would be doable.

Because that's about £130 per month, which is about £30 a week, so that would leave £140-150 a week for food, clothes and presents etc.

It would be very tight and you'd have to be very careful with the food shop, and it would be much harder if you had e.g. a 13 and 15 year old or similar. Birthdays and other presents would have to be inexpensive and you'd have to put money away for Christmas and birthdays every week or you'd end up out of whack. I think you'd probably have to aim mainly for second hand clothes.

But just about doable I reckon. Definitely not ideal and if your gas and electric costs were higher (I have friends who spend £200 a month where I spend £70) then I think it would be unmanageable.

Permenatly it will be tight. As soon as you need a dental check up thats £27. Are you entitled to free dental care and prescriptions?

If everything is within walking distance, why not get rid of the car and save on petrol and insurance etc.

No she has to pay gas and electric out of that too. Which is the biggest bill in most households.

I am one adult 3 children and I struggle on my budget of £230 per week

It's £220 a week for one person. And is also a lot more than this lady has for 1 adult and 2 growing children. 🙄

You'll have to save some money in the warmer, lighter months to cover the higher bills in winter.

Food, gas, electric and petrol for 3 people for £178? That feels extremely tight!

Presume around half will go on the petrol, electric and gas, leaving around £80-90 for food. Presume that also includes toiletries and cleaning stuff. That's hard.

I mean it's doable but it won't be easy......my utilities average out at £100 pm (( Not a huge house and we're out most of the day )) for 3 adults. I don't run a car......and tbh if I did I'd be cutting that out ot down as much as possible.

If you're careful it's doable but you have to be realistic that your life will have to change to manage it. Could you get a job to boost things a little ? A lady I work with has picked up a 2.5 hour a night cleaning job in a school to boost her income. Doesn't sound much but she makes over £600 pm before tax which makes a huge difference for her.

It's probably OK for the basics.
The problem will be paying for extras and unforseen expenses, like birthday presents, school trips, and activities.

Yes, state pension is £220 pw : many are living off this amount and having to pay utilities, council tax, food, petrol from this amount. So having £178 after utilities should be doable ; might not easy as the pensioners are finding!

I think as long as your petrol costs aren't high then it's possible.

I do think you need to work out how much the split will be between all the bills. Are you on a fixed tariff for your bills? In which case this will be predictable at least. Then you can work out a plan for food.

Workout how you can reduce all the bills overall. Shorter showers, cooking multiple things in the oven to reduce time it's on. Cycling and walking instead of driving.

Food is probably most variable. I would work out some standard basic meals and buy balk quantities of potatoes, rice and pasta. Asda often do cheap veggies. If you end up saving money then you can start a savings pot and/or treat yourself.

Is this a temporary situation? Are your bills likely to go up when it gets colder again?

Is gas n electric included in bills?. If so then yes, with careful budgeting

No it's not. How much is petrol?