To ask how much you spend per week?

It’s not so much saying that low earners have to strip back on every luxury so much as you have to make decisions based on the money you have & your goals.

Luxuries are exactly that- a luxury. Not something everyone can have all of the time.

You can recognise being on a low wage while also acknowledging that if you want to survive on a low wage, especially while in a one income household, you do have to give up certain things.

Hopefully a better paying job comes up for you but if not and you move in with your boyfriend you will see a big difference even on the same salary if you were to split say 50/50. £28k as the only income to fund an entire house & your life is quite low, but two people on £28k is much more manageable.

I would consider things like food and cat food along with the essential bills like mortgage and utilities. Then look at what you’ve got left after that as fun money.

I probably spend about £100 a week on going out. This will include things like eating out, cinema, theatre, drinks, and transport, mostly spent over the weekend. Seems a lot but it doesn’t go far. We enjoy a cocktail so even just 2 drinks at the weekend will easily be £20.

Even when everything was cheaper it’s always hard for anyone doing it alone. As you have a BF any chance of you both wanting to live together?

Our budget is as a couple and the annual figure for spending not including housing as we have paid our mortgage and zero debt to service was 28k last year.

These days I consider myself lucky - my DH is retired & has a decent private pension + his state pension + healthy savings in excess of £100k. I'm semi-retired & my earnings + pension is about £32kpa - I also have savings in excess of £150k.

However that hasn't always been the case. My 1st DH killed himself aged 32 when was PG. DH had no insurance so I was faced with a baby, mortgage & his debts. I now know that I wasn't liable for the debts incurred by him through his self employment, but I was chased by the people who he owed money as they were knocking on my door threatening me with bailiffs etc & so I paid them. For a long time I would have been better off on benefits rather than working. However I wanted my DS to be brought up in a family who worked & paid their way. I re-negotiated the mortgage, somehow with careful budgeting which meant that I only used cash - my salary was taken up with mortgage, council tax, car insurance, debts etc & I would take out my <what was then> Family Credit & Child Benefit for the week (as a single parent in those days I had an order book that I could cash every week) & divide up what I had to spend into jam jars labelled: 'food', petrol etc I was able to take care of the debts. I eventually sold the house for a large profit & bought a much smaller house in a cheaper area transferring my job to this area. That and the lump sum that I got when I took part of my civil service pension is why I have large savings.

I am so grateful that my father advised me to make extra contributions to my civil service pension when my DS was born as I had to work P/T & found that I had a pension worth 39 years when in actuality I'd only worked around 34 years.

There isn’t a problem with living alone. I often wish I lived alone 😂
The op is unhappy with her budget , I was simply suggesting ways to improve her situation which boil down to earn more or spend less?? It’s not a difficult concept .

@CrochetandteaYes living alone is expensive but it’s not always a choice. Saying that, if someone chooses to live alone, what’s the problem? I’d rather that than be in a miserable relationship because I can’t afford to leave just because it’s cheaper.

We spend around £2k a month for a family of 4, which covers food, days out, spending money. I don’t include activities or holidays in this or savings.

I've absolutely no idea. I should probably work it out.

About £200-£250 a month including bills.
Some months its a lot less.

Lots of people work 6 days a week. Sunday is your day of rest!

You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do ?? It was a suggestion as you don’t seem to be happy with your financial situation. By all means whinge online about your financial situation if it makes you feel better.
Personally I’d be saving a set amount every month as soon as I get paid, I’d cut my budget right back until I had a buffer of a few months expenses. I’d take another job a couple of evenings a week but with a social aspect such as waitressing.
You should try to get away feom
the mindset of ‘Why should I’? No one is going to do it for you?

You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but if you want more money to spend then you either need to increase your income or decrease your costs. A lodger is a way to do both.

Looking at your list, I'm afraid to say that it's the social life spending that adds up more than you realise. Just drinks and snack when your out with your BF is pricey these days even if you're doing a free activity alongside it.

I tend to think that other people spend loads on their phones and phone contracts too. Mine was a refurbish at maybe £130 and my SIM only payment is £10p/m for 100gb, 500 calls & texts. Maybe that's somewhere you can save money? (Talk mobile via Vodafone fyi). I hotspot to my tablet and TV, but in fairness don't do subscription TV/streaming.

What did you do with the money from the second job? Save it or spend it ?

If you’re not happy with how much you earn then ‘why shouldn’t you work more ‘?
Who do you think will give you the life you’d like?

If you live alone and have more than one bedroom perhaps you could get a lodger. Living alone is a luxury not everyone can afford.

I think the problem OP is not just the job but also the fact you are living alone. The world now just simply isn’t set up for single income households really, the cost of rent/mortgage, utilities, TV, food shopping etc, not many people can afford to live alone.

If you want more money you have two choices - work more or spend less.
I don’t have a budget as such but I fancy myself as a bit of a Martin Lewis and I’m always looking for the cheapest way to buy anything I need. I’m not a fan of ‘stuff’ other than yarn.
In your situation - young and childless . I’d get another job tbh

You will get lots of people telling you they spend 250 a week and feed two adults and nine children. However there is an economy of scale, and what works per person in a larger household can't necessarily be done in a single person or two person household. I would say thats a very tight budget considering the cost of essentials at the moment.

Not being rude but what's the question?

People will have different incomes and outgoings.

Are you looking for budgeting advice or views on how you spend your money? If so, how much are you spending on each category I.e. your food, transport, cat, hair?

If its a general question, I have a higher disposable income but spend very little on those categories as I put most of my money toward savings and holidays.