What's a reasonable amount to budget for eating out/take aways /coffees each month?

If they have 4 kids, are on benefits and only working part time, and don’t have enough money for unexpected expenses, then they shouldn’t be eating out, buying coffees or getting takeaways

That card sounds interesting, can you explain a bit how it works or post a link .

£0. None of those things are in any way necessary and if you can't afford them then you just don't buy them. This is not extreme frugality or deprivation it's just fnancial common sense.

£100 should be enough. That would cover a pizza/KFC/McDonald's/kebab type takeaway once a month, plus occasional coffees etc. There's really no need to spend more than that. More expensive options should be budgeted for.
Get a coffee machine and buy treats from the supermarket instead.
That someone on benefits has £400 to spend on takeaway is just wild to me. What a waste of money.

If they're a bit hard up and need to keep a tight rein on the budget, I would suggest a budget of £0.00 should be allocated to takeaways and eating out! Surely those things are luxuries? They should be one of the first things to cut back on if they want the budget to stretch further.

Coffee - a decent coffee machine will do the same and you can pick them up for less than £75.

I prefer to have one meal out a month at a restaurant than takeaways as it’s more of an experience than anything else.

I’d say £100

Do you only ever buy things you absolutely need? No alcohol, no chocolate, no nice home furnishings. Nothing just the bare essentials for you!

Noting is wrong with it, but people can choose to spend their disposable income on what ever they fancy. That's like asking why people buy non-essential food, or alcohol, or home accessories, or nice-to-haves... because they can, and it's something they get enjoyment from.

With three teens at home, we go out several times a week for a coffee to ringfence some time just for us during the week.

I have a £3k income and one teenager but I'm also paying half school fees so we just don't eat out at all. The world hasn't ended and DS doesn't mind.

His dad takes him out to lunch most weekends, and that will have to be enough until fees finish next April. I don't mind either, I can wait.

DS has a weekend job now, so if he really wants to go to BurgerKing, he can pay for it himself.

No idea. Its mad. What’s wrong with making your own and a packed lunch for work? Perfectly good pizzas in Aldi when you don’t want to cook.

We have a significantly higher household income but v rarely get takeaway coffees. Paying over £4 a cup just seems mad…. DH has actually got a small coffee machine in his office and so his coffees cost about 30p. I had a free coffee machine at work (hideous coffee but sort of drinkable). The only reason I’d get coffee out is if I’m meeting someone. And tbh if a walk was a sensible option I’d prob go for that.

My advice would be to go cold turkey on the coffees and have one meal out a month.

We don't eat takeaway but my DH and I probably spent nearly £200 per month on coffees, and will maybe eat out twice a month.

Never bought a takeaway coffee in my life and im in my 60s and I likely never will, no mortgage, monthly guaranteed income (no benefits) is above your friends by about 15%.
Stop the coffee immediately!

I think it's a mix of evaluating what they are currently spending and how often, and then figuring out some easy steps to help them decrease. I'd also consider giving the teens a 'monthly' budget and when they've used it, that's it.

But honestly, it sounds like convenience is a big factor - their weekly shop will need to go up and potentially add in more 'ready meal' or freezer foods soo while they get out of the maccies/KFC habit, they have frozen pizzas, nuggets etc in for meals. eventually they can change that habit to be about batch cooking and pre-empting mealtimes but slowly slowly.

With the coffee habit, I'd agree an amount and put it on a giftcard. The first month, they might blow the allowance in one week and therefore learn just how much money they are going through and how quickly.

We stopped with coffees and takeaways when we started saving for our huose deposit and now it's such a rare occurence and a big treat when we do. It feels nicer this way and we get to spend the money on other things now.

I also agree. I work full time and I allow myself three takeaway coffees a month and maybe a takeaway every other month

Yes I agree , but you’ll get accused of benefit bashing on MN.

Wow, what a waste of money.
I remember when a coffee was £1.80. Now it's £4 where we live. Goat curry in the food stall used to be £6. Now it's £9.
What we do now is share 1 coffee between us, if it's very, very cold and we are outside. Once a week we buy a £10-curry from a shop for lunch and share. This is our only 'treat'. Kids have McDonalds maybe once a year.
BUT we go on holidays instead 3x a year and enjoy great, fresh food there.
So it kind of depends what you want from life.

I also don't get the daily coffee habit. I make a coffee in my vacuum sealed travel mug at 7am and take it with me

Nor me. I do the same.

I haven’t really got any choice though because I don’t go near anywhere that sells coffee.

I also don't get the daily coffee habit. I make a coffee in my vacuum sealed travel mug at 7am and take it with me. If I leave it closed, it'll still be hot at lunch time. Often, the dregs are still warm when I tip it out when I get home at about 5:30.

I get it that a Costa or a Starbucks is a nice treat, but I'm not sure it's £100 a month worth of nice. Especially when I can make my perfectly pleasant coffee at home for probably less than 10p a cup.

Your friend is spending £400 per month just on takeaways?

I spend that amount on groceries, although it’s now more like £450-£500 due to the high food price inflation.

I’m intrigued how someone working part time has so much money for a luxury like takeaways??

I agree with this 👆

We only have take aways/eat out when it's a birthday. I have teenagers too! We don't do it any other time. They need to change their mindset to become more healthy and save more.

Totally Agree with this! There is a thread going about spending £2000 gift on a pair
of earrings. Many PPs saying don’t do it, save the money for emergency fund or pension.

In the same vein tell your relative to stop buying take away’s, they may be able to have a budget that stretches across the month and with good budgeting have a little bit let over.

£400 a month eating out/ take away’s is a lot.

In your friend’s situation, £0.

So our income is much more than that.

I never get take away coffee, and only get lunch if I am meeting a friend (I take my own lunch to work). But we probably get a couple of take aways as a family each month. I can’t see how someone on benefits / working part time can afford take away coffees or lunch.

My teenage kids get pocket money and can have take away coffee from that (usually when with friends).

I would suggest a family take away each month plus coffee when meeting someone - never on own.

Personally, I spend zero on takeaway/coffee etc but I don't make anywhere NEAR as much as your relatives.

Takeaway as an occasional TREAT can still be cheap. We're talking say once every 7-10 days, A dessert item (ex small sundae from McDonald's) or A taco/A container of chips. NOT entire meals.

Daily coffee habit? That's laziness/convenience though some people say "it's part of my morning routine"... Yeah but how much does coffee cost (x 5 days/wk x 4 wks/month) and how much time is spent getting it vss cost and time at home.

Like losing weight, budgeting (to lose money waste) ain't fun or easy at first. The "diet" is hard to get used to.
Then you get used to it and it's fine.