AIBU to ask if £155 weekly is enough for food and leisure?

how many people are you feeding ?
if it’s just you then that’s fine - a family of four + is different
will you be getting a redundancy payment

I think you could do food for £40-50 if you’re fairly frugal, with £100 left over it’s ok - you won’t be dining out like a king every weekend but if it’s just for going out & nothing else, it’s ok - enough to live on for sure if all other bases are covered. If you have a lot coming up one week just do a super budget food shop that week. Good luck!

Should be ok for two people. We spend around £160 a week on food (and general groceries) for 4 people which includes 2 older teenagers and all meals as no one is at school anymore.

At your age and in your shoes I would look for a part time job that gives you ‘spending money’ each week. You won’t have an amazing lifestyle on £155 per week, savings will be tight as would your ability to buy tickets for a show or have a meal out. So I’d get a look for 20hra a week or so that could allow you to wind down but give some additional income into your pensions fully kick in

If that’s all you’ve got it will have to be enough 😀
personally, I think it’s plenty for 2 people.

Food is always going to depend on what you like... you need to look at your typical shop and work out if theres any space to cut diwn down. Was the food budget to include toilitries and cleaning stuff as well?

Look at subscriptions too, eork out if you actually use them or just keep Netflix for example out of habit.

It should be enough but it won’t be very enjoyable.

It’s enough to survive but it will be pretty grim long-term - what about savings towards things like vets bills, car repairs, holidays, birthdays?

Like a PP said I would be wanting a part-time job to top up my income, even if it was just a couple of shifts a week in a shop or supermarket.

We spend £100 a week on groceries for the 2 of us at Aldi. but we love food and cook everything from scratch. We only go out for meals once a month and rarely have takeaway so yes your figures are definitely doable.

Definitely enough. I spent £155 on a family of five adults per week. And to be honest that's not as frugal as it could be. Good food, wine etc. I'd be hoping in your situation to have £70 for food which leaves £85 for leisure. I don't spend anywhere near £85 on leisure but I don't know your lifestyle.

How about trialling boxes like hello fresh? I tried all their opening deals as I couldn't have got food as cheap as they were offering. Bit naughty but didn't stay with any of them! Or Tesco meal plan for £20/£25 are really good.

Be fine, we do £120 a week for a family of 4 and 4 pets in Iceland/aldi.

But won’t you need to top up the fund as it runs down? Or do you mean your bills include putting money aside in your savings?

If you are out of work, why are you spending £20 a week on petrol?

Look at it this way - it will have to be.

So if you found work, the extra would basically be fun money, so you can earn to your needs.

What I would say is that it will limit you to your existing lifestyle so if you have a mortgage, you may have more free money when that's cleared, but equally, if you find you need a different car or sofa as you age and your comfort needs change, those will be extra and your funds may not go as far.

To really work it out, you will need to audit your accounts and budget.

On the surface though, I'd say it was fine. I used to earn a lot less and found i lived very well on £400 spare each month. Admittedly things were cheaper, but I never really had expensive interests- I went to the pub every other week and had a meal now and again and that was about it!

Oh and have a look online at some of the cost of living pages on facebook, they have loads of great pages with people who go round shops and buy bargains and make meals with them. Some are really healthy! I know you may not think you're there yet, but the tips are there for everyone and I think most people would find something that they can take from it, whether it's a quick tin meal, healthy cheap breakfasts or which shops have a really good bargain on toilet roll.

It's possible if you are careful. With that I'd focus on most meals being very cheap: porridge, dried lentils and beans soaked for use in stews and soups rather than ready cooked in tins; main meals based around the neverending MN chicken or tinned tuna etc rather than salmon steaks. Seasonal fruit and veg. Look out for deals, use coupons.

Make wise choices. Buy fresh coffee and make it at home rather than wasting money on cafes. You can froth milk heated in a microwave with a whisk.
Do online workouts instead of gym membership or classes.

For leisure, keep an eye out for deals and as soon as they come along - pounce on them. DH and I have recently had good seats (not upper circle or restricted view) for brilliant West End shows for £24 each; three course dinner at good chain restaurants for £20 (50% off). We go to pre-tour warm up gigs for a fraction of the price of stadium tickets.

Put money aside every week and keep an eye out for the cheapest time to book holidays and flights etc. As soon as you have enough for a place you want to go, book them. DSis is brilliant at planning her own holidays when she arrives in a destination. She saves £££ by avoiding travel agents and tour companies. Just buys flights, gets to Thailand or Sri Lanka or wherever and then books hotels or rental homes and cars when she is there. She goes to hot places in winter to save on UK fuel bills.

I mean, people still use their cars and travel even if they’re not working