Living on 1k a month advice please

[Debtgalore]

Hi MNers, long term poster but name changed as embarrassed.

Due to corona we've had a massive drop in income. We're still very lucky that we have £1,000 a month to live on (but that's significantly less than we're used to). Can we have any advice on how to make it stretch? There's two of us, two 10 year olds and a dog. It'll need to cover all food, petrol for 2 cars (we commute in opposite directions) and everything else.

Using the MSE boards we've made a budget for all our bills, switched energy suppliers, cancelled Sky, etc etc. The thousand is what's left over.

We sometimes shop at Aldi but will do this as our main shop now.

All help appreciated, I'm worried it won't go as far as we need.

Thank you,

I cant even afford haircuts. I last had my haircut 3 years ago.😱

I am not going to get shitty with the OP even though I'd love to have 1k a month after bills. If it's a big drop for you, it's still a hard adjustment.

Get a prescription prepayment if you get more than one item every month. Yearly works out cheapest in the long term although it's a lot to spend all at once. I get 3 months at a time. Screenshot it & keep on your phone.

Sign up to all the free loyalty card schemes for shops you go in anyway. Don't use the points, save them for Christmas, emergencies etc. We use our Morrisons vouchers (for example) at Christmas - we get about £45 & it pays our grocery bill that week.

If you don't already, get lunchboxes / something to store picnic lunch in for trips out. And if possible, a cool bag, can occasionally pick them up cheap in 2nd hand shops, or discount shops. Don't ever buy lunch out, it's very expensive for inferior food. If you can't afford a cool bag, at least double/triple wrap the lunch with layers of carrier bags, in a backpack, with a freezer block.

@cherrybakewells3

Wow there is some nasty jealous people on here! Ignore the horrible comments, they are angry that they have a low income. £1000 isn't a lot at all, especially when you are used to more. I think it's probably manageable but not easy/fun. We have around £2500 after all bills/mortgage and certainly don't feel rich. Food shopping I always make a list of meals each day and what is needed me stick to it.

Now you're taking the piss. £2500 after bills... £2500 a month alone would be a wage over £30k a year. Even if your bills are only £1k on top of that it's still a wage of over £42000 a year... If you can't live on that and live very very well, you're doing something monumentally stupid.

OP I'd vary supermarkets each week so you can take advantage of different offers at each.

Cancel your TV license and get a Netflix subscription instead as its cheaper.

If you have a spare room you could rent to a lodger.

Stretch everything by a day, week, month. It pays off.

E.g our cat's vaccinations are due on 15th August. The vet has told us there is a 3-month window and to leave it because they are busy catching up due to Covid. I've agreed with my vet and DH that we'll push back a month every year. So we'll get their vaccinations in September this year, October next year, November the year after. After 12 years we'll effectively had a year free! (Random I know but it's a saving)

Do the same for shopping. Normally shop on a Tue? Try to wait till Wed, then Thu, then Fri. After a week you've saved a whole weeks expense.

Do the same with laundry. Normally do beds on Fri? Wait till Sat, then Sun. etc. You'll save time and money spent on electricity and the laundry powder.

There will be other things you can stretch. Just think creatively!

@monkeytoesofdoom I never said I couldn't live on it did I? That's combined between me and DP. We don't really struggle I never said we did, I just said we are hardly rich and we will have to save for things we want like normal people. It's a combined yearly income of £60k before tax, I would say that's quite average, certainly not rich. £1000 a month left between a family is not a high amount, especially if your used to higher. Doable but restrictive. Why are people getting to bitter! If your unhappy with your own income do something about it instead of bashing other people. Like the op said, just because other people have worse struggles does not in any way make hers less.

@Debtgalore tagging you in so hopefully you'll see my genius idea about stretching expense! (Very modest aren't I? )

To add it that I suggest make do and mend. This can apply to so many things and does save money. Especially if you can make the thing last one more week, one more month.

Mend saves money too. Our oven broke. My DH got over his nerves and fixed it. (Doesn't come naturally to him). He also fixed our floor steamer.

I held my whirligig together with duct tape until it could last no more...then there was a £20 replacement in Lidl!

Our microwave has had no light for years and rusts inside but my DH treats the rust and then we respray it.

Our fridge freezer is held together with glue and duct tape (we're saving for a new kitchen so trying to keep everything going until then)

I haven't bought towels or sets bed linen in 20 years. I make do and mend what we have. I had to replace a sheet recently but it'll keep the bed set going for another few years.

I mend clothes or adapt them. My DD ended up with holes in feet of her tights that weren't repairable. I cut the feet off, hemmed them and made them footless tights.

The other money saving tip which is more complicated now is to make full use of the library. Join as soon as it reopens.

I get magazines, newspapers, music, box sets, films, online courses and books from there. I think my library membership saves me thousands. I used to have a magazine and book habit. Using the library is good for the library, good for your pocket and great for the environment.

Use a moon cup. Bigger initial outlay but worth the expense. Saved me a fortune and healthier. I was in less pain and periods finished quicker somehow?

I think you'll need to get used to a different type of lifestyle after job loss, business collapse and associated debt.

As a nurse you can maybe pick up extra shifts? My neighbour does when ever she needs extra money.

After a while you'll be shocked at home much you used to spend because you'll adapt.

Get expert help for the business debt.

@cherrybakewells3 we have similar left over to you when all bills are done. We live well and have everything we want but we're hardly rolling around in cash. Sometimes we have hardly any savings, sometimes we have a lot. It's all context. People lose the plot on here if anyone has the audacity to have more than a fiver spare

I survive off £150/week before bills for 3 kids, 2 cats and me. I don’t understand how someone can have an issue with only having £1000 left after bills are paid...

I survive off £150/week before bills for 3 kids, 2 cats and me I don’t understand how this is physically possible, unless you (and other such posters) aren’t including any additional government financial support?

@myfavouritefudgecake absolutely! How very dare you have that much left each month and not be living like a queen. It's nuts.

I just said we are hardly rich and we will have to save for things we want like normal people. It's a combined yearly income of £60k before tax, I would say that's quite average, certainly not rich

The average uk income is £35k, give or take, for a full time worker.
for a rough estimate, a household that survives on under 54% of that, that household is in poverty. A household with an income of around £17,500 or less is in poverty.

a household earning more than £60k, unless they're very bad at managing money, should have a very high standard of living. enough to cover sports, extra cuirricular activities, hobbies, entertainment and holidays etc.

Now, there are around 14.5Million people in poverty in this country. A figure that is on the rise.

Some people moan they have £12k a year spare...
or someone moaning they have £30k, almost double poverty line, a year spare. Or someone saying £60k isnt well off...

They're taking the piss or being incredibly naive.

This thread has been an eye opener for me, especially the poster who said they've never done a paying day out such Harry Potter studios. I lived in poverty as a teen Mum and then a single Mum university student but I knew somehow it was a temporary situation. Life sounds really tough for a lot of you, I watched lots of programmes such as Rich House Poor House but for some reason this thread has really moved me.

£250 a weeks is not a lot to feed and clothes 4 people and a dog.

Plus petrol, school trips, clubs, activities and the occasional treat!

@SciFiScream if you have a Vets4pets near you, they have a vaccination package for £99 that gives the vaccinations for life. I’ve had it since I got my kitten so have got my money back.

@Jimdandy

£250 a weeks is not a lot to feed and clothes 4 people and a dog.

Plus petrol, school trips, clubs, activities and the occasional treat!

Universal credit pays £409 standard £280 for a single child £689 a month

Rent they pay depends on social vs private and bedroom number etc.
Bit if claimants rent is £550 and the LHA only pays £400 then that £150 would come out of the £689

As would council tax, gas, electric, water etc etc etc.

£250 a week spare would be an unatainable dream for millions of people. So saying it's not a lot is shortsighted.

@Jimdandy

£250 a weeks is not a lot to feed and clothes 4 people and a dog.

Plus petrol, school trips, clubs, activities and the occasional treat!

It's plenty to live off. Shop in Lidl / Aldi, eat less meat etc. Clubs and days out are luxuries - if you can't afford them, you don't have them. Harsh but true (we can't afford them either).

Some people on this thread need to go on one of the benefits calculators and see what they’d get on universal credit.

@SciFiScream

Stretch everything by a day, week, month. It pays off.

E.g our cat's vaccinations are due on 15th August. The vet has told us there is a 3-month window and to leave it because they are busy catching up due to Covid. I've agreed with my vet and DH that we'll push back a month every year. So we'll get their vaccinations in September this year, October next year, November the year after. After 12 years we'll effectively had a year free! (Random I know but it's a saving)

Do the same for shopping. Normally shop on a Tue? Try to wait till Wed, then Thu, then Fri. After a week you've saved a whole weeks expense.

Do the same with laundry. Normally do beds on Fri? Wait till Sat, then Sun. etc. You'll save time and money spent on electricity and the laundry powder.

There will be other things you can stretch. Just think creatively!

Regarding the cat's vaccinations, does your vet offer the Healthy Pet Club? It was well worth it for us - it covers all flea & worm treatments plus annual vaccines for £13.49/ month. Our flea treatments alone cost almost that so it is like getting the vaccinations free.

https://www.thehealthypetclub.co.uk/clubs/adult-club

@OnlyFoolsnMothers I get child tax credits and child benefit (and a 25% council tax reduction too if that counts?). Don’t get housing benefit though or universal credit etc. I’m a full time student, I’m not eligible for benefits so July-September I only get my child benefit and tax credit which comes to roughly £150/week

Also, it’s not physically possible. I eat one meal a day provided the kids aren’t hungrier than usual (because I will not ever see them go hungry). I’m getting more in debt as the summer goes on with council tax/some rent arrears/unpaid phone bill etc. But it’s only for 3 months, and after that I’ll get my student loan and bursary, and very very hopefully I’ll be able to find any job at all so I don’t end up back in this position!

I’m not sure what universal credit has to do with anything.

£250 to include food is not a lot - neither is the universal credit amount other than the fact it’s less - not sure why there has to be a race to the bottom.

Should say to include petrol

BoggledBudgie thank you for clarifying- just to say I’m not picking at benefits in ANYWAY! Rather I want to understand how much people actually have and I do think some are quoting their wages not their income. To say people raise X number in their household on Y when it’s really Y + £600 in benefits is misleading

Just because lots of people manage on less doesn't make it perfectly and easily achievable, especially in some parts of the country.

It just means that the cost of living is astronomical and living "well" is unattainable for many many people.

Where I live it's at least £50 for a standard cut and blow hair-cut. That's a chunk out of £200 one week right there.