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,

@OnlyFoolsnMothers I agree it’s definitely misleading, though I can understand why some would be embarrassed to admit they get benefits. I used to be on income support and felt humiliated any time I had to admit it, or go into the job centre etc.

But giving the impression you’re managing on X amount when it’s X+Y is strange, and can often deter people from asking for financial guidance if they think they should be able to manage on a certain amount without any kind of help

@myfavouritefudgecake but surely if you know you’ve a £50 hair cut to get in however many weeks before your cut, you’d save up £5/10 per week to cover it? So it’s not a £50 expense from one weeks budget, it’s a fraction of that from multiple weeks budgets?

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.

I think that's sort of the point of the comments the op is getting - it's not breadline Britain is it!

E.G, you go for a £50 haircut every 5 weeks you put aside £10 from your £200 budget each week

• buy/ sell secondhand goods
• shop at Lidl/ Aldi
• reduce alcohol and meat
• cut out takeaways, coffees, meals out
• review your DDs abs see if you can reduce any subscriptions you don't need
• cut out gym membership and run instead
• shop around to reduce energy and prove bills
• buy Xmas gifts each month between now and December

£1000 isn't too bad

@BoggledBudgie nobody is saying it's breadline Britain. I'm simply using it as an illustration of the astronomical costs of very ordinary everyday things. I know somebody earlier said they can't afford to get their haircut so they just don't. I can't accept that this is ok. It may be normal but I don't think it's right. Surely it's a sign of huge rents businesses are paying and the amount they mark up to make a profit. Anyway, I was just using the haircut as an example.

@labyrinthloafer that would be an adjustment for some people, setting aside money for a haircut and that was the kind of tip the OP was looking for. I don't think she's saying she's completely skint, she's asking how to live more leanly.

Also, there are many larger recurring costs. So how many things are you going to do that squirrelling away small amounts strategy for? It could be: haircut, kids shoes, school uniform, dentist, pet vaccines, boiler service, car insurance (x2).

By that point that probable is around £50-£100 out of your £200 p/w anyway so you might as well deal with costs as they occur.

Clothes, pocket money, presents?
Tell the kids sorry - money is tight right now you'll not be getting pocket money for a while.
Clothes - do you really have to buy clothes each month?
Presents? With all the wild social events going on right now.
Cut back!
Technically I have £72 left over to feed a family of 5 for a month after my bills and childcare are paid. So please, be realistic.

I explained my situation as it is. I don’t use childcare. I own my own home. I don’t receive benefits except child benefit.

@mamabears3

I explained my situation as it is. I don’t use childcare. I own my own home. I don’t receive benefits except child benefit.

On an annual income of £12k and 3 children, why don't you claim benefits? If you had put in a claim up to about a year ago, you would have received tax credits of about £700 a month. It's less for universal credit (as you are not paying rent) but still worth claiming.

It is tight, after the fuel, so only £200 per week for food and everything else, but it should be OK. I would definitely try to save at least £100 a month out of that unless you already have a buffer for repairs/unexpected events. Then if you can try to keep the food bill at £100, leaving a small amount then for anything else. Start a Christmas fund now by eBaying anything you don't need or want. Meal plans every week, use lots of pulses and wonky veg, definitely switch to a budget supermarket if you haven't already. Switch to one car if you haven't already.

For sure it'll be an adjustment learning to cope on a fixed income..Just as it would for a family making 50 quid a week stretch in the same way relying foodbanks,not Aldi..said without a trace of sarcasm or irony.

@mamabears3, seriously, if you are an nhs nurse with a disabled child (apologies, I searched your username) please do

Check your paycheck. £1k a month isn't the right amount to receive on a nurse salary

Put in a claim for benefits, including dla/pip depending on age of child with disabilities.

You are missing out on a fairly large amount of money!