To wonder why people don't include food in their 'bills' budget?

[thecatsthecats]

I see this all over the internet. People talk about finances, and lots of people say things like "We put £500/£400/£1000/whatever into a shared account for bills/mortgage, and then £400/£300/£1000 left for food and spends".

I mean, obviously food isn't a bill, but in terms of expenses, it's pretty damn essential. I know that you can spend more or less a month on different items as well, but at the same time, that applies to energy costs too. Any underspending just sits in our account covering overspending a different month.

It makes judging whether or not an amount is reasonable (when asked!) pretty impossible, because you have no idea how much they are spending on food etc!

My DP and I put a budget for food onto the amount we put on the shared account - £200. It buys three Tesco online shops of £50-£60 plus a few extra bits. We actually also put £200 on a month for shared pub meals and the like, but I can understand why people wouldn't bother with that as it's strictly non-essential.

Genuinely curious as to why people don't treat food as they do other standard expenses in their budgeting!

It's a variable cost and not a direct debit. I can far more easily trim £30 a week off the food budget than I could do the electricity bill. I'm not even sure what you mean by cut back on electric...that is a set monthly direct debit and unless you are really wasteful with it any cut backs on usage won't take effect immediately.

The people you mention are budgeting for it, just not including it in the same set of figures. I have one set in my head which are set bills that go every month, which leaves the variable bills, one of which includes food.

Witsender I'm not even sure what you mean by cut back on electric...that is a set monthly direct debit and unless you are really wasteful with it any cut backs on usage won't take effect immediately.

Clearly I've spent too long being poor.. I pay quarterly, whatever the bill actually is, by submitting meter readings. Can trigger an earlier bill if I submit reading early.

Electric is minimal but gas/heating can vary wildly if I have no money. Can also delay paying a bill if have a cashflow issue, whereas basic food is really essential. I have a basic food budget included in usual budget, and food/drink over the limit is "extra"/part of spending money.

that is a set monthly direct debit and unless you are really wasteful with it any cut backs on usage won't take effect immediately.

Not everyone has a direct debit. I have never had a DD for electric. Always a keypad meter. And yes you can reduce how much it costs without being really wasteful in the first place.

I think food is pretty essentially. It's one of our highest regular monthly outgoings at about £750pcm including toiletries, cleaning stuff, pet food, Tec. Yes it could be reduced but that's what I budget because over a year that's about what it comes to.

No Cry - yeah, and you can switch to a different plan. We can use electricity much more efficiently than we do at the moment.

People saying they don't know how much food costs them kind of proves my point in my head, because I didn't know how much we spend on average until we worked it out!