To ask how much money you have spare a month?

[whoknewitwouldbethishard]

Our income has just changed dramatically and we now only have £400 a month spare after bills and outgoings.

With this, we need to feed two adults and an almost one year old. I'm beside myself with worry here.

Is this a decent amount?

We've lost £600 a month 😩

Is that £400 only for food? Does it include nappies, cleaning products etc? Either way, sounds doable to me. £400 is a lot for just food shopping.
I spend anywhere from £200-250 a month on shopping for our family of three, really varies depending on what we need but that figure includes nappies and things. Shop at Aldi or Lidl if you can, buy more own brand products. Meal plan if you don't already. Maybe try cheaper nappies. See if there's anywhere else you can make changes like a cheaper phone contract or changing energy supplier to save some money.
It should definitely be more than enough for you to get by on. It's just always a bit scary when circumstances change, but if you plan and budget properly you'll be fine!

I'm worrying so much! That would include nappies but we buy Aldi nappies so that's not much a month.

It's just a big lifestyle change

I think that's plenty.

I feed 5 adults on £400 a month- we eat well and some wine too!

I'm not entirely sure how much we will have spare; likely not more than £250 a month max (but that's after all essentials, food included!) to me, disposable/spare income is after everything you need (rent, Council tax, food, gas elec and internet and so on) is paid.
At the moment I'm spending £100 a week on food, nappies and cleaning products for myself + 2dc - only one in nappies, but this will go down when I'm able to store food easier (living in temporary accom and only have a hob plate and tiny fridge which limits me a lot)
Based on meal plans I've done so far and assuming I can get hold of a fridge freezer fairly quickly once I move next week I should be able to get this to £60 a week without much bother.
Hope that helps. By the way, I use the Aldi nappies and wipes which are cheap and cheerful, but if you've not got an Aldi could you see if you can bulk buy the next size (or current size if they've just gone into it) to make it a bit cheaper?
Hope this helps.

whoknew not a tax credits change is it? We have just woken up to a drastically reduced payment, and its the same for each week listed in the site. Looks like it's been auto renewed.

We have to feed 2 adults and 3 kids on £120 a week now along with bus fares and fuel for car. I can't see how it's going to happen. I'm going to have to stop driving lessons as we just won't be able to afford them now.

Sorry cross post re aldi nappies.

"Spare money" - LOL

Well, it's not a lot as you also both need a bit of money for all the incidental things that come up. I think that would be £20 each per week minimum. But perhaps you can save by cooking everything from scratch. Do you work?

Our food money is £200/month including alcohol for two adults. I cook mostly from scratch though, and buy lots of expensive stuff only when on offer (eg washing powder and cleaning products). I think £400 is plenty, although I have no concept of costs of nappies.

To me spare is after all bills, mortgage, food is paid for. Before we put money in savings we have around £1400-£1600 left over for day to day spends (unecessary things like days out, coffees, new clothes, things for the best house we want but don't desperately need etc) tend to save between £700-£900 a month so around £700 a month is for spending. But we have no kids.

£0 for us as were paying off two massive loans...I went from £1600pm to £1050pm luckily no baby for us yet just the two of us!

It’s worrying trying to get used to a lower income. If you budget you will be ok.
Cut any costs that you can like energy, broadband, phone and tv.
Put some money into a separate account every month in case of sudden bills or something needs replacing.
Meal plan. Find good cheap meal sites for recipes and ideas.
Buy toiletries and cleaning products that are on special offer.
Do mostly free stuff. It can get boring when you’re budgeting but look in your area and see what’s free or very cheap to do.

Don't worry, it's plenty. You'll need to budget, but I'd first take a chunk of the £400 and put it aside in a savings account for emergencies.
Ditch buying things that end up unused, use up what you have before stocking up, and meal plan. Give up things like impulse buys and food, drinks and snacks bought outside the home like workday lunches and coffees. Make eating out, takeaways and things rare treats.

It's certainly doable. We were in a similar position when DH had to take 2 pay cuts in a year when DC were very small. You will need to budget and plan.

If I were you I would set £75-£100 of that sum aside every month to build up some savings and also have some wiggle room for the occasional treat or emergency. With the £300 a month you will be able to eat very well and healthily.

Plan meals and menus, cook from scratch, accept that you will be acting a lot of meat free meals, use up left overs. Buy a cheap stick blender (£5.50 from Argos) to make homemade soups and also to blend adult meals into baby food. Learn as many ways as possible to cook eggs and lentils. Use spices to make cheap mince and chicken taste delicious.

Good luck, it is a shitty, scary position to be in but hopefully things will improve for you soon.

Also, instead of meeting friends for coffee, meet them for a walk somewhere nice or arrange a game of tennis in a park if you have a racket. I do that a lot and my friends are very receptive to it. I’ve now got the reputation of being the outdoorsy adventurous type

that's roughly our supermarket budget per month for family of 5 and a cat. We shop at Tesco. We meal plan, everyone has packed lunch, don't have much superfluous food unless it's stuff that's not going to go off. We don't buy premium brands. Currently trying to have at least one vegetarian dinner a week to save money on meat and to try a variety of dishes. There are loads of tips on the money saving threads too.

After rent, bills and travel I’ve got around £1,700 left. I spend around £25 on food each week, and have no children. My partner gets paid about the same as me but doesn’t pay for travel, so he has about £80 more than me a month.

I'd love to have 400 a month left over! I have just under 12k a year for me and a child so nothing at all spare each month. I'd be living the high life with 400 a month! Might even be able to afford a car!

Sorry, I'm just jealous. I suppose if you live down south, life is more expensive. Could you get a part time job on top of what you already do? Maybe nightclub/pub work in the evenings? Private tutoring? Not always easy I know. Hope things improve soon for you.

What do you mean by "spare money " OP.

This is not clear.

We need to eat, therefore I would include that in essentials such as fuel, rent, mortgage etc.
Are you including mobile phones in that figure or Sky? Clothes?

Is this £400 money left for fun and entertainment?

Unless you clarify that then all our responses are meaningless.

I spend £200 a month for 2 adults and a baby. We eat very well, drink wine etc and that includes washing powder/deodorant/nappies so all the ‘groceries’ if you like. It’s EASILY doable. We eat meat basically every single day too. Packed lunch for me 3 days a week and 5 days a week for DP.
The struggle will be that £200 leftover for miscellaneous things, £50 a week doesn’t go that far if you pick up a t shirt for DC, grab yourself a coffee or your fridge breaks. But yes I think it’s doable.

I budget £250 a month for all groceries, 2 adults, a baby and 2 cats. If you like meat (we do) buy a big roasting joint while n offer/reduced, have a roast one night, then use some of the leftovers in a pie/stew, then some in sandwiches, use the bones/little bit of meat left to make a soup etc... Sorry i dont know how confident you are with cooking, it must be a lot harder if you dont cook from scratch much. We can make a single joint which we maybe pay £15 for last most of the week. Obviously you need veg and stuff too but that is so much cheaper. Look for reduced section in local supermarket - we use Tesco and also get club card points. They add u and can be used on groceries or swopped for vouchers for a meal out.
I take £40 out cash at the beginning of the week and that is my grocery budget. Makes it easier to keep within what you want to spend. Plastic is so anonymous it's easy to get thoughtless! Then there's a £10 cushion on top of that £40 if I suddenly realise I need teabags/cat litter/ washing powder.
Agree, it's the other incidental spends that are harder to get down. You have to try and avoid them completely. Start with a mindset of not paying for any entertainment - invite friends for dinner, and just cook what you normally would, dont do 'dinner party' spends. Go for walks. Take packed lunches. Take coffer with you. If you stop all spendy activities, you will save enough that you can do a spendy thing now and again and it will feel like a,treat. If you carry on spending loads on little things like coffees/branded groceries, they dont feel like treats so you will feel annoyed and frustrated when you have no money left to 'treat' yourself.

No not tax credits.

My husband works full time and me part time. I would increase my working hours, but that would literally go on childcare so not really an option.

We aren't entitled to any help...

I can't see how you'd need help if husband works full time and you work part time. Is it just that you're struggling to adjust to the lifestyle change? I.e. used to go on holidays abroad but now you can only afford the basics. If so, that's life! Sorry! You can increase your work hours when your youngest starts school so at least it's not forever. You're not exactly poor. Be grateful for what you have, many people have a lot less.

No actually. We weren't swanning off on holidays before but thanks for that.

The "help" was to answer a question above. I'm not asking for it