To think 2 adults can live on £800 a month not incl rent?

[abacucat]

Just that really. I think this will be perfectly fine to live on and pay bills.

We couldn't do it. Think carefully about every penny and see where you could save.

Council tax 310
Gas and electric 190
Car insurance 20
Phone 35
Pet insurance 19

That's just a few hundred left for clothes food going out diesel etc. I really couldn't do that I don't think

Forgot my car which is 245 per month so no I absolutely couldn't live off of that

Also forgot house insurance, broadband Netflix etc so I wouldn't even have enough to cover my bills then.

I'm always shocked at the cost of some people's bills!

My council tax is £80 a month, electric about £60 and water bill £12. That's literally it.

Same BitchQueen90. My electricity and gas is £80, water is about £30 and council tax £120. I considered this average yet some people’s bills are insane.

Blair I always read these threads and think gosh that's plenty of money to manage on and then people list their outgoings and I'm like

I feel quite lucky to live where I do.

Me too! I live off less than half these people and I have three kids and twins on the way. While we aren’t rich I wouldn’t consider us poor at all. We go out, we have fun, we buy things. I’m shocked at how much some people pay out!

One child and twins on the way! Three all together that should be lol!

Bitchqueen how do you pay your TV licence? Phone bill? Broadband? Car insurance and tax, plus MOT and associated repairs? Commuting costs- bus fare/ train fare? What about life insurance, buildings and contents insurance, insurance for your devices? Pension payments?

ButchQueen no insurance?(not even contents if you rent?) No life insurance? No phone? No tv/broadband of any sort?
I’d say you are pretty unusual if not. And in the case of 8nsurance, pretty foolish.

BItchQueen sorry. Typo.

Crosspost glint!
I think people forget some expenses.

Although that wasn’t directed to me, I can answer as I’m similar.

My phone is £20
I have the TV license as a Christmas present
Internet is £20
Don’t drive
Train is about £70 per month
I don’t have insurance for any of that. I choose not to.

That’s still only £110 a month.

Blair not having insurance is not sensible.
What about transport other than to work?

I walk, or I pay for it. I can use my disposable income for that. My point is it’s not a necessary expense, it comes out of the extra money I have for fun.

I know there are risks involved with not insuring, but as the majority aren’t burgled or flooded etc, I’m happy to take that risk. Others are not. It’s a choice.

Not a chance we could do that.
I added up all the bills plus food and took away the rent it still came to more than £1000 and that was before nights out, takeaways, Xmas, days out.

So that’s a minimum of £110 on top of the “literally only bills I have” above? I’m sure blair has similar. That’s 30% of the original quoted amount- amazing how much more comes to light when you start thinking about it!

But those bills, aside from commuting, could be cut. I could get a cheaper deal on my phone and internet. The others are more standard.

Obviously I have other bills, I was just talking about main utilities.

Phone is £30 and insurance for it is £7.99, TV license the same as everyone else about £12 a month. Broadband and sky TV is £50. I rent so insurance for the property isn't my responsibility, I have contents insurance but it's only about £10 a month as I don't have many expensive things (I could probably replace every item in it for under £3k). Life insurance is similar cost.

Don't own a car, don't need one. My work and DS's school are walking distance from home and public transport is excellent where I live if I need to venture further out.

Pension is taken straight out my wages, it's not a huge amount as I'm a low earner. I live a simple lifestyle.

I think if you have expensive bills it's easy to think everyone else's are the same.

Not everyone has commuting costs or a car, for starters. Lots of people don't go out for meals all the time or get hair cuts or buy new clothes every month.

Yes, we don't have much more than that for 5 of us. I'd say a lot of people manage on something similar

“I'm always shocked at the cost of some people's bills!

My council tax is £80 a month, electric about £60 and water bill £12. That's literally it.”

I (and probably others) are confused because you said “that’s literally it” which I took, er, literally.

But those bills, aside from commuting, could be cut.

I'm always envious that people don't have to budget for their teeth. My DH has perfect teeth and only needs check-ups but I (like my siblings) have stupidly bad teeth that cost a small fortune to maintain. (I'll be fortunate if it just works out to £115 per month averaged over the year.)

arrafan admittedly I never thought of that! I’ve never so much as had a filling.