£400 spare a month

[extremebungee]

Due to a pay cut AIBU to live on £400 per month after bills?

This is to include everything including petrol, clothes, haircut, treats, child stuff, extra food, presents, days out.

A basic food budget would be covered in the household bills but how hard will it be to stick to this?

It is for 2 adults and a secondary aged child.

Daily commute for both adults is 3 miles per day so limited petrol.

I know people have less and it's not a race to the bottom. However i
s this liveable rather than just survivable?
I do realise we are lucky to have any discretionary income.

Presumably some of that might be needed for unexpected expenses, eg a failed MOT or a broken washing machine?

I think that'll be tight, anything is doable but not much fun.

I think you need to include essentials like extra food and fuel in your monthly budget.

How can your work cut your pay ? I wouldn’t want to rely on £400 for everything tbh . Can you get more hours at work or an evening or weekend job ? If you can’t live in your income you need to make more .

It’s do-able.
There is a book I can recommmend - ‘the art of frugal hedonism’
You need to figure out what it that you spend money on that isn’t a necessity and what is for enjoyment. So I try not to buy ‘convenience’ if I can help it... take lunches to work, don’t get takeaways don’t buy take away coffee during the week etc
Try and buy food in that you can make easy packed lunches with you when you go on days out.
We have a national trust membership too and where we are, there are loads of nice places within an hours drive.

I think that would be tight. We have about £600 with 2 small kids but that’s after EVERYTHING (savings and car fund).

I have a similar length commute and with additional local driving I still spend £50 a month on fuel.

Unexpected costs etc for car, clothes would really push things

How many hours do you both work and how old is the teenager ? Could they get a weekend job for pocket money so that one less worry ?

If the commute is only 3 miles could you do without the car? That would free up petrol money as well as any insurance/maintenance costs etc.

£400 is totally doable for the things you have listed but I would try to cut back on non-essentials so you can build up a small amount of savings.

That sounds tight.
I’d transfer £100 a month to another account straight away for unexpected costs and to use when you really need to.
Bring your food budget to as low as you can.
Get all the best deals on utilities.

Very tight. Been there, it's doable but not long term.

Will you be enititled to any tax credits or universal credit to top up?

It is doable, but not easy.

confusing

after bills means after essentials are paid, like petrol! And essential clothing.

so what's the real budget for extras?

What is "extra food", do you mean you've already covered the groceries and toiletries so this is meals out?

Have you covered insurance, phones and DC shoes/ clothing allowance in your main bills? Why didn't you include petrol?

It is tough, I would be looking for extra income from somewhere.

Does that include birthdays and Xmas? Holidays? Clothes?

I think it’s doable but not much fun if it includes all of the above. Easily doable if none of the £400 goes on those things.

I think it would be do-able. Things like presents won’t a monthly expenditure so for things like birthdays and Christmas get a bit of a head start and start in say September I do this as a general rule of thumb anyway To be properly prepared and so there’s no last minute rush ok Xmas eve (pet hate). I’d be planning meals and start shopping at discount supermarkets like Lidl or aldi I think the foods spot on from there and try get as much freezer stuff as you can. Hair cuts I’d have a look at juniors who have offers on or shop around for the best deal depending on what you have and just do it that way :)

If that's after bills and food, I think it's perfectly doable. No, you're not going to be going on expensive holidays but that's roughly what we have and we have three , soon to be four, children and have a pretty ok standard of life on that amount

I second the fact that, unless you have mobility issues, you could save money by not driving to work if it is only three miles - you could walk/ run or cycle.

I spent months running with a double buggy with four year old and one year in it two and a half miles to work everyday. And I felt utterly awesome. It turns out that when people say exercise makes you feel good - they are right! My mood was fantastic all the time getting that daily run in. Loved it!

I reckon it is doable if you buy second hand clothes, limited hair cuts etc. ( I get mine done once or twice a year - DH bought a shaving thing he does his own hair with). Do you live somewhere where you can do lots of free outdoor stuff? Record everyhting you spend so that you can tell if you are keepign in budget.

It's doable but you have to think about where the pennies are going, we spend about £200 for 2 adults on petrol and anything that isn't bills or food shopping but it takes some effort, for example I don't get my haircut as I've kept it the same style for years so i can comfortably cut it myself and clothes wise we buy 2nd hand, cheap high street brands or it has to be the sale.
The best thing to do is set a realistic budget, cutting down suddenly will feel difficult but if you can write down where every penny would go and see if you can find cheaper deals from all your bills, you'll be surprised where you can find wasted pennies.

It doesnt seem tough to me . £100 a week over and above bills and basic food seems like you will be able to save and still have some treats and luxuries. Unless you haven't budgeted for everything you need in which case you should do that now. Its no use creating a really tight budget that you will fail to stick to and then get into big trouble because you haven't allowed for a foreseeable cost.
Look at Money Saving Expert for a proper budget template you can use.

Definitely try to get your food bill down as much as possible by batch cooking on the weekend and freezing as much as you can. It’s healthier and your food budget will go further.

Go to work on a bike or, if you mean one and a half miles each way to work, that's walkable. Keep the car for days out and emergencies only. I have much less than that spare from my monthly income and am very good at budgeting but do have a pool of savings to dip into, should I need extra.

400 is not a lot but if that is all you have you have to make it stretch...

some things are non essential such as haircuts (I DIY mine and do the kids' hair). days out can be kept cheap. a 3 mile commute is a very easy distance to cycle

are you sure you are getting the right benefits (TC/UC)? anything else you could qualify for from the government such as free school meals?

if it is a long term thing, I would look for a different job or find a second one.

I think you neeed to redo your budget to include all essentials and then go from there

If you've covered all food, all bills...then yes, of course.

I'm confused why this is tight?
If bills and food is paid for, then this is just petrol and luxuries?

Seems perfectly doable.

Flummoxed at what other people spend money on?