Is £1k a month enough to live on?

[EL8888]

I was debating with my mother whether it was possible for a person to live on £1,000 per month. Bearing in mind there is no rent / mortgage to pay (house is paid for), no debts and they own a newish car plus they have a Freedom card to use. They live alone with no dependents or pets. I said it was enough and she said it really wasn’t

Plenty and able to put some aside for washing machine failures.

No mortgage does not mean no bills and how costly they are needs to be taken in to account.
Obviously it is doable, but I am sure every month a bigger bill may come up, car tax, insurance, MOT, service, house insurance and the like.

I would be able to save at least £100 pm on that income! Your DM is nuts!

I don’t think it’s that much. There’s still council tax and bills etc and living as a couple is cheaper proportionately than being single.

I read that £20,000 pa is needed to live on as a single person in retirement, more if you like holidays.

I survive on less than 800pw after rent, and that's with two strapping teenage boys to feed. It's tight but doable.

My Bills come to £500 a month, including car insurance and that's for a large family home with four of us and could be reduced. You can obviously live off £100 a week if you need to so yes it's doable. The only issue would be if the house needed major work or updating. In that situation I'd try and save at least £100 a month for car repairs or house work.

Yep that’s doable for one person, more than doable in fact.

I think it would be tight, but doable
200 council tax (band D - so average house)
100 gas and electric
50 water
13 tv licence
20 building/contents insurance
150 car tax, insurance, MOT, repairs
75 - one tank of petrol
160 - groceries
50 - phone and broadband (incl mobile)

Leaves about 200 for savings, entertainment, christmas, birthdays, holidays, house maintenance, replacement appliances.

Basically it would be enough to scrape by each month, but not enough for any treats, and you'd be scuppered if you got hit by a few big costs (boiler replacement, washing machine breakdown, big car expense etc)

It depends how much their overheads are. Do they still have to pay council tax and bills? How much do they come too? Then food, petrol and going out. It is surprising how quickly things mount up.

Depends how old they are. Young people would probably need to pay £1k per month to ensure that spanking new car.

And you didn't get tax credits ,child benefit ,user?if the person has to pay utility bills ,food etc out of the £1000 than there wouldn't be loads left over .

Council tax £130 (single person discount)
Gas and electric £75
Water £15
Phone/BB £25
TV £13
Home insurance £10
Food etc. £200

So £480 with some rounding up?

If they want to go out every night drinking and clubbing or have a sky/game subscription or a gambling/drinking/drug habit or buy clothes every week, then no it isn't. But they don't NEED to do any of these things and should either earn more or spend less.

Otherwise, then, of course, it's enough!

After rent, yes. Unless they haemmorage electric and gas and use substantially more than the average in which case it could be a bit more tricky.

Pffff without rent to pay I'd feel like I was rolling in it and I get 12k a year. No rent or mortgage makes a WHOPPING difference. I'd have almost a grand spare a month. I can't even imagine that.

I know a couple who were gifted a house, outright, and they have probably what are considered low salaries - ambulance assistant and call center part time. They have expensive cars and 2 holidays abroad a year, all designer clothes, doing up the house to sell and upgrade and are planning a huge wedding and honeymoon.

I'm not putting all my bills on here (tempting but I share too much.)
However I live comfortably on £800 pm inc mortgage.
Gas and electricity is £61 per month and I have radiators on 24/7.

I have 1k to live on plus Child Benefit. I have to pay my mortgage (and everything else) out of that but I don't pay Council Tax. For me and 2 children. We scrape by but use a food bank. For 1 person with no mortgage it would be ok if their lifestyle wasn't extravagant.

Who in the right mind would think £1000 disposable income isnt a lot?

It's not all 'disposable' though. Yes, there's no rent or mortgage but there's still council tax, gas, electric, water, phone, internet, car tax, car insurance, home insurance and food to pay for. These things aren't really optional. There wouldn't be much left out of a grand once those things are paid for.

Hahah I manage to live off 400 a month 😂 sometimes something left over !! (I put 500£ into a savings account monthly as well though and have the 400 left over) it’s plenty - I cycle to work so no commute costs really and batch cook

Of course it is! A months bills for one shouldn't come to £300, what the hell are they spending the other £700 on?

That's a lot of takeaways.

However I live comfortably on £800 pm inc mortgage.
Gas and electricity is £61 per month and I have radiators on 24/7

I cannot see how you can live comfortably on that amount.

@Straycatstrut - how would you have a grand spare a month when you only get 1k per month?

I lived on £1k a month when I was on benefits, I had a DS and rent to pay out of that so it is certainly possible in my area. My rent was £425pm for a 2 bedroom flat. I got £98 a week housing benefit (this covered my entire rent), £70 a week income support, £60 a week child tax credits and £20 a week child benefit.

It's enough, but it's not loads, depending how much they're paying in council tax and other bills.

A months bills for one shouldn't come to £300

My council tax and water come to £180 pm

Plus gas and electric. Variable...tv license £13, car insurance £50 let's say...internet/phone £20?

Bills can easily come to £300