Gaging opinion £400 pw

[Toomuchtrouble4me]

Simply that. Family of 4. Is £400 a week reasonable to live in? This is without any bills so includes:
food for 4
household shopping (detergent etc)
clothing
treats (coffees etc)
household essentials (lightbulbs, batteries etc)
medicines and beauty products
Basically mortgage, bills, large expenses are separate, but thus includes all bits and bobs that are bought weekly plus funds for kids outings and buying gifts if they are going to a party etc.
Is it enough?
we’re trialing how much we need to spend on these things in a week and I don’t seem to be able to manage in £400.

Might help someone else if not the OP

Batteries and bulbs I tend to buy in bulk from Amazon when on offer, same with antiperspirant as it works out £3 a tube rather than £5-6 in the shops
I use washing powder as you can alter the dose more easily
Aldi have some great shampoo and conditioners, and TK maxx is always worth a hunt round
Superdrug vitamin E range is good for skincare and body care and they do everything from bath soak to cleansers
Use Quidco or zilch for cash back
Wilko/b&m for cleaning stuff is usually cheapest and hot soapy water works for most stuff. Use up shampoo/body wash you hate for cleaning the loo and bath
Use soft fruit/salad early in the week and keeps stuff like carrots, apples and onions/potatoes for the end of the week

Some people have more money than sense.

Use up shampoo/body wash you hate for cleaning the loo

Ah ha.....a use for the Lynx box sets! DS used MY SPONGE!

I don't really get the posts from people who say they spend that. Of course you can spend £400 a week if you fancy it. But to spend £400 week and be genuinely struggling to think of how you can cut it back seems odd.

It works well because you don't worry about rinsing harsh stuff out the bath properly either
I figure it's soapy stuff and it cleans!

@Toomuchtrouble4me not coming back?

I don’t even have £4 a week let alone £400 🙄 oh what it must be like to have cash if I knew lol

As ever there are only two ways to deal with this issue, spend less or allocate more money.

So you can either:

1. Work out what you are spending each week - down to the last oenny and ensure you have money to cover than sum, whatever the amount is.
2. Work out what you are spending each month - down to the last penny and cut out non essentials/subsititute with less expensive items until you reach £400 a week.

or

Once fixed bills have been paid strip all the money out of your account apsrt from £400 a week and when that is gone it is gone.

😂

Got to be a fake post or to brag about wealth.

I've got friends who have £20 a week after food and bills for a family of 4 so yes, YABU.

We are a family of 3 (Baba is 1yo) and we spend about £100-£150 a week on shopping depending on whether we need cleaning products nappies etc. On top of that maybe £20-£30 on other bits that are not bills.

YABVU

I have the same disposable income and the same problem, I always overspend and It pisses me off. People live on far less so I feel like a bit of a failure when I get to the end of the money, over budget and nothing to show for it!!

The problem is takeaways and Amazon!

Takeaways and Amazon aren't the problem. Your own self discipline is the problem.

@Rebel2023 wouldn't you want something antibacterial for the toilet! 😂

No? I'm not licking it
I might spray the seat with something else but for cleaning the bowl anything that foams up works
TBH I don't use much anti bac stuff at all, mostly method sprays and soapy water, sometimes a clay or cream cleanser
Currently using up a lemon shower gel I reacted too and it smells amazing

@Idtotallybangdreamoftheendlessnotgonnalie

You really have £3K fun money a month? £100 a day?

I want your life, you rich bitch

What the actual chuff are you buying?

I'd come on here to hand you your arse but I'm glad to see that's been done many times over already.

May I recommend volunteering at your local food bank?
Then come back and tell us all how you're feeling about your £400 surplus after all your bills 🙄

Soap is antibacterial. That's why we use it to wash our bodies, clothes, cutlery, etc.

Some people are going a bit crazy about this.

£400 a week on top of bills is more than we spend, but I'm on maternity leave. Prior to having kids, we easily spent £200 each a week on meals out, socialising, taxis, transport to work, lunches, etc. There were weekends clubbing where I'd spend twice that.

£400 a week works out at £21k a year, which isn't actually that much for a family of 4 (£7k per adult and £3.5k per child).

I understand it seems a lot for those on benefits, but you're not really supposed to have a good lifestyle on benefits - if you could, there wouldn't really be much incentive to get a job, would there?

Ouch and I'm not even on benefits.

@ThisGirlNever I think you're wrong! Soap alone doesn't kill bacteria, it loosens the dirt and germs to make them easier to wash away with water

Not to derail the thread...😖

It doesn't have anything to do with benefits though.

It's more than I had when I was working full time. Its more than we had when I had a dp and we both worked full time.

£400 per week after bills is enough to live on. It might not be enough for the lifestyle you (general you) want but it is enough.