Could you survive on 1k?

[coffeeanteac]

If you had £1000 left after the main bills.

Could you survive on £1000 for food amd petrol and everything else takeaways, gifts, fun.

DH thinks most families couldn't. I think it should be ok. There are only 3 of us and we all live about three miles away from work and school.

OP said main bills, so I figure that is the main ones like gas/electric etc.

Who’s to say there’s “no need”? There’s plenty of things we don’t need in life but we enjoy.
And you have no idea about the size of someone’s family and their dietary requirements.

@Mammyloveswine

Clearly not if you actually read the thread.

for petrol and other stuff? 1k would be amazing, i wish!!

Literally living on much less than that to survive.

That's not just food for us, it includes toiletries, cleaning products, nappies, cat food etc.

@psychDr
If you had to, you would be able to cut it back, we are 2 adults, 1 teen and 2 dogs; £120pw

I think I’d struggle. It sounds like a lot but there are five of us and roughly it costs £500-600 a month in food/ cleaning stuff. Petrol is another £60 a week so about £250 a month. Then kids activities, clothes, birthdays, parties, christmas. Then you have car maintenance/ house maintenance. This year I’ve had to replace washing machine, will need a new hot water tank and guttering needs fixed. Plus I’ve spent £400 on replacing uv light and on water filters for the year ( private water supply).

It’s doable in the short term but in the medium - long term I’d not be able to pay to fix stuff.

Funding activities, birthdays and parties isn't surviving, that's stuff that's nice to do on top of surviving.

I think if you have children then birthdays and parties aren’t simply “nice to haves.” Seeing your peers receiving birthday presents and having birthday parties to invite their friends to, knowing that you’ll not have many presents or a party is pretty miserable and isolating.

Agree. But if the money isn't there, it can't be magically found. Food and clean clothes is a need. A birthday present and party is a want.

Yes, agree, if you have no way of earning any more money and just have to do the best with what you have then it is what it is. But OP was asking in the context of making a decision to significantly reduce their household income, and I wouldn’t actively make a decision to reduce my spare income if it meant my children would never be able to have a birthday party and presents would be scrimped for and cheap.

I really hate how people are so horrible to those who ask genuine questions about how they spend their money. People say op is deluded because they are asking a question. Yesterday, I saw a post elsewhere - the family were clearing £7.5k a MONTH because they were all registered disabled. A few people backed this person (who posted anonymously) saying they ‘earned’ the same. Saying - it’s only what normal families earn. Absolutely deluded - that’s the equivalent of a £150k salary before tax! Yet - a parent who is working, struggling on 50k would get ripped to shreds for asking about their entitlement.

Reminded me of mumsnet and this thread.

Of course. I think I took the OP's title too literally, because she then goes on to include takeaways, gifts and fun. Having those in your life is more than surviving.

I feel like I’d be a pretty poor parent if I made a choice for us all to exist at survival level for any substantial length of time though.For the OP I’d see if there was any way to increase your income for the next couple of years. I have a second job so in total I work 53 hours a week. After tax the second job pays the monthly grocery bill/ leftovers go into the fuck it fund. This is used for small treats ice creams, going to the bookstore on a rainy day to choose a new book and read it in their cafe with cake. The odd cinema visit. Carrier bag picnics where everyone chooses a meal deal and we go for a bike ride or to the park. Little things I genuinely could not afford if I didn’t have an extra job. I have roughly 1k after bills and groceries and that is tight but manageable.

For a family? "Survive" ? Yes, I guess so. But it would be very, very different from how we live now and I admit I would find it very tough.

It would be hard to get groceries down to much less than £400 a month. I spend about £200 a month on train travel. I imagine others spend that easily on petrol. £100 per month for 3 people's clothing does not seem a lot. So now I am down to £100 per month per person (£20-£25 per week) for absolutely anything else that comes up. I'm thinking there are going to be no nice meals out, no theatre, no spendy days out, no holidays...

No thanks!

You could survive but it wouldn’t be pleasant. You’d have to watch every penny - no treats, savings, holidays, new clothes, meals out, takeaways, days out. It’s not ‘loads’ like some suggest.

But if it’s just for a few years and ultimately your DH could earn more then you could try and make it work as there’s an end date
to it.

Jeez, I could get by on that to INCLUDE all the bills!

It would mean a few cut backs but I could do it.

A few years ago it would have been ample. These days it would require watching the pounds.

I would struggle,
we have 3 kids in the house 2 adults.
spend 140.00 on food a week including packed lunche so around 560 a month.
petrol is around 300.00 a month so would leave us
140 a month for which would nearly cover 1 DC after school activities.

What do families get on Universal Credit to pay everything out of?

(Genuinely, I don't know.)

Also, we spent £1000 on just shopping last month.

I assume we're counting childcare in the main bills already covered?

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/benefits/universal-credit/how-much-is-universal-credit

Thank you @RoyGBivisacolorfulman

I don't know how people manage in that!

These threads always get massively derailed by UC questions as there will be somebody on UC who has more disposable income than a “hard working couple” and it becomes a real bun fight.