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.

Absolutely, and we are a big family!

Since when did mumsnet become a race to the bottom? £200 ish a week is what we are spending at the moment on food (family of five). Also easily £500-£600 on commuting costs. £1k wouldn’t cut it. As people always say, the higher the household income - the higher the expenditure. Commuting is a good example of that. Nothing extravagant about it - basic commuting costs are £600 depending on the month.

A huge amount of people have about £200 or less OP. What a totally delusional way of thinking.

To clothe and feed a family that is poor in the extreme.

Yes. I've just been made redundant.
Before I was, that was roughly what I had left (maybe a tiny bit more?) After bills/mortgage etc. I'm a spinster though. Imagine would be more difficult with a family.

I think some people may be confusing what the 1K is meant to cover.

For us if the 1K covered food, petrol and everything else then we'd struggle but 1K after absolutely everything is paid such as all household bills, food and petrol then that'd be okay.

I currently do survive on much much less. And have been for years....

I agree and it can go either way. Eg that other thread.

This

I cannot say anymore as this sums it up perfectly

I would really love to see a breakdown of how you spend £250 a month on groceries, fuel, gifts and clothes! £250 a calendar month is £57 a week. How does that work out?

The word survive is also a bit of a red rag to a bull. Of course you can "survive" on very little if you really put your mind to it. Only basic food, shelter, water, tax and energy are absolutely essential expenses for life, but it leads to a pretty miserable existence. Yours is more a case of we afford to have the life we want on £X a month. Nothing wrong with that TBH.

I would really love to see a breakdown of how you spend £250 a month on groceries, fuel, gifts and clothes! £250 a calendar month is £57 a week. How does that work out?

Shoplifting?

even for one person it’s under £2 per day.

if it’s just me yes , but with 5 of us , nope , maybe survive one month but that’s not living .

£20 per day.

I could get it down to that if I ate very bascially and cheaply, walked every where and rarely went out.

But my train in to work three times a week is £4.50 so that is £13.50 hole blown in the budget before I even started.

We have £500 on a good month after bills to cover food, petrol, and anything else we might need or want. We're quite happy tbh and wouldn't consider ourselves struggling at all.

As I have £650 before mortgage and all other outgoings, I suspect I'd muddle through on £1000 after them.

Doing it OK on less than that now - I expect a lot of people are.

After main bills, easily. My outgoings including bills average £1200 per month.

You're right, a little OTT. Caught me after a bad night's sleep and before my morning coffee.

But people who are so divorced from reality do annoy me. There's no excuse for it. And it's why we keep voting for more of the same, over and over again.

According to the ONS, the median household disposable income in the UK in 2022 was £32,300. But their definition of 'disposable' is after tax, but before any other costs such as rent, utilities etc.

And the median annual income for the poorest 20% of households is £14,500. Before rent, heating, bills, food.

£1,000 a month left over to pay for food/fuel/extras would be difficult for my household, we'd have to budget very strictly. But it would have been an absolute fortune to people like my mum, who never received that a month in total!

Agreed! It would be a dream right now!

So about £230 per week for everything apart from main bills. Yes it's do-able but no you wont have much 'fun spending'.
£100 on food
£20 on diesel
£10 pocket money for teenager

That leaves £50 each. Which when you try to save a small bit, buy clothes/ shoes, a coffee or pint out with friends, the odd take away.

I think it sounds very surviveable😁I'd love to have £1k left at the end of the month.

I could(do) easily, but I don't have a car, and it us only me and a 3 year old to feed!

I would consider food and fuel to be part of the essential bills budget, even if they aren't a set amount. Then what you are left with is fun/rainy day money.

I wouldn't just consider direct debits to be main bills. I don't pay for petrol, car tax or car or home insurance by monthly direct debit, but do pay for Netflix and XBox games pass monthly.

£1000 disposable income after accounting for all essential outgoings would be amazing! £1000 after mortgage, council tax and utilities, not so much. There are other essential outgoings that aren't necessarily a direct debit.

Personally, I put aside a bit every month towards anything that isn't paid by direct debit to make sure I have enough to cover them when the time comes, i.e. holiday and Christmas (non-residential), insurances, DC's birthdays and after-school club fees (essential).

There's barely enough left after essentials and my holiday/Christmas/birthday savings for food and the occasional treat. No takeaways, no coffee out, no meals out... I do those things very occasionally, but not regularly. But I would prioritise my one main annual holiday over those things so would rather put that money aside for a holiday each month than go to the cinema, have a meal out, etc.

£1000 just to put towards holiday, days/meals out, birthdays would be a very nice lifestyle.