Have £245 until the 27th Feb, does this sound ok?

[Cantwaitforaholiday33]

This is what's left over, all bills etc. Are paid, This is for food, toiletries, transport and anything else, for me and an adult cat, I live alone.
Not intending to buy anything else like clothes, make up etc.
Supposed to be meeting up with a group of friends next week but worried I'll have to cancel. I don't drive and the place they want to meet at will cost me around £25 return on the train, and it's a high end restaurant. Wish we could just have a coffee or something but I know they're all high earners.

I've got the credit card as a last resort but really don't want to use it. I'm sure people would manage on less but grateful for any suggestions.

I have tried the 'just send a letter' approach, sadly didn't work. I'm taking them to small claims court.

To me it sounds ample.

I don't know your travelling costs (not read the full thread) but if you have £275 for 17 days food that's loads. I could get by on around £40 a week for food, eating very cheaply.

You aren't going to run out of shampoo and soap all at the same time and they're cheap as chips if you buy own brands.

Nobody replaces those every 2-3 weeks though surely?
You aren't going to run out all at once.

You don't need to buy kitchen cleaner- one bottle of cheap washing up liquid cleans everything. I've never bought kitchen cleaners.

You've got £14 a day. Take off the fares for your bus (or walk) and the rest is what you have left for food and anything else.

@Cantwaitforaholiday33 you are totally correct you do not have spend to £50 a time meeting friends. Myself and my friend who bought a 800k house outright we’re hiking buddies and went for a hike every week until she moved and even took a flask of coffee, no coffee shops on the walk. But your post implied you just wouldn’t want to spend £50 ever.

I would for special occasions

@Cantwaitforaholiday33 I wouldn’t cancel . If need be use your credit card this once ( it’s for emergency’s ) but you paid your emergency ( boiler ) with cash .
You live alone never splash out.

Treat yourself and see your friends.

Pay what you use back next month .

If they're good friends, prioritise them. They don't really sound it, though.

The budget sounds fine. Can't imagine you'll need toiletries every week.

@Cantwaitforaholiday33 ive read your updates sorry .
Id say “hey how do you all fancy coming to mine this month instead for a wee housewarming “?.
If they say no I’d cancel meeting and I’d buy myself a nice treat for that night instead.
A takeaway and get yourself a bottle of “high” diluting juice so much nicer. .
I think cheap diluting juice tasters like plastic. .

I don't see the issue in using your credit card.

Why do you have a problem with using it? Is it already maxed out?

FWIW I put everything on my CC and pay off the whole amount every month.

You've no commuting costs for work. 1 adult so a half full or more bottle of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel should last 18 days. Toilet roll 1 roll on holder 1 spare would be enough, bottle of washing up liquid at most, washing powder for clothes. If you've got those fantastic if not take the cost from your budget, then the cost of cat food. Then any travel cost for visiting family. Divide the balance by 18 and that's what you have per day for food. Pack meals for my dd, roughly 8 a week costs me £10 but leaves snacks left over. I eat porridge for breakfast which is cheap and frequently use the slow cooker for stews which works out cheap and leaves leftovers. It should be very doable. You may be pleasantly surprised just how easy it is

I also live alone with a cat. I budget for £250 per month on 'routine' spending. By that I mean groceries including larger items as they run out as well as daily essentials (I don't budget separately for things like loo paper, toothpaste, laundry stuff etc), and including 'normal' socialising like cafes and the pub, but not meals out. Your amount until the end of February would be more than enough for me, but I'd have to either cut back on other things to include the high-end restaurant meal, or budget for it separately. If you don't want to use your credit card, could you ask the people you're meeting if you can do coffee on this occasion, rather than a meal? Otherwise there might be small savings to be made elsewhere that would add up, e.g. no milk in your tea/coffee at home, substitute beans and pulses for meat (much cheaper), buy less expensive 'own brand' items and take advantage of special offers etc., to free up a bit more cash.

This is a good point. So you’re fully in control of what you spend.

She doesn't need shower gel if she's pushed- a bar of soap for 30p would suffice.

I use a teaspoon of shampoo per hair wash and a bottle lasts me months and months, washing my hair every 3rd day.

I think you sound as if you're panicking a bit OP!

So, you've just got food for you and the cat to fund for 17 days. You could get the good stuff from Pets at Home for £25 for 32 sachets. Leaving you with £220. I'm pretty sure I could live off £150 for 17 days: Bag of baking potatoes, block of cheddar, beans, big pack of Mince, big pack of chicken thighs, tinned tomatoes, puree, onions, Carrots mushrooms, portage oats, value fruit, bread, butter, milk, fish fingers, frozen peas, couple of frozen pizzas, 4 rolls of bog roll, carton of washing-up liquid and have enough left over to meet my friends.

18 days for half a bottle of shampoo, conditioner & shower gel?! I'd expect a bottle of the shampoo & conditioner to last for at least 6 months and I wash my hair every 3 days. Shower gel, I shower every day and get through a bottle every couple of months - I use a bath lily rather than just slathering it on my body using my hands, you use much less that way

That's more than enough and no need to cancel night out! Assuming you get paid on 27th we're calculating to 26th only, so less than a fortnight!
Bus to work and walk back or vice versa £26
Cat food £30
Your food £60
Train £25
Total outgoings £131
£ left for night out £114 - us that doable? Go meet your friends and have fun!

If you were my friend and couldn't come to a meet up because of money, I'd either come to yours instead and bring food with me, change the restaurant so you could afford to come, or I'd stick with the original plan and just pay for you.

If they're really your friends, you should be able to tell them - I really want to see you all, but I've had some unexpected costs this month and I just can't afford the train fare and the meal. Can I invite you to mine instead or if that doesn't work, can we go somewhere more affordable this time?

If you feel you can't ask this of them - then they're not really your friends, and therefore not worth spending this amount of money on going to see.

I'd be horrified at the thought of any of my friends having to scrimp and save and eat porridge and baked beans for a month due to me choosing an overpriced restaurant for a dinner I'd been too thoughtless to consider if all my friends could afford.

I'd be horrified at the thought of any of my friends having to scrimp and save and eat porridge and baked beans for a month due to me choosing an overpriced restaurant for a dinner

It's 17 days.

She doesn't have to live on baked beans and porridge.
Is she spent £5 a day that would be £85 for food.

It's do-able to live off £5 a day for food- porridge (yes), eggs, bread, beans, pasta, a whole chicken- get 3 meals at least from it - homemade soup (veggies and beans) , tinned fish (sardines, mackerel, salmon, tuna), plain yoghurt, fruit ....

I would cancel the friends meet up, they don’t sound like good friends so it’s not worth wasting money on seeing them if they never reciprocate the effort and don’t want to compromise & make you feel crappy about things you can actually afford to do. Maybe find a cheap or free social thing/ group class to do near you on that night instead to meet some new people near you. You could browse Event Brite and see if there is anything interesting happening. Without that expensive meal you’ll be fine.

Meet your friends, use your credir card, pay it back with the landlord money when you get it

How much would you spend if your friends all came to yours, surely as much as the night out if you buy some food and a couple of bottles of wine.

I don't think they sound like friends who are worth persevering with.
As for the rest of it, it sounds like a reasonable amount to manage on for the rest of the month.

You can have good taste but still find a way to include people

I wouldn't want to spend my hard earned money in a Wetherspoons, but there are plenty of other options - meet for coffee, meet for a walk, go round to each other's houses etc. this isn't a taste issue, they're just rubbish friends.

I'm very boring with money and have previously been extremely skint, so I have to say I wouldn't entertain the idea of spending money on a meal out until you have sorted out your financial situation - not just this month, but the fact you have no savings. Putting the meal on the credit card is madness btw so please don't do that

I personally wouldn't cancel seeing friends, as you live alone I think these meet ups are important for ones mh.
It has been a long post Christmas pay jan/Feb for us all. You should be able to catch up come april.
Go and have fun, life IS short.
Ps
You don't have to get 3 courses or the most expensive meal on menu x

Doesn't sound too bad to me, but I wouldn't meet up with the friends and take on all that extra expense. Can you arrange to meet them, or at least one or two, someone more local and do something less expensive?