To ask how much you spend per week?

[Flipper673]

Not including kids as I know this will obviously cost more than a single adult.
I work full-time, earning around 28.5k and I try to budget £135 a week.

That is to cover all food, transport, toiletries, cat food and litter, anything like haircut, hobbies, going out with my boyfriend etc.

Obviously varies week to week but I am finding it slightly tight. The rest goes on my mortgage (live alone) bills, credit card repayments, little on savings if I can, anything like that.

If I pay for a meal out that can easily be almost half of the week. I'm hoping to learn to drive but can't really afford lessons atm..
Just wondered if this sounds like a reasonable budget?

I don't really buy any expensive clothes, make up etc ..my hobbies are the odd fitness class and some tots but rest of my hobbies are free.

That's meant to say gigs not tots 🤦‍♀️ that budget also includes cleaning products

Excluding the utilities, mortgage and childcare, I'd say around £250 a week on food, household essentials and travel. That covers food for a family of 6 and just my travel costs. It doesn't include additional school related costs or clothes etc.

I budget mine differently but allow
£240pm for food and cleaning products and some toiletries
Cat food and litter I budget out my “Amazon” budget which is £20pm
£80pm for fuel
haircut is once every 9 months so I use savings for that

I earn similar and it’s tight, I generally can’t afford to go out much or if I do it’s a carvery or something cheap

I can’t really compare finances as in our household there is me, husband, child & dog but I’d say really whether £135 is a reasonable budget depends on what you’re trying to include.

For example £135 should be doable if your transport costs are just the odd bus here & there, but if you’re using public transport daily then I know where we are a weekly pass is about £30, so that would be a big chunk of your money gone straight away.

If your plans with your boyfriend are a nice walk & a coffee then £135 is doable, but if your plans were a night out or restaurant meal then your share could easily be £40/50+ so would wipe out a lot of your budget.

Hair cuts etc if on a tight budget I’d aim to reduce your budget to say £130, put the extra £5 into a hair cut pot so that when you want your hair done the money is in there rather than having to spend out of your weekly amount for all of it if that makes sense.

Not being rude but what's the question?

People will have different incomes and outgoings.

Are you looking for budgeting advice or views on how you spend your money? If so, how much are you spending on each category I.e. your food, transport, cat, hair?

If its a general question, I have a higher disposable income but spend very little on those categories as I put most of my money toward savings and holidays.

You will get lots of people telling you they spend 250 a week and feed two adults and nine children. However there is an economy of scale, and what works per person in a larger household can't necessarily be done in a single person or two person household. I would say thats a very tight budget considering the cost of essentials at the moment.

If you want more money you have two choices - work more or spend less.
I don’t have a budget as such but I fancy myself as a bit of a Martin Lewis and I’m always looking for the cheapest way to buy anything I need. I’m not a fan of ‘stuff’ other than yarn.
In your situation - young and childless . I’d get another job tbh

I already do overtime, I've just quit a second job because 6 days a week was killing me.
Standard full time hours should be sufficient to live well, why should I need to work more? I'm only human

I am applying for new jobs which pay better.

I think the problem OP is not just the job but also the fact you are living alone. The world now just simply isn’t set up for single income households really, the cost of rent/mortgage, utilities, TV, food shopping etc, not many people can afford to live alone.

If you’re not happy with how much you earn then ‘why shouldn’t you work more ‘?
Who do you think will give you the life you’d like?

If you live alone and have more than one bedroom perhaps you could get a lodger. Living alone is a luxury not everyone can afford.

What did you do with the money from the second job? Save it or spend it ?

Looking at your list, I'm afraid to say that it's the social life spending that adds up more than you realise. Just drinks and snack when your out with your BF is pricey these days even if you're doing a free activity alongside it.

I tend to think that other people spend loads on their phones and phone contracts too. Mine was a refurbish at maybe £130 and my SIM only payment is £10p/m for 100gb, 500 calls & texts. Maybe that's somewhere you can save money? (Talk mobile via Vodafone fyi). I hotspot to my tablet and TV, but in fairness don't do subscription TV/streaming.

Yeah, so I've heard this before where people who aren't coupled up should apparently be living in a houseshare with strangers. 🙄 why should I at 35?

2nd job money went to paying off a credit card which helped, but as I say I can't work 6 days a week indefinitely.
The money from my overtime in my main job goes to savings.

You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but if you want more money to spend then you either need to increase your income or decrease your costs. A lodger is a way to do both.

You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do ?? It was a suggestion as you don’t seem to be happy with your financial situation. By all means whinge online about your financial situation if it makes you feel better.
Personally I’d be saving a set amount every month as soon as I get paid, I’d cut my budget right back until I had a buffer of a few months expenses. I’d take another job a couple of evenings a week but with a social aspect such as waitressing.
You should try to get away feom
the mindset of ‘Why should I’? No one is going to do it for you?

Lots of people work 6 days a week. Sunday is your day of rest!

About £200-£250 a month including bills.
Some months its a lot less.

I've absolutely no idea. I should probably work it out.

We spend around £2k a month for a family of 4, which covers food, days out, spending money. I don’t include activities or holidays in this or savings.

@CrochetandteaYes living alone is expensive but it’s not always a choice. Saying that, if someone chooses to live alone, what’s the problem? I’d rather that than be in a miserable relationship because I can’t afford to leave just because it’s cheaper.

There isn’t a problem with living alone. I often wish I lived alone 😂
The op is unhappy with her budget , I was simply suggesting ways to improve her situation which boil down to earn more or spend less?? It’s not a difficult concept .

I mentioned a meal out can cost almost half, which is why we split things between us or cook at home.
I know someone will be along to say that 20 years ago they and their husband only ate beans and didn't go out for 10 years in order to buy their house and they managed fine, but it's not reasonable to live like that, life isn't just for working and existing.
I posted my budget to see whether people thought it was doable, I am applying for higher paid roles as I don't think it's normal to work 6 full days every week, maybe sometimes but not every week.

These days I consider myself lucky - my DH is retired & has a decent private pension + his state pension + healthy savings in excess of £100k. I'm semi-retired & my earnings + pension is about £32kpa - I also have savings in excess of £150k.

However that hasn't always been the case. My 1st DH killed himself aged 32 when was PG. DH had no insurance so I was faced with a baby, mortgage & his debts. I now know that I wasn't liable for the debts incurred by him through his self employment, but I was chased by the people who he owed money as they were knocking on my door threatening me with bailiffs etc & so I paid them. For a long time I would have been better off on benefits rather than working. However I wanted my DS to be brought up in a family who worked & paid their way. I re-negotiated the mortgage, somehow with careful budgeting which meant that I only used cash - my salary was taken up with mortgage, council tax, car insurance, debts etc & I would take out my <what was then> Family Credit & Child Benefit for the week (as a single parent in those days I had an order book that I could cash every week) & divide up what I had to spend into jam jars labelled: 'food', petrol etc I was able to take care of the debts. I eventually sold the house for a large profit & bought a much smaller house in a cheaper area transferring my job to this area. That and the lump sum that I got when I took part of my civil service pension is why I have large savings.

I am so grateful that my father advised me to make extra contributions to my civil service pension when my DS was born as I had to work P/T & found that I had a pension worth 39 years when in actuality I'd only worked around 34 years.