To ask if you could make this amount of money last 3 weeks and how?

[CrumblyCookie]

Around £540.
After all bills paid.. this has to last next week (half term) and then another just under 2 weeks after that. Also to include food for 1 child + 1 adult. And a small amount of petrol.

I still don't think its a lot.

I can drive 350 miles in my car for £40!

So you still haven't specified your definition of "fun"?

OP says she needs a "small amount of petrol" so I don't think she is spending £100 a week.

It must be a very small engine!

Well it's not a lot if you're in the mindset that you need to spend endlessly to feed and entertain a 6 YO, but that's not what the OP asked.

Can she make it last and still have a nice half term with her DC, absolutely. And tbh, I'd question the life skills of someone who couldn't.

@CrumblyCookie how much do you normally have per week?

I mean it's 3 weeks, one week which includes half term.

Heaven forbid she might want to go to a theme park, get her nails done, go out for lunch with her kid!

Sounds plenty to me. For reference, I spend roughly 160 per week across petrol, food and cleaning etc for a family of 5 - 2 adults, 3 kids (11, 14 & 17). Do you have pets or clubs that require payment out of that during the next 3 weeks?

Of course.

To answer 'how', we would need to know what else you would typically spend money on in that period. I wouldn't need to cut back to stick to that, after bills.
I spend under £100pw on groceries (could do for £50 if economical and ate from the freezer for a while) and less than £20 on petrol. Perhaps £30-50 per week socialising.

Oh well, we can't always have what we want.

£180 per week for one adult and one six year old is plenty.

Why on earth wouldn’t it be fun? There’s plenty there for decent food and a couple of cheap days out/activities - the park or swimming etc. No she won’t be doing Lego land but £180 a week is an ok budget for one adult and a small child. I’d tighten the net for the two school weeks and add a bit to half term but it’s hardly scraping by.

I mean I could I suppose…like others have said it would involve lots of free activities over half term perhaps.
60 for petrol
80x3 for food = 240
thats 240 leftover for a few treats?

have you put savings aside this month?

Not at all, my 1.6l petrol hybrid will do 450 miles on £40.

our “fun” stuff tends to be outdoors and free - parks, walks, in surrounding areas, take a basic picnic invite school friends/cousins to play with. We could stretch to busy places with expensive entrance fees, but they are not our cup of tea, prefer parks, beach etc. So yes, a bit of extra petrol maybe to get to some places, but it would be plenty for us.

In your opinion.

Well it would be for me.

If you don't think it's plenty then you are incredibly privileged.

I could easily manage that budget to include getting my nails done and lunch out. A theme park is harder because for me it would involve an overnight but if I prioritised that and ate cheaply for the two school weeks I could make it work.

I probably am.

Life must be very nice for you, how fine. Most people if they’re living on a budget would be able to have a perfectly nice mid term without throwing money at it.

I don't think OP is here to engage with posters really.

Fair enough.

Yes this is fine as long as all other bills have been paid and this money is purely for food and fun.

I'd make a plan in advance of activities you're planning to do so you don't need to think on the spot and research what's free in your local area. A trip to the swimming pool isn't too pricey, and the cinema for a matinee but bring your own snacks and drinks. Many councils list on their website or fb what's on locally.

We do a lot of walking so a trip to a local park or forest or beach with a picnic.

If you plan it out you can then count up any petrol or transport costs so you can budget that all out. Then you just need to be strict with yourself and your child that there's no money for 'extras' like a trip to Starbucks or similar.

What you could also do is portion off some of that and give it to your child for their own spending money for day trips but once its gone its gone.

I set myself a budget for everything, work out what my spend will be each day and then write out a spending calendar and photograph it so I can check that I'm on track easily and I know what I'm spending each day.

I’d probably struggle a bit to do it how I’d like as I quite like “organised” days out in the school holidays like theme parks, zoos, shopping and lunch type things a couple of times a week.

But that’s more because I’m a bit rubbish at playing make believe / find the park boring rather than because it’s what my child needs. I’m sure they’d would be more than happy with park trips / paddling in the river / board games / playing restaurants / movie day with popcorn at home etc.

Have a good look in the food cupboards / freezer and you’ll be totally fine on your budget.

I don't get these threads

Of course you can make that last 3 weeks