AIBU to worry that £1000 a month after bills is not enough?

[OhFuckety]

We have had a sudden drop in income. We didn't have loads to begin with but now we have even less and I'm panicking a bit.

After all bills but without food, we will have very slightly £1000 left. There's just me and DH. Is this doable? I've budgeted to within an inch of my life and cut ALL necessary crap but I'm thinking food/toiletries/household stuff is going to eat away about £150 a week of that at least.

We have no way of earning more for the time being but DH hopes to change jobs in the new year which will hopefully bump up our income by about £150pm.

Tell me I'm being a twat and this is completely possible and we'll still have enough for the occasional nice thing!

If opticians and dental are a concern I think you'll find that a lot of people with less disposable income than you have already cut those....

I don't live on "tuppence ". But I'm poor. That's reality for many people

Well aware of that. Have been properly poor myself. But very few people talk on here about living in the vast plains that exist in between. You are either dismissed as not being rich enough to be worthy of discussion or so rich in comparison to those with very little that you are being goady or showing off how much money you have. I don’t think the OP is either of those things, but has still brought her issue to the forum and is perfectly permitted to discuss her issue. Whether people think £1k after monthly direct debits is a fortune or a pittance, the fact remains that change is unsettling and adjustments need to be made. OP asked for an opinions on how doable these changes were going to be. Instead she has received unnecessary comments that she is being goady and insincere, insensitively displaying her wealth and being out of touch with “real life”. The amount of money is irrelevant, the change is relevant. People used to a certain income tend to have expenses that rise to meet that income. Extricating yourself from those commitments and habits is hard. OP talked of dentistry bills and a Sunday night fancy cheese habit - it’s hardly a Gatsby-esque peasant roasting and new Rolls Royce every other week. Yes, there are people without food in the world and too many people lack access to affordable dentistry, but it’s unhelpful to reply to every single “problem” here with “at least you are not a starving child in Sudan”. £1k may seem a lot to many people, but it’s not a race to the bottom. The issue is not the amount, but the change for the OP.

Especially the OP who asked the question. She lives in a HA house so repairs and boiler servicing/ electric checks/ buildings insurance are included. She has an NHS dentist so even the most expensive treatment is £332 for course of treatment which is unlikely to be twice a year. No idea if she has pets

I spend £600 a month at the supermarket for me, DP, DS15 and DD13. That includes the non-grocery things you get there (washing liquid etc). I shop every 3 days, and stick to £60 - once I've scanned that much, I stop picking things up. So I would say the other £400 you have would be fine for other expenditure.

They are a couple. They won't be spending 600 quid a month on food

Even better then

So you basically have very little travel costs. Will have no sudden household breakdown bills as you rent anyway.
You could easily still save £200 a month surely?
My food shop is around £150 a month for 4 of us, I shop in Aldi.

You could do a food shop for less than £100 a week for just 2 of you surely.
So that is leaving you with £600 spare. Save £200 as you have always done and then that leaves you £400 to spend as you wish.

It is totally doable, you might have to think more about what you’re actually spending your money on, but it is absolutely more than doable. I could absolutely live off that for the 4 of us, okay I would have to change my lifestyle as at the moment we don’t have to think too much about what we spend our money on, we have the luxuries etc. but we both work dam hard for it, but I could do it!

You are posting on a mum's website and worrying that you can't save with £1k to spare. Get a grip. There are families living hand to mouth so a bit insensitive here op. I'm sure you'll be just fine.

That’s hilarious. You’ll be fine.

Yanbu. If you’re used to having nice things then it won’t be enough. You can definitely get by though and still be comfortable it’s just holidays and nice to haves won’t be what they once were. I think even if you hadn’t had the drop in income, with the cost of living we’re all getting poorer

Did you mean £150 per week?

Yes I did, thank you! I wish I could do it for £150 a month haha!

I was thinking, I know Aldi is reasonable but that sounds like some sort of magic trick!