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!

I think people are not fully understanding what the OP means. She means all regular bills except food not all of the £1000 is for food.

I think that will be fine but won't leave a lot of fun money. The left over £ will go quite fast on occasional things like the dentist

Start shopping in Aldi ,I can knock £40 a week off our weekly shop compared to Tesco.

Dentist is a big concern,I've just had an unexpected dentist bill of £750.

This is what I need to hear! Thank you 😂

It's not being able to save that's the worry I think. For fun stuff like Christmas or trips (by which I mean the odd two day city break in the UK which is what we used to do) and for boring essential stuff like glasses.

If you can’t feed 2 adults on a GRAND a month and put money aside for things like the dentist and the opticians, then I have to question how you function on a daily basis, in all honesty.

No, you’re the one who’s misunderstood - after all regular bills and without buying food, she has a grand a month to spend. It’s right there in the opening line of her post 🙄

If I were you OP I would get a spreadsheet and divide that £1000 up. Say you did £400 for food, £100 for Christmas, £200 for emergencies, £200 for holidays, £100 rainy days fund? I’d do something like that (obviously figures are just an example!)

£1000 a month for basically just food and fripperies- Id be eating lobster every night.

Essential toiletries and cleaning products are negligible costs though surely?

You need to put money aside for glasses and the dentist before you start 'just chucking what you fancy in the trolley' if it's meaning you can't save.

Where are you shopping? If it's not Aldi or Lidl, you can save loads by going there. Or getting your toiletries and cleaning products from Home Bargains/B&M.

You do sound in a fairly good position. Secure, affordable housing with no commuting costs. Your main issue is that you're used to spending freely but you no longer have that luxury.

For glasses, look at Asda or the online suppliers as these are much cheaper, especially if you have a complex prescription.

No car, washing machine is included in our rent so repairs covered, we have prepayment certs for prescriptions as we're both a bit sickly 😂 and I've budgeted for that in my calculations, very little travel expenses as WFH. So I realise we're very fortunate in many ways.

We were saving about £200pm for other expenses like Christmas, dentist, opticians, days out etc but obviously that isn't possible now. It's this that's the worry really. Being able to afford the 'extras' that either make life more pleasant or are essential.

Agree. Seems to me OP has been living beyond her means for a while but this was disguised by the cheap(er) HA rent. Now she feels hard done by that she's only got a grand a month and can't just chuck whatever she wants into her trolley with abandon.

£80 a week is enough for food shopping, essential toiletries, cleaning products etc (switching to own brand if needed) There’s just 2 of us and we spend closer to £60 a week on groceries. Eating out you need to just think carefully, we don’t drink coffees or buy pastries out locally, we have coffee at home (and Lidl pastries are great). We eat out because we particularly want to visit somewhere rather than out of habit and we very rarely get takeaways. We are fortunate that a local reasonably priced pub doesn’t do food but you can bring in fish and chips from next door, one large fish and chips (£16) feeds us both with chips to spare, add 2 pints at £4.60 each and that’s a great treat that isn’t breaking the bank

Tell me about it 😂

I feel like I live in an alternate universe when I read MN sometimes!

Maybe one or two weekends away in the UK (always use Premier Inn or Travelodge and go at cheap times of the year), a decent Christmas, glasses every two years, dental bills, maybe a day out somewhere once or twice a month.

Those are the things I would like to still be able to afford/save for, if possible.

Yes that's all in.

If you meal plan, budget and cut out the crap you can easily save over £500 a month.

As others have said, your left over disposable income is more than some families have in total. You just need to reframe your spending. Put £500 in to savings immediately on pay day then work with what's left.

I don’t have much more than that before bills and a family of three 😅

Its all relative though, you will adapt.

On it, thank you!

We get by on little, after bills. No holidays, gigs, meals, nights out etc…It’s a bit depressing, and Christmas is simple now. But it’s COL. Treat myself in the charity shop!

Food is a bill so it's more like £600 a month as you can easily feed two people on £100 a week. Realistically it's not a huge amount for a nice lifestyle but it's more than enough to keep yourselves going with a modest lifestyle.

You got used to spending what you wanted, now you need to budget.

If that £1000 is basically for your supermarket shop and frippery, that's plenty for two!

For the first month, give yourselves £100 each for personal spending money for the month.

That leaves £800

Then work out what you are going to eat for the week and go to the supermarket with a list. Don't vary from the list. Sensible eating, cooking from scratch, cut out snacks and booze. Buy supermarket brands, not big brands. I think you should be looking at around £100 a week for the two of you.

That leaves approx £400. £200 to put aside for unexpected bills and £200 to dip into for something nice.

After the first month, assess how you did and whether you need to jiggle things around.

But £1000 for just 2 of you is enough.

£1000 for a couple of weekends away
£600 for 'a decent Christmas'
£400 (generous) for glasses
£400 a year for the dentist (generous, go to the dental hospital if you can't find an NHS dentist)
£1200 a year for a day out once or twice a month

£3600 per year, or £300 pm, leaving £700 pm for groceries and other bits. Seems loads seeing as you don't have the costs of running a car or home ownership.

Have you analysed your spending to see where your money is going and can you reduce the cost of things like mobiles, broadband, TV packages etc. You seem pretty spendy, so might have scope to reduce those too.

Again, a stiff talking to is exactly what I need so thank you.

I've been sorting poor in the past - sleeping rough poor - so I know how to get by on pretty much nothing. But over the past 25 or so years I've got used to not having to worry if I fancy, say, a takeaway every couple of months or a new lipstick. Daft stuff like that. And I have a genuine fear of being poor again and not being able to pay for essential things, hence the panic.

Thank you for talking sense into me!

I regularly manage on about £1000 per month after DDs and SO come off. The £1000 is to cover fuel, food, clothes, toiletries, cleaning supplies etc. before that £1000 I do save but most of that is for retirement and long term savings not for things within the year.

I spend approx;
£250-300 on food including petrol food for 2 adults
£150 fuel
£200-250 short term savings (I try to do this at the end of the month or in the middle of I think I'm going to get a bit silly with spending)
That leaves me about +£300 per month so spend on crap. Some months that's takeaways and dinner out. Other times it's a few coffees, lunch and some clothes from Primark etc. or a trip to Costco.

The short term savings I use for annual expenses/infrequent expenses like MOT, car and home insurance, Christmas (budget is £1000ish) hairdresser(£80 every 8weeks just now) my car expenses and home insurance are one off payments but at different times of the year. So usually that month I would just save a little less and have less fun money that month.

I should add that DP and I keep most expenses separate as we live in 2 houses but I shop for and cook for us both 10 out of 14 days.

Shop around for deals and any major expenses try and spread them out. £1000 per month after main bills is doable but does require thought and meal planning

If you have crappy teeth, there isn't much you can do about it. Have you at least got an NHS dentist and/or dental plan? Otherwise, you'd just have to save somewhere else.
I have "crappy eyes" but the last pair of glasses I ordered was in 2015 so it cost me equivalent of £80 per year. Unless your eyesight is changing regularly, you won't need a new pair every year.
Most people will tell you that you are fine and, of course, many families are surviving on a lot less. But those people also likely don't have the expenses that you have come to consider "normal" on your previous income - hobbies, gym, car, holidays etc.
My car costs me about £200 a month if you spread costs of service, MOT, insurance and petrol across the year. And it's bought outright. If it is on loan, then it's half of your budget gone.
I pay £700 a year on haircuts and colour. £800 on two budget holidays - one of which is to visit a family so minimal costs aside from travel. That's extra £150 a month. Christmas and birthday gifts and a meal out for my partner is another £30 a month.
There will be expenses like that you need to look at which compound annually. Someone suggested Money Saving Expert budget planner and that's brilliant advice because it cover this exact thing.
Ultimately, yes. £1000 is fine for two people but you need to restructure your lifestyle accordingly.

£230 per week, not £250

Or, your reading comprehension is absolutely shit.