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!

Really op, it’s more than enough

Re: your shoes, can you get them re-soled at a cobbler or Timpsons rather than forking out for new ones? You'll save a lot.

You can survive on that obviously, but there are so many other expenses – clothes, cosmetics, supplements, household items, books, subscriptions and all sorts of bits and pieces – that you'll have to be quite mindful of your spending.

If it's after bills then it must be doable surely.

You can buy cosmetics in Poundland. Some of these expenses aren't essential.

Where are you getting £150 after bills

You may be eligible to have shoes made for you on the NHS. I have something wrong with my little toe and can’t tolerate normal shoes, my doctor referred me and I was seen in a week and the shoes took around three months to be made.

They’re all luxury unnecessary purchases, though! You can easily cut back on those. Obviously if your fridge breaks down, you need a new one. No one needs to buy new clothes, cosmetics, new lamps, books, subscriptions etc.

Have you worked consistently for the past 3 years? If so you'll likely be entitled to new style ESA. It's based on your national insurance contributions, not your household income (Unlike UC).

I think you’ll be totally fine!

Yes, that's true. You can obviously buy the cheapest everything, or not buy non-essential at all, but I'm talking about the cost of living a normal, reasonably comfortable life, rather than the absolute minimum you can survive on.

Again, yes you're right. But I'm talking about a normal, reasonably comfortable life here.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Poundland cosmetics. They are very decent quality. In a situation like this its wise to buy the cheapest everything until your financial position picks up.

I read the original post too fast and got it wrong! Apologies for that. 1000 disposable income after bills is roughly 250 pounds a week. Totally doable.

I've been on both sides of the coin - having to budget for essentials because our income didn't stretch far enough, or getting great dispossable income not having to worry about holidays, petrol, mortgage, Christmas, birthdays or splurging on clothes. Ask me which side I prefer to be.

You have no way of earning more? You can’t list stuff on Vinted or do some online surveys?

What are these online surveys that pay you more than a few pennies? I often see them mentioned on here.

I don’t think buying all that stuff is normal, though, generally. Definitely nothing to do with reasonable comfortable.

Prolific, YouGov to name a couple.

You can easily buy all those things on a budget of £250 a week!

I suppose your and my idea of reasonably comfortable just differs, and that's fine. For me, being reasonably comfortable includes being able to buy decent-quality things I use and enjoy without having to think twice about every purchase or default to the cheapest option.

I mean £1000 on the face of it sounds a lot but if you factor in that is all the money you have to eat and "live" well yeah it isn't loads. The thing is you are just 2 adults so there are so so many things you aren't having to pay for that you would if you had a couple of children in the mix, you can quite easily skip social events etc, you aren't going to be outgrowing your entire wardrobe every season etc like kids do. You are just paying for 2 adults, so yes you will be fine, you just won't be able to treat yourselves as much and be as free with money, your holidays will probably look very different too, if you can even afford one. You aren't going to starve or be without shoes though!!!

I couldn't.

I love how this thread is full of people saying of course its enough to live on but 90% of mumsnet is people with horses and buying boden and joules 😆
I do think it will be a squeeze, I've lived on the bare minimum and it's not nice, there is always things that come up unexpectedly.
Is there any kind of work you can do with your disability? Sitting at a computer/ buying and selling/ironing etc? A couple of hundred pound a month could help out a lot, or definitely look into PIP, good luck.

You're trying to say you couldn't buy books cosmetics and supplements for 250 pounds a week. You're coming from a place of privilege then

A grand month after bills is not the bare minimum