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!

Glasses every 2 years is more than possible unfortunately. I need new complex lenses at least every 2 years and sometimes more often. Because of the complexity, I can’t use any of the online vendors and I generally budget 5-600 a year (it could be less but then I have coke bottle thick lenses) - thinner lenses cost more.

But most people don't need new glasses every 2 years and most people don't need very complex prescriptions. Plus Asda do thinner lenses without extra cost.

Any time this sort of discussion comes up, there is always someone who has very particular requirements where they couldn't possibly have anything except the most expensive version of the thing possible.

Fine if you can afford it, but in the vast majority of circumstances there is a cheaper option available that is good enough. So you'd be a bit daft not to try it.

I thought every 2 years was pretty normal. When I was short sighted by prescription gradually got stronger on each eye check. It’s the same now with my reading glssses. I buy the cheapest frames in vision express and standard lenses and they cost £65 in total.All the online ones give me headaches.

OP, I think you need a reality check.
We're a family of 4 and spend £150 a week on food so 2 of you should be able to manage unless you're eating outrageous portions. We don't drink. You keep mentioning cleaning products/toiletries- how much stuff are you using?!

HRTFT but you really have to do the MSE amnual budget as clearly there are more than 4 × 12 weeks in the year - if you.just do a back of the envelope calculation then you are nearly a whole month short - make sure everything is pro-rata'd accordingly.

What is the special toothpaste please?

@TheVelvetCell My husband's dentist recommended Corsodyl toothpaste and a new toothbrush every 4 weeks plus mouthwash. My own dentist and hygienist say mouthwash kills healthy bacteria, their is nothing in expensive toothpaste in large enough quantities to be beneficial and to spend you money on dental floss. If you struggle with floss buy the tiny brushes for between your teeth. Your toothpaste should have fluoride.

I get that. I am very short sighted and my prescription is complex but I tend to wear contacts because I've had terrible luck with glasses falling apart on me. I'm actually short sighted in one eye and long in the other but my long eye is lazy so it's just a balance lens that goes in that eye. I don't use online vendors either.

I agree with you.

OP, when you posted that you've previously experienced poverty and homelessness, it became clearer why you are so worried about the drop in your household income.

It sounds as though you're now feeling a little better about things, as several posters have pointed out how you can still have space in your budget for savings/dentist/optician/weekend away, etc.

If it helps - DP and I regularly spend around £100 a week on our grocery shop, including toiletries and household stuff. We could spend a lot less, but we're lucky enough to be able to afford (e.g.) nice cheeses and also alcohol (Asda currently has three bottles of certain wines for £20).

Best of luck, OP

I think you are overestimating on food.
There are lots of websites, such as Feed yourself for £1 a day (obviously this is an extreme) but they have lots of tips for batch cooking, using the slow cooker to make soups, stews, curries etc.
A tray of 2kg of chicken fillets is less than £12 in Lidl, that would do, at least 4 - 6 meals for 2.
Pasta and rice dishes are not expensive.
Reduce waste by using left overs for economical dishes midweek.
We buy two bottles of South African Sauvignon Blanc, £4.38 each, from Lidl, so you can still have a drink.
Make a food list, and keep a food diary, or meal plan for a week or two.
You can do this!

It completely depends on your circumstances. My travel is £400 per month and my partner's is slightly less but still expensive. So for us this would probably not be doable. It completely depends on all of your outgoings.

Ok, ive only ready the first page, and then all your comments.

Thst £150 a week you are budgeting for food, toiletries & cleaning stuff? That's only just under what we spend on 2 adults & 2 teens a week - we've probably hit £180 now, but that is all meals, and meat most days, cat stuff and alcohol. Your £150 should be easy to cut down on, freeing up money for other things.

You keep mentioning spending on Christmas. What exactly do you, as a household of two adults, spend £ on for Christmas and how much exactly do you usually spend at Christmas?

Of course it's fine 🙄 many people have less than this to cover everything

Shop at Aldi/lidl, poundland etc for cleaning products. Cheap as chips. Maintain your oral health. To do that, watch your diet intake, especially snacking on sugary items in between meals. Brush thouroughly twice a day....including gums. Spit out toothpaste....do not rinse. Rinsing removes the benefits of the fluoride in toothpaste. If you do that, you only need 6 monthly check ups and hopefully no treatments such as fillings, root canal or extractions will be needed.

Corsodyl. I had tried absolutely everything but my gums were still absolute bollocks, bled almost every time I brushed, infections etc. Cleared up within weeks of starting to use it and I've not had any issues since. I'm immunosuppressed due to pretty heavy duty medication for am autoimmune disease so I have to be quite careful with infections, plus the meds make my gums sore to begin with.

I was going to the dentist five or six times a year for emergency appointments to clean infection so £6 a month for toothpaste is definitely cheaper!

Thank you so much for this.

Yes, any drop in income does send me spiralling a bit because I'm so terrified of ending up back where I was. I know I'm incredibly fortunate to have what I have and I'm better off than a lot of people. Realistically I know this because I also know what it's like to have literally nothing, not even a home. But the memory of that never leaves you.

Thank you for your kindness and your encouraging cheese and wine news 💐

My issue isn't my oral hygiene unfortunately, it's the stupid meds I'm on which mess up my gums and cause inflammation/infection. My teeth are pretty crappy too thanks to years of not being able to afford a dentist when I was younger but it's the gums that are the issue. I'm fastidious about keeping everything as clean as possible though.

I don't really snack (I've recently lost over 5st) so no problems there unless you out cheese in front of me

Can you cut back on your bills a little, ie less heating/lighting, cheaper insurance? Also, I think it's possible to cut back on your food. I put £200pm on a reloadable card at Tescos, and Lidl is roughly £100pm. This is for two adults, two cats, wine, most toiletries/cleaning products, the odd thing like a card or wrapping paper.

We're just two adults. Admittedly we don't have rent like you do, but £2,200k covers everything, bills, groceries, household repairs/replacements/servicing, we run a car - the latter you don't need to cover. One thing that helps, we both have a monthly amount which covers our own clothes, presents for eachother/our friends/side of family, dental checks - we both stick to it and prioratise each month - obviously on the approach to Xmas we spend less on other things if we can. Definitely don't feel under pressure to spend more than you can afford on others at Xmas. If you want to buy some things for eachother, then you can just buy some smaller bits you know other person might like/need.

If you're in reasonable health, do get yourselves out - walking/other exercise is free. We sometimes go for a local walk and take a sandwich with us - it makes more of a trip out. Always worth looking in charity shops - especially for clothes or if you're into reading.

We're very lucky as I guess we have more than you, but can afford mini breaks away, coffee out, a main meal out - it all comes from above.

I am not sure how often you buy toiletries and cleaning supplies for these to be such a big concern.

We spend £500-600 per month on food and any other household items like toiletries and cleaning products. A kitchen spray is less than a pound and lasts at least one month if not longer. We buy a big bag of toilet rolls (probably around £8) which then last a month and that's with 4 of us.

I rarely get my haircut and when I do it's a basic wash and cut of around £40, so even 5 months maybe.

It sounds like dentist is a worry for you so can you look into payment plans? Also will you not be entitled to free dental care if you aren't working?

I think you need to write down what you spend as it definitely sounds like things won't be as bad as you think.

DS spends all of Christmas with us and when we were able to afford it, we liked to treat him and each other. Presents altogether (me to DH/DH to me and for DS) usually came to about £700ish and food/drink/theatre trip/etc about £400. BUT we saved all year, Christmas was our big thing as we don't go on 'proper' holidays, never ever went into debt for it and never regretted a single penny of it.

Obviously things will be very different this year! I do have a few bits put by already and I have a coin jar I fill throughout the year with bits of change (usually comes to about £100) so there will be some nice food and enough for a couple of little things each.

Ah. I see. Use a CHLORHEXIDINE based mouthwash for your gums as well as brushing them. You don't need to buy Corsodyl which can be very pricey. Supermarkets, chemists and bargain stores do their own brands at a fraction of the price.

We are a bit zealous with cleaning because I'm immunosuppressed and everything has to be super spotless. Probably spend about £20 a month on cleaning stuff plus laundry/washing up liquid etc. Maybe £10 on toilet roll and tissues.

Toiletries, not much - few quid for shampoo and conditioner, £1.79 moisturiser every six weeks or so, £2 face wash, Lidl deodorant once a week, hand cream (my skin gets very dry from my medication), £1 shower gel every couple of weeks, £8 for toothpaste... Maybe £30 a month altogether? No haircuts as I cut our hair.

It's the Corsodyl toothpaste I buy that gets expensive - nothing else has worked to keep my gums from playing up. £3 a pop but honestly cheaper than going to the dentist for emergency gum cleaning/infection treatment every couple of months which I was doing before!

Re glasses, I have an eye test every two years without fail (lots of eye issues in my family and I'm not getting any younger) and pretty much every time I go I need new glasses. My prescription is slightly complex and I have varifocals which bumps it up. Cheapest I've paid at Specsavers is about £250.

My main 'thing' is reading. I used to be super active until I became ill, lots of walking/hiking/running, now I can't do any of those things. Which is a dreadful shame because as well as being cheap/free, I loved being outdoors and all the exercise. Now I don't go out much so I occupy myself by reading. I buy books from charity shops (then donate them back) or wait for Kindle monthly sales - I do budget £10 a month for this because honestly it keeps me sane. No library nearby, it closed years ago, so that's not an option sadly.