I need a plan - short of money till 28th

[janeofyork]

Hi

So after a massive car repair bill and having to pay the balance for ds school trip ( which we had forgot about) we are left with £347 to last us until 28th November! Thankfully all of the bills are paid so we only need to worry about food and general spends!

I need a plan as I don't want to use the credit card!

This is more than I have sometimes at the beginning of the month after paying bills 🤣

I think that's very manageable

I need a plan as I don't want to use the credit card!

As if the whole idea of <only> having £347 to last 2 weeks isn't bad enough, you have access to money by using the credit card for this 'emergency'

This thread is disgusting given how hard people are struggling to make ends meet. People who have no access to a back up credit card.

I suggest you take in some ironing. It's really easy to earn a little extra.

Would you normally spend £150 a week on food?! You've got plenty

That’s loads! What do usually eat ? have some basic meals jacket potato, beans on toast , spag bol etc etc . Just meal plan

That seems plenty to me? Go through your fridge, freezer and cupboard and I bet you can make a week worth of dinners.

That's loads?!

We have £181 to last until the 25th and I wondering why we have so much left jury now.

You do know that's a perfectly normal amount to have for food and petrol for two weeks. It's not even anywhere near an 'on the bones of my arse till payday' type amount. If you spend £50 on petrol, and £75 a week on food you've still got £150 to piss up the wall. What exactly is the problem?

Well since we’re bragging, I managed to bring a houseplant back from near death today.

You'll be surprised with a little planning just how well you can manage. Time to get the slow cooker out for one pot meals, soup etc.

Look, this may not be what you’re used to having left for the rest of the month but please don’t be so tone deaf as to not realise this is more then many have at the start of the Month

Take in some ironing?

I’m already in my overdraft untill the same date and I’m not panicking so am sure youl be fine 😂

Amen!

Eh? How is this an issue? I don’t think we ever spend more than £150 a week on food and fuel, even without working to a budget.
What would you normally spend on that period? What are you worried about being unable to afford?

Even more worrying than OP thinking this is a pro worm and not wanting to use the credit card is the fact that OP also can't work out how to make so much money last 2 weeks.

Where did the £86 per person per week come from? That seems high to me, and would be much more than the OP has to spend.

£86 per person per week? That would put our weekly food shop at £430

But surely people who are used to spending more know that you dont actually need to spend more to survive? It’s a perfectly healthy budget, she doesn’t need to be looking up ‘feed your family for £5’ type meals.

oops, typo!
£86 for a family of 4

Write a plan. Fuel, whatever you need and meal plan.

Agree with all the others. If you think £347 until the end of the month is going to be a struggle it suggests you're currently pretty spendy, meaning you probably have a lot of slack in your budget that could be reined in a little.

Doing that would mean you'd build up savings and be able to cope with car repairs and forgotten school trip bills without panicking that you 'only' have £300 for a couple of weeks food and general spending.

I and friends got evening jobs at times over the years just casual weekly paid. It paid for the extras as well as put a bit by for unexpected expenses.