What's the lowest monthly amount you need for 'living', safely?

[GreensAreGoodForYou]

I realise one person's safety isn't the same as another's but what I mean is 'safely' as in you wouldn't have to calculate the exact costs of your weekly shop for fear of not having enough to pay your electricity bill, or you can manage to pay for a piece of needed clothing without having to panic that you'll have no money for food. I haven't included rent in this... which may be a mistake, but it's things like food/car/energy bills that I'd like to compare.

For me, it seems like a massive amount. Total, not inc rent, council tax, not even including occasional stuff like clothes, household goods etc is £910.

(For the record, I'm not living in the UK right now, but in a country that is only just about considered 'developed' (don't want to out myself by saying where!). I'm shocked at the costs, especially given that this isn't considered a developed country. Wondering if it's the same in the UK. It's just me and two kids. Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe this is actually what low-cost living looks like?

Breakdown:
Food £450 per month (admittedly eat a lot of lovely fresh fruit/veg but very little booze/meat)
Bills: £130 per month (this is where I think I pay less than those in the UK!)
Car £270 per month (where I live there is no public transport so can't get kids to school without it, this includes insurance and petrol)
Phone/wifi £60 per month

What seems like a normal (or average) expenditure to you? For a family of three or four in the UK?

Completely depends on so many factors, seems a bit of a pointless exercise.

I’d say we spend the same as you on pretty much all those costs except for bills (gas, electric, water), which are much higher on my 4-bed house. We’re a family of 4.

Sigh, yeah, I thought that might be the response. I dunno, I'd just love to know what people pay out for these kinds of things in the UK. I'm convinced some things (food for eg) can be done cheaper in the UK but maybe I'm just wrong. But you're right, it depends entirely on how someone shops, how they heat their house etc...

I'll see if I can find some kind of 'average household spend' via Google and see if that's enlightening!

"The average spend on food per person is around £47.5 per week (£206 per month), including groceries and eating out—across all ages and genders. The average weekly food shop for 1 is £34.4 in the UK, plus we spend another £13 on eating out or ordering takeaways each week."

Found that, which answers part of my question at least!

For us, including rent and bills it’s 2k. We decided a long time ago to never let our fixed costs rise about 2x minimum wage jobs.

I’m spending about £400 a month on food/household stuff like toothpaste, cleaning products etc for myself and two small kids. However the kids eat many of their meals at school/nursery (the smallest goes to nursery full time). I could cut that down a bit if I needed by cutting out small luxuries I allow myself like a cheap bottle of wine, a few beers.

That sounds like a very clever way to do things.

I think I need to figure out how to lower my food costs... from the looks of things I'm spending more than I would in the UK. I've already cut down on alcohol and coffee (the most obvious expensive things here). But there are other things I could probably do without...

I'm not sure that your question will get you useful results. Eg I've just added it up we would need at least £7800 a month just to cover bills (Inc school fees) and mortgage.

You might be better asking for advice on reducing costs, if you can list your bills and expenses there are some wise people who can offer practical advice.

Yes, I think you're right. And I think food is probably where I could reduce costs. I did a search and found a couple of threads that might be useful.

THANK YOU for replying!

I think me and DP could live off 2k if we had to including current (below market) rent but it would mean cutting back a lot-no subscriptions, holidays, meals out etc.

My total monthly spend is between £600 and £700. That's for me and half a cat.

We are about 3k, but half of that is nursery. I can't wait to shake that cost! 😵

According to the government, it's £300 a month not including rent. That's what people 'living it up' on benefits get.

We are a household of 3 in an expensive part of the UK, in a 4 bed house. We spend less than you on food per month and we eat very well and don’t set a budget for food. Our energy costs are higher, we spend less on petrol and car insurance, and less on phone and WiFi.

Our biggest expenses are mortgage, £1300 per month, and nursery fees, £750 per month (3 days a week).

Interesting... also not in the U.K, but there are only two of us. You haven't included the most expensive things though...

Gas: €190
Electricity: about €100
Internet: €40
Car (electric, small loan + battery rental): €150
Petrol for other car: €60
Food/household stuff: €500
Park and ride for DH for work: €100
Phones (sim only): €35

So just under €1,200

Not included: mortgage (huge), mortgage insurance, health insurance (€€€), council tax equivalent, rubbish collection (separate from council tax), water, car insurance/servicing/MOT equivalent, house insurance. The total is terrifying. We live in an expensive part of our country.

There's so many variables and so many discretionary elements, even to essential costs.

Is your 'safe' level of food spending a mostly vegetarian, cooked from scratch basic seasonal diet from Aldi or Lidl that is meal planned to avoid wastage, or is it lots of fresh meat, fish and imported fruit and veg from Waitrose, along with regular meals out and bought lunches which probably costs about ten times as much.

Do you have the heating on all the time, shower multiple times a day, wash everything after one wear/use and tumble dry everything even when the weather is good or is your electricity use more normal?

Etc etc.

Makes it impossible to say and that's before you consider differences in the cost of living between countries. Even with recent price rises, food is probably still cheaper in the UK compared with a lot of other countries.