Living off £100 a week for one person after bills - do you class that as 'doing ok,' 'doing well,' or 'struggling'?

[user1499590110]

Just that really. I want to hear people's opinions before explaining what was said on this date (let's just say our views clashed hugely..)

miss

I think you have to buy food out of the £100

Oh sorry, the food shop comes out of the £100 per week.

It still not bad though. I spend about £50 per week for 3 of us, and I buy organic meat and veg so could reduce my food shop by quite a bit if I had to.

I'd say struggling. It'd probably be ok for a teenager/v young single adult but I couldn't manage on it. I'd spend most of that on food and diesel!

I'd like to know the backstory behind the question really.

If I were single with no kids it would be plenty

I live on much less than that. Once bills and all necessary expenses are covered I spend about £30 a week on food but I take my lunch into work rather than wasting £7 a day in Pret or similar. I can't remember the last time I bought a take-away coffee. Not because I can't afford it, I can, but I'm too tight to piss away 3 quid on one.

So, to answer your question: if all bills are paid and you have a discretionary £100 a week, then I'd call that "doing OK", if you can manage to put something, no matter how little away in long-term savings every month you'd be "doing well".

Sounds fine to me.

I'm a LP with two dc and I have £50 a week for us all.

£100 a week for just me I'd be laughing

Same here bitter eating out always seems so fucking expensive and often not very nice either

As pp said, dinner and drinks once a week is £50 gone easily. I don't eat out often and don't really drink, if I did I would feel much poorer.

MissWilmottsGhost 'bills' for me covers mortgage, utilities, food, petrol and hobbies, which in my case is a horse. I transfer money to my savings each month on pay day and any money left over at the end of the month also gets transferred over.

I would say thats ok unlless you have a car and dont count it as one of your bills, i manage on less than that for me,
It depends what you want to do with it,£50 on food sounds a lot for one person, but again might depend where you live

That's okay, IMO. Some weeks I have £85 a week for food, pre-payment electric and gas and everything else for myself and DS.

Unless you are a student, I think it sounds grim.

Struggling. I couldn't eat well, run my car, buy new clothes, go to the gym, go on holidays and have a social life out of that. I'd have to quit all my hobbies and stay in all the time.

Depending on if all essentials are covered, and there's only food left to come out of that £100, then a person on their own is doing OK I'd say. They're obviously not rolling in it but neither are they struggling to get by because there is money still available each week (a person on their own shouldn't need to spend more than £40 a week on a food shop. If they do, that's not struggling!)

If essentials were only just being covered (and that doesn't include items such as an iPhone contract, SKY TV, good broadband package, entertainment out) and leaving you with nothing left at all, then you could say you're struggling.

I think this really highlights the change in perception as to what people now consider being in poverty or struggling, or what 'essentials' are.

£50 a week organic meat and veg food shop for 3 people!?

How is that possible?

I spend at least a £10 on liquids- juice/ milk/ smoothies and £35 on fruit and veg just for me. Add in meat and lunches and breakfast and snacky bits.

£50 organic meat and veg must be bare minimum shop, meat and 2 veg dinner, lunches out, no snacks and a box of cereal for breakfast?

All of you people saying £100 a week seem to think student life is okay for an adult. Penny pinching and budget shopping because you can't afford not do means you are not doing okay, that's struggling!

£25 for a book, lunch and cinema trip? Cinema is £14, tube ticket or parking is £5, half price paperback £5 leaving £1 for you lunch

That's not okay, that is struggling!

Beep, I can't speak for everyone else, but personally, I prefer to think of it as managing, or coping, and being resourceful, than struggling. I am proud of what I achieve on a very low income, instead of letting myself become bitter or resentful at the fact I earn nowhere near enough what I thought I would, or what society deems I "should", as someone with a postgraduate level of education. I'm not criticising you either, just trying to explain my mindset.

Some people have simple lives beepbeep. Someone I know loves on state pension only. £155 a week. That covers all bills, hobbies and food and he has money left.

If you're on a budget beep you'll be far more resourceful than you!

Amazon book - £3.50, War of planet of the apes at the Odeon in Bristol - £5 (£11 in Guildford), Nando's lunch - £10.50. If you live in Guildford that's your £25 gone. If you live in Bristol you've still money left over for a couple of pints!

Folk that are seriously struggling can't afford any of the above, so it's not too bad, especially for a young person. Clearly if you live somewhere remote, or have dependents that's different, but that wasn't what OP asked about.

I have £100 per week ex food shop and travel. But I also save £300 a month to cover holidays etc.

I think it's fine but not great as a single person. For a family I think struggling.

I'm assuming all food, toiletries, clothes, petrol, cleaning products, holidays, savings, gifts, hobbies, gym etc has to come out of the £100?

I'd say that's doing well. We have £55 a week for food and anything else that needs buying and we're a family of 4!

Cinema would be a treat here than a weekly thing

Library rather than amazon.

Don't tend to have meals out other than occasions.

I think people take a certain standard of living for granted and don't realise it's not the norm on a lower income!

Flowerfairy I agree with you. I think if you have enough money to eat properly, buy toiletries, etc and you can cover the costs of your transport with a little bit over at the end of the week then you're doing ok.

For many people holidays, trips to the cinema, meals out, savings are considered luxuries.

We live on that for a family of 3 (after bills and petrol). We eat a lot of lentils...it's just about managing. I certainly don't have extra spending money unless I do really cheap veggie meals, which I'll do some weeks if I know we will be spending a bit extra on other things.

For single person I'd call it doing ok though.