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..)

I'd eat cheap veggie meals and spend most of the money on socialising I think. I'd also try to save £10 into a rainy day fund. It's doable but tight.

It depends on what you're including in bills- if they have to pay travel costs/ petrol etc as well as food shop out of that then it could be a struggle, depending on where they work. If all they have to pay for with £100 is food/clothes/socialising etc then I think that's perfectly fine.

As a lone person no kids I could do it.

10.50pw travel pass for work and weekend
5pw bottle of wine
20pw into a clothing budget (I shop quarterly at most!)
50.50 for food (would eat better than I currently do with that)
10pw savings.

Ok so I couldnt book a week in the carribean or whatever but I dont do that anyways.

After all bills are paid we (family of 7) have £85 per week to cover food and diesel and any emergency spends like prescriptions or dentist or opticians needed so as a single person with that much spare I'd be living the dream!!

I think it's reasonable but we live way up north and don't have the kind of lifestyle where we eat out multiple times a week etc. If you live in London and absolutely have to go to Pret for lunch and Costa/ Starbucks for your morning coffee then I guess you'd need more.

when i was single about 4 years ago i would have loved £100 a week after bills after i had paid just my rent and council tax i had £55 a week left of my wages to pay for everything including food struggling is walking in asda with £15 to feed yourself for a week, having £10 for gas £5 for electric and once thats gone winter and summer then its gone (prepay meter)

I'm a young single person and I would struggle if I had to pay for food and travel.

I have £150 inc food/travel but my travel pass is £10 per week and my food shop rarely costs over £25 leaving me well over £100. I also put £500 into savings every month though which takes some pressure off.

In the short term it's certainly doable, as most people could tighten their belts and live on it. It wouldn't be much fun though.

In the long term, it's struggling, as the chances are that there will be some unexpected expense that might wipe out all your savings, or worse.

For me, doing well means making progress, and a hundred spare a week isn't going to take me any closer to my financial goals, or help me get the lifestyle I want. So I wouldn't say it is doing well for an adult working full-time.

It's not much at all. No fun could be had.

I'd say 200 is more reasonable. Who is the person OP?

This is exactly what I have. I'm a LP with one child. I find I can't spend less than £50 on weekly shop (inc nappies and toiletries) my petrol is £10ish and the rest gets eaten up by essentials. It's a terrible struggle and I worry about it all the time. I go over budget by £20-£30 a week which at the moment is going on credit cards. My situation won't change for three years after which it might improve but until then it's a huge struggle

I lived on £100 a week last year for a month after being hit with some unexpected bills. I was definitely struggling. It was an interesting experiment (!) because I took the cash out on a Sunday and wouldn't use debit card for anything but it was a miserable month.

I live in London and I'd say you were doing ok! £100 for food and fun stuff after bills is fine?! I live close enough to work to walk though but still?!

Struggling.

We have £2000 a month after bills.

Food £400 Dog Walker £150ish (£10/day) Fuel £110

Rest is needed for various things and not to have to worry about spending...

Apparently if you have two years worth of living costs saved for a rainy day that is thought to be "comfortable."

Ha I don't know hardly anyone with 2 years saved!!! Weve worked on trying to save 3 months.

2 grand left ! That's our income to include mortgage etc....

I think everyone, at some stage in their lives, should set themselves the challenge of having to live on £73 a week for at least a month, as that is what JSA is (roughly). Anyone could lose their job and have to live on it and at least if you have a 'practice', you have an idea of what to expect.

I live on about £25 a week after bills are paid, so I'd say £100 a week would be bloody amazing!

Goes off to think moodily about all the things I'd do with all that money...

I'd think I was rolling in it with £100 a week, I currently have just under £50 after my bills are paid and that isn't a massive struggle for me.

However, I do have it very easy since I live within walking distance of work (only about 20 minutes each way), and don't run a car so don't have to worry about associated costs there. Paying for petrol and car maintenance out of that would make it a lot harder.

I would say struggling, even if you were single. It really all depends on how much you want to socialise, how much you want to spend on clothes and luxuries and hair cuts etc.
For example, my hair costs me £120 every 3-4 months. I would have to stop that if I lived on that budget. I have a night out at least once a month, I would struggle to do that also.
So, it all depends on the persons lifestyle.

Struggling

I've lived both and having money doesn't make you happier as you then worry about what your spending (guilt) and whether you have enough to last your lifetime and setup your children.

Easy to say of course but there's a lot of worries that were not present when we grew up with Mum on her own working as a dinner lady and struggling terribly. It was a lot simpler to strive to save enough for your first house etc

I also don't think there's any guidance around being careful with money in our education system and if the parents haven't had any experience but struggles they have none to pass on either.

Struggling.

Travel (petrol or train), car tax, mot, haircut, dentist, wedding present, food, prescriptions, shoes, clothes, fun, hobbies, office leaving do whip round... things add up. But I guess it depends what you count as 'bills'?

So what's your view OP?

If it was after food and travel costs I would say that it's doing ok. Depends on lifestyle really.

So this is after rent/mortgage and bills ?!

It's loads ! Food for one what £25 ?

I live alone on about £75 and consider myself to have plenty !