How much do you have to spend on yourself after bills?
linkinpark875
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After you pay bills how much cash do you have for luxuries like nights out, cinema or clothes?
If you are on a lower income how do you manage?
If you are on a lower income how do you manage?
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Off the top of my head I would guess about £100 a week after essential bills, non-essential bills and food.
I save a lot of that though, I don't spend £100 a week on 'luxuries'.
Once I've paid Gas, Electricity, council tax, TV licence. Water rates, house insurance. Pet insurance. Pet food Internet. Mobile etc etc.
And I don't have 'luxuries' besides Internet. I don't smoke. My mobile bill is £10 a month. I don't have sky etc. Don't have a land line. I don't drive. I don't eat out. Can't remember the last time I bought new clothes or had a night out etc.
How do you manage on A lower income? You do without.
But you should say how much you have left too.
I have about £500, boose, cigs, savings not included.
That's not much do you live in an expensive area with high rent or something? I imagine London would be much higher hence calls for a higher wage down there.
I guess to some that seems quite a lot for "fun" but it can go quickly.
If I were to have a heavy night down the pub I could get through most of that. It is for that reason that I DON'T have heavy nights down the pub very often.
No water bills?
After rent transport fare is the most I spend on, my monthly Oyster card.
Nope.
But unfortunately I'm currently unemployed due to illness so my only income is ESA.
For some reason people think those on benefits have it easy and have everything paid for them. Maybe people with kids do, I don't know but as a single adult you don't.
I still have to pay council tax, mortgage, TV license etc like everyone else, I get single person Council tax discount and I get free prescriptions but that's about it.
I don't mind. I'm grateful for the benefits I do get and obviously am better of than a lot of people. I'm lucky my mortgage is very small (under 4k left).
It's not easy and yes sometimes I have to decide to eat or heat the house but as I said there are many a lot worse off than me.
Yes. I just forgot to mention it.
Not bad for someone on a private pension.
I have about £100 a week spare to myself, and I don't consider that a lot.
I do often wonder about people who say they can't afford to feed themselves though. I know you wouldn't eat like a king, but as an example you can get:
a loaf of bread for 40p
a tin of beans for about 15p
a bag of pasta for 40p
a tin of tomatoes for 31p
a bag of mixed frozen vegetables for 77p
a box of corn flakes for 30p
cans of soup for 24p
a kg of potatoes for 39p
10 fish fingers for 60p
Obviously; meat is going to be a bit more expensive. But there are cheap options if you really want meat. There are also plenty of other cheap ways to get your protein.
Well I guess a lot of people shop in Aldi for these fake brand Corn flakes ect..
NB: I am not. So don't moan to me about internet.
There's a fab Facebook group called Feed your family on about £20 a week (icon is the inside of a jam doughnut) and that has taught me loads of cheap tricks!! We eat very well and our weekly shop is about £70 and that is for two adults, one 4 year old and a baby feeding with approx 1x £10 tub of formula.
i love that group i get their shares too.
Ideally I'd like to raise that to £50. Sometimes I don't realise how lucky I am to have a surplus of anything!
I remember doing a ballpark exercise for a family of four I know. Combined pretax income of circa £100k per year ie top 10% of households in the UK. After basics they each left the house each day with £20 in their back pocket. It was up to them how they spent it. Clothes? Holidays? House maintenance? Replacement car? Reinvest for extra income?