The Cost Of Living

[NoMercy]

I've just sat and mulled through what we have spent over the last month on groceries alone. We each have our own current accounts and savings, but we also have a joint account and 2 joint savings accounts.

Into the joint account we put £1k each per month. That covers mortgage, all household bills, petrol, mobile phone, groceries, drinks out, takeaways (not that we have that many takeaways). I've gone through and tallied up what we have spent in grocery shops / supermarket visits alone and it's £614.69 since we did our last big shop on pay day, until our next big shop this Friday. That's £24.59 per day. That in itself doesn't seem huge, but when I look at the sheer number of visits we've made to the shops during this last month, it's quite alarming ... £20.51 here, £30.72 there, another £28.46 in Tesco ... and that doesn't include what we've variously spent at Debenhams, the garden centre, Mothercare.

Do you think £24.59 per day is excessive, for groceries alone, for 2 people in their 40s with a nearly 4-month old baby?

What do you think is a reasonable amount of money to live on per day / week / month?

[waterboatman]

I would say that's reasonable NM. Certainly not excessive.

[NoMercy]

Hmmm... of course it's impossible to tell purely from looking at my transactions online how much of the £24 odd per day is refreshment of the fermented variety.

I'd like to think we could live on £10 per day for just our groceries. I'm not a big eater but I do tend to buy fancy ingredients and make recipes complicated.

[Jackdaw33]

I could happily live on £10 per week, were it not for the fact that I smoke like a chimney and drink like a fish.

[NoMercy]

I think that's one of my problems, Jack. Not the smoking, but the wine at the weekend. We seldom just drink one bottle between us.

[waterboatman]

NM You could live on a tenner a day, but why would you want to go without the little luxuries that make life just that little bit better?

[waterboatman]

Vera and I have been known to see of two bottles of dry white and about half a bottle of TD in an evening. I banned her from drinking red, it had a strange effect on her!

[ummmm]

£10 per day? We couldn't live on that. I don't know how much we spend but at a guess it'll be a few hundred a week.

[NoMercy]

Does that include your grown-up sons, Ummmm?

I never eat 3 meals a day. Sometimes just 2 boiled eggs for breakfast (no toast) and a salad later on in the day. My husband isn't a big eater either, although he would sit and eat a big meal if I put it in front of him.

When I say live on £10 per day, I mean just food. Not electricity, petrol, phonebills, etc. Just food.

[Sqad]

"Do you think £24.59 per day is excessive, for groceries alone, for 2 people in their 40s with a nearly 4-month old baby? "

I should have married you, I would now be a millionaire...;0)

[waterboatman]

Me too sqad! :o}

[NoMercy]

WBM, I totally get what you are saying about life's luxuries but we stopped short of submitting an offer on that house that needed renovating as my husband felt it was too much of an undertaking with a young baby.

We are now looking at a house which is significantly more expensive but requires less renovating. We have a viewing later. If we are going to spend £70k more on a house than we intended, somethings got to give.

I have worked it out that we are probably spending upwards of £300 per month on wine / drinks alone.

[Sqad]

WBM LOL.
My old lady often spends more than that on tips per day.

[NoMercy]

Mrs Sqad a spendthrift is she? ;-)

[waterboatman]

I understand that NM. That's sensible thinking. You've got your priorities right.

[Buenchico]

During the past few years I've had several extended periods where I've tried to live on £15 per week for food but usually ended up spending more like £20 per week.

Even though I'm slightly better off now that I get my state pension, as far as just food is concerned (and therefore excluding occasional treats of an alcoholic nature) I'd find it hard to spend more than £30 per week unless I was eating out. I still prepare plenty of meals that cost under £1.50 for two courses (and I often only eat one main meal in a day anyway).

[Sqad]

NoM.......she is a shopping addict...on-line and trips.

[waterboatman]

Much the same here Chris, One meal and the odd snack, sometimes very odd!

[ummmm]

Chris, what are you actually eating?

[Tilly2]

I have worked it out that we are probably spending upwards of £300 per month on wine / drinks alone.

NoM, that roughly £10 per day. Perhaps buy slightly cheaper wine?