Is £180 left per week after bills a decent amount to have (per week)?

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Dom_Dastardly@reddit

£180 and he hasn’t bought food yet! I spend £150 a week on food just for me.

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Altorode@reddit

You spend £600 per month on food? Not flaming, but could you explain your food budget a bit? Do you eat out a lot? That's £20 per day just on food which I'm struggling to comprehend.

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Dom_Dastardly@reddit

I don’t eat out. Bottled water Wild cod Fresh tuna Oysters Mussels King prawns Grass fed steak Lots of fruit Cottage cheese Raw milk Organic eggs

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Altorode@reddit

Interesting perspective, thanks for answering!

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Long_Creme2996@reddit

Thats an insane amount of money on food for one person.

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Dom_Dastardly@reddit

Not really, health is wealth. Some people spend £500+ a month on car payments, that’s outrageous to me. But on good quality food for my body, it’s worth it.

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BasisOk4268@reddit

I spend £100 on a family of 4 you need to meal plan and eat less frankly

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jejdhdijen@reddit

What if he’s eating fillet steak from Waitrose every night?

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ElPato87@reddit

I feel like I don’t really deny myself anything when I’m food shopping, don’t shop by deals , and I max out at 90 a week just for me

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Knightoftherealm23@reddit

150 a week for one person? I spend 80 to 100 for 3 people and half of the wet cat food needed for 9 cats

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GJThunderqunt@reddit

I spend about £80-100 on me. That said I could feed 2 on the same money give or take, food is often in 2 people portions.

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2c0@reddit

I spend £20 to £30 a day (I include household stuff too).

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Resu_soahc@reddit

How the hell do you spend that much on food. I spend 100 - 200 a month tops.

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MahatmaAndhi@reddit

Sounds expensive. I spend that on a family of four.

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CyclingBrit@reddit

your weekly food spend isnt a normal food spend tho. I buy top quality fresh food and my weekly food bill is around £60

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RainysPlanet@reddit

I have £25 per week. i dream of such money

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PhilosophyFormer4609@reddit

Get 3 fit notes 3 months in a row (so one every month) and youll be considered for LCWRA which is an extra £400 a month. The amount you get for basic UC is disgustingly low.

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RainysPlanet@reddit

I work full time i dont think i can haha

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PhilosophyFormer4609@reddit

How tf do you only have £25 left then????

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I work full time, i just live alone. I have no subscription services, no debt and nothing on finance. My electric bill has almost doubled and council tax has risen. there is no where cheaper (ive checked) I do drive but cant afford fuel so i need to live in walking distance.

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PhilosophyFormer4609@reddit

Have you applied for single tennancy council tax? And have you applied for uc? Also there might be some local charities/organisations that can help with deposit and first month's rent. I got help with those two with a local charity (dont wanna say coz its got the city name in it). Asking because I dont know how someone working full time can only have £100 left at the end of the month. Unless your paying something ridiculous like £1200 a month rent.

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RainysPlanet@reddit

And tbf ive become good at financing, I sometimes have money left over! I dont eat breakfast, have a sandwich at lunch and rice and whatever discounted meat I found that ive frozen for dinner. I dont do much else. I buy clothes from charity shops and mend my own things. Also free furniture from FB marketplace has saved me so many times 😂

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RainysPlanet@reddit

I did apply for UC but it didnt go anywhere, I do have the single council tax discount. When I moved here (5 years ago) it was dirt cheap, i had around £100 a week to spare but then everything went up and over time its just eaten into my money. My bills total (rent, WiFi, utilities ect) come to about £1200 per month, i earn about £1500 after tax (min wage 35 hoursa week). £200 helps pays towards my mums carer, which unfortunately I cant just not do 😭 she does get a carers allowance but it doesnt pay the whole thing sadly. I have reached out for help from the government but I either get no reply or just denied financial aid. Ive applied for council houses (as I private rent) but because Im not in danger of losing my home and I have no kids im not a priority. Infact ive been on the list for 3 years and bid every month on some properties but again, im not priority. I will look further into things that can help me. I think ive gotten so used ot having so little that I haven't realised what ive missed

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RainysPlanet@reddit

Oh and my water bill went from £9.97 to £37.99 so theres that

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GreyFox_1337@reddit

Wait. What? How?

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jejdhdijen@reddit

Jobless.

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RainysPlanet@reddit

I work full time haha, i just live alone

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

Depends on the lifestyle you want to live. Is it enough to survive? Yes absolutely. Is it enough to survive and enjoy? Maybe just a little bit of enjoyment. Is it enough to survive, enjoy and then put away for a comfortable retirement? Fuck no.

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

Lol... Retirement. Sorry, not apart of that generation.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

How old are you out of interest?

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

Not old enough to reach retirement.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

You need something like £13-14k to see you through the bare minimum per year in [retirement.](https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/) The state pension is today £12k, give or take. Even if you only ever work minimum wage jobs, and only get the bare minimum pension contributions, and you did that your entire life, you'd still be able to get an annuity worth another £12k or so. So even if you think that the state pension will disappear, you can effectively meet bare minimum retirement standards by working minimum wage your entire life. Or you take whatever measures you can to get out of minimum wage jobs, and you invest more than the bare minimum. And this isn't you per se, I don't know you and your circumstances, this is just in general.

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

At what age? https://preview.redd.it/5a1b9gs5nqxg1.png?width=546&format=png&auto=webp&s=95874f0f334f27d0e84a8918b07931f72e83dad9 I'm not going to reach 2058 xD!

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

Like I said, I'm not debating your personal circumstances, I don't know you. The fact that you're choosing not to take advantage of benefits that your employer is obligated to give you doesn't create a sweeping generalisation that anyone born in 1990 will not be able to retire. I was born in 1985, so I get the state pension in 2053, which is five years before the date in your screenshot. And I know I'm just an anecdote, but I also know I'm not the only person born in 1985 who will be able to retire, just as I'm confident there's loads of people born in 1990 who will be able to retire to.

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

I'll pray for them.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

Or maybe get a better paying job so you can afford to retire. Might be a better use of your time.

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unseemly_turbidity@reddit

Can't tell. We don't know what other necessities apart from food he has to pay for out of that. Commuting costs alone could easily wipe that out.

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masha1901@reddit

It is possible to spend less on food a week, but it takes meal planning, batch cooking and budgeting. Not everyone is able to do that, there are those who don't have the facilities to meal prep and batch cook. There are those who aren't very mobile and they need extra to help them. Food is a necessity, and yes there are cheaper options when buying food, however it all takes time and effort. £180 a week sounds a lot, but the circumstances are different for each person.

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PhilosophyFormer4609@reddit

I mean it ain't bad, he could defo cut his food bill down to 50 a week if he changes some stuff. Im guessing he lives in london?

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ParkingTicketSupport@reddit (OP)

no the north

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PhilosophyFormer4609@reddit

Ok that kinda is meh, how much is his rent? Is he living in a city centre?

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EdibleBeans-on-Toast@reddit

Unless they plan on going out every single weekend with hotels and heavy drinking, then that's completely fine in the north. if anything should be left with some savings.

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

1 person, calorific intake cooking for themself, probably £60 per week with luxury food on top, not just rations. Do they smoke? Require transport? Add £35 per week for a smoker, around £25 per week for public transport weekly pass. What they pay for days out with their son? £30 - £50 for both to eat out, and do things? Then that's what's left.

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ElPato87@reddit

£35 feel cheap for smoking. A 20 deck is pushing £20 these days, and you ( I could at least) happily get through a 30g pouch every 3 days

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

I used to smoke 50g a week, I cut down through vaping. I spend £25 a month on vape juice and buy a £35 pouch of tobacco for work and bad times... So £15 a week to smoke in my case.

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ParkingTicketSupport@reddit (OP)

good questions for which i dont know the answer

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The_Epic_Fail_Guy@reddit

£150 a week is roughly what I live on after bills without a son, as a single male.

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ElPato87@reddit

I usually come outwith somewhere between £200-260. 200 and I feel a bit squeezed ( appreciate that this is relatively fortunate) . £240 and i’m treating myself more

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iReddit2000@reddit

He still needs to shop for food and see how son with that 180 a week? Thats pretty rough

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Psychological_Bee_93@reddit

I’m currently on unpaid Mat leave so £180 a week after bills sounds lovely. Even on stat mat leave, it’s £194.32 per week and you’re expected to pay your mortgage/rent, all bills from that.

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KatVanWall@reddit

I would say that's decent. Also depends on whether you count food in bills. I spend around £50 for me and my daughter, then another £50 on fuel, which would leave me with £80. That sounds okay to me - allows for the odd extra snack or treat for my kid, and/or the occasional unplanned spend like a plant for the garden, substrate for my snake, a book, etc. I'd feel like I'd be fairly relaxed with that.

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Discopants180@reddit

The weekly Reddit Poverty Olympics is up and runnning.

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Sean_Campbell@reddit

I'd compete, but I can't afford to.

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Final_Remains@reddit

Well, as ever, it depends... I don't spend anywhere near 70/ wk on food, but it's easily doable if you want to. But, it's a choice. What does he do with his son? Take him out? Does he drink? Smoke? Does that include travel in the bills? 180 could be plenty, or... Not.

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calicoki77@reddit

I spend £70-75 a week for two adults and a cat on food That’s all meals , packed lunches and no takeaways . We don’t buy coffee out and all meals are cooked from scratch. We don’t smoke or vape and drink little alcohol All my shopping is in Lidl We work full time ( not the cat he’s is lazy git ) We are midlands and eat well

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Fit-Mistake-4390@reddit

It’s not much but it’s enough to feed 2 people It’s a shame it doesn’t leave much left over for nice things / recreation though. These days an evening at a pub is easily £30

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Wishmaster891@reddit

and the ret!

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iffyClyro@reddit

It’s okay. It’s not lap of luxury money though.

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Kelsiersdaggers@reddit

Spare? The cunt needs to eat.

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Heeeliaz@reddit

Anything that goes monthly should be considered as a bill, food included. He doesn’t actually have £180 per week, he has £90 pero week… which is around £360 per month…

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GlumAd9856@reddit

I had about £150 a week leftover after bills for the 4 years I did my PhD. That's probably equivalent to £180 in today's money (maybe a bit more). I found it doable, but then you need to find things to do that don't really cost much. If you spend £50 on food (which these days would be fairly frugal) that means you have less than £20 a day. That's for everything - transport, social life, clothes, replacing gadgets, dentist/prescriptions, sports etc. I don't know how you'd support a kid though.

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Radiant_Chart3163@reddit

He has no idea how lucky he is. I lived on far less per week when my two kids were babies.

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RenzyHD@reddit

More money than I have per week, I have £125 per week to spend on everything, shopping etc

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CptCave1@reddit

I have about £50 a week to spend on me. All bills and food paid for but new clothes i am struggling for. Work and casual is past it's functioning uses

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Sorry_Information749@reddit

Is that per week?

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DigitalStefan@reddit

Just because your friend does have spare money each week doesn’t make his complaints invalid. He probably thinks about how hard he has to work to simply survive and not have enough money to spend on the luxuries he would like to have. It’s a completely fair perspective because we aren’t supposed to struggle to barely survive even on entry-level pay, but that is now the reality.

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ktitten@reddit

It's not amazing. It's not dreadful either. Depends what he wants to spend his money on. I am happy living a fairly frugal lifestyle but others won't be. He could probably afford one social outing a week, which is decent, but maybe not have money to save for bigger things (like house, car, holidays). That might be where the frustration comes in - it's enough to buy everyday little luxuries but not also make headway on saving for big purchases too.

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ReallyIntriguing@reddit

Everything mentioned in paragraph 2 is a bill, an expense.

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grievoustomcat6@reddit

I would not compare to how you made it work back in 1990s. I really struggled 10 years ago in London with commuting costs, office appropriate clothing and shoes. Perhaps if this person has a car that counts as bills and they do not live in a city then you could be right that it is plenty?

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ParkingTicketSupport@reddit (OP)

this person doesnt drive

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2c0@reddit

Money and seeing his kid are a bill / expense he can't cut. So he has no real money left which is OK but if he is complaining he needs to make cuts or make more money.

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jack_watson97@reddit

if that's £180 per week after bills, £70 for food a week then he has £440 a month for 'stuff'. But bearing in mind this will be all hobbies, saving for if the car breaks down, buying new shoes if his get holes in, not much chance of saving for any sort of small holiday. Maybe some would say those things are not necessary but to have a bearable life you do need some joy. Some people have less for sure and he can get by but the fact that this amount left over per month for your average person is seen as alright nowadays is not a good sign

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Ok_Aioli3897@reddit

So he doesn't have 180 after bills since food shopping I would class as a bill

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bossanovasupernova@reddit

It's an expense, not a bill

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ttocsy@reddit

I think '£180 to himself' implies it's what's leftover to save or spend on fun though. Food might not be a fixed bill as such, but I would factor it in with other necessities.

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New_Slice_1580@reddit

Is he paying into a pension? Mortgage or rent?

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samstyan99@reddit

£180 per week after rent and bills is about my situation too. On an average week, it's fine/not particularly stressful and I'd say enough to get by okay, as long as you cook your own food and eat out or order takeaway very very rarely. Some weeks it gets more difficult, but that's when I have extra costs - like booking train tickets, fixing my bike, etc. Costs like that can set me back and then I have to really budget for a week or two to get things back in line. The other difficulty is that I live in London, where it is very easy to spend money on social things - drinking with friends, going to an exhibition, going to the theatre, etc. Most of my friends have higher salaries than me, so often I don't want to be left out of social plans that are sometimes out of budget for me.

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ddmf@reddit

I have £600 per month left for food, fuel, and fun - around 139 quid per week.

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Pagan_MoonUK@reddit

What are thier outgoings, rent, mortgage, gas, electricity...,?

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octoberforeverr@reddit

Roughly 700 a month, that’s fairly decent although food is expensive these days. No idea what a single person spends but for my small family it’s over 100 a week. So it isn’t shitloads but it’s pretty comfortable, imo.

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nonoanddefinitelyno@reddit

It's enough to survive. Surviving isn't living.

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VolcanicBear@reddit

From what I gather that's not bad. Some people have more, some people have less. Comparison is the thief of joy. Almost 200 per week to spaff on whatever you want doesn't sound bad to me, but I'm quite out of touch.

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Delicious-Fee-6225@reddit

He has £25.00 a day give or take, that is more than enough, even when factoring in food. I had an elderly relative moaning about only having £40.00 a day to live on like… get fecked

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maersyl@reddit

£180? Lucky bastard. I'm budgeting on about half that.

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roddz@reddit

I'd kill for that level of disposable income

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