people struggling to get by

[jamie128]

Hey people,

Ive just been watching a program on poverty and im a little confused. There was a couple who said they earned 1400 a month between them but were only left with 66 a month after all bills and food. They had a very small child but i still dont see how they cant stretch that very far??

Is the price of properties (excluding london) in terms of rent/mortgage that much extra between certain areas that one person can get by easy and another really struggles? I ask because i manage on that alone, and im left with about 500 quid a month for socialising etc. I really feel for these people if its true.

[Countdown]

jamie128 said:

Hey people,

Ive just been watching a program on poverty and im a little confused. There was a couple who said they earned 1400 a month between them but were only left with 66 a month after all bills and food. They had a very small child but i still dont see how they cant stretch that very far??

Is the price of properties (excluding london) in terms of rent/mortgage that much extra between certain areas that one person can get by easy and another really struggles? I ask because i manage on that alone, and im left with about 500 quid a month for socialising etc. I really feel for these people if its true.

400 mortgage or rent
100 gas/elec
400 food
100 car exps
100 clothing
100 ctax
25 water rates

And that (IMO) is the bare minimum.

[jamie128]

Countdown said:

400 mortgage or rent
100 gas/elec
400 food
100 car exps
100 clothing
100 ctax
25 water rates

And that (IMO) is the bare minimum.

400 food? Jesus thats far too much lol

[rossub]

£1400 a month for two adults and a child makes for a fairly miserable existence. That's less than the average wage for one person, never mind 2+1.

[e8_pack]

Are they both working? If so then child care would be included I'd have thought.

Where were they living in the program? I got offered to apply for a job in London but I'd not want to suffer the cost of living down there.

[Countdown]

jamie128 said:

400 food? Jesus thats far too much lol

Less than £5 each per day?.

Ok................

[e8_pack]

Countdown said:

Less than £5 each per day?.

Ok................

Nah, the baby can get by on scraps.

[jamie128]

e8_pack said:

Are they both working? If so then child care would be included I'd have thought.

Where were they living in the program? I got offered to apply for a job in London but I'd not want to suffer the cost of living down there.

It didnt say which didnt help lol. They were both working that was thier joint income.

[pad58]

£100.00 0n clothing?? I don't spend that much per year.
But a baby goes through a lot of nappies I surppose.

[0000]

Countdown said:

jamie128 said:

400 food? Jesus thats far too much lol

Less than £5 each per day?.

Ok................

We budget £40 a week on the supermarket shop. 2 adults, one baby, nowhere near the poverty line. £400 a month does seem like a lot to call a bare minimum.

[Countdown]

0000 said:

We budget £40 a week on the supermarket shop. 2 adults, one baby, nowhere near the poverty line. £400 a month does seem like a lot to call a bare minimum.

Fair nough. Bear in mind when I say £100pw I'm including ALL shopping apart from clothes. So that includes cleaning materials, toilet rolls, toiletries, baby food, nappies, eating out....)I would have spent £40pw when I was single, let alone married

[Countdown]

TN

The £100pw was meant for ALL grocery bills, not just food (my mistake)

That's £30ea. per week, so less than a fiver a day. I'm sure it can be managed, but it would be a struggle.

Which is what the couple in the OP are saying.

[Crafty_]

I'd say take a bit off the food and add it to the car expenses - £100 would equate to a tank of fuel per month + a bit saved to cover tax isc.
More like to use more fuel and then add on repairs/MOT/servicing etc.

[Lawrence5]

If you sleep in a bed, with a roof over your head and are not hungry - you are in the top 10% on this planet...

We spend over £400 a month for two but that's waitrose... Can save a lot by shopping around if you have the time. Groceries is not just food, cleaning products personal care etc

I can't imagine living on £1400 a month now - when I did I had a £300 odd a month mortgage on a £38k house and would have struggled to spend £20 a week on food. But that was 2000 and price rises have been scary....

Only going to get worse as the planets population grows....

[0000]

Countdown said:

0000 said:

We budget £40 a week on the supermarket shop. 2 adults, one baby, nowhere near the poverty line. £400 a month does seem like a lot to call a bare minimum.

Fair nough. Bear in mind when I say £100pw I'm including ALL shopping apart from clothes. So that includes cleaning materials, toilet rolls, toiletries, baby food, nappies, eating out....)I would have spent £40pw when I was single, let alone married

So was I, almost, nappies we buy separately and anything like TVs, computer bits and pieces, etc. Although you could virtually include my clothes in it! The only thing I wouldn't include is eating out or anything entertainment related, but these aren't essentials in my view. That we might spend hundreds on a meal twice a year doesn't seem relevant, we certainly didn't do it when we didn't have the money.

Edited by 0000 on Friday 29th March 09:36

[GrumpyTwig]

jamie128 said:

Hey people,

Ive just been watching a program on poverty and im a little confused. There was a couple who said they earned 1400 a month between them but were only left with 66 a month after all bills and food. They had a very small child but i still dont see how they cant stretch that very far??

I don't see the issue if they're left with £66 a month, so they're not going to be going on any skiing trips to the alps but I presume they aren't starving. If they're able to support the child well enough they're doing better than some.

[saleen836]

I caught some of it with the couple only having £66 left each month, did i hear it right with the guy saying if they split up/lived apart they would be around £600-700 a month better off?

[hornet]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I can see how the above could add up if you only ever purchased the brand names, once you step outside the alpine fresh marketing covered in puppies and koalas, a bit of shopping around can reduce the cost massively. Some may mock, but I switched the bulk of my cleaning and toiletries buying to Wilkinsons and Aldi/Lidl, even Poundland on occasion, and it saves an absolute fortune whilst still doing an acceptable job. Another illuminating thing to do is pay attention to the £/KG price rather than the headline price, which I'd wager not a great many people do. Would be interesting to look in the cupboards of some of the people moaning about costs to see how much of their groceries are label versus own brand.

Regarding the couple in the original piece, without sounding harsh, were they struggling to make ends meet on £1400/m before the child arrived, or did circumstances change?

[jamie128]

saleen836 said:

I caught some of it with the couple only having £66 left each month, did i hear it right with the guy saying if they split up/lived apart they would be around £600-700 a month better off?

Yep lol silly isent it

[CRB14]

This is probably very easy for me to say being young free and single but I find it difficult to get my head around some couples that are living on the so called breadline then deciding to have a baby.

If I was in that position barely being able to feed myself there is no way I'd want to subject a child to that.