How much per month do you need to live?



I reckon £1,400 a month.
That would be everything in moderation consisting of normal house rent and council tax, water, gas/eleccy and food plus car insurance and petrol, tax and upkeep. As well as internet and phone and all the other tid bits.

That would be basic living without anything left over for what would be deemed as a luxury.

In my head I'll work it out which may not be accurate.

Car cost to run each week would be thus and what I class as basics and essentials....ish..
£20 petrol. £80
£8 car insurance. £32
£6 Car tax £24
£10 upkeep. £40
£110 House rent and council tax. £440
£20 Gas £80
£30 Eleccy £120
£10 Water £40
£100 food/cleaning/toiletries...etc. £400
£10 phone (wife) ....£40
£5 stray cats.....£20
£5 bird food.....£20


Just to live basically this would amount to £334 a week or £1332 a month (not calendar)

Anything I've missed out could be classed as a sort of luxury including football matches/takeaways/ holiday...etc.

Hoying £40 a month away for wild animals is a basic necessity?
 
Hoying £40 a month away for wild animals is a basic necessity?
My missus does this. All the stray cats at her work place get a couple of tins of food a day. That’s 40 tins a month, on stray cats. I think the cat at home only gets half a tin a day
 
A relatively normal life?

Place to stay -
Electric -
Gas -
Water -
Internet -
Food -
Travel (car/bus fare) -

Is there anything I have missed?
I don't just mean to survive, I mean to live a basic but normal life

I’d say I live a relatively normal life.

All in for the above for two of us is at present about £900ish. Reason I say ish is the last one. She has a car that she pays for and I get a bus. No idea what that costs her.
 
At a guess I reckon you could exist on £1k a month but who wants to just exist.
That's why it's a bit of a daft question. I have some relatives who basically gave up everything and moved out to a small place in the countryside. When I last spoke to him he reckoned they got by on less than £1k a month but they seem as happy as I've ever seen anyone. I don't think I could do that and we probably 'need' at least £2K
 
House - £2,250
Gas, Electric, Water, Internet etc - £180 (Due to increase)
Food - Probably £600
Travel - £200ish

Fairly minimalist after my bills, investments and what not come out for the month tbh.
 
That's why it's a bit of a daft question. I have some relatives who basically gave up everything and moved out to a small place in the countryside. When I last spoke to him he reckoned they got by on less than £1k a month but they seem as happy as I've ever seen anyone. I don't think I could do that and we probably 'need' at least £2K
It's subjective and can vary greatly depending on your location and the lifestyle you're accustomed to tbf.

I'd love to have 10k a month to play with, 1k would be a huge struggle for my family.
 
Exactly mate. I think to a point where the bills are paid and you have a couple of quid in your pocket is about as happy as it can make you. The rest is about how everyone else looks at your wealth and how that makes you feel.
I know what you're saying and having a bit extra after all the bills are paid is a probably a reasonable baseline for being able to live a happy life. However, it's hard to get away from the fact that, to some degree, money can buy you happiness. I think for most of us it's finding that balance between the pursuit of wealth to be able to afford holidays, hobbies, etc. that add to our happiness and not making ourselves unhappy in the process of doing that.
 

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