The Lemon Fool

Hi Guys,
I've got some debt which I owe and the company has sent me a monthly expenditure form to fill out to see what my monthly disposable income is. I can fill out most of the categories, like rent utilities etc, but I'm struggling to come up with numbers for 3 categories: Holidays, Clothing and Food. Anybody know what would be considered reasonable budget amounts to put down for a 2 person household for those categories?
TIA
Maylix

This will give you some figures to work from, though obviously what's reasonable will depend very largely on your income and housing costs, as these will to a large extent determine your disposable income:

https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk ... udget#nogo

You could take the Joseph Rowntree figures as a starting point

https://www.minimumincome.org.uk/step1/

They suggest £82 a week for food and £17 for clothes, if you work through that. It gives them at the end. For the holiday, their report suggests a week self-catering in a UK holiday cottage outside school holiday times is what would be reasonable for a childless couple. But look at your own figures and come up with ones that you actually believe in and can commit to . You need to come up with something realistic for the time you will be on this budget, and make sure you have included somewhere all the things that crop up over a year. You don’t want take the mickey with your budget, obviously , but on the other hand a lot of people tend to be over-optimistic. You are thinking your creditors will take a dim view of you treating yourself to exotic trips on their money, which is true. But you will probably need a break if this budget is for more than a year. Think about what you could actually do for a budget holiday next summer, and put that in. If your creditors don’t like it, then revise the budget and add something to all your other figures.

T

Thanks CK and Tortoise, that's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I should be able to come up with the numbers I need from those two sources.
Thanks again.
Maylix

are you still in debt?

Food £108 pcm per person, Shoes £100 per year, Clothes £100 per year. Holidays £nil.

Those are numbers I have been known to inflict on myself in tight-belt times that have persisted for years, so I know it can be done. I admit it is not much fun.

Best wishes,
dspp

jonny12 wrote:are you still in debt?

Assuming the above was meant for me, no. I agreed a repayment plan with them and paid the amount off over 19 months.
Maylix