A comment on my last post implied that it was depressing to live on a £20 a week food budget and a £8 a week entertainment/fun budget. It made me giggle because I used to spend 3x that on food and 4x that on entertainment/fun and was certainly no happier, so please don’t worry about simple living being depressing!! I’ve asked my flatmate, now that she’s been on this system for 6 weeks and she said she couldn’t be happier – getting out of debt, saving and still having fun. So, in-case there were others who thought you couldn’t have a good active social life on a very limited budget I thought I’d share more info on just how I make £8 stretch. Please note that £8, or approx $14 US a week is not the right amount for everyone, I only share this to help encourage others who want to make cutbacks, not to dictate what you should do!
Every single Monday I put £8 into the entertainment jar. This happens even if I’m sick, even if I’m booked all week and won’t be socializing and even if I’m on holiday. This of course let’s it build up as there are inevitably weeks where you don’t spend anything on entertainment, this seems to average at about 4-6 weeks a year, meaning £32 – £48 extra floating around!
When I started downshifting I knew I had to find more frugal forms of entertainment and to be honest, these are just as enjoyable if not more so than more expensive forms of entertainment. I will now regularly meet up with friends for a walk in the countryside or by the seaside. Even if we can’t venture that far, even a 30 minute walk around the houses where I live is enjoyable with a friend, especially if we head back to either of ours for a glass of wine or cup of tea.
I began volunteering and joined groups. I volunteer two nights a week (soon I will do a post about why I think volunteering is so imporant!) plus am a member of two reading groups, a knitting club and a study group, this on average takes another evening a week. I plan time with friends to include both paid activities and unpaid activities. I have friends over for meals at least once a week (and have a hospitality jar for such occasions), I’m usually invited out for a meal at least once a week as well. If I want to see a film that is coming out, for example I know I want to see The Time Traveler’s wife which is out here August 14th, I will make sure the week before I have some money left over in my entertainment jar.
I take leftover money not needed in the following week and purchase movie vouchers, coffee shop vouchers and restaurant vouchers. I try to always have about £10-£15 in vouchers at any one time.
I stop the mindset that I deserve to spend money.
I stop the mindset that I deserve to have good nights out.
I stop the mindset that there is anything wrong with being home, relaxing, spending some time on my own. I actually think it is good for the soul to be more homebased!
So what does a typical week look like? I’ll give you an example of 2 weeks, to show you how they can change.
Week 1 – assuming nothing in entertainment jar (this rarely happens) but £8 “allowance”
- Monday – Night at home, walk with flatmate to the river (£0)
- Tuesday – Volunteering (£0)
- Wednesday – Night at home – making soup, catching up with friends over the telephone (£0)
- Thursday – Study Group (£0)
- Friday – Night out with friend – purchased a glass of wine (£3.50)
- Saturday – am – book group, rest of the day at home (£0)
- Sunday – am Church, pm dinner party at friends, pm volunteering (£0)
Total £4.50 left in entertainment jar
Week 2 – £8 weekly allowance plus £4.50 in entertainment jar = £12.50
- Monday – Night at home – making freezer meals, chatting to friends on the telephone (£0)
- Tuesday – Volunteering (£0)
- Wednesday – Volunteering (£0)
- Thursday – Night at home, invited friend over for hot chocolate and a walk (£0)
- Friday – 6 friends over for dinner (money from hospitality jar) (£0)
- Saturday – am meet friend for walk along the seaside, pm – dinner out with friends (£10 – meal plus glass of wine)
- Sunday – am Church, rest of day at home, pm Church (£0)
Total left £2.50 in entertainment jar
I think we also need to remember that living to such a tight budget might be right for a season: a season of debt, limited savings or financial goals. Only you know what the right budget is for yourself. I would suggest starting at £15 a week and then seeing if you can reduce it. £8 works for me after several months of tweaking and reducing my spending. Also, once I’ve built up £20 in my hospitality jar then I will often put additional money into my entertainment jar for larger purchases, like music concert tickets etc. Would £8 a week be enough for me to go to the pub 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 nights a week, absolutely not, but thankfully the choices I make instead – to volunteer, to spend time entertaining at my home, to go walking or swimming, to meet up with a friend for 1 glass of wine or a cup of tea are much better for my health anyways!
What you really need is will power, no sense of entitlement and determination to control your finances instead of letting them control you!
In the next post, exactly how I eat for £20 a week grocery money (with recipes) and yes I do shop local and support farmers!
I’ve read quite a bit about the necessity of removing feelings of entitlement from your life in order to stop overspending, and I think that’s where it starts to get away from me. How do you start feeling that you don’t deserve things that you have felt you do deserve for years? Why would I suddenly not deserve to have a few drinks or see a movie or something? I’m just not quite sure how that mentality changes.
Hope the next post answers your questions Grace!
Its nice to see someone living a great life on a budget. I think you realize that this is the amount I have and I need to make it work. That is the same with my family meeting their current goal. Although, we have the savings to cheat abit…we’re not. We have a set amount and say, ‘okay, this is what we have. let’s make it work’. And it does…happily.
Christine, the let’s make it work attitude is exactly it!
It’s great that you can live your life to the full without spending a fortune – well done! I think I can learn a lot from this post.
Mrs M
x
Glad you enjoyed Mrs M!
What types of things are you volunteering with? Church? or local things?
Can’t wait for the next post!
Jessica
I’ll do a post on this too Jessica!
Such an interesting post. It helps so much that you are so open and detailed with the info you share.
Grace’s question is a good one to grapple with. I think the answer is there, when that you say you are as happy/happier with your activitives now as you were previously when they cost more. I think the shift is in knowing that you still ‘deserve’ enjoyment and knowing that, to be curious about new and different ways to enjoying yourself but ones which as part of that curiosity cost less.
Having been experimenting with this myself one element of new enjoyment comes from the feeling of freedom you get from knowing that you can have a good time and it not cost money. This means that even if money is short – enjoyment won’t be !
Sally I try to be as open as I can because when I began reading blogs I had so many questions and always wanted people to share more!! Greedy aren’t I?
Absolutely spot on re the freedom!
this is fantastic, FT, thankyou so much for posting this – i am eagerly awaiting the food budgeting post too! i have been adamant i don’t need to subdivide my budget – i automate my big monthly outgoings (including a little bit of saving), divide the rest by the 5, and that’s my week’s spending money to do what i want with – if i spend it all on groceries one week then that’s fine…anyway long story short, i think i could do with some more structured budgeting. i am adopting a version of the jars you mentioned in your last post…i’m going to do some more thinking on it and once i’ve put it into action (next week, the week after, the week after that….) i will post to my blog about it. but the inspiration is fantastic. thankyou
xx
Glad you liked it Rachel!
What progress you have made FT since I first started reading your lovely blog.
The Time Trqvelers Wife – must read the book before seeing the film. Nearly got a copy in the US … wonder if I can get one from Green Metropolis?
Love the jar idea xx
Yes I’ve read the book and LOVED it!!
I have just started volunteering. at something I used to go to and pay. Now I help out and save myself the fee. Its just as fun and now its free. Actually its more fun, as I was going along to be social anyway, so now I get to be more involved and be more part of it, and also I am getting semi trained to help support women with breastfeeding their babies. I helped someone today.
Oh Mo that’s wonderful!
Thanks for this detailed post. I tend to stay at home a lot anyway, so this isn’t that big of a problem for me.
I suppose you include other things like music & the occasional book (or do you rely on your library for every single book you read?), etc. under this category too. Do you ever purchase things like that or have you simply stopped buying?
BTW, thanks for advising us to start at a certain amount & then tweak things – it’s much easier to cut back slowly than all at once.
Can’t wait for your volunteering & food posts!
Lora, those are in other categories, I’ll have to blog about it!
Because i have been following your blog for about 8 months, I know that what you write in this post is valid. I have seen the photos of your meals and read your blog daily, so I know that you are well nourished in body and spirit. I think that attitude is everything!
Thanks CarolyN!
Thanks FT for sharing this information. You certainly seem to have an enjoyable and varied life on your budgetted amount of money, so it really just goes to show that you can still enjoy your life without spending heaps of money! With one particular girlfriend we enjoy having a coffee and cheesecake at home although sometimes we splurge and go out for a movie and coffee/lunch. We certainly don’t have a better time when we spend more money, to me it’s more about what I do and who I do it with, and if I can keep to my budget all the better for me!
For me enjoying life is more about the small moments of pleasure, whether that be sitting outside reading on a sunny day, or watching a favourite comedy on TV, or dinner with friends. Doesn’t have to be expensive at all!
thanks again for sharing with us, and looking forward to the food post!
Cheers
Judy in Adelaide
Judy that life you describe sounds wonderful!
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I think what is so telling is that you are spending your entertainment money on *experiences.* Rather than go shopping for fun, you are “buying” time with a friend over a glass of wine, something that is obviously a lot ore meaningful than another pair of sunglasses.
I also like to stay at home and do inexpensive things, but it has been a lot harder to find others who feel the same than I thought it would be. But the economy has forced a lot of people I know to cut back and reconsider their entertainment choices. Hopefully lifestyles will only change for the better!
YEs frugal chick, it is hard to find others, which I think is why we tend to begin to rely more on self!
I liked this post. Are you talking about a physical jar that you keep at home with money in it? That would be helpful to visually see what you have left. I am doing that with my spending money now (though not as organized and probably not as effective as your method!) by taking out cash for the week and avoiding swiping cards. Also, I’m leaving my credit card at home now to prevent temptation!
I also agree that there are lots of things to do that don’t cost anything!
Am also looking forward to Time Traveler’s Wife! Did you read the book? I love Rachael McAdams and think she’s a great choice in the role! Usually I don’t like adaptations, but I have high hopes for this one!