Monthly income

Nothing wrong in living in a council house or housing association house. In fact many of them are built better than the new ones. Also you can get help with your rent if your income is low enough.

Can I suggest that you look at Christmas and birthdays now. Do you really need to buy gifts for all the people on your list. I saw Martin Lewis talking about cutting your Christmas expenditure but it was too late for me last year. As soon as New Year was over I made a determined effort to tell certain people that I really can't afford it and, would it be ok for us just to send a lovely card. I must say they have all looked quite relieved. (Love Martin Lewis)

I think a thousand a month is a fortune. Also to someone who made a scathing remark about council houses please think twice . I bought mine also i know a solicitor who lives in an ex council house several teachers. In the north east many of us live on benefits. I work and have tax credits. You must scrimp. Go to shops when they reduce foods. Clothes from charity shops. Learn to sew and alter clothes to fit. Learn to scrounge by that i mean asking friends and family who are getting new stuff if you can have their old stuff. They can only say no. Trade favours example offer to babysit for a lift to the shops or swap things. We can all do it

The answer is as long as a piece of string.
Get up an Excel spread sheet put in two columns, one saying income the other expenditure and list all your basic expenditure.if income exceeds expenditure, no problem.

If expenditure exceeds income, first do a benefit check. Is your income low enough for you to get Pension Credit, Housing Credit (if you rent) Council tax benefit, do you have any disability that means you might get Attendance Allowance.

Then go through your expenditure item by item and consider what economies can be made, downsizing? equity release? shopping more economically eating more economically?

We all have different lifestyles and different incomes and two peoplewith the same income, one will be struggling and the other in clover.

You cannot change water supplier; you get the supplier for your area. What the man probably meant was he changed to a meter.

I managed on £73 a week bereavement allowance then the same amount on Job seekers.

Had to pay everything out of that (even around £6.00 a week Council tax.

Don't have a mortgage. no treats but it can be done.
Depends how you budget.

I live on what I have got, below the lowest tax threshold. If I don’t have the money, I don’t do it or have it as a lifestyle. I also paid off all credit cards 15 years ago.
Holidays I plan carefully and pay a bit off until paid.
I got rid of smart phone mobile package which can eat a chunk out of a low income.
Luckily, I don’t drive, can sew and do, plus rely on Freeview and Netflix rather than expensive satellite packages.

Have a few hobbies that don’t cost money, start them before retirement.

Good luck!

I have a small pension from my late husband, an NHS pension and Carers Allowance looking after Mum. Not old enough for State Pension for another 3 years and 8 months. I live with Mum and Dad so my costs are minimal. I do pay for my car and storage fees of £429 every 4 weeks for my furniture when I get a house of my own. This is wasted money as I have money for a house of my own, would need to get rid of stored furniture as it will not fit into smaller house. Shall be going down to see what I can sell and maybe the rest into Dad's garage x

Thank you so much for all your helpful tips. I think you are right TiggyW this needs to be taken as a challenge, my mind is whizzing with saving ideas now. First challenge....All the direct debits need investigating for cheaper deals and then go to cheaper shops for my batch cooking! Thank you all again.

I agree with previous posts regarding MoneySavingExpert - I think Martin Lewis should be the next Chancellor of the Exchequer! He has certainly saved me some cash. My motto is never pay full price unless you have to. Look out for Cashback/sales/charity shops/Aldi and Lidl/discounts on food which can be frozen/eBay - buy and sell/competitions. Regard it as a challenge.

Have a look at the Moneysaving Expert page on line

Look at your phone contract. Do you really need all that data and phone calls? Can you find another sufficient for your needs, cheaper.
Don't buy ready meals. You can cook something better for a fraction of the price. Though I do appreciate that if you are out at work, you don't always feel like cooking when you come home.
Buy supermarket own brands. If there is something you really don't like, but the next cheapest.
Generic medicines e.g. paracetamol, are much cheaper if you buy the supermarket own brands, rather than branded ones.
Every time you reach for your purse or credit card, ask yourself if you really need that item. This is where you have to recognise the difference between need and want. After you have done it for a while it becomes second nature.
Have one day a week where you don't spend anything at all, apart from essential travel costs.
Don't look on it as a depressing time, think if it as a challenge.
I really do know what it is to be hard up. My first husband left me with no income, practically no furniture, and masses of debt he had racked up. I survived!

I would certainly look at Compare websites for reducing energy costs and especially water charges,onour local radio this week a man had a huge reduction in his monthly payments by switching water suppliers,make sure you claim all you are entitled to regarding heating allowances.
Buy your vegetables loose and what you need rather than prepacked that way you have no waste and need to throw away or use left overs for a warming soup.
Cut your TV and broadband packages to the cheapest you can find and when ordering them ask again if that is the best price they can offer,never be affraid to ask for a further discount on anything.We are very lucky to have a good income but I am always on the look out at ways to increase my savings.Charity shops are my best friends and I have had some wonderful bargains on items I could never normally been able to afford,this past month I have bought 2 x Per Una bags still with new labels priced at £39.95 both bought for £1.99 each at local cancer care shop so bargains are out there if you look and search.

As well as this forum, head over to Money Saving Expert. There are forums over there on lots of specialist subjects, and my favourite 'Old Style' full of hints and tips.

At my lowest, after my divorce, I left with just the clothes on my back and had to start life from scratch, I lived on £700 per month, that was paying £300pm mortgage, £100 council tax leaving £300 for everything else, running a car, bills, food etc. To cut costs I went on FreeSat TV no monthly TV bill. I only bought reduced food eg once I got a bag of spuds and bag of veg sausage rolls for 50p, and that is what I ate all week. If I made a purchase always used reward cards like nectar, tesco points, and online shop via quidco, and my cashback added up, also got cashback from credit card so double whammy on rewards. I sold almost everything I owned on ebay when times were mega tough and I got ill and housebound. Hermes courier would even come and collect parcel as I could not leave house, and had a milkman deliver milk and bread. I grew my own salad in window boxes so fresh salad pick my own in summer. It was very hard and very scary being on my own and then being ill unable to work. I survived just had to watch every penny. good luck!

If we had no debt or mortgage I am pretty confident that DH and I could live perfectly well and happily on £1200 per month (or even a bit less). That would pay our CT and other bills and leave enough for food etc. We have never been in the position to travel much anyway and what you have never had, you wouldn't miss. I think it would be much harder for someone who has been used to a good income to suddenly have this cut drastically.

The basic state pension is £168.60 a week usually paid four weekly into your bank account so it’s £674 a month with a thirteenth payment one a year, making a rough total of £8,767 p/a.

If this is your only income you would be entitled to help with your rent. If you live alone you get a discount off your council tax. If you own a house and have a big expenditure like a new boiler and no money you might have to release some of the equity to pay for it.

Other than that you have to cut your cloth according to your income - some people manage to run a car. I would suggest making sure you have some good quality clothes that will always be in fashion, then make a habit of checking out charity shops - if you live in a poor area try going to a more upmarket one occasionally.

The irony is that the single persons tax allowance is £12,000 p/a to some of us that would be a fortune! I wish the government would consider using the tax credit system for pensioners - lumping the fuel benefit (£200 paid in Nov/Dec) in with the pension income and topping it up to say £10,000 for a pensioner living alone. Of course two people each with a pension living together can live comfortably, but a single person might have to watch the pennies otherwise any savings will melt away at an alarming rate.

Look at Martinsmoneywebsite for cheaper living tips. Good luck. ??

I've always been careful with money. When my husband was made redundant and on Income Support. I had to feed both of us, and two ever growing teenagers over 6ft to feed. Fortunately I did Domestic Science at school, so I have always cooked from fresh. It's a joke in our family that if they get anything different to eat, it must have had a Yellow Label on it (i.e. marked down)! I always buy fresh meat and veg., whatever is in season.
I'm better off now, can afford holidays and clothes I like whenever I need them, but our diet hasn't changed much.
!0 years ago I had a knee replacement, and couldn't get out to shop. With a son who does a very physical job, well over 6ft tall, 52" chest, I did all my shopping with Tesco Online.
We ate really well, including roast beef and all the trimmings on Sunday, for under £100 a week. Last night we had some left over Bolognese. I added a tin of red kidney beans with chilli sauce, cooked some rice to go with it, and had a really filling meal for next to nothing.

I buy "bargains" a lot- mainly cleaning stuff, deodorants, washing tabs etc. There are times like now when I could restock a corner shop with cleaning material because some was selling at half price and unlike food, it keeps for many years.

I was in Sainbry'sd yesterday, saw an item of food greatly reduced but had to be eaten yesterday- nop problem that was supper sorted.

I live on my own and mainly cook from scratch so I would eat that food today, tomorrow and I usually have two portions left over so I freeze that and on the days when I cannot be bothered cooking all I have to do is gook pasta, rice or whatever. I rarely throw out food because I do not buy 3 for a tenner as I have insufficient freezer space.

I do online shopping and when I first order I order just what I fancy. A few days later I have another look and can usually shave off a tenner or whatever.

I live on my own so maybe I do have an extra stock of eg loo rolls in case I cannot shop online or go out but again it gets used.

I shop online for my cat's prescription food because the vet charges around £8 more for a bag of her food.

I live on state pension plus pension credit and lower rate Attendance Allowance. The latter helps to pay my daily help.
I never eat in cafes or restaurants.Take my own sandwich and drink when I go shopping once a week to Lidl. Do all cooking from scratch and do bulk cooking to freeze.
Rarely buy new clothes. I used to buy good quality clothes so they have lasted.
I have always been careful with money. My late husband said I was economical to the point of meanness!
I am content.

You have to manage ! Sell an over-sized property if you live in one for starters as large homes equal large bills then take it from there.

I have just cut my car insurance by half by going on a compare site. I will be looking for tips on this thread as I hope to retire next Spring.

If you’re retired, I’m guessing you’ll have your state pension..and maybe a little more? I would list down what you can’t not spend eg housing and energy costs etc. What is left is what you do have to live on, like it or,not. As above, look at ways to economise-and there will be things that you really don’t want to cut corners on-and gradually you’ll have it all prioritised. I was ‘poor’ for a while at one point in my life. Don’t let the fear cripple you. It often works out ok...and a bit better than you think! Good luck!

Well suffice to say I manage on the amount the government allow before you need to pay tax! ......plus a little dipping into savings. Would be a lot easier if I wasn’t one of those deprived of my pension at 60! I was used to much more when married......you cut your cloth etc.....