monthly shopping bill

[anais743]

My current shopping bill (food,pet food,toileteries etc) comes to £350 a month. This is for myself my partner,5 yeard old daughter and 2 dogs and 2 cats!! We live in the north of england. Does this seem excessive or'average'.We buy no means live extravagently.

regards

[anais743]

I would be interested to know what other people spend on there monthly shop who are in an iva? am i spending too much?

[goulda]

Hi Anais743

My wife and I have a monthly allowance of food/toiletries - £260 and personal hygeine £50.

Due to my low salt diet ( I have to buy frsh meat,fish etc. nothing pre-packed or tinned our monthly shop is more than this.

To me, the above, makes a mockery of the CCCS guidelines.

Any of you got any comments on this.

[anais743]

that doesnt sound good. why is 'personal hygeine' not incuded in toileteries?

[Drowning Fast]

How do you manage on that? We live in Midlands and our bills are a lot higher (husband, daughter, 2 dogs, 3 cats). The animals are minimal as I feed the cats/dogs on Lidls food. Our problem is our fuel bill has just increased - double what we were paying monthly - and food/fuel has increased of course.

[MelanieGiles]

The CCCS allow a maximum of £360 for a couple with one child and an extra £20 per month for pets.

[pixie]

I have £130 for me and 2 cats! The cats cost 30 inc vets so I have 25 a week on a 4 week month! Being on a diet helps! I still live at home which also helps but as the only vegie in the house I buy my own food.
Prices have gone up a lot recently.

[Drowning Fast]

If we are only allowed that much I don't know how or even if it is worth living. My bills were £160 a week roughly and I have cut them down as much as I can but they are still over £100 and having to commit to this for 5 years. I am already having difficulty coping with my job because of the stress and I have only just started the process of DMP/IVA.

[MelanieGiles]

How many people are in your family?

[anais743]

i guess £350 is a bit high then melanie ( although the pet thing seems low as mine cost me about £45 month and they have economy food)

[MelanieGiles]

You can have higher allowances, so long as your IP properly explains why they are higher. I once had a client who had 15 dogs, and so her pet food bill was much higher than average - and was accepted by creditors!

[anais743]

ok,cheers melanie.

what about anyone else?

[rachellxx39]

My shopping bill per wek for 2 adults and 3 children aged 12,10,8 is about £110 .We also have 1 cat and 1 quinea pig.

[beresford]

My shopping bill is approx £120/£130 a month. This is just for myself and does not include any meat as I find it too expensive. For me, toilitries are the big killer in the shopping bill - skincare products and razor blades are just so expensive it sickens me having to buy these necessaties.

On the bright side this means that I have been careful about what I buy and consequently what I put in my mouth [:D]

[Skippy]

My shopping bill for 2 of us (including food, toiletries and cleaning stuff) is £350. It does seem very high, but I eat very little dairy and soya milk and 'Free From' food is much more expensive than cows milk and 'normal' food!

I had to buy washing powder this month and that was nearly £10 - I have sensitive skin and have to use Fairy. I'll be needing razor blades (for my legs, not my chin - they thought I was a bloke on another forum this week!) soon as well - they cost a fortune!

I expected to have to justify my shopping bill to the OR, but it wasn't even mentioned.