How to live off $150 a week?

[emma245]

Im reworking my budget and it looks like cutting back everything I will have roughly $150 a week discretionary. This needs to include groceries, eating out, etc. Do you think its possible?

Im trying to pack my lunch for work and spend about $80 a week in groceries leaving $70 for other.

[madringal]

Is that just for you? A family?

[Deleted]

We are a family of 3 and we budget $50 a week for blow money and $100 a week for groceries. I have been averaging $70-$80 per week in groceries the past few weeks since I started meal planning. So yes doable!

ETA: I spend every penny of my blow money though. That part is tight!

[Deleted]

How many people are you talking about? For DH and I, we could probably do that easily, except for gas when he works out in the sticks. (waiting for reimbursements sucks. )

[evans]

Will you have that much left over or will the household have that much left over?

Either way, it will work as long as you're not going out for $100 dinners every week.

[chessie]

Does this include gas? If not, then yes. If yes, definitely no, I spent 150 min on gas a week.

[heygrey]

absolutely. we live off $500/month in discretionary - groceries, eating out, haircuts, clothes, fun money.

it's tight, but totally doable. i find once you get in the swing of it you kind of forget about spending gobs of money.

eta: this doesn't include gas. we have another $150/month for that. also, we are in a HCOL.

[CloudBee]

Do you need to eat out?

[emma245]

The additional information is just me, does not include gas (budget $50 a week for that already), VHCOL area (LA). I dont really eat out but Ive been trying this budget and I am having a lot of difficulty. I think I just need to be better about packing my lunches from meal leftovers.

[futurepivko]

It's doable, but can you earn coupons for eating out through Swagbucks or Viggle to make it easier? How many times do you plan on going out a week?

[evans]

May 17, 2012 13:10:52 GMT -5 emma245 said:

The additional information is just me, does not include gas (budget $50 a week for that already), VHCOL area (LA). I dont really eat out but Ive been trying this budget and I am having a lot of difficulty. I think I just need to be better about packing my lunches from meal leftovers.

I would start saving your receipts or otherwise track what you are spending the money on if you're having a hard time staying within the budget.

[ladybrettashley]

It's very doable. We're a family of 3 and we spend less than $100 a week on food. We meal plan, shop at Aldi, and rarely go out to eat.

[MadamePresident]

Coupons can help with grocery shopping and looking for deals. There are tons of blogs dedicated to that.
I keep snacks and easy meals in my desk at work, so I'm less tempted to go out. Currently I have a can of soup, a can of chili, poptarts, cereal, granola bars, fruit, rice cakes, oatmeal, and hot chocolate. I'll try to bring in a bunch of stuff at a time, that way I don't have to eat out if I'm running late in the morning and don't have time to pack a lunch.