How would you cope on £30 a week?
A WOMAN who gave up spending for a whole year has described how frugal living made her happier and healthier. Finance writer Michelle McGagh from London cut out all spending aside from her mortgage and bills and £30 a week for essentials. We asked our Email Jury if they could survive on such a small amount.
It would be hard but we could do it. As a nation we are caught up in material things. We enjoy the trappings of modern life but it doesn’t need to be all or nothing. Steven Richardson, Highlands.
I could live on that if all I ate was vegetables. Joseph Clancy, Glasgow.
When I was very young in Govan in the early 50s, my mother would have to live on the equivalent, but little extra treats became the norm. So, with a little thought we could live on this amount. Hamilton Mclean, Harwood.
I could if I had to and I get similar satisfaction to this lady by using every bit of food in leftovers and every last drop of liquid toiletries by cutting into the containers. Judi Martin, Aberdeenshire.
We have far too many possessions. I could walk away from them all. There are not a lot things I would miss except photographs. Elizabeth O’Regan, Lincoln.
You could live cheaply on ready meals, a loaf of bread and spreads. It might not be nutritious but you wouldn’t starve. A week would be easy, a year wouldn’t be much fun!
Susan Ireland, Kendal.
I don’t think I’d cope at all well on £30 per week. Having said that, I am anything but spendthrift and tend to think carefully before buying anything non-essential. Liz Kelly,
Glasgow.
I think if I lived on my own I could quite comfortably live on £30 a week, provided this was just for groceries and every day expenses like a newspaper.
Margaret Gibb, Fife.
There are lots of people who live on less than £30 a week after paying their essential bills. This is becoming a very unfair and divided society, with an obscene divide between rich and poor. Stephen Calder, Peterhead.
I could but I don’t think it would make me happier. Alison
Redshaw, Staffordshire.