How much do you set aside for 'living expenses'?

[Amity]

Honestly? I don't budget. But I'm fortunate enough that I don't need to bother to budget.

I have a credit card with a set limit. Each month, EVERYTHING goes on the credit card (including bills - rates, gas, water, electricity), and I pay it off in full at the end of the month. That is, everything EXCEPT the car loan and the mortgage.

And when I say everything, I do mean everything. I rarely, if ever use cash. And I often pay for other people's food and drinks without blinking. I'd eat out for lunch at least three times a week. I'd eat out for dinner twice a week (once with kids, once without). And my DS1 is gluten free, so all our food is gluten free.

It comes down to the following, IMHO:
- Meal plan EVERYTHING. Buy only what you NEED.
- Baking home made lunch box snacks is VITAL.
- Fruit, fruit, fruit. More fruit.
- Dinner is generally chicken thighs, sausages, (gluten free) spaghetti, roast chicken marylands, basa fillets (fish) - for the kids. I get salmon and steak

It's actually relatively cheap to eat healthily. It's more expensive to buy junk food. I rarely buy takeaways, generally because it's more difficult to get gluten free stuff. It's cheaper to make home made fish and chips ($7.99/kilo for basa fillets, so $3 for fish, and $1 for potatoes) than to buy them at the takeaway shop ($6 each for flake and minimum $3 chips) It's cheaper to make home made gluten free pizza (about $5) than to buy take away (gluten free is always gourmet) pizza ($18).

And I always turn off things at the wall - TVs are rarely on, for example. However I ALWAYS use the dryer and the dishwasher every day. Bills are generally : electricity $300/qtr, water $200/qtr, gas $60/qtr, rates $1000/year. Phone is business related so I pay that through the business, as is internet.

My credit card bill is usually between $2,500 and $3,500 per month, depending on how many pairs of shoes I've bought. It does include childcare (but only before and after school care, which I usually use about once a fortnight for two kids, so not that much). That's for one adult and two kids. One month when the kids were away at their Dads for 2 weeks, it was only $1,200... but the month when the kids were with me the entire time, it was $4,000. So my kids are by far my biggest expense

Mind you, this doesn't include holidays. Gifts, including birthday, Christmas, Easter, and for family gifts, yes, but not holidays.

Oh and I don't have a shoe problem. I only have a problem when I can't get shoes.