If you need debt advice we can help

[Pearson37]

I am starting a debt management plan with pay plan and my mortgage provider (i am paying the unsecured part through pay plan) has said that my food expenditure is far to high . I have put £700 per month for 4 adults and 2 dogs which is 43.75 per week per adult not including the dogs. Is this to high? There are four adults as my two sons who are 20 and 23 are still living at home although they do pay a contribution.

[Melissa S]

Hi there Pearson37 and welcome to the forum

As far as living expenses in a DMP, it is in everones benefit to record the actual costs per month or in the long run your DMP will fail as you cannot afford the monthly payments. Your creditors may not agree and continue to charge interest but you can still continue to pay what you can afford.

having said this if you have children that are adults living at home they should be contributing and this should be taken into consideration in your budget as you need to be seen to be paying as much as possible to your creditors for them to stop interest.
I have attached a link to the Beat my debt living expenses guide which is very useful.

https://www.beatmydebt.com/debt-managem ... nses-guide

If you give a little more detail about your situation we will may be able to suggest further help.

Please keep us informed.

[Geraldine]

Hi there Pearson37

The figure of £700 a month that you have quoted does seem high. Normally the budget would be around £500-£550 for 4 people. Do have a look at the living expenses guide that Melissa highlighted. You will note that the housekeep budget is calculated on a sliding scale so you cannot simply take the single person's allowance and multiply by 4..... You can add extra on for pets but the amount is fairly slim (c£30/mth per)

As long as your two sons are paying a reasonable contribution to the household compared to what they are earning then including a budget for their housekeeping in this way should be fine.

Melissa has made a good point that at the end of the day you need to be happy with your living expenses. However if you go far over the budget allowances then it is likely that the creditors will reject your payment proposal and continue to add interest to your accounts.