Can we build a great family life for £2,500 a month?
May spending: £3,125
£625 over our £2,500 target
Another month, another experiment in trying to build a great family life without spending a fortune.
May wasn’t quite the month we’d hoped for. We spent £3,125, putting us £625 above our £2,500 challenge target.
But that’s exactly why we’re doing this.
The aim isn’t to pretend that every month can be squeezed into a perfect £2,500 budget. It’s to see what our life actually costs, understand where the money goes, and work out which spending genuinely makes our life better.
And this month, there were some pretty clear reasons why we ended up over target.
May at a glance
| May 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Our target | £2,500 |
| Actual spending | £3,125 |
| Over/under target | +£625 |
Where did it go?
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Housing | £498 |
| Food | £926 |
| Transport | £391 |
| Fun & everything else | £1,310 |
| Total | £3,125 |
At first glance, the big number is obvious: £1,310 on fun and everything else.
But there’s a bit more to the story than that headline figure. We went away, ate out, went camping, bought some clothes and paid for a few other things that aren’t part of our normal monthly spending.
So let’s dig into it.
Housing – £498
Housing was a pretty normal month for us, with the usual household bills making up most of the total.
We also had our annual boiler service, which added £70 to the month’s spending.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gas & Electric | £121 |
| Water | £70 |
| Council Tax | £207 |
| Internet | £30 |
| Boiler Service | £70 |
| Total | £498 |
There’s not much here that we can realistically change month to month. The interesting thing for us is how predictable this category has become.
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Food – £926
Food was one of the month’s less impressive numbers.
We spent £926 on supermarket shopping in May, which is higher than we’d like.
There’s no particularly exciting story behind this one. We simply spent more than we should have.
And that’s useful to know.
We’re trying to work out what a realistic £2,500 month looks like for our actual family life – not an imaginary version where we never have busy weeks, expensive shops or the occasional lack of planning.
Still, £926 is an area where we think there’s room to improve.
So food is firmly on our list to watch next month.
Transport – £391
Transport came in at £391, with one particularly obvious culprit: the car needed four new tyres.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fuel | £140 |
| Bus | £12 |
| Train | £68 |
| Tyres | £171 |
| Total | £391 |
Without the £171 tyre bill, transport would have been much closer to what we’d expect from a normal month.
This is a good example of why we’re tracking the numbers rather than simply setting an arbitrary budget.
Some months will contain unavoidable expenses. The important thing is understanding whether they’re genuinely exceptional – or whether they’re becoming a regular feature of our spending.
Fun & everything else – £1,310
This is where May really got away from us.
A significant chunk of the spending came from going away, which meant more eating out and paying for activities. We also went camping, bought some new clothes and shoes, and had a few other expenses during the month.
Here’s the full breakdown:
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £16 |
| Eating Out | £517 |
| Presents | £107 |
| Activities | £218 |
| Clothes & Shoes | £234 |
| Dental | £46 |
| Camping | £140 |
| Hair Cuts | £32 |
| Total | £1,310 |
The standout number is obviously £517 on eating out.
That’s a lot.
But it’s also worth putting that number into context. We were away, and eating out was part of that experience. This wasn’t simply £517 disappearing on random takeaway coffees and lunches.
That’s an important part of this challenge for us.
We’re not trying to spend as little as humanly possible. We’re trying to spend less while still having a life we enjoy.
If spending £2,500 means never going away, never eating out and saying no to everything we enjoy, then we’d probably decide that £2,500 isn’t the right number.
The challenge is finding the balance.
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So… how did we do?
£3,125 isn’t a £2,500 month.
There’s no point pretending otherwise.
We’re £625 over target, with food and our spending while away being the biggest areas that pushed us over.
But there are also some useful lessons here.
The good
- Housing stayed comfortably below £500.
- Transport was fairly normal apart from the tyre bill.
- A lot of the additional spending was connected to experiences and time away.
- We’re getting a clearer picture of what our normal family life actually costs.
The not-so-good
- £926 on food is higher than we’d like.
- £517 on eating out is a big chunk of the month’s spending.
- Clothes and shoes added another £234.
- At £3,125, we’re a long way from proving that £2,500 is achievable every month.
The £2,500 Challenge
The question we’re really trying to answer isn’t:
“Can we have a £2,500 month?”
It’s:
“Can we build a great family life for £2,500 a month?”
That’s a slightly different challenge.
Some months will inevitably be more expensive than others. There will be car repairs, holidays, birthdays and unexpected bills.
What we’re interested in is the long-term pattern.
Can we gradually bring our spending down? Can we identify the things that genuinely add value to our lives and cut back on the things that don’t? And can we do all of that without feeling like we’re putting our lives on hold?
May wasn’t a success against the £2,500 number.
But it was useful.
What we’ll be watching next month
For June, the obvious place to start is food.
£926 is simply too high for us if we’re going to get anywhere near the £2,500 target consistently.
We’ll also be keeping an eye on the less predictable spending. The challenge isn’t about eliminating occasional big expenses, but we need to make sure that exceptional spending doesn’t quietly become normal spending.
Target for next month: get closer to £2,500 without making family life miserable.
Let’s see how we do.