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AIBU?

How long could you live on 30% of your income?

160 replies

houselikeashed · 01/08/2020 15:00

Just that really. If your industry was shut down overnight with no warning. If your job was never going to end without a years notice period to save up in. How long would your immediate savings last you?
(You are not allowed to assume you would be eligible for any gov help schemes or UC.)

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Yetiyoga · 01/08/2020 15:05

30% of my income is roughly my rent. I have savings I could use but that is meant to be for a deposit as I'm hoping to buy next year. So if it came to it, I could probably last a year or so, maybe longer is I was really careful. But wouldn't be ideal.

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dun1urkin · 01/08/2020 15:05

Do you mean if annual income went down to 30% of current income, plus savings, or how long if zero income, but assume you have savings equivalent to 30% of income?

I think I’ve confused myself even more trying to ask that Grin

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slashlover · 01/08/2020 15:05

Which question is it?

Living on 30% of my income, my industry shut down , a years notice or immediate savings only? All very different answers and all "not long".

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user1493413286 · 01/08/2020 15:08

If I was still bringing in 30% then with my savings about 6 months. Just on my savings about 3 months. That’s thinking about if I just paid mortgage and bills and basic food.

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Mywifeandkids1 · 01/08/2020 15:08

A couple of weeks 🤣

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sonicbook · 01/08/2020 15:08

Zero months tbh

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Mustardbay · 01/08/2020 15:10

I could live of savings for about a year maybe, if my partner has the same income as always.

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SnuggyBuggy · 01/08/2020 15:11

I reckon 6 months but we'd probably look to downsize our house in the absence of a quick fix.

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BuffaloCauliflower · 01/08/2020 15:11

I’m not sure what you mean by ‘if your job was never going to end without a years notice to save up’?

But - 30% of my salary? Not even a month, wouldn’t cover even the rent. 30% of mine and DHs combined salary? Barely a month, could cover the rent and the council tax and some food. We have 1.5 months of combined salary in savings.

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Boomclaps · 01/08/2020 15:11

I’d be homeless by rent day.

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TheFlis12345 · 01/08/2020 15:14

Question is confusing but if you are asking how long I could live on 30% of current salary coming in plus the current savings in the bank, at least a couple of years but they wouldn’t be much fun. The bills only account for around a quarter of my salary excluding food so if I cut everything right back (cancelled Netflix etc) and massively reduced our food spend then with a small supplement from savings each month it would be doable for 2-3 years before the savings ran out.

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Smallsteps88 · 01/08/2020 15:20

It wouldn’t even cover my rent so we’d be homeless pretty quickly. I suppose the smart thing to do would be to use the money for food and electric for the couple of months it took my LL to evict me but I don’t think I’d be eligible for council housing as if failed to pay my rent and “made myself homeless”

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jimmyjammy001 · 01/08/2020 15:21

I would get by, wouldn't have any luxurys, mortgage, bills and food just the basics would be covered, I've never been one to over leverage though, live within means and have emergency savings.

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wagtailred · 01/08/2020 15:24

So if we had 30% of our total annual household income and no savings we would be able to survive if the mortgage company let us switch to interest only whilst we sold the house and moved to a very cramped flat. The process would have to be quick or we'd default in utilities, council tax very quickly.
If we had 30% of our household income and our current savings we could limp through a year - giving us time to find any job at all and still potentially sell up and move to something smaller with smaller bills in a more controlled manner.

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HerRoyalNotness · 01/08/2020 15:27

Our mortgage, property tax and house insurance is 25% of income. So 30% wouldn’t get us far at all.

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Waxonwaxoff0 · 01/08/2020 15:29

Assuming it was based on my entire income including my tax credits and child maintenance - I would be able to pay my mortgage and bills if I cancelled my Sky subscription. I'd have no money left for food though.

If it was just my wages then no, I'd be homeless.

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tabernacles · 01/08/2020 15:30

Not at all; we are already in the lowest income decile.

We do have a bit of savings, but I wouldn't use it (if we are not being realistic, since we apparently aren't allowed to claim benefits in your world).

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houselikeashed · 01/08/2020 15:33

Ok. I’ll try and be clearer.
Dh was in a secure job which in reality would have had a years notice period. Then COVID shut the entire industry down , so no chance of picking up work until next year.
Our household income is now 30% of what it was pre Covid.
We have been living like this since March with no end in sight. We are not eligible for any gov help schemes or UC.

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CarlottaValdez · 01/08/2020 15:33

Assuming you mean 30% of my salary plus our savings.

Well 30% of my salary would be about 2000 a month after tax and my mortgage is about that! So let’s say all other expenses (really tightening belts!) is about 1000. Exhausting all savings at rate would take about 2 years. I guess I’d be able to sell my house in that time.

I don’t understand why I’d get 30% of my salary though. If my industry collapses (and it may do - it’s news media) then I’ll get nothing.

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CarlottaValdez · 01/08/2020 15:34

Sorry cross post. It sounds very stressful. My answer stands then - couple of years.

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InMySpareTime · 01/08/2020 15:37

We could manage indefinitely on 30% of our current income, we currently donate 1/3 and save 1/3 of income, as we have paid off the mortgage and don't have expensive tastes.

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houselikeashed · 01/08/2020 15:37

30% is my income plus a bit from Dh sideline.

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BritWifeinUSA · 01/08/2020 15:38

We have been living on 35% of my income since April. It was that or lose my job and so I took the massive pay cut. I’m also in an industry that has pretty much shut down and isn’t expected to recover for around 5 years.

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Slippy78 · 01/08/2020 15:41

Am on minimum wage so that would reduce my yearly income from around £15k to £5k. I have £50k in savings so about 5 years if I didn't reduce my outgoings, longer if I did.

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Smallsteps88 · 01/08/2020 15:41

It’s really a pointless question as there is such a huge variation in what people earn and pay out. For example clearly 30% of your income is enough to sustain you for at least 4 months but for me it wouldn’t last a month.

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