To struggle on this salary?

Super king!

It’s a normal bed size not made to measure.

The OP has food, insurance, and other items to pay out of that 1k, so does not go far. As I have said we are lucky that we can afford to pay £500 on bedding, but we could not survive on 1k a month.

Taking all 4 kids out at the same time is pretty normal, or should I just leave one at home to fend for themselves.

Renting a car, so people can take their kids to school would mean having another adult to drive them.

People that have only 2 kids should only have a smart car, and rent a car when they need to.

Are you being obtuse or you really believe what you are saying.

What? It does go far. It goes to 2.5 lots of m&s bedding some of which is KING SIZE

Rightly, they would be receiving support from UC and child benefit etc. In real terms, a single parent on £25k would have more income.

£1k is plenty left over. That's what I have left after bills. The stuff you mentioned is unnecessary, yes if you can afford it by all means buy it but you CAN get bedding for far less so you CAN make £1k go far, I just simply wouldn't spend £500 on bedding or £350 on hair and beauty and I don't feel poor at all with my disposable income.

Most bedding sets at m and a are under £100

Most people don't need to buy multiple bedding sets at any one time

But hey carry on pretending that £500 on bedding is normal and common if it makes you feel better

It won't help OP though to feel better or manage better

She gets 3100 plus 400 maintenance that’s a large amount most peo0e average salary 25 a year which is about 2000 a month

Maybe he is? £800 a month doesn't sound like full time nursery. Depends where in country I suppose. My son's nursery is 1700 a month.

OP didn’t say she was on the poverty line, just that she’s working hard and money is tight. £250 a week includes food, fuel and other bills. It’s clearly not fun money. No she’s not at the level of needing the food bank but feels tough to her. There’s a lot of pressure being a single earner!

@ThisOldThang When couples attend events, it is quite common for them to alternate the driving so that one person can drink as much as they want and the other person stays sober. This negates the need for taxis. If a family didn't have a car large enough to transport everybody, it would mean never drinking at social events or having to pay for taxis.

Bringing all 4 children to a drinking event? Are these drinking events happening so frequently that this dictates the choice of car?

I'd never dream of buying a car that then required us to start renting a different vehicle just to visit family or go away somewhere. What a bizarre and financially incontinent decision that would be.

Obviously, people do rent cars, otherwise car rental businesses wouldn't exist. Calling car rental "bizarre" shows that you must live on a different planet. You might be very young, but I'm old enough to remember a time when almost no one owned an SUV. And yet, there were no issues with getting everyone from A to B back then.

It's not "financially incontinent" either, because it works out cheaper to own a small car and just rent a larger car when needed.

Oversized SUVs for the win. 😉

Cringe. Sorry, I didn't realise I was talking to a right wing American hill billy.

@HildaHosmedeknobber

I gave my examples as there are loads of knobs on here saying that 1k is a fortune when in fact it’s not with petrol, food, insurance etc

We paid £500 on 2 sets of bedding from M&S not Selfridges, which just goes to show the cost of things now. It’s an example which you seem blinkered to.

Me and my kind are just ordinary middle earners living in the South East.

Also the impact of fiscal drag. They froze the bands in 2022 and we have another 4 years of it I think.

😂

So if £500 is a drop in the ocean 'in your circles' (snort), of what relevance was your post to the op?

Op: 'I'm struggling to make ends meet'.

TheSpoonyNavyKnobber: 'Oh well op, I just spent 500 quid on M&S bedding but that's a drop in the ocean to me and my kind'.

Just...why? What goes through your mind whilst typing that bollocks out? 😂

How long until your DC finished nursery? Count down until you have another £800 each month which will be lovely.

I used a tone deaf way of doing it, as there is countless posters on here saying that 1k is a huge amount when in fact that does not cover all of the OPs bills. This makes the OP question themselves when they are in the thick of it.

As I have said countless times we are lucky enough to be able to afford “luxury items” I had no idea that M&S was considered luxury.

As for questioning my car choice, if we all went on holiday taking 2 cars would be crazy, 2 lots of parking at the airport, 2 lots of ferry tickets, just going to family for the day would cost more in 2 cars than 1, honestly people like some of the posters on here are batshit.

As I have shown £1000 does not go far.

@StressedLP1 yes an inflation calculator like @midgetastic linked.

Assuming you're single parent and covering everything yourself, yes it's a struggle. A combined income of that much would be pretty low.

Wow. You really don't get it.

When couples attend events, it is quite common for them to alternate the driving so that one person can drink as much as they want and the other person stays sober. This negates the need for taxis. If a family didn't have a car large enough to transport everybody, it would mean never drinking at social events or having to pay for taxis.

I very much chose our family car on the basis of it being suitable for 100% of our requirements. It is large enough for all weekends away and holidays. We occasionally fit a roof box if required.

I'd never dream of buying a car that then required us to start renting a different vehicle just to visit family or go away somewhere. What a bizarre and financially incontinent decision that would be.

Given our annual mileage there's (hopefully) no reason why we'd need to replace our car until the kids have left home in 15+ years time.

Oversized SUVs for the win. 😉

She didn't say she was on the poverty line, just that there was nothing left over for extras, even a cheap holiday or a new coat.

A lot of people are in the same boat - always have been - and it's no fun.

I've worked just 3 months this tax year - I'm self employed and things have come to a standstill, hopefully now recession fears are a little alleviated with Trumps election, interim jobs will start appearing again 🙏. I need to net £4.5k pcm before I pay any food/utilities etc such is the size of my mortgage (Im a single parent widow). So shake hands with me. I am brassic. And before anyone says anything, the self employed earn less than the employed with no safety net - do the maths.

The point is, whenever any of us get into choppy water, we have choices to make. Decide what you want to do and do it. If that means get a better paid job, do that. If it means retiring, do that. If you're considering jacking up work with no safety net, there's no way youll get £3.1k benefits inc your mortgage being paid, so think again. Take action, don't moan. I wish you luck.

I am sure this is hyperbole on the part of the OP. Same as I sometimes think “ what’s the point in tidying/cleaning as there is mess immediately after” of course I know that not cleaning would result in it being much worse, but sometimes the endless effort for little result makes you think “eff this s*#t,” and want to just give it up.

whe you are working really hard and eating decent money to just exist it is really really soul destroying.

Good luck OP. On day that nursery money will be yours for something more fun. There is an end in sight. Even is a way off

Not the OP, but some people on here don't know how to budget or spend money. Those with decent jobs generally splash the cash and think it's normal and the well will never run dry until they get ill and or get divorced. Then they are flabbergasted as to where the money went. I know people who earn £100k and haven't got a pot to piss in, but have a ridiculously massive land rover on drive, £100 takeaways and most goes in the bin and £30 bottles on wine. That's not normal or necessary. Never be in bondage to your work or career. It's fleeting at best, it's a short life. Work is to live, don't live to work to oil the machine.

Sorry but £1,000 disposable income a month is not “barely anything”. Thats £250 a week. Hardly on the poverty line

@ThisOldThang Surely you're capable of understanding why travelling in one car is preferable to two - e.g. parents taking it in turns to drive and have a drink.

Weird comment. Taking it turns to drive? Unless you're driving to China, one driver should be enough. It's also possible for a driver to have a drink too.

If you drive to France on holiday, it would be pretty odd to pay for two cars on the ferry/tunnel. What about visiting family in another part of the country?

I would say it's odd to select my car on the basis of having a holiday in France, an event which would be no more frequent than once a year. Is that seriously what you think about when choosing a car? I take it you don't know about car rentals then?

Ffs. Re-read her posts.

She says continually that she CAN afford it.

she’s making the point that stuff costs £££ these days. Yes, shes tone deaf about the way she’s doing it… but she’s not moaning about her financial situation.