To wonder how other families get to the end of the month?

So I would say I spent £35 in Waitrose and £35 in Lidl

That’s only helpful if you state how much your mortgage is - if it’s £3k every month then it’s understandable that you’re struggling a bit, not so much if it’s only £1k.
Same applies to how much the running costs are for your cars (eg £200 vs £800) and how much you spend on holidays - big difference between a £5k all inclusive in Europe for 10 nights vs a week in a UK self-catering cottage.

But I never said I did the whole shop in Waitrose did I?! I said I still bought a fair amount from Waitrose. My meat, cheese, cat, coffee, tea comes from Waitrose. Fruit and veg and canned goods are mostly from Lidl

They may be essential for her, but she should probably not complain about not having enough money

@gundigirl you struggle to get to the end of the month because you don't budget your spending. Simple as that. It doesn't matter what your income is or whether other people are managing on more or less, it's because at the start of the month you do not have a clear picture of what the end of the month looks like.

To stop this happening you can do this:
Have two accounts- a bills account and a spending account. Work out all your bills, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually, average it monthly and then put aside that amount from each months wages straight away. I would not include things where you can make reductions yourself like food shopping in that category but I would include public transport.
Then look at what you have left over each month. Multiply it by 12 and divide it by 52. That is your weekly allowance. Set up a weekly standing order into your spending account. Thins way you know very quickly if you are living beyond your means and can adapt your behavior appropriately.

If you want to save put it aside after bills and before the spending calculations. Make sure it goes into a seperate high interest account so it doesnt get mixed up with other money but keep it easy access at first in case you mess up with your bill calculations.

I want to see the weekly Waitrose shop for £70 please too

I don’t believe you can do a family’s weekly shop for £70 in Waitrose. Do you have a receipt you don’t mind sharing? Many of us need guidance

OP, you're spending £60 a week each for food and eating out. I spend £60 a week for two of us.

You have gym membership, you eat out, you get your nails done.

The simple answer to your question, is you spend a lot on non-essentials.

Instead of saying “bog standard house ” say “average in the south east”

if you borrow 400k against the average house price of around 460 in the south east that 2k a month

but the median house price is 375k which assuming 75 k upfront is 1600 a month - that average is skewed

many people would have that 75 towards the house assuming it’s their second home and they haven’t gone for the forever as their first home - although so many now do that because of inheritance

Ye gods. Do you live in cloud cuckoo land?

Your mortgage. We recently downsized because it was the only part of our budget which we couldn't slim down with lifestyle changes. It feels much better.

Your cars: I have a 6 year-old skoda. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to insure (relatively). What do you have?

Your holidays: so we don't do those, really. Occasionally have a weekend away if we have a bit of extra.

Bills: shop around, keep heating low, reduce phone contract (£6/month sim only deal).

Eating out: we don't at all.

So, look at what you spend. See where you can cut.

How is anyone supposed to give advice on 'we pay bills and a mortgage'?

You must live in a very expensive area? London or the Southeast? And you have a very high mortgage?
Can you relocate to somewhere cheaper? We are 2 adults and 2 DC and we spend £100.00 a week on food so you will be able to save some money there, stop buying brands and shop in cheaper supermarkets.

Right!! Some of these replay make me laugh with the hand holding and aww poor you.

Work harder is the line usually trotted out to those who are on low incomes.

COL? Yeah everyone is going through the same thing, the only difference if lifestyle and those at the bottom have literally nothing left to give. OP could easily give up the fancy cars, houses, food etc but god forbid eh.

We're on around that OP and we're fine because:

• We're mortgage free
• Have a much smaller house than anyone we know
• Own both our (decent) cars outright
• Don't have any debts
• Have no childcare costs - although we do have kids at Uni but have already saved what we need for them (2 x 3 years of living expenses)

Not rubbing it in, just showing why some people don't feel the pinch or are affected by the current CoL.

So glad it helps. I review it every 6months

Also allowing for inflation the OPs income is equivalent to 47k in the early 00s. Did salaries of 23/24k really class as high incomes?

You need to really review where your money is going if 90k income is a struggle

The mortgage is often £2k plus and there are car payments, which are presented as as if everyone has those - so the the poster asks what they are doing wrong having no money left

Most people the OPs age will have housing & transport costs.

The answer to how we get by on a combined income of £70k is that we live in a 4 bed terrace with a mortgage of £750 a month and own both of our cars outright (one being a Mini worth about £3k!)

And how old are you and when did you buy?

I thought I was good at budgeting until I saw it as detailed and organised as this. Thanks. I'm off to sort my financial life out 😃 I find these threads helpful.

How much are your mortgage repayments?

Everybody just seems to be one minor disaster away from catastrophe.
Our car was off the road this week. I’d already spent the weekly and monthly budget on petrol that was in the car that couldn’t be used.
One week of using public transport is literally wiped out the food budget
I’m gonna be on tins of soup for the rest of the month
It’s extremely expensive being poor

This just shows how out of touch you are. It works both ways, but sneering at a family who earns a bit about average isnt helping anyone.

£90k is a about £5500 pcm, assuming limited pension contributions and no student loan.

Mortgage: £2000pcm for a recently bought bog standard family home in the SE
Season ticket travel: £250pcm
Bills: £500pcm
Food: £600pcm?
Savings for a annual holiday and Xmas presents: £350pcm
Family days out, birthdays, hair cuts, clothes, misc: £200pcm
car: £200pcm
Kids childcare and clubs: £250

That leaves around £500 for all other savings - to cover job losses, home improvements, boilers breaking.

Sure, it’s a nice life, but it’s hardly caviar is it. They are completely self sufficient, have to have a war chest of money to deal with emergencies like the roof blowing off.

It’s not the breadline, but it would be tight to go out for a family meal regularly or get a new car. And someone on £90k SHOULD be able to afford nice treats, or what’s the hope for everyone else.

Come on now! You know that £90k will be before tax, NI, pension contributions etc.
In addition, mortgage interest rates have increased in the last 4 years. Same with insurances such as mortgage protection insurance, building and contents insurance, car insurance etc.
This couple may have the need of 2 cars and the cost that entails.

All of the above with the increased cost of daily living, which is horrendous!

Even with 2 reasonable incomes, I can totally see why some are struggling.

My husband and I are retired and are mortgage free now but I remember in the late 1970s/early 1980s when Bank Base Rate shot up to 17.5% and we were both working and childcare was almost the same as our mortgage payment. Yes, we struggled. We kept our heads above water…but I remember and I fully sympathise with the next generation going through similar struggles.

We are now in a position to help our adult children (even in a small way) with their financial struggles…but it’s the tip of the iceberg type of help.

I’m aware of the problems people are going through and I genuinely sympathise with you.

In the same family setup, we spend about £120 a week on groceries and household bits (Tesco), and we don’t even eat caviar. I’ve honestly no idea how people manage on less. We’re not vegetarian and have no plans to become such either