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

To be fair nobody is affording a FT cook and cleaner on £90k with a mortgage.

There was a thread on here recently where two people working part time were being topped up with UC to the equivalent of a £70k plus household income and were complaining of struggling each month. And that’s without all of the wraparound/childcare expenses and possible commute of two full time earners.

I can completely see how a £90k gross household income might be a struggle, but through the lens of living in the south east, with high housing costs etc. and young children, so high childcare or wraparound care costs. Our childcare for two preschoolers was over £5 k a month alone, and this is outside of London. Commute into London is £300 each a month for us. Housing is high. It’s so dependent on when you bought and where you live

I didn't think we lived especially frugally but looking at some of these posts we must do.
Someone posted they spend £200 a month on takeaways and eating out, and £200 a month on clothes.
As a family of 4 I'd be surprised if we spent £50 and £50 on these things.

I'm not sure she needs advice, just a big dose of common sense.

That’s what she needs advice on then 🤷‍♀️

Just find it so tedious how nobody is allowed to ask for help with personal finances unless they’re on the bread line, when in fact lots of people could benefit from advice on making their money go further.

Dreadful. She may even have to fire the cook and the cleaner.

Our income is similar ball park to yours. We don't struggle and manage to save quite a bit. Why? Because our outgoings are fairly low.

We have one child and a relatively small mortgage (live in very modest mid terrace which was a wreck when we bought it) - I think these are the main factors.

But also, we don't buy things we don't need. And we don't have an expensive lifestyle e.g. no expensive hobbies, I've never had beauty treatments, I dye my own hair, we buy clothes only when we need them, my phone is 5 years old, my laptop even older, we have a 10 year old car but mostly walk/cycle/take bus.

We do buy nice food and we enjoy a couple of holidays a year. We enjoy family days and don't worry about cost.

On threads like this we (eventually) get a list of expenses. 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.
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!)

We have the same income and are managing fine and save substantially every month. We do however have no debt except the 200k mortgage living in the West Midlands. Run a ten year old car, don't take abroad holidays and don't spend out on beauty treatments and the like. We save for work to be done on the house and don't take loans out to do it. Kids don't do wrap around care as I work PT school hours. They do some clubs (both swimming lessons and each do rainbows or squirrels) but they don't work out massively expensive per month. To add our food bill doesn't exceed £100 a week for 4 of us

There are so many factors to how much disposable income someone has. Someone on less than us could manage even better likewise someone earning more could struggle.

Thats my husbands entire income, its full time and it is above minimum wage. We are not eligible for any benefits ...mortgage is just under £800 a month so around 40% of our income.
I will be getting a job once youngest gets their free hours next year. So hearing people complaining about 3 x is frustrating...

It depends what your outgoing are. We have less than half of that but do t have debt and have paid off the house (we used the Dave Ramsey method largely), so our outgoings are very small. If you’ve a huge mortgage, cars on finance, credit cards, childcare, expensive hobbies etc then you will struggle.

OP - and everyone else answering - it clearly makes a huge difference what your mortgage is.

If you live in London and bought recently without a leg up then your mortgage could easily be £4.5K per month and there wouldn't be much you could do to trim it. You'd be living on £1.5K for everything else - it would start to feel tight, and everyone snorting at you is talking out their arse.

If on the other hand you've got a million pound mortgage - no-one needs that, it's a choice, and you should downsize or stop moaning.

we earn roughly 90k between us too and we have loads spare a month. I save £400 a month alone so no idea what you are paying for!. I also only work 4 days a week.

£180 a week on food is stupid. I pay around half of that for 2 adults and 2 kids .
1 car costs in this house
Gym membership is paid for by my work (very lucky) otherwise I wouldn't have one!
We also do 1 holiday a year!

lol, of course it is.

Minimum wage is £12.21 an hour, so 40 hours a week = £25,396 before tax.

How much do you think people on minimum wage are earning?!

Have you seen OP's update? She doesn't need advice, she has plenty of money - she's just splashing it all on a £200 a week grocery bill, sports, activities, two cars and a holiday. She's not broke -_-

I'm another one who struggles to understand how you can be struggling with that much income. In comparison our household brings in 40k after tax so less then half of what you have. We have one child in nursery and can afford to go abroad every year. We save roughly £500 a month and have decent savings. Don't overly feel like we're struggling at the end of the month either.

If you do come back to this thread hopefully you'll take the advice to track all your expenditure and see exactly where your money is going. It's the only way you're going to see where you can cut back.

Thst doesn't mean anything. Mine is the same except one less car and one more holiday and we earn less and feel comfortable.

You need to put numbers in.

How much is your rent / mortgage? Many people spend more than your income on that alone.

40/45 hrs a week at nmw would be around that figure

God, I hate posts like this. Who decreed that only people on the lowest incomes can ask for advice? Just scroll on if you don’t want to be helpful.

I am single so probably not helpful for most! But that’s for breakfasts, lunches to take to work and evening meals. I batch cook a lot and make lunches at home for work
mostly cook fairly simple stuff like pasta bakes, stews, cottage pie
work lunch is always a sandwich as I don’t have time to eat anything else
porridge or scrambled eggs for breakfast

I use up bits of meat and veg and cheese in omelettes or make a huge pasta bake with whatever’s in the fridge at the end of the week
tend to go more veg and less meat

As someone who doesn't struggle, it still kind of irks me when someone laments about how broke they are whilst admitting they can afford luxuries such as gym memberships and a yearly holiday.

The answer is so many families don't get to the end of the month. They struggle like fuck and live pay cheque to pay cheque. I have friends and family living in all different situations with all different incomes, relationship statuses and numbers of children, none of them have any real disposable income. Some save up all year for a holiday, others can't afford this.

The cost of groceries is now a disgrace and I often find myself thinking there is no way people are affording to feed themselves nutritious food if they are on low incomes.

Nails I get done every 3w for £30

so £10 a week. Thats my one treat

Lots of people can afford those things.

Not everyone has taken on huge mortgages, spends £200 a week on groceries (like the OP), has huge commuting costs or children doing expensive activities.

Honestly, it's only on MN where I see people earning nearly 100k a year and not being able to afford coffee and takeaway.

Can you do a list of what you get for £60 as sure would help some out