AIBU to ask what you have left monthly after bills?

just under £3k for us but no kids - when we move to a new rental it’ll probably be slightly less! x

This is our budget:
Combined income - £4,000 (before tax as we're SE)
Expenses:
Life insurance - £30
Energy - approx £100
4 x phone packages - total £24
Netflix - £13
Pension x2 - total £133
Broadband - £24
Water - £45
Food - £500
Petrol - £200
Kids pocket money - £40
Council tax - ? not sure, just realised we haven't had the bill yet?
Total - £1,109

Income tax and NI we save at the end of each month; no housing costs as we've paid off the mortgage (which was £314 per month when we finished); house/car insurance paid annually; car owned outright.
We put 10% of our current account balance into an ISA at the end of each month.
Everything else can go on non-essentials.

Wait ..

...you're supposed to have money left over?! 😬

Currently living pay check to pay check. Covers the essentials. Mainly survive on savings....which being on the verge of trying to get a mortgage isn't great 🤣 that said once my partner and I can move-in together and share finances we will be a lot more stable. It's just shit at the min cos I'm still renting 😭

I'm only posting because I think in terms of wealth, not income.

If someone has 50p, earns 5p per month and spends 4p, then at the end of the month they have 51p left. If they spend 6p, they have 49p left. Either way, they have plenty left.

Income and expenditure are not wealth, they just affect the rate of change of wealth.

Wow.... amazing....enjoy!
I didn't realize pilots earned this much....!

After our main monthly bills, such as mortgage, gas/elec, water, council tax, house insurance, TV licence, petrol, car insurance (2 cars) , prescriptions, and food we have around 650 to 700 left.

We save around 450 of that each month in seperate pots in the bank towards holidays, clothes, house repairs, car maintenance, opticians, dentist, birthdays. We have set amounts saved for each category and only spend what is available in that pot.

That leaves us around 200 to 250, we overpay the mortgage, put some in long term savings and spend around 50 on days out

An overdraft.

Yes, you can actually get a portion of it until about £80k, we were still getting it with a joint income of around £120k but my individual income is £85k now and even with pension contributions (public sector, low contributory rate and part of my salary isn’t pensionable) we are fully over now. But have managed to keep £1000 of it for 25-26.

I will still claim it though and pay back through self assessment, it comes in handy in the year!

You start paying it back over £60k in England.

but you have no costs other than food and phone bill. We’re on a joint income of £120k but we have no fee living option and no back up for childcare or anything else. We have high mortgage payments to pay which I’m grateful for as rent would be even higher, high nursery fees and wraparound childcare fees for school age DC. I’m not going to claim we feel poor because we’re not, and we have a good amount left over to save and spend, but not the amounts that some people would think, so I can understand why someone on £100k could feel poorer if they have higher outgoings then us. We shop at Lidl too.

We are based in Ireland where it is not means tested. But I think it’s actually after 60k in uk.

After bills and putting money aside for food we have about £1500 each but I try to save most of this. I can pick up extra hours in overtime and make an additional £1000 a month.

Is CB child benefit? I thought you had to pay it back if you earn over 50k?

That’s also a valid reason that I failed to mention.
The thing with Organic food is that it makes one’s life a bit better, not 300% better, which is why it’s a cost that one can do without if you don’t have the means and are trying to save for a deposit on a house or just trying to survive.

Pilot (140k ish) and civil servant (80k ish). We didn’t borrow loads on our mortgage - only about 450k which is 2x salary rather than the 4.5 x salary we could borrow. So our mortgage payments aren’t that high for our salaries which makes a big difference. We are in Scotland so pay higher income taxes than England and Wales. Currently TTC so if successful we will be spending a lot on childcare eventually but we have enough flexibility in our budget not to stress about this.

After nursery, mortgage, internet, council tax and utilities we have £4K between us. After food, necessary expenses (clothes, gifts, pet care) we are closer to £3k, which we are saving at the moment.

After all bills £452 for 2 adults 2 cars 4 kids 4 pets but from April it's going to be tougher as rent and council tax are going up oh and fuel has already increased a lot never mind we are happy for now no debts just gotta keep it that way 😊

Wow, what jobs do you have? My brother is a GP partner and his wife as advanced nurse practitioner and I don't think they have this much left after bills and 4 kids (mind you she does like to spend, spend, spend....!)

Haha a big fat fuck all. Makes you wonder what it’s all about sometimes

500 after bills/food

I'm jealous of the numbers I'm seeing 😅I could only dream to have so much money left over each month.

I have zilch left over, but that includes all recurring bills, gas, and groceries.

I shop at Ocado because I prioritise my family’s health, not because I’m trying to keep up with the Jones’, Ocado has a broader organic and whole food range and frankly because I’m a high earner with a demanding job I don’t have time to traipse the shops in person. Absolutely nothing to do with appearances.

(No I’m not saying you can’t make healthy choices in Lidl before I get pounced on for that).

£2850 every month.

I’m sure we’d all feel happier if we had no outgoings other than food and a mobile phone with an income/ accommodation provided by others!! But yeah, you go ahead and lecture others in how to spend their hard earned cash!

Very little, I've got 47p today and I get paid tomorrow :-)

I do include savings and a decent pension contribution as a bill though so I suspect that would be the case whatever I earn as I'll just up those.