Moving to the UK budget

[Dahlingg]

Moving from overseas as a family of 4 to help care for ageing parents. Post tax we will have about 3000 per month. Our rent will be 750 per month. Is this doable at the moment? I’m aware obviously of costs going up so worried it will be a real squeeze. DH family all say it’s doable. Moving to Cardiff if that makes any difference?

I have the same rent and earn around £2200 and manage with 4 children

It will be tight and largely depend on your outgoings and lifestyle, age of children etc.

Does anyone know if there is a way roughly of calculating what the average bills/ food shop will be like? We will be moving into a 3 bed semi detached property.

Kids are 10 and 7.

Have a look around some different grocery home delivery apps Op to get an idea of what food bills will look like and fill your basket online.

Council tax costs will be made clear online too.

Yes, you'll be fine with that.

Depends on your expectations, is your idea of a normal grocery shop mainly vegetarian fresh produce from Aldi or wandering round Waitrose putting what looks nice in your trolley? Will you want to eat out or get takeaways regularly?

Also factors such as the type of insulation and heating in the house, how far work will be and whether you need to buy cars.

To some people it will be plenty, others will consider it a tight budget. I don't know how it works with you living overseas but you might get a small amount of child benefit, unless one of you earns substantially above £50k.

Do you need to pay for childcare? Will you have cars to run?

It's doable definitely.

We mostly eat fresh homemade vegetarian food. Neither of us have to travel for work as we both work from home. It would be nice to have a car to give us that freedom but it's by no means a necessity.

And we won't have childcare costs. I just don't want to have to feel like it's a struggle all of the time

Based on our current situation I’d guess your electric & gas to be around £200/ month. Council tax £150 ish. Water bill maybe £40. We are also a family of four and spend £100/ week on our food shop. (Aldi). For a typical meal out for four in a chain restaurant you’re looking at around £60. There’s a huge amount of free / low cost family entertainment here if you look for it -parks, beaches, sports facilities - were not near South Wales but I imagine the possibilities are endless. I am sure you will be fine. Your budget is more than many. Also, welcome!

Actually, I have tried NAC, but not for long think. Now I'm thinking I could take it for this cycle (I have some here). I've not asked my doctors though.

Please ignore me! I thought I was posting on an ivf thread. SORRY!!

You've found a 3 bed semi in Cardiff for £750 a month? What is your secret?
Even in the least desirable part of Cardiff I can't see how you've got a house this cheap.

BTW Cardiff is lovely with some beautiful scenery and parks, I hope you and your family are really here there!

I'm on my own, earn more than that, and my mortgage payments are £450. I don't have much spare, although I live fine. With your budget and 4 of you, I think it will be rather tight

We will be renting a family members house and that’s the rate they’ve offered it to us. It’s in Roath which I’m hoping is a nice bit of Cardiff.

I’m worried about this @PradaOnaBudget . We will both be reducing our hours to help care for PIL so will see a drop in wages as well as moving from somewhere with a relatively low cost of living to somewhere much higher. DH tends to give approx £400 per month to his family. I have told him this absolutely will need to stop. He seems to think it will be fine

Is DH giving the money to family reducing your potential spending to £2600? I think that would be tight.
If you were on 3400, with the money not going to family, I think you would be fine.
And 3000 is right in the middle of that! I think it probably is do-able, but not luxurious.

Costs to think of:
Rent
Gas&electricity
Phone/internet
Water
Council tax
Mobiles
Insurance
TV licience
Food
Transport - you say no car, but that is then likely to mean busses or taxis occasionally.
Clothes, birthdays, presents, meals out.
Saving an emergency fund.
I'm sure others can add to the list.

Are your family in the UK? Flights to visit them may also need to be factored in.

When we moved back to the UK, the first few months were incredibly expensive - we needed full uniform for both kids, basically had the wrong clothes for everything (average temperature had dropped 20C!), and there were all sorts of things we were presumed to have, and didn't (printer, colored pens, dressing up clothes, or clothes in a specific colour.
We also realised we needed e.g. pegs to hang the clothes out on the washing line, a bathroom bin..... it was endless for a bit. Have you currently got some savings?

I don't think that @PradaOnaBudget is typical though. 'Not having much spare' on over £2500 after rent means that a lot is being spent on non essentials.

You won't be able to spend endlessly without thinking, but you'll be absolutely fine if you're reasonably careful. Many UK families will live quite well on that sort of money. If you buy all your sundries like pegs and bins in normal shops like Wilko, Ikea, supermarkets etc rather than John Lewis or Lakeland, your money will go a lot further.

Ahh that's your sorcery - makes sense now! Roath is lovely, lots of things to do in walking distance or using a bus