If you live in the north, what's your household income and are you comfortable?

[CarrotMilk]

We love up north with a household income of £43k , 3 kids , mortgage on a small house and still feel skint. I budget well but just never seem to have any money left over for savings, unexpected costs. Anyone else like this?

Bump! Are most Mumsnetters down south!

North is maybe a bit too vague?

I guess it really depends which part of the North. York for example is incredibly expensive, whereas rural Scotland, not so much.

Up north? Scotland? Above the midlands? Where….

I live in suburb of Manchester
household income just over £100k
1 dc
4 bed detached house mortgaged

we have a good lifestyle holidays each year abroad 2/3 times
golf membership gym membership subscriptions
theatre trips in Manchester and London a couple times a year

I would say very comfortable

but if I had 3 kids and my income was less than half of what I am in now I would not feel comfortable

What matters is incomings minus outgoings.

When you say you 'budget well' - what do you spend your money on? Do you have high mortgage, high travel or high childcare costs? Those can all make a huge difference.

we live in manchester
joint income over 100k
2 adults and 1dog.
live in 4 bed semi.
comfortable but we’d struggle if afford a baby without sacrifices

I'm comfortable on less than that, but I have no childcare costs, have no mortgage and my house has quadrupled in value since we bought it, so I'd be in a very different position if I were in my mid thirties rather than late forties.

I'm in York, which is, as previously mentioned, very expensive.

Other people's situation doesn't really help you. There's too many variables in essential outgoings and lifestyle expectations. Even if someone on the same income who is also in the north, they could be mortgage free, or spend less than you for whatever reason.

Best you can do is review your own situation and be honest about what is essential and what is discretionary, and make sure you're getting the best price for everything you buy.

But your income isn't huge for your family, especially if your mortgage isn't very small so its probably going to feel like a bit of a struggle, especially as the cost of essentials has risen, which could have significantly reduced the amount of genuinely spare money you have. Is there any way you could increase your income? If one or both of you could get an extra shift or two, or a promotion, you could increase your income. It's also worth checking to see if you're entitled to universal credit, but I don't think you will be, unless you pay for childcare.

Have a look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Hello OP

I live in a small 2 bed house in North Yorkshire we have a combined household income of £48K and 1 child (so far)

We are ok money wise but our mortgage is like £700pm and obviously bills are going up and up.

We managed a holiday abroad this year and a couple of trips away. We try to buy a lot of our clothes/toys second hand if we can.

We're in Yorkshire and our household income is just shy of £70k. Big mortgage but no childcare (2 primary age dc), we're fairly comfortable and feel it more as I was a SAHM so me earning again has boostered our income. We have a camping holiday and a UK seaside holiday a year, don't have to worry too much about our weekly shop and save some each month. I think £43k with 3 children is quite tight. How old are your dc?

I live NW - I am a single parent with an income of £1400 PT.

I am comfortable. I do own my house outright & have a small amount of savings though & my bills are kept as low as I can get them to enable spare money for days out/car etc but I don’t struggle & haven’t used any savings. Yet!

With no details of your outgoings it is impossible to offer any ideas.

If mortgage is half your income then yes it would be tight however if your mortgage is only 10% of your income and you still can't balance the books then you have a problem.

£45k and we are comfortable but have no kids which I imagine is the main reason for that! We live near Leeds.

North West

Joint income £65k

Very comfortable

North-ish!
Joint income of 50k. No kids.
Pretty Comfortable..but renting and saving for a deposit so any spare money goes on that really.

North Yorkshire
Single parent, 2dc.
Equivalent salary of 34k.

Comfortable, can afford everything, plus a trip to butlins each year.

North is Vague!
People consider themselves as northern 3 hours south of me, Ill be honest I dont budget at all but pretty sure i'd struggle financialy with 3 kids

Cumbria, Single parent / Shared custody, 62k, Less spare but still Comfortable.
Winter is still a concern, using heating oil in huge quantities sounds less fun than usual this year.

43 is low with three kids wherever you are. Are you both ft?

And the north is a pretty big place...

We are in a relatively cheap part of Yorkshire and earn a lot more than that so yes, very comfortable

North East. £32k. I won't starve but I won't be installing chandeliers or eating caviar. I have to be reasonably careful.

Where in North Yorkshire? I need to move there because we don't even think we can afford a second child at the moment 😔

West Yorkshire, joint income around £228k, no mortgage now, D.C. left home. Put an awful lot into our pensions but still very comfortable.

Were mid fifties now though, we have had decades of being proper skint on basic wages with young children. It gets very very slowly easier, and once you realise you are ok, you also realise you are no longer young. 🤷‍♀️

South Yorkshire 45k joint income that's 1 ft wage and 1 pt with 2 primary age DC. 3 bed semi we do ok very little debt other than mortgage but we have to be careful not much in savings as something always comes but we have a couple of grand for emergencies.

West Yorkshire.
Household income of £150k + bonuses (not guaranteed).
1 DC.

I’d say we’re very comfortable, and don’t generally have to think very hard about what we spend, can afford ton send DC to private school, etc.

We made the conscious decision not to have more children, as it means we can continue to live the way we do without any financial stresses/pressures. It’s surprising how one additional DC with associated childcare/school fees would quickly eat into the disposable income we’re used to.