Am I being ridiculous?

[darkvelvet]

Hi,

We have recently moved house - we have moved back to our home town - It's me, DH and our two DC's - both teens.

Prior to this we lived in a 'cheaper' part of the UK and we were lucky to have no mortgage. The move back here, whilst the right thing to do has meant that we now have a mortgage for the next 15 years.

I have been going through our finances and it looks like after we have paid the mortgage and all other non- negotiable bills, we will be left with about £2000 per month. From this we will need to buy food and any other luxuries/non-essentials.

I am worried that this will be tight and that we will end up burning through the savings that we have. DH thinks I am being ridiculous and that £2k is lots

Am I right to be worried?

People survive on a lot less.

You’re being ridiculous.

£2k is indeed loads. But 'non essential ' covers such a wide range of stuff. I split mine into pots, and save £100 monthly towards Christmas for instance.

£500 per week of cash to spend on non essentials
I think you’ll be fine 🙄🙄🙄

Yes your husband is right. That's a whole lot of money to have as pocket money.

I can actually see where you’re coming from. You’re obviously used to having more available and naturally need to consider how you will budget on less. Food bills are so high now. I presume you need to factor in gifts and holidays out of that? Clothing for everyone etc. So put some aside each month for that and just budget carefully. Teenagers are not cheap neither is clothing. It’s not an excessive amount left over for four, grain that you have teenagers but I am sure you’ll do just fine.

So that does not include after saving? And it includes food fuel etc? What about car insurances etc? What are your non-negotiable payments. I would say it’s pretty tight yes.

It does include things like insurance etc. It would just be for food and then 'fun stuff;

My goodness OP.
You must have had an awful lot of disposable income before if £2000 per month to spend on food and non essentials doesn't seem like much to you.
Yet more proof MN seems to be peopled by by pp in the higher income bracket

Savings? Fuel for car? Clothing? Dental? Haircuts etc?

Seriously, you need to give your head a shake.

After tax, housing and bills you have £24,000 per year to spend. Plus your housing budget is going into an asset not to a landlord.

Now look at an annual salary at national minimum wage.

Now give your head another shake.

I did similar in my 60s, OP - took on a mortgage for a few years, after not having had a mortgage for some time.

You'll manage. The main thing is to be living where you want to be. You can't put a price on that. And learning to budget a bit is quite a useful life skill!

learning to budget a bit is quite a useful life skill! They have 2k/month - that's not budgeting territory!

You can live on 2000 pcm for food and extras. Or you could burn through your savings. The point is that you have a choice.

Live within your means (it’s absolutely possible on £2k) or have the standard of living you desire and end up with reduced savings.

No, but it is if you're used to having more.

This is all a bit Princess and the Pea.

Spending a bit less is NOT the same process as budgeting.

The OP has a lot of cash. No violins needed here.

Everyone needs a budget.

it’s easy to fritter money away.

Once the essential bills and food are paid for, there is still…

pensions, ISAs, investments, emergency fund
saving for college
contingencies

'Having a budget' is NOT the same as 'living on a tight budget'.

The OP has plenty of cash. She knows it, you know it, I know it.

Who was playing violins??

How much did you have left over each month before the move @darkvelvet ?

My initial thought is that £2k disposable income each month is a huge amount but if you have dropped from £4k per month I can kind off see why you'd be concerned (I cannot relate at all though!!)

What are your major expenses that need to come out of this £2k per month? Shopping, clubs, hobbies etc? If, for example, you are spending £250 per week on the family food shop then that's half your money done already (again I cannot relate to having such a generous food budget but I know some people do!)

The phrase 'it is if you're used to having more' was an invitation to get out a tiny violin.

It really isn't difficult to budget to £2k even if you used to have £10k.

It takes about 5 minutes to make the mental switch.

Budgeting doesn’t have to mean working to a low budget. It’s still important to make sure you’re not spending beyond your means.

I agree with the OP’s husband that they’ll be fine. But there’s no harm in putting a few spending ground rules in place to be sure.

You are not being ridiculous Op. Once you factor in food and extras such as birthday and Christmas, holidays, cost to replace appliances/car/repairs and maintenance it can soon be swallowed up.

£2000k may sound a lot but it really isn’t in today’s high cost of living world.

£2k for food and fun stuff?! I have less than that before all the bills and fun stuff. Your DH is right, you’re being ridiculous.

The OP was worrying, and there is nothing to worry about.

Yes everyone understands that you don't overspend.

But in answer to OP's question of whether she is being ridiculous - yes, yes she is.