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?

If you have 2k a month for food and “fun stuff”, then all will be well op. Depends what type of fun you want to have of course 🤣

I don't think it'll be a cake walk as you're clearly used to having more ££ for food & fun. As you can see from the responses you've had, most PPs think you're being ridiculous, they're probably comparing their own fun & food money.

I don't think it's ridiculous to be concerned, teens are expensive, food is expensive, fun is expensive. I spend around £1k per month on hobbies, fun, etc. just for me - and that doesn't include the weekly food shop. It's all relative!

So you think it's reasonable that OP is worried?
Don't you think it would be better for her to take stock, look at how fortunate she is to be in the position she is and let go of the worry?
We all understand that that people have different disposable incomes and that "it's all relative" (used so frequently on MN on the cost of living threads), but by anyone's standards, OP really doesn't need to worry.

What disposable income did you have in your previous home and what did you spend it on?
Wether it will be or feel tight or not to you really depends on what your lifestyle is .

Show me exactly where I used the word 'worried' in my post??

No, didn't think so.

"Concerned" is the word I used - 'worried' and 'concerned' are not interchangeable.

Oh babe. Read the room.

You have lived a privileged life if £2k for the month AFTER bills is what you're playing with.

It's still very doable to have a lovely life on that budget but yes, if you've been living with more then now's the time to look at your budget and make any adjustments necessary. Congrats on the move.

What on earth do you think budgeting is if not money management?

I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. For four people, me, DP and two teens - our food shop is about £250 a week all-in. So there's half your money gone straight away. Add in activities, meals out, things to do, trips, budgeting for holidays, Christmas, birthdays etc and the rest is gone. I think it may be tight if you try to keep up your previous lifestyle.

Doubtless the OP's DC have violin 🎻 lessons :)

Title of thread is "am I being ridiculous" and OP then asks if she is right to be worried.
From your response I took it to mean you believe OP is right in what she is saying. I used her words (that you agree with) in my post.

tight but not impossible. But you will have to watch everything. I would save out of that 2k, try to put aside eg £400 pcm, for holiday and Christmas etc

These stealth boasts are pathetic. Money really doesn't buy happiness does it?

Sorry but this thread must be a wind up? I'd love to have £2k disposable income every month!!

oh my goodness yiu are going to get tossed. BTW your mortgage is a form of saving.

500pp though if there is four to go round. And more than a quarter will be spent on supermarket shopping. It certainly warrants budgeting.

It's not 500 a week per person! It's about £165 per week per person for food, clothes, christmas, gifts etc.

I think a lot of the people saying that this is loads are forgetting that it's divided by four people!

What could you possibly be buying that you're worried £500 a month wouldn't be enough for this?

£2k? Thats loads. Even allowing around £4-500 a month for groceries you’d still have £1.5k disposable income a month. Thats a lot. I wish we had that!

I only earn that and have to support 3 adults , yes appreciate it may be a change but £2000 is a lot still , you can put money away for xmas / birthdays / holidays etc and still have plenty for food and petrol assuming you haven’t factored that in already, may have to get cheaper brands than used , less eating out etc

Love these threads, even though there's obviously no point in them 🤣🤣