To ask how people afford to live

[Holly94]

I know it's a cheeky thing to ask but struggling to understand how we're going to manage.
I'm 11 weeks pg with our first baby (surprise baby) and I have a 20 hour a week job although most weeks do overtime which means I work full time so earn about £800-900 a month and DP works full time his salary is £17500 per year. That works out to around £2000 a month after tax.
At the moment we live with his parents, we pay £180 a month in rent (that covers both of us, and our food) but are looking to move out. However it's all so expensive :(
We've been looking at properties in the £500 per month range but I have no idea how much bills cost, and then with the added costs of travelling to work etc, food, nappies it all seems like we won't have anything at all left over. Oh and DP has a car finance agreement which costs 200 a month as well as various other outgoings.
:(
How do people manage it?

All our bills incl food, petrol etc but not mobile phones come to £1600. That's including a mortgage of £950. We don't eat much meat or fish which means our weekly shop is about £45.

All baby stuff we get 2nd hand.

Good luck. I think by the sounds of it you'll manage fine.

We had our kids late when we were set up. The m

Feck hit post too soon

Was going to say the minute we had our first I wished we hadn't waited. All things being equal, you will have your child(ren) in your life much longer than I'll have my girls in mine. And that is priceless.

It can be a huge shock when you first move out. Save as much as you can now so you have a small 'cushion' of money in the bank.

Agree you need to list all outgoings which your IL can help you with. I find friends spend a LOT more than me on heating because they have it so warm all the time whereas i put on a fleece and extra socks and have hot water bottle....(may not aplly with new born!)

Aldi is your friend. I can spend £120 a week on shopping in tesco for two of us, £60 max in aldi including wine!! Apparently their nappies are better than pampers

Good luck!

Also, there are things that you can easily do without. We have no sky, no landline, no computor, no internet at home. I have a smartphone on contract which we use for all calls and internet, husband has an aged pay as you go. People can't believe this when i tell them.....

I earn 30k and come out with less than 2k after tax

Most people know (and admittedly it is a limited demographic in that its people I went to university with or who worked with dh or I, or who do the same sports as us) earn more than you do, save up til early thirties, buy cheap cars outright, not on finance, or dont have cars, and only then start planning a family.

Can you stay with parents a bit longer and save up? Have you been saving so far?

Also can you increase your hours for now?

We earn that and live down South in mortgaged property, and tbh we have a lot of cash to spend a month. Its easily doable on 2k

I would agree that you need to ditch the car. I drive an 04 rover. Cost me £1200 a couple of years ago,.excellent condition, low mileage, cheap to run and so basic that its cheap to fix too.

kitsmummy- She wont have to give up work she can get a large chunk of her childcare paid for her.

And for the record, now my DD is all grown up and having dispensable cash, is lovely. A lot of my friends are doing kids now and are still struggling. My income now allows me to support DD longer IMO.

Go for it, study where you can, and be the success story xxxx

I would start putting aside as much as you can now as you're very lucky with your current outgoings. At least £1k a month so you'll have £7k saved .

Most people know (and admittedly it is a limited demographic in that its people I went to university with or who worked with dh or I, or who do the same sports as us) earn more than you do, save up til early thirties, buy cheap cars outright, not on finance, or dont have cars, and only then start planning a family.

How is this post helpful at all? The OP said that this wasn't her original plan. Accidents happen, she's taking responsibility. Let's try and give her constructive advice.

Me and dh pay 550 rent and have about 1400 income per month. We don't consider ourselves really poor, we have no savings but manage to run a car and feed and clothe ourselves and two children. We don't buy things we don't need and we don't go for expensive days ir nights out.
Every purchase is discussed and okayed by the other, we shop at lidl, buy cheap clothes and only replace them when worn out (I've had primark stuff last years). If we get a takeaway we cook the rice ourselves and one main between us. We didn't buy expensive baby stuff apart from the car seats (they were 100 but are birth to four ones). I walk everywhere I can and go and we don't have holidays. We also don't drink alcohol.
I think we manage fine, have a reasonable standard of living and do not feel deprived. We would like more money, a better car and a bigger house but they're not essential and we live within our means. You can easily manage on what you have if you budget properly and adjust your expectations.

sorry about the typo's. I'm on my phone and don't know how to use it properly. Congratulations on your pregnancy by the way.

would love your income! We manage on 11,000 a year, although it's a boring slog I wouldn't recommend to anyone.

Thank you everyone for your words of wisdom, I'm feeling a lot more confident now after speaking to people who've managed on the same or less money.
Oh and LessMissAbs... We didn't plan a family, I missed a pill and I fell pregnant accidentally. Yes I made a mistake, yes I should have been more careful. But it is what it is, and it's not the baby's fault, and my priority is being able to give my child the best life possible regardless of my age or circumstances. I will better myself for the sake of my child, and I'm going to make sure that me and DP do everything we can to give this baby the best life possible. And trust me, this may not have been a planned baby but it is very much a wanted baby.

You'll be fine. We earn the same or a bit less than you and manage and I'm supporting two teenagers who have expensive ballet lessons and the odd tutor. It's been quite tough their whole childhoods, but people manage on less than us!
You will have to economise and sacrifice stuff you might want for yourself so you can provide for the baby. We don't have clothes except absolute essentials, or meals out, or holidays except for the odd bit of camping. The house is falling apart a bit and we drive one old cheap banger. We have some debt which is the only part that worries me, but a few years ago we just couldn't make the money stretch to the end of each month. I don't spend anything really without it being a joint decision, me or DH, because we can't afford to fritter.
But you will do it. Just keep a very careful track of your outgoings.

Dont let anyone define you by your age.My best friends had babies at your age.they brought their children up with people judging their parenting abilities yet ive seen 30 year olds with less of a clue than them.Being younger parents only made them more determined to get their lives to the points they are in now.They both got the kids to school age and worked their way through uni and now have fantastic lives ahead of them.Im so proud to say theyre my friends and those two kids want for absolutely nothing.

Congrats on the baby :0)
Do buy second hand baby stuff where possible (except cot mattress and car seat) there are loads of bargains on eBay, especially prams or pushchairs. Lots of people buy something, use it for 2 weeks then realise it doesn't fit in their car/doesn't suit their needs and then sell it for half or less than what they paid for it. Also, swings, bouncers, baths, baby monitors, furniture is often found very cheap. I paid £50 for my second daughters nursery furniture, it was solid pine, I got cot, wardrobe and chest of drawers and all they needed was a sand and revarnish. Likewise £80 baby monitor for £20, £120 jumperoo for £30 etc etc.

My rent is £475
Council tax £87
Water £24
Gas & Electric £120
TV licence £10
Contents Insurance £7
Phone/Internet £40
So £763 for the basics...

Car insurance £27
Tax/MOT/servicing etc £30
Diesel £60
Breakdown cover £4
Pet insurance £10
Grocery shopping £160
Dog food £15
School dinners sometimes £16
Football for ds £25
£347 for everything else, so £1110 in total per month.

I earn £900 over several part time jobs, then get £333 per month in tax credits and £80 odd in child benefit, so have approximately £50 a week "spare". This gets saved for holidays, days out, spent on clothes, school trips etc. We live very modestly but I work 7 days a week so not really much else I can do!!

I'd recommend seeing if you can get baby equipment second hand. Check out whether there are going to be any NCT sales near you or, better still, head off to a car boot sale. That's where I flogged all my baby stuff (pushchair, highchair, etc.). Also don't get caught up in the hype about what you need. A lot of it is nice but unnecessary - you don't really need most of it. And keep what you do have in good nick. That way you can sell it on yourself and raise cash for the next thing you need.

How is this post helpful at all? The OP said that this wasn't her original plan. Accidents happen, she's taking responsibility. Let's try and give her constructive advice

I read the title on my mobile and replied to the question it asked. I admit I'm not in a position to give the OP very constructive advice, except that at age 18 if her main ambition in life is to be a SAHM, her financial position is unlikely to improve much in the years to come. Excuse me if I have read this wrongly as I'm currently unable to scroll back through all the posts.