To think a family can't live on this...

[verydoubtful]

40K? I've done the sums and it just doesn't work. I know it's relative and a lot of families make do with a lot less but I can't see how I can make it work. No car finance in sums and no debt. Just basic expenses.

PS have namechanged for this

Ah, massive cross post by me! Can't remember seeing how many DCs you have, but our grocery shop is less than £400pm and I could easily cut that down if I needed to. And seriously, £60pm on a hair cut and colour? Sky TV is absolutely not an essential.

So, YANBU to think you can't live on £40k if you won't economise in any way.

We're struggling too on what is considered a good wage (DH's ) in these parts.

We save £50 a month for Christmas and my family and friends ( not including my own DC) are lucky (and grateful) for gifts up to a tenner each. Adult family and friends get a card and a scratch card for birthdays.

And as for monthly trips to the hairdressers? Oh my! I wish! I have to use a colour from a box once a month £6 max, otherwise I would look like a badger.

You'll just have to prioritise. Our biggest bills are for groceries. Our luxury is a take away a week.

very your food budget is massive. Half it and you've got £300 a month to play with. Half your gifts budget and your mobile budget, make packed lunches, get freeview instead of sky and that gives you an extra £100+ again. So probably £5k a year spare.

Are the benefits of living you mentioned in an earlier post worth more to you than regular haircuts and holidays and lots of presents? And lots of food? 600 is a big monthly shopping bill

We managed on 40k fairly comfortably whilst paying childcare.
Your food costs are bonkers - 600 is loads. I am fairly frivolous with supermarket shopping and still only spend 40 PW.

Sorry that should have been 100 PW.

Again I would advocate dropping Sky and expensive haircuts.
Menu planning would really help you to drop your food budgeting. Also, can you not make packed lunches?
And shop around for cheaper power. I also second the idea that £650 rental on a 3-bed is not bad. I was paying that on a 2 bed bungalow last year (in south West).

Wey pay about £200 per year insurance for each car and £35 per year in car tax. Our food bills are quite a lot lower than yours and we live really well and entertain every week. You will have the benefit of farm shops if you live in a rural area, that saves us loads and we get lovely fresh produce. Maybe you can grow some of your own veg too if you have a garden and some time.

I'm on 10k with me, DS and one cat. You can make it work!

I'll come back later to reply properly as visitors have just arrived.

Getting your hair done every 6 weeks is lovely but a luxury. I colour my own or get a pal to do it. Not had it cut for a year though as I can't afford it.
And you are expecting a high standard of living if you are planning to pay out 85 a month on hair cuts alone and have Sky, nothing wrong with Freeview. I don't know anyone in UK or over here who spends that much a month on their hair. Sorry....

Two thoughts...

Does this 40k come from one income? If so, is there any reason why the other adult can't look for work as well?

One thing that would concern me is that I like my income to be above my outgoings so that I can have a little bit saved in case the shit hits the fan whether that be something small like the washing machine dying or something big like a period of unemployment. I appreciate that being able to save is a luxury to some families but it is something I would factor if considering a change like this, particularly if you may want a house deposit in future.

I will be flamed, I bet.

Op, unless you have lived abroad you dont realize just how low living standards are in the uk, compared to Europe and certain places in the far east.

People are more used to poor housing stock, damp, cold homes, high utility bills, expensive insurance, it is just the way life is for most people. They dont complain, but take it in their stride, and have learnt not to expect better.

There will be plenty of people telling you that you will be able to live on this, with the expense levels in the uk. The question is, why would you actually want to?

What good is there to offset this? You need to work out if the positives in the move to the UK are outweighing the expense and the drop in living standards. You need to make your own list of pros and cons.

Yes, you can drop sky, and have cheaper haircuts less frequently, eat out less, drop holidays, and run cheap cars. What is actually the big carrot that makes "downgrading" to the uk preferable to where you are now?

OK OP - I can see you are trying to decide if you can afford a decent standard of living on that.

Anyway, on £40k, you'd be entitled to child benefit (£20.30 per week for first child, £13.40 per week for subsequent children). So if you have 2 DCs that's an extra £150 a month coming in (not taxed).

On that income and those expenses, things will be tight. do you really need 2 cars? Could you work as well?

(this is why lots of my friends who are expats don't move back, UK living costs are so high, you don't get anywhere near comparable lifestyle on the same wage)

You don't need to colour your hair every 6 weeks surely? I won't do mine at home either but I have it done approx every 10 weeks, and the cost is either £58 or £70 depending on full head/half head. I would shop around and look for a cheaper hairdresser.

I can sort of see your point as you may have a certain standard of living. Me and OH don't have children yet and we're on a very similar combined income to you, around £2,600 between us after tax.

Here are our combined outgoings:
Rent £650 PCM
Council tax £110 PCM
Electric £90 PCM (no gas)
Sky £50 PCM (inc broadband)
Food shop £200-250 PCM (I meal plan and we eat mainly veggie during the week)
Contents insurance £15
TV licence £12 ish

We then have our own costs, eg I have a car which is £30 insurance per month, approx £50 petrol (OH gives me £10 towards it) and £75 on tax every 6 months, plus costs like MOT (the car is by far the biggest drain!). We both have phone contracts, I pay £34 gym membership and OH has £200 a month coming out on a loan - it's a loan solely to pay off his past debts which is why I don't contribute to this.

Obviously we don't have children, and child care costs in the UK are huge. How many children do you have and how many days care would they need a week?

dh earns a fair bit less than that. got 3 children, 2 cars, I'm a full time student so we have full time and before and after school childcare to pay for. We manage just fine, cars paid for, only debt is mortgage and student loans.

It is just about priorities. I've never spent more than £10a month on a mobile, we don't pay for tv just have free view and of course tv licence. You can make it work.

£600 on food? That more than my rent. My food bill is £70 a month. What are you buying?

oh and car insurance looks high, I've just renewed mine on a 2010 fiesta for £225, but if you've lived overseas you might not have qualifying no claims discount, worth checking if any insurance companies will allow you to apply an overseas no claims.

You haven't budgetted for car breakdown service, you might get it thrown in with your insurance, if not, you should get it, esp if you live somewhere rural.

If your DCs are under 7 they will get free school lunches from September.

Ok, I've added our costs in for a comparison

Rent 650-750. 350 + 96 insurance (DH is SE)
Electric / gas 120 100
Water 36. 40
Council tax 120. 110
Home insurance 25 160 as a lump sum as cheaper so 14/mth
Tv license 13 (146 per year) 0 don't watch live tv - catchup tv or dvds
Broadband / landline 25 13 broadband, don't have landline
Sky 40. 0
Mobile (x2) 40. 25 for one plus ds1 £5 PAYG 30/mth but very tight months mean no mobile for ds1
Food & other household groceries 600. 200
Vehicle insurance 80 (500 per car per year) 250 + 200 so 450 = 37.50
Petrol 280 (2 tanks of petrol per car per month) 40 for me & 90 for DH (company pays for work fuel)
Vehicle tax 22 (2 vehicles) about 22
School lunches 84. packed lunches x2 dc plus DH out of food budget
Sons haircuts 10. dc & DH go when required not monthly so approx 8/mth)
Husbands haircut 15. as above
Wife's cut & colour 60. 0 cut my own
Christmas presents 34 (4 people - 100 each). 31/mth incl family gifts but we make a lot\look for bargains all year so often cheaper
Birthday presents 34 31/mth incl family gifts again look for bargains/make gifts all year so often cheaper
Dry cleaning 45 (husband suits -3 suits each month) 0
Total: 1185.5 = 14,226

So you can cut out a huge amount and live on much less - shop around, get rid of what you don't need, look for bargains all year for gifts, cook from scratch/buy value/own brands etc...

I agree with QuintessentialShadows.

Snort at Evilwater!
We go to Lidl once a month and spend about 150 euros, then just top up shop after that. I would love to spend more but it is just not possible. Too much month at the end of the money......

Also, we budget £120 a week for 4 of us for food/cleaning products each week. You can spend a lot less, but if you live somewhere rural, you might find your range of shops limited and therefore fewer chances to cut costs.

If you are trying to estimate if you can do the move, its worth going for higher amounts and then being pleasantly surprised when you get to the end of your first 6 months in the UK that you have more left over, than going the other way, making a huge move and finding yourself in debt.

I live on around half of that figure op. We are a family of three and have a mortgage. But things are a struggle. Day to day stuff fine but when it comes to replacing the car, kitchen or bathroom, and booking a holiday, forget it just not enough money in the pot!