To think bringing kids up on no money would be misersble

[Strawberryblues]

I earn 35000 or thereabouts. Its not terrible. It means I only get cb.

After bills not much left.

How do people do it?

but I'm assuming you are in your 50s/60s? So probably had to pay out significantly less for housing. It would have seemed much more money. And depending when you were earning it would have actually been much more money than now.

I earned that in 2015, before then it was less but presumably proportionally in line with other salaries i.e about average. The house I bought in 1987 would have been cheaper than now but the interest rates were astronomical. My point, really, was that this is an average sort of salary and millions earn less.

I know people now bringing up children, some of them alone, on that money. It's not easy but not miserable.

Only on mumsnet would someone pop up on a thread about raising children on a low income and say they live in a cheap area of the country, earn £65k and have a rental property. That's not a low income dearie. If you've got 2 houses and £65k a year you are not a low income for fucks sake. And someone else given a free house by their parents. That's not how most people live!

We're about to have our first DD on an income of 65k a year between us, we'll then get the £80 a month CTC but we're hoping to put that away for DD for when she's older.

In all honesty, if you asked me to find £800 a month right at this moment for childcare, I'd say it couldn't be done. However, in 10 months time it has to be done and we are going to be able to do it - but DH and I won't have the £600ish a month 'fun money' left over we do now. We won't have the TV subscriptions and gym memberships we have now - basically, all the bills are getting stripped back.

There'll be no £200 a month savings for Disneyworld every 2 years either or any savings at all for the rest of DD's 'dependent on parents' life - so another 21ish years, because then there's school fees and propping up university.

We also run 2 cars, pay the mortgage, pay site fees for a caravan and have a dog walker because we work full time so our monthly expenditure is really quite high but we are going to manage. We're also counting on salary increases coming in.

We constantly review our financial spreadsheets to see what we can do to increase the spare money we have - especially as we want DD to have nice days out and experiences, as well as good quality clothes. Her holidays are likely to be to our caravan though!

35k is a lot to some but barely scratches the surface for others, it's all about perspective.

@lifechangesforever

Poor you. How will you cope?

Sarcasm, obviously. Dont you think its crass to come into a thread where people are talking about low incomes and talk about your £65k, gym memberships, Disneyworld, school fees, dog walkers, caravans, as though youre poor? I do.

Get a clue. You are in no way on a low income.

lifechangesforever

Is this supposed to be a funny sarcastic post? They Disneyland savings bit gave it away.

Yanbu..it is tough.

Just over 12k a year for one adult and one child. Plus 1040 a year in child support.

As much as I appreciate the geographical differences in the cost of living, some of you seriously need to get a grip!

I think you'll be fine of 65k a year

However, I still don't understand the posters who are on 15k a year or less and saying they are doing fine. Even stripping back to basics completely, it still doesn't add up to me.

Me and DH only earn 33k between us, no CTC or WTC and we manage fine.
We don't live in London though and our rent is only £605 per month.
We have 1 foreign holiday a year, and get away for 1 or 2 weekends aswell.

It depends where you live Formerbabe. I'm from up north so when I get a job with more hours, even if it's only 15k a year, it will make a huge difference to my quality of life.

If someone's never lived on less than 30k a year, going down to 15k would be a big shock to the system.

However, I still don't understand the posters who are on 15k a year or less and saying they are doing fine. Even stripping back to basics completely, it still doesn't add up to me.

Benefits I guess?

I lived on £12k for a few years with no dependents and paying normal market rate private rent and it was impossible. Absolutely miserable. Rent swallowed up half of my income, bills a third, leaving about a fifth of my already very low income for petrol and food and entertainment, clothes etc. Needless to say it was literally financially impossible and I was ineligible for any benefits at all (too young for wtc, rejected for DLA twice despite having a disability that sadly led to a lot of ad hoc days off work where I wouldn’t get paid) and I ended up having no choice but to rely on credit cards and overdrafts. I ended up bankrupt at 24.

Of course you could say ‘just get a better job then’, this was at a time when I was working towards that (and did eventually achieve it) but studying doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you’re in a situation like I was with a chronic pain disability, losing a parent, debt racking up. I got out of it eventually but not without a lot of scars to show for it.

It’s unworkable.

Utility bills are not going to be different just because you're up north. Running a car/going on holiday won't be any cheaper either. Do food prices in the supermarkets change from area to area? Genuinely don't know.

Utility bills are not going to be different just because you're up north.
they are different all over the place and under different providers.

Running a car
insurance in a city Vs a rural town, the city is usually.more costly.as there's more risk. living south and commuting for an hour puts more use on car so insurance.goes up.
petrol.prices vary dramatically.from.station to station too. plus workshops and mot testing will likely cost more near London

food prices in the supermarkets
I believe there is a difference on some items.

I love that people have the brass neck to come on these threads and say they manage fine and save and wear nice clothes and go on holiday and then casually drop in that parents provide housing / cars / childcare and goodness knows what else. Of course you manage because your parents are paying all the big bills for you. That’s fine but don’t hold yourself up as a budgeting guru or an independent adult when that’s not what’s happening!

Benefits top up £15k a year to a very reasonable amount. We are only just better off on £36k + my wage than we were on £17k and top up benefits

But even running a car will vary a lot. I have years of no claims and low insurance. Car is a very old 4wd I've had forever, made back when a repair meant finding the part and replacing it, no fancy diagnostics. A lot of stuff I can do myself, and even for a job I can't do I can find the used parts on eBay, nobody ever seems to scrap my model.

A newer driver with a 10/15 year old corsa/ fiesta would have far higher running costs, old enough for expensive repairs but new enough to have fancy electrics and stupid intertwined parts to order from a main supplier. Especially if you are the incompetent sort who won't even change a tire or a bulb. (Or have a disability preventing it). And where I live running a small petrol engine isn't going to be significantly cheaper than a bigger diesel, although in a city it would.

And the main thing about very low incomes is what your starting circumstances are, and how long it's for. If you already have everything you need in good condition, and young dc it's going to be easier to cope because all you need are essentials. But if a decade later you are still skint, now have teens, and all your household goods are falling apart it's going to be a lot harder.

Plus other advantages. Eg walking distance/ transport to cheap shops rather than being forced to use more expensive supermarkets because it's all you can access. Family who will help with childcare or replace a broken fridge, or who can afford decent gifts at Xmas.

And of course the big one is housing costs.

I think a lot depends on your circumstances before you have dc as the above poster mentioned & what stage or if your on the housing ladder. We have about 4.8k a month, mortgage of 1.2k & childcare costs of about £750 so have enough for days out & holidays. However what’s massivly helped is our mortgage is low for our home & gps help with childcare. I’ve not only gained financially but had the freedom to restart a career that’s more child friendly. Some of my neighbours pay 2k in childcare & 3k or more in mortgage.

From the posts I see day in and out on here, 65k is pretty middle of the road? Especially for 2 incomes - I don't think either of us earns a spectacular wage but yes, we're more comfortable - I don't dispute that, what I was trying to say was that it's all relative. My bills are obviously higher because the lifestyle we chose whilst we were still young and childless and that lifestyle has to change now.

I was on a thread the other day where people were talking about their 'million in savings' but yes, I'm unreasonable for thinking that we also have sacrifices to make on our salaries. Like I say, stretching to nursery and is not going to be easy but I appreciate that we don't have it anywhere near as difficult as some.

It wasn't meant to be goady at all

Oh & I have 2 dc, obviously the more you have the more £££

Yes supermarket food and petrol is cheaper in poorer or more average parts of the country. It does vary.

It depends on what your priorities are I suppose. We live rurally and with husband working shifts and little childcare available I have to be SAHM. To us, days out are to the beach with dog or hillwalking with a picnic. I buy my clothes in charity shops and am happy my money is helping charities rather than Next shareholders. I cook every meal, bake, repair clothes...get books from the library and we all love board games. We don't buy anything on credit, rarely have alcohol or nights out, don't go abroad. We might live simply to many but we are happy and content. Years ago I had a very good job...I was very definitely not happier than I am now. It's all relative.

My partner earns 19-20k. We double his wage in benefits. Household income is around 3000 a month. We're not rich but we never let them go without.

Being low income or penniless is shit whether you have kids or not. I'm on low income now but enough for a bit of saving. Our credit ratings are bust after years of living near to poverty line and relying on credit cards etc.

My partner earns 19-20k. We double his wage in benefits. Household income is around 3000 a month

I don’t understand this, do you work? A take home pay of 3k is approx a 50k income.