AIBU to ask how much I need per month?

[Cloglover]

£350 mortgage, heat and keep going a small 2 bed house, a small cheap car, 2 kids, no childcare costs and not in an expensive place. can this be done for about £1300 per month?

Following with interest.

Depends on area and cost of council tax, make a list of everything you'll need to pay out - school lunches, petrol, food alongside housing essentials. I'd say it'd be tight but doable

I would say yes. But for how long,no ability to save, but yes doable

Mortgage 350
Council Tax 125
Electricity/gas 125
Fuel for car 100
Car repairs, running costs 125
Food 200
School meals 80
Clothes for self and kids 100
Total 1210

90 left for trips, saving, etc.

Agree tight but doable, though doesn't leave much room for contingencies e.g. an appliance needs replaced it the boiler breaks down. I'd say ok in short term but difficult to sustain comfortably.

350 mortgage
150 bills - gas, electric, water, tv licence, payg phone
75 council tax
300 food & toiletries
130 car tax, service, mot, petrol, insurance
200 clothes, shoes for 3
30 House & contents insurance

That doesn’t allow for a broken boiler, blown washing machine or any other unexpected expense, holiday, school trip etc

I think it will be very very tight.

Depends on your expenses, expectations and availability of cheap shops nearby - obviously there is a big difference in the cost of having Aldi or Lidl nearby compared with Waitrose or Sainsburys.

If you systematically go through all your bills using the Moneysavingexpert money makeover, you'll see whether you have enough to cover your expenses.

You might also get ideas for how to trim an expense or two, because an extra fiver here and there can really add up and the effect is to boost your disposable income, so even a bit extra is really noticeable.

If you also look at ideas for cheap days out locally, this can make living on a small budget a lot easier because you have nice things to do that don't cost much. Eg season tickets for local attractions can be really worth it if you can go regularly with a picnic, it's a really cheap day out compared with paying to get into a more expensive place and buying food and drink while you are there.

I was going to say £900 + rent/mortgage, so I think you're about right. That's not absolute rock bottom, but it's not a lot of wiggle room for any extras either. Try to still save up a little bit each month for emergencies.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I would have an extra 300 quid a month for contingencies/v small luxuries and I also have a few grand in savings for emergencies. I'm glad everyone thinks it's doable. I thought I was being naive.

Wow £350 mortgage, where are you living? Can I move there? We are paying more than £1000 a month on rent

There's a lot of equity in the house hence that's why it's so cheap. Renting would be 3 x as much.

www.turn2us.org.uk/

You might be entitled to some universal credit (replacing tax credits) or council tax reduction based on low income. Also likely to be entitled to things like free dental and prescriptions.

Who needs to spend £100-200 a month on clothes.??

If you have another £300 plus savings then I really don’t see any problem. It’s a lot more than most people have.

@crispbuttyno1 is £1300 a low income?

Not being facetious just wondering as I earn £1540 as a 30 year old after tax. I pay £600 per month for mortgage and bills (doesn’t include car, phone, food or travel)

Its doable, but not luxurious, how long is this for?