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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask if you can afford to live on one salary?

211 replies

coffeeforone · 15/01/2019 12:46

I'm currently on mat leave and due to go back full time soon. DH found out last week that his job is at risk of redundancy.

We need to do the sums to work out if we would be able to manage on one salary in the short-medium term and if not, what cutbacks we need to make.
I was chatting to a family member earlier who is very shocked that we do not already know with confidence we can live on one salary and should already have been living within the means of the lowest earner in case of this eventuality.

AIBU to this it is ok to need to spend more than one salary if you both work?

OP posts:
Essexgirlupnorth · 15/01/2019 16:26

We could live on mine salary alone but would need to get rid of our second car, budget the food shop, not eat out, no holidays and no luxuries.
We did buy a larger house on the basis of us both working. It would definitely be easier with our old house as mortgage was less and cheaper to heat.

WheelyCoteClaus · 15/01/2019 16:32

Erh no. Hence me having 1 full time job and 1 part time job

tryinganewname · 15/01/2019 16:39

No we can't, which is why I have to return to work after maternity, which I don't really want to do. For context DH and I earn around 40k each - our outgoings are way too high!

MissBehaving1000 · 15/01/2019 16:49

I do, single parent to DD4. I manage ok and have a good job, but knowing everything is solely down to me feels like a massive responsibility which is scary so I try not to dwell on it too much.

WishIwas19again · 15/01/2019 16:50

When we bought our house a few years ago we set our budget lower than the maximum we could borrow as a way of trying to minimise this type of risk in future. We did actively consider whether we could manage on one wage, but our experiences of being stuck in negative equity on our last home, outstanding debts to service and future childcare costs were also factors in our decision making process.

Without needing to pay for childcare costs we would only be losing around 1/5 of our income if I lost my job which is mostly our disposable income for 'nice to have' stuff like clothes, two cars, nice food, days out, holidays etc.

We'd lose 2/5 of income if my Oh lost his job so would be really tight for bills and debts and it would be miserable in the long term

I wouldn't want to live my life always thinking of worse case scenario so think it comes down to how comfortable with risk people are. We chose not to take out redundancy insurance on our mortgage, but who knows if that decision will bite us in future.

DefinitelyOdd · 15/01/2019 16:55

We could and did for a long time while DH spent time investing in his business. Ok, we didn't have expensive holidays or many luxuries during that time but we kept the mortgage and bills paid.

While we did begin spending more then one salary once his business started paying well, I have found this period has the additional benefit of making my mat leave much less scary as we know we can survive financially for the nine months I am planning to take off.

But we live in a relatively cheap area and our mortgage was low because we bought a wreck (DH is a builder). If we lived somewhere more expensive then we probably would not manage as well as we have.

Galacticat · 15/01/2019 16:59

No. We had to last year and we got into debt. We couldn't run the car which is essential as we are so rural (Scotland). We have 2 hourly buses too so it was difficult. I had to wait in minus temperatures in the snow. It was horrendous. We almost lost everything.

unlimiteddilutingjuice · 15/01/2019 17:03

When we bought our house a few years ago we set our budget lower than the maximum we could borrow as a way of trying to minimise this type of risk in future.

We did this too. You hear a lot of advice about building up savings to cover a short term drop in income but it surprises me how rarely you get advised to keep your fixed costs low.

I work in money advice and have had to assist a lot of people through the transition from "We can't afford to live on one wage" to "Oh shit..now we have to live on no wages at all". My advice is to keep fixed costs as small as possible.

Ifangyow · 15/01/2019 17:07

Yes we do.
We both work full time in good jobs with decent salaries, but we bank my wages for our retirement.
So really we live off my husband's salary.

THEsonofaBITCH · 15/01/2019 17:11

I think in an ideal world it would be great to live on the lowest salary and bank the rest - but so few of us live ideally! IMHO, its not possible as most things have been priced up to a requirement of two salaries - housing, cars, etc.

Ifangyow · 15/01/2019 17:16

True, but it depends on your income/lifestyle.
Not everyone can I agree, we couldn't when the kids were little.

Ifangyow · 15/01/2019 17:19

Pressed send too soon.
We are mortgage/rent free now and have been for the last 15 years. We don't have a fancy, expensive car, but we do have a new one every 3 years. A basic one that is cheap to run / insure etc.
So yes, for us its do able, but I agree it's not do able for everyone. As I said, it depends on your circumstances.

Sallycinnamum · 15/01/2019 17:20

Theoretically we could although things would be tight.

Although I'm absolutely shit with money the one thing DH and I agree on is that the mortgage could be paid on one salary.

I'd be petrified of losing our home if one of us was seriously ill or unable to work for a period of time.

scatterbrainedlass · 15/01/2019 17:24

We do, I am a sahm of 2. Obviously when we went from 2 wages to 1 it meant we couldn't save as much, we have to think about what we spend, we don't go out much now. We live within our means, even though that dropped by about 15k. You need to work out your expenditure, see where you can cut down and see if your income will be enough to cover your pared down outgoings.

lovelyupnorth · 15/01/2019 17:42

We could happily - and have done in the past. just cut your cloth accordingly.

nos123 · 15/01/2019 17:49

Me and dp live off his salary alone because we have to. Ds is only 5 weeks old and I wasn’t entitled to mat leave. We live off £1200 a month and it is a struggle but we have to keep making it work. We have big overdrafts *gulp

Disneymummyyeet · 15/01/2019 17:50

We live on one wage, not through choice though. It's just about doable but there's a lot we can't do.

TheBigBangRocks · 15/01/2019 17:57

Yes, would cut all the luxuries we have on two salaries but we did plan to be able to survive on one income as nobody knows what the future holds. We limited our mortgage and children for that reason as would hate for either of us to be left with a huge mortgage or children we couldn't support,

I don't think it's common though given how many end up without the means to support themselves in the event of a split. Many can't even afford their choices before they make them but do anyway.

edwinbear · 15/01/2019 18:05

Yes, we could live on one of either mine, or DH's salary (and in fact have done, as we have both had a period of redundancy in the last 5 years). What we cannot pay on one salary however, is our living expenses and DC's school fees, in the event that we had to live on one salary permanently, we would have to take them out of private school. We would still be able to cover the mortgage and bills relatively comfortably, especially given the £800 pm we pay in school wrap around care.

Chesneyhawkes1 · 15/01/2019 18:07

We could but I wouldn't want to. We both earn the same, so would halve our income.

Xmasbaby11 · 15/01/2019 18:10

No we couldn't. We both work and earn around the same. Dh is ft, I am pt. We tried me on 3 days a week but can't afford it, so I've gone up to 4 days a week.

I don't know many families who could live on one wage long term. Life is expensive and costs go up all the time. Neither dh nor I has had a real pay rise for years.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 15/01/2019 18:16

We under borrowed for our mortgage, so borrowed less than they would give us because we wanted the flexibility for me to stop working for a bit. We do now live on one salary. We don't save as much as I'd like but there's a flip side to DH working and wanting some small luxuries. It is no fun to live on just the basics.

If your DH's job is only at risk rather than certain, I'd cut back right now and start saving. If nothing else to cover basic bills or if those are covered, nursery fees while DH is looking for work. I would struggle to get a nursery place back if we lost it as there's a waiting list.

tomhazard · 15/01/2019 18:32

We could pay the mortgage and bills on one salary yes. There would be no wriggle room and no money for treats or fun but we could (and have had to) manage.

DIYDoldrums · 15/01/2019 18:38

I live on £1500 a month with 3dcs.

My outgoings add up to £1230.

I have £2850 debt in a CC that has been built up for necessities and a house purchase where I needed EVERYTHING, physically abusive ex wouldn't give me a teaspoon. It can be done but it isn't fun. At all.

blue25 · 15/01/2019 18:44

Yes we could easily manage on either one of our salaries. We went for a much smaller mortgage than we were offered, so have plenty of spare money each month.

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