£400 spare a month

[extremebungee]

Due to a pay cut AIBU to live on £400 per month after bills?

This is to include everything including petrol, clothes, haircut, treats, child stuff, extra food, presents, days out.

A basic food budget would be covered in the household bills but how hard will it be to stick to this?

It is for 2 adults and a secondary aged child.

Daily commute for both adults is 3 miles per day so limited petrol.

I know people have less and it's not a race to the bottom. However i
s this liveable rather than just survivable?
I do realise we are lucky to have any discretionary income.

(Lab tech will be Term Time only, so you can lop 20% of that off right now, by the way).

Oh ffs read the thread instead of picking the bits you like to suit your petty resentment! It's not £400 "knocking around" it's for everything three people may need after bills and food which they are paying the PIL for.

@MitziK you're being ludicrous. I wonder how many support staff are in a relationship with a higher earner, or who get their wages topped up with TC/UC, there will always be people less off, that's life. It is totally and utterly irrelevant.

@MitziK 20% lopped off because they are working 20% less.

@MitziK oh for heaven's sake what has it got to do with support staff?!

Well, I presume the point was that many of her colleagues earn less than her, have fewer resources (parental help) and still manage, so her budget is entirely manageable. Completely relevant given the question in the OP, was is it liveable, not will it suck to have less money than I used to.

It's not petty resentment. It's reality.

From the same amount a week as the OP says they have spare after paying bills, staff in the same buildings will be actually living on. It wasn't even having a go, it's giving a comparison - to have it as money for 'entertainment', treat foods, haircuts, holidays, presents, etc, is plenty.

not how would you or mitzik have any idea whether the support staff have parental help? Or cars or indeed a partner on £50k a year ?

@notanymoreyourenot perhaps the first comment fine whatever, a bit patronising but in case the op didn't realise others were surviving on less you could argue a useful point (🙄) but to keep banging on about it is completely irrelevant.

You have £400 a month SPARE?! So after everything is paid for?!
Seriously get a grip. I currently have £1:52 in the bank until Tuesday. We have fuel in the cars, food in the house and no savings. I would love £40 a month spare let alone £400

I wonder how many people think it's s lot to show working full time as a teacher, imagine the hours and stress they put into the role and they have £400 "extra" (which has already been clarified isn't really extra) to show for it, not exactly going to be going abroad and relaxing much with that sum. I don't know the reason for the financial situation but think it's quite cruel to tell someone to "get a grip" when it has easily been argued as not very much, but especially considering the work they put into it, in my opinion.

newjobnerves

I have no idea what you going on about.

£400 spare cash a month for a year (except its not spare - as they have money going into savings or whatever), for a couple whose income is going to reliably rise over the year and who don't need to put money aside for repair and maintenance in the house, and who have an excellent occupational pension so don't need to put aside for that either, is a piece of piss.

The fact that even need to ask if it is doable, is laughable and I hope they never teach my kids if they are so dim they can't work out its doability for themselves. Lets hope they don't teach maths....

I know people have less and it's not a race to the bottom. However i
s this liveable rather than just survivable?
I do realise we are lucky to have any discretionary income

^ THAT notanymore is what the Op said. It's right up there in her very first post ffs, she hasn't suggested they are living in poverty.

She should have known better of course - on MN one can only ask opinions about money if the question is how can I get by until Thursday week with 37p and a bag of lentils...

Even if you budget £100 for fuel costs,and around the same for clothes that leaves you about £200 over. £100 savings/emergencies .and the extra £100 for days out etc .I fail to see how you would be "struggling " at all TBH. One of our friends is a teacher, and cycles to work on some days when not having to bring in lots of books .Can u not cook batch meals for the week on a Sunday, or freeze sandwiches for the week ahead .E Bay has good bargains ,and there are many sites which offer discounts on days out for example .We belong to the National Trust, and enjoy free admission to their many Houses and Castles when on holiday and at home .Many museums are free to enter as well.

THAT notanymore is what the Op said. It's right up there in her very first post ffs, she hasn't suggested they are living in poverty

Yeah, and I never said she was living in poverty either. She asked if it was liveable. And it clearly is, without having to ask strangers on the internet. She has none of the ongoing costs that would make this more problematic in the long term. It's only a year. She won't even need to buy new clothes for her or her partner.She lives in someone else's house so doesn't have to pay to fix the washing machine or replace worn out carpets. Pretending that she needs to seek advice on whether she can manage in this non-event of a situation is utterly ridiculous.

And her absurd response of 'I'm not looking forward to that' when someone told her to try living on a state pension - when she will clearly never have to as she has a superb occupational pension - was knobbery of the highest order.

And her absurd response of 'I'm not looking forward to that' when someone told her to try living on a state pension - when she will clearly never have to as she has a superb occupational pension - was knobbery of the highest order.

I will probably only have a few years of pension probably 20 at the most as I started later in life. So my prediction looking at calculations is 11k a year and thats in 20 years time when things will cost more. So no I am not looking forward to it.

It was also said in sympathy to others that have to live on state pension. You seem to have taken umbrage at what was an advice post.

Have you done a full statement of affairs to see what you actually have spare each month. The money saving expert forum is full of great tips/ideas.

Yes will do an SoA thanks

20 years of a teachers pension will not give you £11k a year of pension in total. 11k maybe of occupational pension PLUS state. Which will be about £20k per year.

You don't establish sympathy with people in crap situations by pretending that you are in their situation when you are clearly in a much more privileged position. That is patronising and insulting.

And yes I do take umbrage at a post like yours, where people genuinely thought you genuinely were in a difficult position - only to find out the privilege of your position. Your whole attitude reeks of privilege and entitlement that you think you need 'advice' on whether
can live in that fortunate position. Either that or you really are so innumerate that you couldn't work out how to survive in which case you shouldn't be educating the next generation.

Good luck with it OP hopefully it will all be worth it in a year or so time.

I worked hard and suffer a great deal of stress everyday. I am not even sure I can handle it anymore. I can not take it for granted. I may even quit as the daily abuse grinds you down.

I honestly think you are being nasty for nasty sake. As pp have said they would struggle on £400 others have said they wouldn't.

Thanks to all of the helpful posters who have given me advice in goodwill and not torn me apart for trying to better ourselves.

Thanks to all of the helpful posters who have given me advice in goodwill and not torn me apart for trying to better ourselves.

Seriously get yourself on the MSE forum, most people will be nothing but helpful on there.

It is doable and for a lot of people they have to survive on a lot less. Martin Lewis's website is fantastic at giving help, discounts, money saving tips.

We stick to a similar budget through choice. It's very doable during term time, we tend to hoard money on those weeks and stick to a small budget. We stick to walks, the beach or cheap cinema for entertainment.

This gives more flexibility during the holidays as we have money saved. So a few city breaks in premier inns will be our holidays this year. Booked at £30 a night ages ago and we'll have more money.

I'd actually aim for a general budget of zero during the week. See it as.a challenge. And definitely see about getting a bike free or cheap off Facebook. We don't even have a car, 3 miles on a bike would take minutes and give you a free workout. 💁

not anymore your post reeks of jealous, bitter filled cuntyness. 🤷

I'm not drowning in cash either but it's obvious the OP is saving for something big. She's living on a sum of money she isn't used to precisely because she's worked hard to prevent that happening.

Stop being a twat. 🙄 It's not a race to the bottom.

This post just shows how upper middle class Mumsnet is.