Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you have a 40k household income how much your outgoings are?

183 replies

PantyGiraffe · 20/12/2019 18:44

To help me see where we are going wrong!

I’m not working at the moment due to health problems. We have one child. No mortgage (paid for house in full on purchase). We live in a 2 bed house and our bills come to £800 including our car and mobile bills. Car was paid for cash and we don’t spend more than £60 a month in petrol.

Could people of a similar income tell me if their bills are less than this and if so how?

OP posts:
RhagePip · 20/12/2019 19:26

Not on 40k {one can wish} but some of your bills are ridiculous. We have full sky TV superfast Internet, landmine and second TV box for £70 a month! Also running 4 contract mobiles for 85.

Your water needs checking. 3 bed house here. 2 adults, 2 teens and 1 younger dc and we pay 32 a month.

CameraTime · 20/12/2019 19:27

Our gross income is 40k. No mortgage as we've paid it off. Two kids (one at school, one about to start playgroup). Monthly outgoings (approx):

Gas £30
Electricity £40
Council tax £80
House insurance £20
Car insurance (X2) £50
Car tax £15 (one car is £0)
Broadband, phone + Sky TV £80
Mobiles £15
Kids sports activities £80
Food £160

Think that's it. Once DD starts playgroup we'll be paying £36 per week for that.

Alsohuman · 20/12/2019 19:27

If your husband needs sky movies and sports for work purposes, he should claim them back on expenses really!

This.

Snog · 20/12/2019 19:27

We spend £200 less per month on phones and internet/TV
Giffgaff £8 each per month SIM only,
For TV we have Netflix Amazon Prime and Now TV which is WAY cheaper than your Virgin deal.

Our fuel bill is much higher though (drafty old Victorian house).

RealBecca · 20/12/2019 19:28

If your husband needs thise channels for work then wirk should be paying....?

PettyContractor · 20/12/2019 19:28

Water looks expensive to me.

I don't bother with heating/plumbing cover, even though I have a 17-year old boiler with a design fault that means it has had the same expensive repair every few years. What I do is just wait for it to break, then I take the British Gas offer where they repair for a fixed price and give you a years cover. I always cancel the cover at the end of one year. This repair is expensive, about £375 last time, but if I deduct the value of a years insurance cover from that, then divide the remainder by 4/5 because you only do it every few years, it works out a lot cheaper than having cover all the time.

Fairylea · 20/12/2019 19:28

The virgin media bill is crazy! Shock You could have Now Tv, Netflix, amazon prime and freesat (we have all these) and have pretty much every channel you could ever want and it would be a quarter of the cost you currently pay!

We have a very similar income and similar circumstances (no mortgage, house owned in full) and bills come to a similar amount. We feel quite comfortable.

mum29919 · 20/12/2019 19:30

I earn £32k and my outgoings are £1000 a month including mortgage which is £360, not including food or maintenance but I save £400 a month too. I live in a three bed house and my water is only £35, not metered, so I'd ring and get your meter taken out if you can, maybe you have a leak somewhere if it's so much? Definitely ring virgin and get that reduced, that's extortionate! I recently cancelled my contract and they phoned me back the next day, reduced payments by a tenner (now £34) and sent me a new box and modem. You need to combine house and contents insurance to get that down and see if you can get plumbing cover as an extra. Check if you can get breakdown with your bank account, mine is £12 a month for travel insurance for two people anywhere but America and breakdown cover. You can easily save a lot of money just making a few phone calls here x

DonPablo · 20/12/2019 19:30

What do you spend that isn't bills?

CareOfPunts · 20/12/2019 19:30

Is that £160 a month on food @CameraTime? How on earth do you manage that?

TheTrollFairy · 20/12/2019 19:31

I would have a look at your water meter. Best way to check it is to make sure all water is off in your house and if it’s still moving then there is a leak somewhere. We pay about £35 a month.

Your mobiles are also high. I think ours combined is about £50.

We have similar joint income to you. We pay roughly £1500 a month in bills which includes our mortgage, food and nursery bill (which actually I’m still transferring over as if we don’t get the funded hours)

Do you have a bills account? It works well for us and we just use our own accounts for general spending outside of bills. We have enough for DP to save (I’m a spender).

Could you look at turning your heat down by maybe 1 degree. Even this will help (I have arthritis so I understand about needing to be warm so it doesn’t affect your pain)

PlanetoftheWood · 20/12/2019 19:31

Why do you have life insurance if you have no mortgage? Most people only have it to pay off the mortgage if they die.

PeanutCat · 20/12/2019 19:33

Yes, the heating and plumbing cover is very expensive, would be much cheaper to add home emergency onto your buildings/contents and combine all into one policy as mentioned by another poster.

Mrshue · 20/12/2019 19:33

I agree with @PlanetoftheWood. I’d cut the life insurance. The tv. Mobile and water are all massively expensive and very easy to cut right down.

You’re not really answering any of the previous peoples questions at all

CameraTime · 20/12/2019 19:35

@CareOfPunts actually, it's more like £250 per month... Was looking at just Tesco spend, but we top up from other places too. Neither of the kids eat much, to be honest, and we're fairly efficient at using leftovers etc.

MrsPear · 20/12/2019 19:36

Blimey some people have it cheap! Our out going’s are 2k a month (£1450 is rent) without food. Zero debt. Seriously pantyGiraffe your living it up. And no we don’t live in fancy pants house or area

1990shopefulftm · 20/12/2019 19:37

similar income, we have a couple of loan's we're paying off so our bills are higher but our water, and all our insurances are cheaper. I'd certainly try switching pet, breakdown cover and contents insurance and get a better contract on your phones and broadband.

Dontdisturbmenow · 20/12/2019 19:38

You really should budget for house repairs and maintenance and breakdowns. Cleaning windows, clearing gutters, repairing broken tiles, fallen down fences etc...

What about all those little things that we never account for? Presents for birthday parties, swimming suit and goggles when starting swimming, a prescription for antibiotics, coffee and cake when meeting with friends, a new lipstick, parking when shopping, a taxi after a night out, a new duvet, storage boxes.... It's all those small things we forget about that do end up costing at the end of the month.

squiglet111 · 20/12/2019 19:38

You need to phone up virgin and ask for a better offer. If you've been with them for years you can say you are going to leave unless they offer you a better deal.

Your water is too high. We are a family of 4 and we pay £30 a month. You might have a leak. We did on our property for a while and our bills were sky high. Turned out to be a leak which they came and fixed and we got a refund for over paying. Worth checking it for sure.

Also, for a two bedroom your council tax seems a bit high... What band is you property?

PettyContractor · 20/12/2019 19:38

You probably need to switch your breakdown cover every year. I no longer have it, but I used to find you could always reduce it by something like half just by switching.

(I do a very low mileage in a newish car, so it's not really worth having for me.)

1990shopefulftm · 20/12/2019 19:40

having had a parent die young without life insurance, if you don't have the immediate money accessible for family for the funeral and for any debts, i d disagree with the opinion of cancelling it.

handbagsatdawn33 · 20/12/2019 19:40

I think you need to shop around. My gas & electric are £65 p.m. for a 3-bed house - heating on all day as we work from home.
House buildings & contents are £160 p.a. for a very well furnished house.
Have a look at MSE - lots of advice available.

Ariela · 20/12/2019 19:41

Virgin Media is a lot. We have BT broadband with 4G assure (it's a business line for £29/month unlimited data and I think free weekend calls? You can add BT sports for not a lot)

Fairylea · 20/12/2019 19:42

We have life Insurance and no mortgage. If one of us died it would mean a lump sum to enable the other (and dc) to manage comfortably without having to worry about trying to work / pay bills / expenses etc. It isn’t just about paying off a mortgage.

Scarfaceclaw21 · 20/12/2019 19:42

You dont need to necessarily cut your life insurance completely nug think about how much would help your family if they needss it.

Oir outgoings are
Mtg 388
Council tax 192
Gas and elec 80
Water 30
Car tax x2 26
Mobile phone x2 60
Car insurance x2 100
Sky tv n broadband 50
Tv licence 12
Swimming lessons 25
Petrol 100
We spend quite a lot on food