To ask what your outgoings are?

[GaaaaarlicBread]

Sorry if it’s personal , don’t answer if you don’t feel comfortable. My husband and I are just watching Wanted down under (love it!) and a couple are moving from London , and I couldn’t believe how much they earn for the same jobs we can get in our city , but then DH made the point of what the cost of living is like in London compared to us here in the East Midlands. We Googled the cost of living roughly for London and even though I have family there, I was shocked by the rent etc. So just for fun really, I was just wondering what your income is, roughly where you live County wise, And what your outgoings are/what you’re left with.
My husband and I are expecting our first baby this August, and we manage our money with a spreadsheet etc so know exactly what we have coming in and going out, and any disposable income, but it’s always good to know any tips on saving/working childcare etc.
We live in Derbyshire, husband works full time and I work 32.5 hours a week but I am dropping to three days when baby arrives and they will go to a childminder for those three days .
Mortgage is: £534 for 3 bed semi (DH pays the mortgage)
i pay the bills: £480-including life and house insurance, and including ‘Hello Fresh’ which is our food delivery of 4 meals a week-it’s basically fresh ingredients to make decent meals and then we do a small shop for snacks and packed lunch.
Personal bills for me-including phone etc: £200
For DH: £150
We don’t have a car, and walk most places as we are lucky we live 5 minutes from work, 10 mins walk from the city
We are left in total between us with £800 disposable income; I know this will change with childcare though. The child minder charges for three days a week- £200 a month.
if you have any tips on how to manage money when you’re a first time parent let me know , like nappy brands etc 😋

We then take about £750 ‘spending money’ each...

I spend mine on nails, hair, monthly massage, Pilates 1:1 and clothes for the kids and my amazon prime addiction

It'll depend on your circumstances as to whether you get the free hours or not, as getting PIP alone doesn't automatically make you eligible (but might in combo with other factors). But the earliest you would get the 15 hours would be when your child is 2, if you were indeed eligible.

£2300 left after all the direct debits to cover food, fuel and all the fun stuff. East mids too. Our salaries would be the same in SE

Assuming you're in England:

'Your 2-year-old can get free early education and childcare if you live in England and get one of the following benefits:

Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Universal Credit - if you and your partner have a combined income from work of £15,400 or less a year, after tax
tax credits and you have an income of £16,190 or less a year, before tax
the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
support through part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)'

The situation is different in Scotland (where I am) but I don't think vastly in terms of eligibility.

I definitely think you need to work out your finances / childcare again as it will make an enormous difference unfortunately.

As others have said the earliest you can get 15h funded is 2 years old and only under certain circumstances.

I was just checking our 1990 costs (we bought our previous house then and it cleaned us out). In today's terms the morgage (interest rate 14%!!!!!!) was £4000 a month and child care was £1640 (again applying inflation to that) so £5640 on chldcare and mortgage a month alone. No wonder we are short of money - both worked full time with 3 very small chidlren.

Today I am obviously older and my biggest expense is £50k a year on the university fees, rents and allowance of my twins as after 30 years have paid off the mortgage so those early years of suffering when others were paying much much les in rent did pay off .

We are in outer London.

For over 30 years I have done an annual summary of spending and income and assets - I just did the Jan 2020 one so it is fascinating to go back and compare with earlier years. In 1984 our full time childcare was 50% of each of our full time salaries for our first child.

Today I am over 50 and it's all pretty easy - work full time as a lawyer in London. I haev at least another 3 years of funding the student age children but it presumably will get even easier financially after that.

@thaegumathteth luckily we will still be ok even if I’ve looked at it wrong , as be going down to three days a week will mean I still won’t earn any less (discussed this with work already so that’s definitely correct lol), as I won’t get taxed , and I do get PIP on top, and then also got lots of money saved away in our savings accounts each so either way we are not worried but it is annoying if I’ve calculated wrong . Just like the other month when I measured every window in the house for made to measure blinds and got them wrong for each bloody room by 2 inches ! I can’t be trusted 🤣

That's good to hear

London commuter belt. High income BUT
Crippling mortgage 2,800pcm
Bills etc: at least £1,500/m includes 2 cars, food for family of 4, elec/gas/water/council tax and insurances.
£600/m train fares
£900/m childminder

The South East really is terrifically expensive but i am aware we are lucky as we end up with equity in our homes and could choose to move if we wished.

We are up north.

Incoming is roughly 2.8k a month. My husband works full time and I work 26 hours.

Our outgoings are about 900 per month including the mortgage which is £340.

I don't think we are well off but we are comfortable. We do live in a very cheap part of the country.

We live in the East Midlands.
Joint income is about £4100.
Total Outgoings including mortgage, food, all bills, 1 car is around £2800.
The remaining £1300 is usually saved for holidays or put into our savings.

OP will be entitled to the free childcare if she gets UC or tax credits. Because PIP and/or limited capability for work can raise the threshold for these, she is more likely to be in receipt than someone who isn't on PIP iyswim.

Plus under UC, a partner who is caring > 35 hours pw for someone getting PIP daily living component can get the carer's element, even if they're not claiming carer's and are in work. (One of the few areas where UC is more generous than legacy benefits).

Lakielady
Not at age 1

I'm in London - I feel our outgoings are quite low tbh - we bring in about 4500 a month, pay out 1300£ on rent - bills are fairly low £40 a month for electricity £120 council tax

No car and no commuting costs (both cycle to work)

We save £1000 a month

Food is fairly cheap we just buy loadsa veg from the market and batch cook!

We're no kids, both full time, central London.
Mortgage is paid off, £400 in bills (c tax, utilities, ground rent etc) and £400 on food. Transport is around £100 each per month and we love and work just one zone along.

Household income after all that is around £4,000. I... did not realise it was so high tbh.

Live and work*