How long could you live on 30% of your income?

[houselikeashed]

Just that really. If your industry was shut down overnight with no warning. If your job was never going to end without a years notice period to save up in. How long would your immediate savings last you?
(You are not allowed to assume you would be eligible for any gov help schemes or UC.)

[BiddyPop]

As mortgage just paid off this spring, have savings and decent wage, could do ok for a long time. Cut luxuries, change shopping habits back to frugal mode, entertain ourselves at home. Could cover basic food bills, electricity, gas, phone,broadband, bins, probably drop either netflix or prime, and running costs of car. Annual bills would need so,me thinking about, but probably doable. No new clothes etc though, and definitely no holidays.

[AllTheUserNamesAreTaken]

If our joint income dropped to 30% of what it is now, we would be £350 short of being able to pay essential bills and eat - that’s if we stripped back unnecessary bills such as cancelled gym, childcare (as presumably we wouldn’t need it), dog walker etc

We would be able to manage for a long time but only because we inherited some money that we can’t decide what to do with. (One of the reasons I’m reluctant to pay it off the mortgage is because seeing it in the bank is comforting - I think this is after seeing my parents struggle so much when we were children - and even now my Mum will he in a precarious position when she retires)

Pre-inheritance, we were fortunate to still have some savings which would been meant we would be ok.

I’m sorry about your DH’s job op and that you aren’t eligible for help. You must be feeling so stressed

[Crosswithlifeatm]

I'm an NHS nurse so unlikely to be jobless but who knows after Brexit.
So I would be better off taking early retirement (nowhere near enough on its own)and any job.Our local supermarket is always advertising so I should be ok.
We already have everything pinned down as I am saving for DD if she goes to uni.

[Meggie2008]

I could pay my rent and council tax. With about £100 left over for all other expenses, so wouldn't last long!

[AlphaDalpha]

Three to four years.

[houselikeashed]

I know we're lucky to have had good work up to now, but it just makes me cross (and jealous) that families with an income of £120k reduced to £75k are receiving £7.5k+, but families reduced to £20k receive nothing.
I know it's sour grapes, and a lot of people get by on less, but it still makes me really cross.

[MattBerrysHair]

No savings here, so in theory, on 30% of my income I'd be having to default on my mortgage payments and feed my DC through the food bank whilst using what little income I had to pay bills. In reality I'd take any paid work I could get so that my income didn't go down.

[GrolliffetheDragon]

Well we've already lost nearly 50% as DH has just been made redundant. We can manage that.

30% of what we have now would be about £400 a month. We'd burn through our savings quickly.

[TinkysWinky]

OP Im sorry for your situation, you must be very stressed. In answer to your question, probably about a year here realistically - using savings to top up and our mortgage overpayment pot to pause mortgage payments. Thankfully mortgage small as we aimed to always be able to live on one income if needed. Maybe more like 18 months if we were very careful. Im self employed and normally keep a good stockpile in which I circulate of household stuff / groceries so could use that up, have a stock in garage of solid fuel for the fireplace etc, next size up school shoes / kids clothes bought in sale in etc. I'm also quite handy so could knit using stash, sew / mend / alter clothes etc. We would be ok but it wouldnt be fun. I'm dreading brexit on top of covid - times are going to be very tough ahead for so many families and many dont even realise it.

[MuchTooTired]

30% of our household income we’d last about a month.
Using our savings and the 30% probably 6 months.
Using our available credit and the 30% income to make minimum payments we’d be good for about 2.5 years assuming we can use credit cards to pay for everything.

I’m so sorry you’ve both been hit by it so badly, and really hope things improve ASAP for you.

[SandysMam]

I think all this shit plus Brexit will really make people think about their outgoings. I have a serious health problem and have lived like this for a few years in preparation for it getting worse. Not gruel and fingerless gloves but much smaller house/mortgage than we could afford, older car, good cash buffer grown from being sensible. And this is on an average income, not high at all and certainly low compared to Mumsnet standards. The peace of mind it brings is massive and more than makes up for pulling up in a second hand Volvo when my friends have brand new range rovers on the drive.
I keep hearing car companies advertising fabulous deals, trying to get people spending. It scares me that they are still encouraging the never never even when the world has taken a financial rocket and the worst might be yet to come!
We could survive for 2 years on 30% which I’m happy about.

[WellIWasInTheNeighbourhoo]

Mortgage paid off so indefinitely, but it wouldn't be great or comfortable & I'd be very worried about unexpected bills.

[MitziK]

@houselikeashed

Yeah I get your point about % rather than ££.
Dh job was a pretty good one tbh.
30% covers mortgage and a few bills.

Seeing as 58% of my income is rent and council tax alone, considerably less time than you - assuming neither of us needed food, water, heat or light, that 30% would represent just under 3 weeks' rent alone.

So I'm sure you'll be fine with your mortgage and bills covered.

[RyanBergarasTeeth]

Well 30% of my monthly income is £200 so i would be fucked in a couple of weeks if that

[HagridsBackTeeth]

I have. fair amount of savings (hoping to buy) so a good year, maybe 2 if I was frugal.

[stopgap]

We’d be fine.

[Roomba]

My cousin would do alright. She got a 'little job' (her words at the time!) as a TA at her son's primary school 15 years ago, worked up to FT hours and was promoted/got higher quals. She told me last week that she's never touched a penny that she earned doing her job, it's all gone in her savings account!

Whereas I'd starve within weeks, or have to be fully supported by a food bank. I do have a house I could sell, but not much equity and houses round here aren't selling much at the moment.

[notmyyacht]

30% of our income would put us at roughly 35k a year which would pretty much only cover our mortgage, food and probably most of our more essential bills so without dipping into savings not very long at all. If we used up the savings we have in our bank account (36k) we’d probably be able to last a year of maybe two if we were really careful and if we pulled all our money out of the stock market (170k) I guess we‘d probably manage to survive for about somewhere between 6- 8 years, but again we’d have to be really careful.

Thankfully my husband is the sole earner in our household and I'm a stay at home mom, because I think if we had to factor childcare into all of this (we have a two year old son) then we'd definitely be screwed and would probably have to sell our house and move to Colorado and live in my parent's guesthouse or something. (Which is actually bigger than our current house, so I guess it wouldn't be that bad! 😂)

[Serin]

We would just about be ok. But we are older and have no mortgage.

[Serin]

InMySpareTime
You donate a third?
Wow. Just Wow.
How nice are you!

[flirtygirl]

ListeningQuietly
When the price of everything rises
and the availability of everything falls
at the end of the year due to Johnson's stupidity on Brexit
many many people will suffer

Agree 100%

[ArthurMorgan]

About 2 weeks...

[UnaCorda]

Ages. Probably indefinitely. But that's because I've paid off my mortgage and have minimal outgoings (not because I have, or have ever had, a huge salary).

[FrangipaniBlue]

30% of our household income is basically DH earnings, we could "survive" on that permanently.

Mortgage and essential bills would all be paid but we'd probably have to reduce the level of tv package and mobile phone packages we have, and we'd have to cut back on treats like meals out and takeaways, weekends away etc.

So basically no luxuries, only essentials.

[unlimiteddilutingjuice]

That's due to modest savings but also living in a way shitter house than I could theoretically afford.
Precisely because I worry about this kind of eventuality!