To ask if £150 disposable income a month means I'm skint

[MissJoeBlogs]

After all bills (including food) are paid for, I have £150 left for myself and 2 kids, this generally goes towards clothing, days out, birthday presents, etc. I'm grateful for what I have and I'm happy, but I have been watching repeats of Rich House/Poor House and the poor house had a similar amount of money left to me. Am I skint?

I'd say it is tight, and less than I would be comfortable with but you seem to be managing well.

How do you manage things like Christmas or a big unexpected bill?

I’m currently on furlough and have a similar amount left for myself.

@Trashtara

I'd say it is tight, and less than I would be comfortable with but you seem to be managing well.

How do you manage things like Christmas or a big unexpected bill?

To be honest, I never have a big unexpected bill as I'm so careful. I also rent so anything that needs fixing is generally my landlords responsibility. For Christmas I buy throughout the year for the kids, and we make things like homemade fudge for other family members :) they know I don't have much, so they don't expect much. And I don't expect much off them, either (they always spoil the kids rotten though!)

I don't know if I will explain this that well but I think it's the type of families the TV show have on there. They need some sort of livable budget to work on- I'm sure they have some sort of duty of care to make sure people can survive. I know there are families who are in debt every week but the show doesn't ever show people like that. Almost always they include the family giving their children some sort of activity, I dont think they are the poorest families that you could meet. Most of them I think are doing okay and scraping by (like most families) maybe to be relateable.
If you've watched any welfare programmes you will see families going to food banks or not eating so they can feed their children but from my memory I can't recall that ever occuring on there. (Apart from one family who used a paid subsidation service)

I know my partner and I could definitely apply as we have had similar or even less disposable than some of the families. I am actually pretty happy with our finances 🤷‍♀️

Skint to me is having pennies left over.

I think you’re doing brilliantly OP. Don’t let other people make you feel any differently. Comparison is the thief of joy.

It's not too bad, honestly.

So there's an end in sight for you when you pay off the debt. Keep it up. Sounds like you have a tight but manageable budget.

Thanks everyone, I've found it so interesting reading all the responses. I have genuinely never considered myself skint. Only watching the programme made me question this. I feel happy with what we have and as far as I can tell my kids are pretty happy too :)

It's very tight imo.

For example, my ds has had a growth spurt and grown out of his shoes...just for school pe, I've had to buy new football boots with studs and football boots for indoors...he needs both.

My dd will probably need a new coat and school shoes.

Kids are expensive...entertaining them is expensive too. I'd struggle on £150 a month to cover those things

I would consider that to be pretty tight. The important thing is that you’re managing, but £37.50 per week doesn’t go very far.

I think £40 a week for non-essentials which you don't buy monthly is ok. Not rich but do-able unless you have no savings and then get a big bill.

Nope. Skint is when there's not enough money to cover food and bills.

Op...how do you cope with buying uniform, clothes and shoes? These are the most expensive things I find and also non negotiable..if your dc need a coat or shoes, then they need it. I got my ds his football boots on ebay, they were nearly new! But still cost me about £20. Even a winter coat in primark will be about £15-20.

I wouldn't count that as skint.

@formerbabe

Op...how do you cope with buying uniform, clothes and shoes? These are the most expensive things I find and also non negotiable..if your dc need a coat or shoes, then they need it. I got my ds his football boots on ebay, they were nearly new! But still cost me about £20. Even a winter coat in primark will be about £15-20.

I pick up bits every month as I go along, for example I will buy a winter coat in the next size up in the sale if I see a nice one and things like school shirts and pinafores I will buy in the next size up months before, not all in one go, if that makes sense. I've never had a problem with buying their clothes as I plan ahead, Ebay is also brill! :)

Skint for me was when I had a perpetual pile of overdue bills and every month had to juggle to avoid being cut off, taken to court or evicted.

I'd say you are not skint but not comfortable either. Your biggest enemy is getting into debt which can easily happen when you don't have a lot spare. All it takes is an unforeseen expense like broken fridge or not having saved enough for birthdays/xmas and you risk getting into debt. Then it's a slippery slope. Make sure you put away a bit extra to build up a rainy day fund.

I wouldn't compare yourself to rich house poor house. The weekly budget on the programme has to cover the food shop, petrol and gas and electric if the family is on a meter so I think you're probably not a badly off as you think from comparing yourself to the families on the show.

It sounds precarious more than skint.

I'm in 40k debt, eat well, contribute to the debt monthly on a DMP, and have about £150 left at the end of the month and I wouldn't say we're well off, but we can definitely make that £150 stretch. I don't buy expensive things often, and I'm not materialistic. DH gets a video game every now and then but that sees him through months of entertainment. DS has toys we've bought him expensive in the past, but would rather play with empty bottles and cardboard boxes so he'll only be getting things at Xmas and we can easily save up for Xmas on £150.

I'm similar to you OP - I have £120 disposable after bills. Like many people on here have said, I think you're doing really well if you can afford to meet your bills & food, and still have a bit left over, no matter how small that monthly pot may be!

I'll be honest, it doesn't go far but IMHO having such a tight budget to work to means you get pretty good at managing money. It teaches you to value it more as well.

That's not skint at all!

Skint to me is barely scraping enough to pay essential bills, with zero "spare".

Skint is turning all lights and TV off by nightfall to conserve electricity.
Skint is not being able to afford to put heating on even if freezing cold.
Skint is counting how many slices of bread are left and planning how to make it last till you can afford another loaf.
Skint is having no chocolate, crisps, sweets, biscuits ever. Just meals on a shoestring.

Thanks everyone. I found the comment about having £37.50 a week really interesting. I've never calculated it in to weekly amounts. Most of the activities we do are free, toddler group at DDs school (when open) trips to the park or duck pond. We go to play in my sister's garden a lot and my two love being with their cousins. Often I will have some disposable income left at the end of the month so I will add it to my savings (never more than 20 quid, but still). Maybe I'm just really boring?

Do you have savings?

Sounds like you're doing a good job at budgeting. There's always people better off and worse off than you is what I remind myself.