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?

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Mine are now adults, but we did most things for free. We had an annual pass to a child's 'farm' with a play area and cafe, or you could picnic, and at weekends we'd do family walks and again take our own food as a picnic Annual farm pass: costs Cafe: costs Picnic: costs Aside from the weather- yes you can picnic and walk in the rain (not that I want to)- but after the age of 7 these things are less appealing. Cinema trips can be £20-£50 depending on how many of you and when you go, trampoline park £20, bowling etc...ok no child “needs” these activities but I don’t work or raise my children just to survive. I quite like to enjoy things if I’m lucky enough to be able to.

Tesco clubcard vouchers for the annual pass or ask for a pass as a present if family members are asking for ideas. I never understand why people say a picnic costs more-surely you would have lunch at home? Why would it cost more to eat sandwiches, crisps, cake etc outside

To me that is pretty skint. This month, for instance, I have to send the kids back to school, I have to pay 400 for school charges(book rental and various other charges), buy school uniforms 1 jumper costs me 40(crested, can only in one shop), one of them needs a laptop(not optional) cheapest we could get with the specs required was 400. Overall back to school for 2 children has set me back well over a grand. That is before they go back to school and more costs pop up like the 'voluntary contribution' of almost 200 in my youngests school. That is months of your disposable income.

I understand that the UK is cheaper than Ireland and you don't have the school costs we do but for me, that wouldn't be an amount that we would be able to live off without getting into debt.

Why would it cost more to eat sandwiches, crisps, cake etc outside because I wouldn’t necessarily have that for lunch at home: beans on toast, jacket potato is cheap. But regardless I don’t want a miserable picnic, I want a nice picnic with good food.

i just can't believe the cost of everything when trying to entertain children 1000%, plus if you think 6 weeks of holiday in summer: 42 days of walks and picnics

It sounds like you manage your finances really well. If you are paying interest on your debt then I would stop putting anything into savings and put it all into repaying the debt in order to save money on interest.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Why would it cost more to eat sandwiches, crisps, cake etc outside because I wouldn’t necessarily have that for lunch at home: beans on toast, jacket potato is cheap. But regardless I don’t want a miserable picnic, I want a nice picnic with good food.

Op is on a budget with very small DC who luckily wont think a sandwich is miserable. 🙄

I’m not putting down the OP I’m just pointing out that it’s not easy to entertain children that cheaply.

@Blankscreen

I just can't believe the cost of everything when trying to entertain children

Day at a farm £70.

Cinema (when ooen) £50 plus drinks etc.

Ice creams £3 a scoop so £15.

It's insane. I know you can do free stuff but sometimes it's nice to go and do something as a day out.

You must go to some very expensive venues.

Cinema here is £4.99

Farm fun. - well it's £10 per person

You're doing fine OP and I wouldn't say skint.
As long as you can afford to have the bits you need to have a happy life, it doesn't matter if you have £2,000 or 20p left over.

This is a great thread OP. You're managing brilliantly. I can't wait for your debt to be paid off.

Skint to me means nothing left spare at all after essentials are covered. £150 is more than a lot of people have and you’re still able to spend it on something so I wouldn’t be worried. Are you able to hold some back and get some savings built up for emergencies? As long as you’re surviving comfortably with your finances don’t focus on what’s left over too much. If you couldn’t meet your essentials then I’d class that as poor/poverty, I don’t think you’re at that stage at all.

Thank you so much for all the responses and kind words :) I guess that to some people I am skint, but I still don't think I am, because I feel I have everything I need :) but yes, roll on next year when my debt is repaid and I can start getting some proper savings behind me. I don't think I will ever stop trying to budget my food shop as low as possible though! 😂

It sounds like you’re doing great with your money, OP.
My own disposable income seemed to go a lot further when mine were younger. As they’ve grown older (both now upper primary) I’ve noticed that the pounds don’t stretch as well. They are not particularly demanding and understand that a walk and a picnic is often the best day out on offer. However, it’s more that I want to expand their horizons. We used to love the tiny world of local play groups, libraries, play parks etc, but there comes a point when you want to show them a bit more of the world and get their heads looking around. That’s when having a very tight budget becomes a bit limiting. Also, they develop hobbies - some are very affordable but with more than one child it can add up a bit week to week. Last summer mine were both in a dance show and it ended up quite costly after costumes and even our own tickets to see the show!
£150 sounds ok as a tots leisure budget but super tight for a junior age budget.
As for teenagers, just don’t tell me

You are an absolute inspiration. Yes you are a little close to the wire but it won't be for long, and it's not as if you're missing out on much anyway in current times.

You still have a buffer on reducing food bills.

If you get time, consider putting a few bits on eBay or Facebook marketplace. Maybe use the money for treats? You deserve them x

Also sign them up for cubs/brownies. They get to loads of stuff and my children go camping for £25 each. Teaches them so many life skills and you'll get a weekend to yourself when they go camping.

I think it's relative to everybody.
Personally to me, £150 left a month wouldn't be a lot for my lifestyle. However to some people I know that would be quite a lot.
My only thing would be the on the off chance you had a large unexpected expense, do you have savings/credit card to cover you if needed? I personally like to ensure we always have a buffer set aside, that we can't touch for the month that is there for anything unexpected such as car breaking down, anything in the house packing in etc.

I'm happy if I have that much left. The only debt I have is my mortgage

You sound so lovely and together and , essentially, happy!

Skint to me was when I was choosing whether it was more important to put my last £5 on the gas or buy a loaf of bread a couple of tins of beans and some milk. I remember one day finding £1 on the pavement and my heart actually leapt.
You sound very organized and the most important thing is you are happy. That’s worth more then money any day

I can just about pay the rent and bills and have no disposable income whatsoever and I don't consider myself skint, I'd say not being able to cover rent, bills and food = skint.

I have similar op. I'm a single mum of three and don't have any savings, spend £50 a week on food and all my bills are paid. The only time I feel skint is if more than one of them needs a new pair of shoes or when my teenager is moaning that they can't have designer stuff and never gets to go to theme parks. Other than that we are happy.

To me disposable income really means what you have left JUST for “fun money” so I was initially coming on to say that’s plenty as I’ve managed on much less and wouldn’t class that as “skint”

“Skint” to me is less than £10 left over a month!! Just managing to cover the bills! And I’ve been even worse off than that at points! Going without food so dd eats, going without replacing leaking shoes, sitting in a library or cheap cafe nursing a mug of tea for ages to stay warm while dd was at school or at her dads... now THATS skint! Like you op I bought clothes out of season in sales to save money, made gifts and cards, walked rather than get a bus etc

BUT you’ve not included in your “essential outgoings” clothing (definitely essential!), birthday expenses, and I suspect several other things.

How much do you have JUST for fun things?

Rich house/poor house is a fucking horrible exploitive programme in my opinion mainly designed to shame both extremes!

The rich family are bound to think that £150 a month for extras is tight as they’re used to having MUCH more, whereas the poor family are used to it it’s their normal.

Having savings when you have debt makes no sense, you’ll be paying more interest on the debt than you’re earning on the savings. Better to pay off the debt ASAP.

Its very much a subjective thing and reflects a persons life experience - I have a relative who panics and says they’re “skint” if their current account dips below £5k!!! They own their house mortgage free, holiday 4 times a year plus long weekends, have a new car every year and get a new phone every time the contract paying current phone ends, and have several other accounts with funds in! I think they’re fucking clueless myself as they also tend to bang on about BEING “skint” in front of MUCH worse off relatives. I think that’s in very poor taste and quite selfish!

Op in terms of the childhood and life you are giving your kids PLEASE don’t worry. I recently posted on another similar thread. I had horrific Christmases immediately after split from ex and worried myself sick about the effect on dd...

...she’s now almost 20, about to start uni, and while she certainly had her moments as a teen (they all do!) she is mostly a kind, capable, practical and independent adult!

When I discuss with her our memories of past hard times she doesn’t remember the bad stuff, she remembers how much fun we had having carpet picnics, making birthday cards for people, playing board games or card games, me teaching her the dances to “ancient” pop songs - “ancient” is apparently anything before 2005! 😂😂😂, playing I-spy while walking to the shops...

She is pretty good with money, could do a bit better but she’ll learn, is more practical than me! Partly from necessity as I can’t hang a picture straight! 😂 but also taught by me as I’ve taught her how to mend clothes etc and she can cook pretty well too.

I wish someone had reassured me I wasted so much time worrying!

I think it's easier when your dc are young but they get more expensive.

My ds started secondary school last year. Bog standard state school. No second hand uniform sales sadly. Blazer was £40...compulsory school bag £15...tie..£5...pe top £15. Rugby shirt £22...he lost it before he had even worn it so I had to repurchase. All these things were logo so couldn't buy cheap supermarket versions. On top of this he needed school trousers, shirts, jumpers, pe shorts and obviously school shoes, football boots with studs and indoor trainers...I started buying as soon as I knew which school he'd been given but it was a huge expense.

Thanks everyone :) I'm (hopefully) starting university next year, so by the time my DC are older kids and school I should have my degree and be starting my career. I won't ever forget this time though, it has taught me so much.

and in school*