1,5k disposable income a month is enough

[Myglorioushairdo]

AIBU to think that a disposable income of £1,500 a month is enough for a family of four? That is after all living costs, fixed monthly bills and food/household essentials.
DH and I were a bit unfortunate and made a major life change just before the pandemic, and this is what our household income has now been boiled down to.

DH is majorly stressed out and says its not enough, I say it's OK for now. We are able control all the other costs with careful planning and even save a bit! We don't live in a big city and our kids are still primary school age. What do you think?

I love with my two children and have less disposable income than that. Quite a bit less. So yes. You'll probably just have to adjust your spending down a little (or a lot? I don't know) until you can get back on track. Sure you'll be fine.

*live with

And I was not offended by your question.

The vast majority of people aren’t offended by this thread and the OP did not originally ask for budgeting advice.

The OP also didn’t say she was worried about the money; she said her husband did.

My advice isn’t being given because I am offended. My advice is that if her husband is genuinely worried about money then he has a skewed notion of how much money they realistically need.

Other people pointing out how much money their family lives on might give him a better sense of perspective and value what he does have. Because ultimately, what’s the point of having money for holidays, birthday presents etc. If you don’t really appreciate having that money?

You can budget all you want but if you don’t value what you have, you’re going to make yourself unhappy and put strain on your family.

There’s an awful lot of figures flying around about wages, but the only one that is accurate is average household income, because few families have two full time workers.

As for Mumsnet being middle class, that is just a sneery remark that gets thrown about. There are plenty of ordinary people on here.

On 27 August someone started a thread similar to this one but their disposable income was £1600!!

Don't panic about the extra £100 OP but if you do a search you might find the advice on how to organise a budget helpful...good luck!

They also kept apologising profusely about not wanting to cause offence. I don't think it's a bad thing to ask but it looks like you are as well off as you were before so it's a bit confusing as to what your problem really is iyswim.

@netsybetsy problem is DH 😅
I do get it now, it seems like a lot of 'disposable' money, but it kind of isn't when life hits you. Car repairs, house repairs, things kids want/need.. We were both expecting salaries of about £2,500 month EACH initially when planning this move and now we earn that jointly... But anyways.. Covid happened and we've got to count our blessings..

Good God, some people don't even have £10.50 spare after bills and food each month.

it seems like a lot of 'disposable' money, but it kind of isn't when life hits you. Car repairs, house repairs, things kids want/need..

Yes I understand life is expensive and kids must cost a lot (I don't have any) so I'd really be looking to save some of your disposable income as a financial cushion.

It's all about balancing your books at the end of the day. Your disposable income will have to be enough m. You can think of the best/most creative ways of spending that to get the most value out of it. For some it would be trips to places, whatever - every family is different.

#sendingthoughtsandprayers OP

I'm not sure what lifestyle change you made that has created this issue.

Was it moving out of London and getting less well paid jobs or have you both lost your jobs and got jobs now paying less?

The problem you have partly (excluding Covid) is that you have possibly not saved enough for the rainy days. Maybe paying off your mortgage seemed a good idea but not if it leaves you vulnerable when unemployment hits.

Many people prefer to keep a small and affordable mortgage ticking over and saving the rest each month.

BUT if you were spending freely each month pre Covid, were you being a bit extravagant? Because £400 a week now, with no mortgage, bills and food paid for, seems pretty okay to me.

As I say, I think you have done the classic thing of putting a lot of money into a mortgage when some should have been saved.

1,500 spare is plenty for 'life hitting you're fgs

you'

Also I'm sure having all that wr montj will woman savings you can use it something breaks! Most people savings isnt even 1,500 and you have that every month. What a ridiculous thread, YABU

per month will mean savings* sorry my phone malfunctioning (unfortunately don't have that kind of spare cash to dip into to replace it)

@Yesterdayforgotten

per month will mean savings* sorry my phone malfunctioning (unfortunately don't have that kind of spare cash to dip into to replace it)

At leats you have a smartphone. Many people don't even have that

To answer my own question, if you had zero income for 4 months but at the same time had no outgoing, other than food and bills, and you now have no savings, your savings must have been quite small.

Food for a family with 2 young children, utility bills, fuel.....surely you could manage that on £1K a month? Which suggests your savings pot was small.

Our aim was always to have 6-12 months gross income in savings, I'd saved since I had a part time job as a student, and we always had a good nest egg to tide us over, by being careful.

Whatever happens next, you need to make saving a priority.

Check out YNAB. 'you need a budget' app. It will guide you through budgeting for everything, then you really know what is 'disposable' to spend.

OP I understand. The thing is it's more the drop in income that's the issue.
I'm in the same boat except we're now £1k a month disposable income but we do spend too much. We've over spent terribly last year mainly in holidays and this year dh lost his bonus due to Covid so we're having to think about money for the first time in a while. What I find that does help reassure me is to look at all outgoings plus estimates of any you know are coming up then work them out over a year and divide by 12. If you've spent over that you'll need to reassess the situation. I incorporate estimates for things like flat tyres and everything I can think of as well to be on the safe side.

I know you're saying you're ok with it but for me the worry is we used to spend a lot more every month then all of a sudden we have to think about it and maybe your dh is like me in needing reassurances that we are definitely not overspending each month because it was a lot easier when we didn't need to worry and it didn't matter what we bought it never made us worry. It's just a worry I suppose it isn't necessarily a valid worry but it's there all the same.

@SchrodingersImmigrant oh yes we are very lucky arent we all. I certainly wouldn't create a thread like this and I don't have disposable income atm

You wouldn't. But others would. There is nothing about not talking about money if you have more than a tenner in the rules. Different people have different issues with different amount of money🤷🏻

Seriously people on MN are ridiculous sometimes.

Op I think your sentiment is sound.
I’m a highish earner but with a ton of outgoings/commitments (property/investment related) so I don’t have lots of cash to play with. And so I have to be always careful to not overspend my means. I think you are not being unreasonable with your hypothesis but it requires discipline from everyone to work.

We'd consider ourselves rich if we had all of that.

These threads always go the same way You’re being insensitive if you talk about being a high earner.

Some of us earn a lot, some of us are wealthy. Why can we not talk about it?

@LongPauseNoAnswer

These threads always go the same way You’re being insensitive if you talk about being a high earner.

Some of us earn a lot, some of us are wealthy. Why can we not talk about it?

Because misery loves company.

I think it's fairly common for relatively well off people to not quite grasp that they are actually pretty well off.

Remember this guy?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/question-time-video-man-top-earners-tax-percent-80000-explained-a9213351.html