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?

Your husband just needs time to get used to it and to see that that amount of money is definitely enough.

Jesus Christ Op. get a grip. You’ve posted to see how you would survive with ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS as spare?! What are you outgoings exactly? Two Chanel bags per month? A Birkin? Then not enough. Families are Familys redundancies, struggling to pay rent. Spare a thought for those on here perhaps.

@PestymcPestFace

It seems quite a generous amount of pocket money.

I think a lot of people will wonder how you have high paid jobs, if you really have the low level of critical thinking and empathy that your post indicates.

Very well said

Veiled brag

Of course it's enough. It's easily enough. Just budget it. Put aside generous set amounts for long term savings and a separate emergency fund (eg washing machine breaks, car needs repairing, cat gets ill etc) and some for a holiday, Christmas and birthdays fund. Whatever's left is for clothes, hobbies, treats, etc. It's way, way more than many people have who consider themselves comfortably off.

Ok you're really making me sick now OP. Jog on with all your cash and your boasting, you are truly horrible.

Yep, it's loads and loads.

Realistically, running even a modest car won't cost you much less than about £250 a month all-in [including depreciation and a maintenance reserve], so I might be tempted to re-estimate your disposable income down to say £1250 - but that's still plenty.

No. It won't be enough. You need to approach your local food bank.

But if you max out your ISA then you have no disposable income! Its about spending allocations and needs

@SunbathingDragon

After all fixed bills we still need to pay for possible hobbies, clothes, petrol (we have the option to not use the car too much if need be), occasionally eating out, holidays (we haven't had one for years), toys, birthdays, new bikes as kids grow etc etc..

The reality is £1,500 per month will very quickly go on all of that but everything you have listed there is an option you don’t need to pay anything for because none of it essential.

To be fair, clothes are pretty essential!

Op seriously, how did you not think this would offend anyone?
Your dh problem (and yours too I'm guessing) is that you're probably not used to SAVING up for holidays, Christmas etc. No, you can't pay for a family holiday etc all in one month so you save a bit each month.
But honestly, I just can't take you seriously.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers So our monthly fixed bills, living costs and food comes to £1,000 a month. And we earn £2,500 a month jointly.
So no, we are not big earners anymore, but do have small outgoings!

It is certainly enough. I have £300 per month disposable income (I'm single with no kids) and it is enough. I have a UK holiday each year, and can afford to eat out if I want. I understand it can be hard to adjust though. I used to earn more and it was a shock to the system to see less money coming in to my account each month. But I quickly realised that with the relocation (much lower housing costs here) I was still better off. Especially because if you've moved to a cheaper area the costs of other things are often also lower (eg meals out, cinema tickets, etc).

No I don’t mean those figures I mean how much do you think you spend on
Eating out
Kids activities
Birthdays
Petrol

After all bills? That's a ton. I barely have 300 a month and I don't feel poor - anything I want I can generally afford. And that's for two of us. Even with kids added in its enough to be very comfortable.

@Prufrocks

I think a lot of people will wonder how you have high paid jobs, if you really have the low level of critical thinking and empathy that your post indicates.

Precisely.

And it's a ditto here.

Well that's more than what I earn in a month so I'll swap my disposable income for yours if it helps. As for the "we don't earn much" well clearly you do if you have that much left over. Don't take us for fools, it makes you look worse than you already are.

If your DH is worried about what is and isn't affordable, you could each have 'pocket money' that is available to spend on yourselves after everything else is covered - maybe get something like a Starling account without an approved overdraft and pay the money in each month by standing order.

He can spend this without worrying whether or not it's affordable and when it's gone, it's gone until next month.

OP, I'll try and be helpful as I don't think your post was intended to be goady, boastie or other odd adjectives.

You might try and help your DP see your current position as a (possibly unintended, depending on the life event you mentioned) favourable financial destination that your previous hard work in the city enabled by achieving low living costs and enough earnings for your location. Not everyone I know in financial services got off the treadmill of high earnings, high spending, (high borrowing) at a favourable time.

You might ask your DP if he is uncomfortable to show how unwinding your current position and increasing earnings and costs by returning to the city rat race counter-factual would leave you better off.

I hope you both enjoy saving and spending your cushion.

It's pretty tight. I'm a single person and could not live on 1.5k a month, let alone as a family.

@raspberryk

That's roughly our family income for 2 adults 2 kids a dog and a cat. Funnily enough I think you'll be fine. I wouldn't say we go without anything.

Seriously?!?!? You'd get twice that on benefits for two adult & two kids

@OnlyFoolsnMothers I don't know how much.. We never used to budget for these things, just bought whatever we needed. We made this move before Covid, and obviously since then none of these things have happened. We used up all our saving during the four months that we had no income coming in, so having no savings and a lot less coming in is an adjustment..for DH, not for me...

Like I said, I think it's completely fine, but DH is the one who's worried..

I think a lot of people will wonder how you have high paid jobs

I'm not sure that a couple earning £20k each would be classed as "high paid". £20k lower than the median wage.

@Twatalert

It's pretty tight. I'm a single person and could not live on 1.5k a month, let alone as a family.

OP is referring to their DISPOSABLE income AFTER bills & mortgage - not full income!