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?

@ALLIS0N damnit..I tried to be clever

What would that £1500 disposable income usually be spent on? I think it's spreadsheet time

Gambling and other naughty things that you don't tell anyone about .

Money can easily get frittered away if you don't plan. Is he buying lunch everyday? Coffee etc? Is he always the first person to buy a round?

I actually felt sorry for you at first but your last reply makes you sound like this is just a boast. Something to enjoy winding people up with. Is this your new freebie hobbie while you struggle to get by? Do yourself a favour and stop embarrassing yourself, you are starting to look very, very thick.

Hilarious Many of us manage with much less... I have 200 a month left for myself and two children after bills have been paid so yes you most definately can
.. Clearly your husband is used to being in a very good position and good for him but the actual question is ridiculous

@onlyfoolsnmothers when my DH was in a different job to now we were spending hundreds on petrol. We both had to commute for quite a while. OP hasn't included lots of her monthly fixed costs in that figure so it isn't disposable income at all. If it was just for going out, clothes and takeaways it would be loads of spare cash. We definitely have a lot less than that disposable but I account for all car costs (even annual ones spread out into monthly saving) before working out what disposable income we have.

Money can easily get frittered away if you don't plan. Is he buying lunch everyday? Coffee etc? Is he always the first person to buy a round?

£1500 in a month is a lot of frittering.

Our household income for a family of 4 is £2k. That covers mortgage, car, bills, food, everything. It’s enough.

No that is simply not enough. I live on my own and have similar amount. For a family of 4 it should be at least double!!!

If you or DH are worried about money, then rather than comparing with other people, maybe you should look at building up your savings? Assuming you have no debts or paying off a mortgage if you have one?

£1500 is a lot to spend on extras after bills and I would set up a regular standing order to a savings account and having a financial cushion will provide some sense of security. As others have said this isn’t really the best place to post a money issue. There is the money matters board on there or various boards on Money Savings Expert.

It all goes

This is the bit that stood out. Either your non negotiable expenses are higher than you admit (car and household repairs should be included in an annual budget even if not required every month). Or, you are just frittering on crap - I must say I'm surprised you say you have £1500 left over but "haven't had a family holiday in years". Why not?

@SantaClaritaDiet completely disagree. If you can't budget on £1500 on disposable income in a month then you are living beyond your means.
I (as well as a lot of people looking at the replies) find these type posts to be 'show off' style posts to boast about how much money they have.
If that isn't the case then I would suggest speaking to a financial advisor to address your spending/saving habits

You didn’t mean to offend anyone? You have £1500 pm to play with and you’re worried?
Millions have lost jobs, potentially going to lose their homes and your whinging about have nearly £400 a week to treat yourself??
Shut up 🙄

Do you save out of that? To be honest with covid, there’s not an awful to do at the moment. Depends if you get your nails, hair done, buy expensive clothes, have expensive hobbies.
Are there things you can’t do because it’s not enough? That’s where the answer lies.

If you can't budget on £1500 on disposable income in a month then you are living beyond your means.

well, quite, but that has nothing to do with a stealth boast!
As above, the "disposable income" was not disposable at all to start with.

The OP was right to wonder and really need to get their finance in order because they get in trouble.

The misery bunch who are bitter because they think someone has more than they have is getting boring.

Have you thought about taking in some ironing?

To add; financial stress isn’t having no income and savings to fall back on, financial stress is debt, no income, no food for your kids, no light at the end of the tunnel.
Really fed up now of these posts from ppl with no idea of hardship.

SBTLove
oh go away, there has always been people in horrendous situation, this forum is all about so-called "first word problem" - you and the bitter lot just didn't care because misery was not touching you directly.

The financial situation of the OP is not great, worth a thread and a few good pieces of advice.

Really fed up now of these posts from ppl with no idea of hardship.

from someone living in a country with "free" access to education, medical help, financial help, shelter and food help, benefits... oh the irony

Good idea LovelyLovelyme. Also selling a few bits on eBay can help when times are hard.

Have i misread or missed a post? I thought OP said she hadn't included any car related outgoings, mot, service, insurance, tax and petrol certainly add up if you split the annual costs monthly.

Jesus fucking christ. Dip into your disposable income and buy your DH a grip. I somehow manage to cope on £1,112 a month for me and 2 DC - to cover rent, bills, food, clothes etc. Everything gets covered by that amount. And none of us have so far died. We even occasionally do nice things too.

'boiled down to'? I'm sorry, but I can't get over that unfortunate phrasing. I'm really not trying to play 'the MN chicken that lasts for six months feeding a family of ten' game here, but jesus fucking christ. I'd swap my total income for your disposable one in a sodding heartbeat, even if it meant I had to live with your DH.

@SantaClaritaDiet
Aren’t you the kind one🙄 why don’t you go away back to your bubble.
I volunteer at a community response team
and I can assure you it’s not a land of easy benefits and free goodies.

@SantaClaritaDiet how would you know if I had more or less than the OP? I am in no way bitter because I have no reason to be.

Just an FYI having less money than others doesn't make you a lesser person nor are people with lower incomes jealous or 'bitter' of others with more than them financially. Money doesn't bring happiness, love or joy to people and certainly doesn't make you a better person 🙄

Why are people so nasty? People live in different circumstances, some people are crap with money and some aren't. The OP hasn't been goady or nasty and has just asked for advice.

DH and I earn good salaries but we budget for every monthly cost we know about and are left with a quarter of that disposable income. We do account for kids activities, car costs and a small amount for clothes/shoes/uniform/sports equipment.

Indeed, the OP left out most of the essential bills. So whilst they can be ok, they really need to budget carefully.

Only on MN someone with a change in their financial situation and worried about it can be accused of "stealth boast". It's pathetic.

Ladybird345

YOU might not be bitter, but the posters above insulting the OP who is concerned - and rightly so - following a change in circumstance clearly ARE bitter.