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?

unless you have 2 quid a month and 1 chicken to feed family of 16, you don't post on MN asking about money

Sometimes it seems like that.

If OP had started a thread with a title along the lines of.. Ouch huge change in circumstances mean our disposable income has halved and DH is being an arse.. then she would have had far more favourable responses.

Myglorioushairdo there is some very good advice buried in this thread. Redo you budget including the running costs of the car and kids and then have a good chat with DH about how spare money should be spent and or saved. Money will be an issue until you are both of the same spreadsheet page.

@SantaClaritaDiet
You’re making a lot of assumptions about me are you not? I’ve always had a voluntary job alongside my work.
‘touching me’ no I’m not struggling but I have empathy for those who do unlike you.
Your attitude is the nasty one. No one is being bitter they are pointing out OP is fortunate and slightly tone deaf given current situation.

I conclude that my OP was worded wrong. Money left over after all essential fixed bills is not 'disposable income' when we need to cover all non-essentials too like petrol, toys, clothes etc.. In fact our true disposable income is fairly low when all these things have been paid for.

I actually lost my previous job due to covid and my DH was just starting to look for one after the move, so I do know financial stress. We have no savings left and have always played it safe before. That's why we never used to have holidays as we used it all to secure our big move.. Now we both work part-time as of since last month.. Boastful I'm definitely not..

Since you stated you have zero savings and are leaving several expenses out (clothes, petrol, children extra activity costs, etc), you don’t really have £1,500/mo “disposable income.” You need to budget for those expenses as well as unforeseen things like a another job loss or urgent car or home repair.

You need to bank as much of the rest of that as you can in savings and towards retirement.

To me, disposable income is what you have left over after ALL bills AND ALL savings goals have been met.

It still sounds like loads to me.

@Myglorioushairdo I would suggest your OH is worried because neither of you know how much disposable income you actually have.

Sit down and rebudget.

Some of my monthly costs are variable and/or non-essential, but I budget for them anyway. In a pinch, I could reduce/remove them, but I still count them out of monthly spends rather than my disposable allocation, because they are costs I expect to incur.

For me, disposable income is anything that hasn't been earmarked for a purpose, and that can't be predicted. For you, disposable income includes things like buying the kids clothes/shoes, even though you know you have to buy them throughout the year because children grow. Adults can stop buying clothes because they can stay the same size, but kids always need more stuff.

People are getting their knickers in a twist over words... you're not a well-off as they think, and even if you were, I don't see why being poor has to be a prerequisite to having a financial worry/question.

I’m surprised you think petrol and clothes are “nonessential”. Some petrol and some clothes may be surplus to need, but you can’t live without petrol (if you need a car as transportation) and you can’t live naked.

SBTLove
only on MN is someone going through a major change and worrying about it can be called "fortunate".

Why can't you show empathy for someone who is not in a great situation exactly? Just because someone is worst? Where do you stop?
No one is worthy of any human decency and help unless they are in the most horrendous situation, is that it?

Accusing someone of "stealth boast" when they are struggling is definitively a MN thing.

I would suggest your OH is worried because neither of you know how much disposable income you actually have.

This is a great point. Your lives have been in flux the past few months, you’ve had zero income for months, job loss, new job, big move from urban to rural. You’re still finding your feet. I think a budget meeting with your DH where you properly go through the incoming and outgoing is a great suggestion from @rainkeepsfallingdown

Why would your husband care what a bunch of random people on MN think?

I think you knew exactly what you meant and it's in really poor taste.

The thing is op, you have to change your lifestyle according to your income. Whereas before you may have bought new clothes and eaten out every week, now buy something new every other month and eat out once a month. If you want holidays then you have to save for it by putting money aside every month.

@SantaClaritaDiet
I think having in excess of £1000pm is not needing empathy, they made the choice to downsize and I’m sure knew the drop in income. There’s a balance between being in need and a wee change in the volume of cash you have to fritter away.

@AnxMummy10
Good point

@PlanDeRaccordement Petrol is non-essential because we have the option not to use the car. We live within a half an hour walking distance from most places we need to go to. We had to do it for a few weeks this summer when our car had a problem and I could only get it fixed last week.

Clothes are kind of non-essentials because we get given a lot of good quality hand-me-downs from older cousins, but for example shoes and outdoor clothing would be essential.

We exhausted all our savings during lockdown when we had no income at all and some expensive sudden costs happened at the same time.

Anyways, I misworded my OP. £1,500 is not our true disposable income at all. Also I'm desperate to start building our savings up again. Right now I have less than £10 on my account Fridge full of food though and pay day coming soon and now big bills coming our way again for a while.

@sapnupuas

I don't understand posts like these, other than "stealth" boasting.

No one on Mumsnet knows whether this is enough for you. No one. Only you know what you need a month so only you can know if you've got enough.

Honestly, these posts are sickening. Do you know how many people are struggling to live on close to nothing right now?

Fuck off. Just fuck off.

All of this.

@Whattodo1610

titchy ... car expenses £18,000 will definitely cover car expenses though 😂 ..... and OP also said she was able to use the car less if needs be. She could buy a new car every year with her disposable income and still have plenty left!

OP - the more you post the more you sound like you’re boast. Everyone has said you can more than manage ... I’d quit while you’re behind ...

Yes it probably would if she budgeted a regular amount. That said, using the car less isn't going to make that much of a difference is it - tax insurance and repairs are the same whether you drive a car once a week or several times a day.

That's more than I earn in a month, if that's the disposable bit then your DH needs to chill.

Considering our disposable household income is £200 a month, I consider anyone with £1500 to be really rich. It's all perspective, isn't it?

If this is for real then think about what you are asking. Is £350 a week enough money to piss up the wall.

With food bank usage going through the roof and only going to get worse this is a pretty insensitive question.

That seems like a fortune to me?

We live on around £200. It always gets sucked up busy something. Car repairs usually.

I'd love £1500 to spend!

@STBLove we knew our income was going to drop when downsizing. We didn't know I'd loose my job due to covid, we'd have to use up all our savings and only end up with new low-paid part time jobs each. Say whatever you like, earning £2,500 a month jointly as a couple is not much at all. We planned to have low outgoings that's true, and feeling very glad we did considering what has happened in the last six months.

I don't know your circumstances, but I also don't understand why people are so eager to attack others like this. I'm fairly thick-skinned though, so fortunately not easily upset by anonymous comments online..

Are you kidding? That’s double what we have spare as a family of 5 and we’re fine.

Isn't Katie Price 's debts in excess of £800K
and Fergie around £4.2 million at one point?

Just because some survive on £2 a month and a chicken doesn't mean you can't go into catastrophic financial situation whilst having a bit more. Not cutting down is a recipe for disaster, who cares if you still have a bit more than someone else.

Budget and track to the penny, and cut down.

Say whatever you like, earning £2,500 a month jointly as a couple is not much at all.

unless you are a MNtter and use that to buy chicken of course