Is anyone else always always skint?

[emptym]

We budget to an inch of our lives but for years we've always been skint. Everything I buy I always need to check if we have enough money for it. I can't just go out and buy the kids clothes when theyve outgrown them. I can't just get a new front door fitted because it's been leaking for 2 years. There's so many other things we need that are deemed more essential that it will probably stay like that for a further 2 years. We have a household income of £35k gross. We shouldn't be this skint.

There are people out there who have to decide whether to feed themselves or their kids today and you're crying about overpaying on the mortgage?!

God, you'll be moaning about having to slum it in Iceland for the food shop next.

@Megan2018

Same. Our outgoings are just too high compared to our income (which is higher than most circa £70k). Ironically I’ll be better off retired in terms of cash. They aren’t things we can change for the foreseeable (old horse that costs the earth, childcare) so it’s just a case of keep on plodding.

I got paid last Friday, all bills paid by 1st. Aside from food budget (separate account for this) we have £2.93 left until payday. Ho hum.

Your household income is circa 70k and you're skint? Did I read that wrong?

It’s as low as it’s possible to be with two full time wages. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it touted as a ‘good income’ on MN. I think people have no idea of minimum wage rates

Have I missed the part where OP states they both work FT? Maybe they do but I suspect not 9/10 times a ‘household income’ in this bracket is thrown around on MN it’s not 2 FT workers.

Also given the tone of this thread ‘berries, takeaways, mortgage repayments...but can’t clothe the kids’ I suspect it’s not 2 McDonalds workers trying to scrape by on £7.50 an hour.
The standards and priorities sound a little off to me.

Not sure which button to press! YANBU to struggle on that income but YABU to prioritise overpayments over clothing and essential household maintenance.

DH and I have a monthly "allowance" of £50 each for our own spending for clothes, personal essentials etc

We never had £50 each to spend when we were really skint. If you have £100 and can over pay the mortgage then you aren’t really skint.

A mortgage is generally extremely low interest. Why would you overpay when you are struggling to buy clothing for your children?

We're actually skint because we overpay the mortgage.

Then don't overpay. You want it gone but at what cost?

@CherryCherries
No you didn’t. As I said we have ongoing financial commitments that exceed our income. It is what it is until those change.
As an example my poor old horse has cost me £1300 this month in vets bills. I can’t afford her anymore (had her when I was young, single and childless). But I’m not going to have her shot. Big financial burden though at the moment.

We also had an unexpected baby in our 40’s just after we’d blown our savings on moving house. Mat leave has crippled us financially and it’s going to take years to recover from because of childcare costs. No regrets, love DD more than life. But could we technically afford her in 2020? No.

Stop overpaying mortgage. You will be far richer in your 50s and 60s than you are now. Why suffer now to be rich and old.

I was like that for a very long time so I sympathise with you. Life was tough. Like you, I didn't really understand why because we both worked. We did make some bad decisions, eg our first house was a doer upper and ate money.

All I can say is it doesn't last forever, things will improve. At least you have your house, some people are equally hard up and don't own a brick!

I don't know where you live (haven't yet read the entire thread), but £35k pa joint income is not much. There might not be anything you can do about that.

No - but being a single person on one income I do have to watch my expenditure which luckily has gone down a bit in recent years.

My income could certainly do with improvements but what I've saved since WFH and not travelling to work every day which has been significant has made me think of lots more re future jobs. and buying loads of useless stuff I'd buy on way to work, lunches out, Pret etc

Don't overpay the mortgage then. It's a choice. In fact, it's a luxury.

This is why people are always skint though, because you perceive a luxury as an essential.

its a good idea to overpay a mortgage when interest rates are low. Not only will you pay less interest in the end, you are prepared for higher mortgage payments if interest rates go up.

I overpay my mortgage every month too - but if I have a particulalry skint month I will hold back the overpay for a bit of wiggle room elsewhere in the budget.

OP it might help to think about how your CHOOSE to over pay the mortgage. Have you tried YNAB for budgeting? Have you considered not overpaying for a few months to give yourselves a breather? I earn a bit more than you but I still have to check the budget before buying kids new clothing/shoes etc. We can only spend our money once.

Damn. I clicked YANBU before I read that you’re skint cos you’re overpaying the mortgage. That’s your choice surely?

@Aliceandthemarchhare

She said ‘skint’ not ‘struggling.’

There is a difference.

Fair enough. She wouldn't be skint though as people have said if she wasn't overpaying the mortgage.

I just think this is a bit thoughtless given that there are people who can't even meet their basic financial commitments.

Are you winding us OP?! I actually hope you are as you clearly have no idea what "skint" actually means or looks like in reality.

its a good idea to overpay a mortgage when interest rates are low. Not only will you pay less interest in the end, you are prepared for higher mortgage payments if interest rates go up

It's really not. You can often get more interest elsewhere and keeping the money back gives you more flexibility, eg available for big purchases instead of more expensive borrowing.

@doomonic

Just don't overpay the mortgage 🤷🏻‍♀️

This!!

With interest rates so low, it's madness to overpay if it leaves you unable to get through each month without a struggle.

Then don’t overpay it - how bizarre.

Don't over pay your mortgage. It may make economic sense long term but there's no point in being unhappy now for the sake of jam tomorrow. I'm surprised you can afford to over pay, frankly. Despite being hard up, you are obviously a good manager.

Sorry OP but I can’t understand why you budget £100 a month for extras for you and your OH if you struggle to buy your children new clothes when they need them? Surely they need new clothes more often than you do?

Could neither of you seek better paid work? If you’re both on roughly £16k a year that’s not a huge salary for FT?

its a good idea to overpay a mortgage when interest rates are low. Not only will you pay less interest in the end, you are prepared for higher mortgage payments if interest rates go up

Nope & particularly not if it leaves you skint

I agree about affordable housing. When I was growing up, the majority of us lived in rented properties and when we were getting married in 85, we were 19 and 20, we were offered several different properties to rent from HA. We decided to buy though.
Renting was a small part of your outgoings back and before then.
I feel its wickedness the way housing is so scarce now, it puts hardworking families on the breadline and also has given social housing a bad name. Years ago, your home was your pride and joy, whether council or rented.

You're overpaying the mortgage and that's why you're skint. What exactly do you want from this??