To wonder how ppl do it...afford it all?

[wishywashyy]

How do ppl (I mean the average joe!) afford everything? I know, I know situations are different BUT in general
Mortgage
Car payments (usually 2!)
Childcare
Savings
And general living

It doesn't add up
Mortgage/council tax on average would be what? 700-800?
Car payments x2 600?
Childcare (let's just say one lot) approx 1000
That's 1400 alone at least!
Saving? I suppose that's depending
General living? Another 800-1k
So That's 2k
Then there's other bills which would be 500ish
That's 2.5k in total

That's a take home of about 40k! Gone! And no savings!

I'm baffled and freaked out at the thoughts!!!

I often think the same OP ! I work full time and I don’t earn anywhere near the average. My husband also works full time and is the same. I sometimes wonder if I’ve just missed a trick somewhere ! I try not to compare us to others as u just don’t know other folks circumstances or debt etc ... anyways I’d Best Buy a lottery ticket I think that’s my only hope... only kidding !!

800-1k gwnwral soending is insane! More like £200 between us and thats meals out, trets, everything. We arent big spenders but i cannot imagine spending anytjing close to 800 every month.

One car for the family and it is on old car. New car isnt essential and def dont need those payments. In context we could go to the Maldives every year for the sake of that sort of money.

But if you want a lifestyle where you have all that and spemd that kind of money thats up to you, if you cant afford it you jeed to work out what youd rather have.

For context, we could afford all tbat but we dont want it, its not important to us.

I earn about £2k a month, so certainly not a fortune! Manage to save about £400 a month, so live on £1600.

The thing that jumped out at me was the car payments... I'm always "saving up" for the next car... I've never had new. I pay 6-8k to own a secondhand car outright. These £20k cars people take finance on... Absolutely not!

@wishywashyy i think you have double counted bills under General living and then again underneath as a seperate line.

So your total is 2k

@ovensoff

I think salaries are overinflated by average wages. The average household income is £29k which fits more with what I see in my life. I do not know how anyone can spend £1000 in general living expenses after bills. We spend about £400 a month on food. We do not spend £600 a month on everything else.

I think do quite easily. I spend about £600 a month on food for 2 adults 4 children that includes packed lunches for all 4 (my you gest now has to take a packed lunch to nursery) we could spend less but that's not extragent in my opinion. We shop between Tesco and aldi and includes some treats and some beer and wine. Then we spend £200 a month on diesel for our cars so that just leaves £200 a month for everything else. A few clothes, a takeaway or meal out and it's gone

I would also never have a car load. We splashed out and bought a car for just under £10k. We have one car and will have that for at least 8 years.
I think a lot of people waste money. I would rarely buy takeaway drinks, I buy decent clothes that I wear for years and years. We buy decent furniture that lasts 20 plus years.

@Jmaho 4 children is more than average, I can see how you spend that.

@TwoAndAnOnion prescriptions are free if you’re on a low income. Nor is it necessary usually to take time off - I’ve never taken time off work for a GP appointment. Especially nowadays as they are doing phone appointments.

We only have one income (DH's) at the moment but luckily it's quite high. Have high mortgage payments (multiple of what the OP stated) but we are in London. No childcare costs. Only one car. Love camping holidays. Used to have 2 decent incomes which enabled us to get onto the property ladder.
I''m planning to return to work, so will hopefully be earning again soon.

What I do wonder though is what people are planning for old age. Paying enough into a pension fund? Hoping for an inheritance? Downsize? Combination of the 3?

We lived near to our workplaces so had one v old car (which was owned) and could probably have managed without a car as we didn't need to use it much.
Childcare provided by family. Only one child.
Mortgage small by today's standards at £250.

I think a lot of families have significant help from parents/inheritances either in cash or childcare.

One car, bought outright for two of us.

Mortgage £550 - didnt max out our borrowing to keep it low.

Mortgage + council tax = 700
Car payment = £180 (with 2 months to go) dh car bought for around £2k for cash
We've never used full time childcare. With mat leaves plus fitting shift patterns around each other we've got off lightly. I know loads of people who use a gp for 1-2 days a week and some people who only use family. The free places at 2.5 were a big help.
I spend £100/week on food. I could spend less but I love food and cook loads. Dcs and I take lunch to work/school.
My dcs all stopped activities for lockdown, saved a fortune
The people I know who have flash cars and holidays have tiny mortgages from buying before the early naughtiest boom. It's MUCH harder for younger people
Idk what £1k of general living is. I buy quite a lot of books but our days out tend to be parking and ice cream costs. We occasionally get a takeaway. Sil and bil eat out loads. They easily spend £300 a week eating out. I spend less than that a year. I guess it's when stuff goes wrong plus things like MOTs and school trips etc. We used to go to the pantomime every year when dcs were little. Easily £150.

800-1k gwnwral soending is insane! More like £200 between us and thats meals out, trets, everything. We arent big spenders but i cannot imagine spending anytjing close to 800 every month. But that's including food isn't it? Our shopping bill is probably 500-600. Add in dance classes of £45 and baby group of £25, a family meal out £50, trip to the zoo the other day was about £75 all in, and that's without clothes, magazines, trip to MacDonalds (£15) or a coffee shop (£20), a second larger trip like the zoo, new shoes, uniforms, savings for Christmas and Birthdays etc

5 kids, I don't work as childcare would cost more than I could earn. Husband works full time. Mortgage and all bills on a 5 bed detached - £2k per month, including food. Husband earns just shy of £40k. I get child benefit and Carer's Allowance (disabled daughter), £550 per month. 2 cars, both paid off with savings.

Gives us £1k per month for birthdays/Christmas/clothes etc. Whatever's left gets saved.

@silvergoblin have you checked whether you're getting all the help you can? If you're too I'll to work are you entitled to PIP or whatever IlUC version of income support is now? Is DH entitled to WTC to top up his low income? You also need to see if you're entitled to free prescriptions and dental care altho get it still requires his fare to get there

Mortgage and one loan payment for car are just under 2k a month, my salary basically covers all our bills ex. food and DP's salary covers food and whatever else we choose to buy/do that month. Our second car we bought at 3 years old, it's now 15 years old. No children or childcare to factor in, but if we did then we'd definitely have to cut back on frittering/meals out/clothes shopping which we are quite guilty of.

Once the car loan is paid off, we'll be remortgaging and start to overpay (house price rises will have helped our LTV now but can't be sure that will last forever!). Car at that point should still be worth at least 20k looking at current used values, so will be ours to keep/trade in/do whatever with. I think the biggest trap a lot of people fall into is PCP, we've never bought into that as seen many friends come unstuck at renewal time!

[quote PattyPan]@TwoAndAnOnion prescriptions are free if you’re on a low income. Nor is it necessary usually to take time off - I’ve never taken time off work for a GP appointment. Especially nowadays as they are doing phone appointments.[/quote]
A lot of people are 'JAM's - we were for years, never qualified for free prescriptions, therefore I didn't go to the GP unless it was around payday because I couldn't afford it when I was paying for full-time childcare.

If you need sick leave, it isn't always paid leave a lot of people cannot afford 3 days of unpaid leave.

Employees are only eligible for Statutory Sick Pay on the fourth day of their illness. The first three days are known as 'waiting days'. Employers are obliged to start paying SSP from the fourth day of illness – also known as the fourth 'qualifying day'.

www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/entitlement

Many people have charmed lives and don't need to worry about the above.

Two parents working full time

@AdriannaP

Two parents working full time

If i think about families at school and friends etc I do find that the majority of those who appear to be very comfortable are where both parents work full time. I do though have a couple of friends who are SAHMs but their husband have very decent salaries as they are in management positions and put in a lot of hours. But they are paid very good basic salaries and get huge bonuses. The downside is that they are out of the house early and home after the children are in bed

Why would anyone be paying £1200 a month in car payments?!?

I would by a far far cheaper car(s)

@Lumene

Why would anyone be paying £1200 a month in car payments?!?

I would by a far far cheaper car(s)

I think it was 2*300=600

Childcare costs are temporary. After that, you can start saving again.

2 persons in work is better than one because you can 2 sets of personal income tax allowances, rather than one. 2 persons in work (even if working at a loss during childcare years) is better long term because for the second earner, staying on the career ladder allows them to keep up pension payments and a decent salary and ask for pt/flex working until they are ready to gear up again for promotions and salary increases. Don't underestimate how much 'savings' you build up just by not having a break in employment for the second earner (usually woman).

I'm amazed that despite 7 pages, there hasn't been one mention of pension. Are people not paying towards one? Or are most people talking of net income after their pension payment, in which case, posters are earning above the average.

If posters are paying only towards one pension or none, then that's a massive miss from everyone's budget.

@vivainsomnia IME well-off people pay a lot into pensions, those who are not pay the minimum or nothing.

Or are most people talking of net income after their pension payment, in which case, posters are earning above the average.

I see pension like tax as in it comes out before I see the money so would never include it.