To ask if you worry about money and budgeting?

[1988TBT]

Off the back of a thread I wrote the other day about VAT and general worrying about this. I’ve since been worrying a bit about numbers and having enough money etc. Im a good budgeted and I’m sure I’ll be fine, I’m just worried about not having enough put by to cover surprise tax bills

It made me think… In 2021 post covid life how many of you worry about money and having enough on a regular basis?

For context I’m a single mum of 3, fortunate to live in lowish rent council accommodation so although not my own home ot is at least secure and not astronomical rent.

I know that 2 parent families with a six figure income will probably be In a hugely different financial situation to myself. So I guess I’m relating this a little more to parents in a similar boat to me. But all opinions and comments welcome x

I worry all the time. We are lucky to both have full time jobs but with three kids and a boy mortgage we always have to scrimp in order to afford luxuries. It causes issues because I will buy the lowest price and bargain hunt whereas my other half will purchase the 'best' . I worry that the cost of food and energy is going up so much and I worry that the kids will never be able to afford their own home. One child is SEN which is a particular worry. What's the answer?!

Big mortgage

Worry a lot. For 3-4 days out of each week we have less than a pound in our account.
What can you do though 🤷‍♀️

Yes I do.

By Mumsnet standards we are on a lowish income for the SE. And we have a relatively large mortgage to pay off.
I am not amazing at budgeting, but we are not big spenders either, I guess that a lot of things we enjoy doing are cheap or free. We are able to save money each month and so have a pot which has about 6 months worth of bills, which is for emergencies only. That pot helps me feel secure.

I’m not great at budgeting and overspend most months but we have reasonably good salaries and aren’t struggling.

Tax bills are not surprises though - they are calculable and should be allowed for.

I am good at budgeting when needed and we both have good jobs but even as my pay grows my worry continues.

We had nothing growing up and as an adult still struggled. I can’t get out of that mind set.

Not really. I have a well paid and quite secure job, DP does not but he is training in some in-demand skills. We have a fairly cheap lifestyle other than SE mortgage and no DC yet. There is still room to cut our budget back and we can delay TTC until finances recover if need be. But doing things that are mocked on MN have allowed us to build up some savings, like eating lentils and avoiding using the heating.

I worry, but I use that worry to make sure I keep on top of our money situation each month, so I know how careful we need to be with our spending. We're (2 adults and 1 toddler) just on my salary as my husband is at uni retraining - it'll be good for us in the end but it is tight right now.

I don't worry on a daily basis but I like to be organised. I worry about my disabled child's future with this rubbish government and the decisions they make.

Great at budgeting, getting increasingly rubbish at sticking to it. Young child so constantly tired and will regularly say "bollocks to it, let's get a takeaway" despite having just been to the supermarket and assiduously bought all the best deals!

One thing I would say: I'm self employed and there is no such thing as a "surprise" tax bill (other than the payment on account when you first start) - tax is tax, it's always there and you get plenty of notice about when to pay it. I see a lot of people in my employment moan about tax as if it's some sort of big secret that comes out of nowhere on Jan 31st. It's easy to estimate the tax on every bit of income and put to one side?

Sorry I didn’t meant surprise tax bill, more the remembering to put it by. It’s my first year self employed and I’ll have to pay on account this year which is a bigger chunk than normal but just remind don’t myself that I must speculate to accumulate

The payment on account is a nightmare! But only a one off... And you get it back when you retire... So never!