To be struggling to survive on 65k household income

[Soddinghell]

By the time we have paid mortgage, phone bills, bills car insurance, kids activities etc we barely have anything left. I don’t know what’s going on. DH earns 50k and I earn 15k part time. Please somebody help me I am thinking of going full time to stay afloat, I don’t know where we are going wrong, we are not in London or an expensive area, just outside manchester and people keep telling us we should be fine. We are not though!

I said 'near unlimited everything' for £10 a month.

Dozens of 10 Gb+ data plans, which is absolutely loads, plus calls and texts from about £8

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only-filters/,

The list also had £40 of home broadband, which is also well above the minimum available, so its not like its the only source of data for the household.

Obviously you need a phone as well, but that doesn't need to cost much. My last one was on a Prime Day deal for £150 reduced from £250 for a decent spec Samsung and I sold my old one that I'd had for 3 years for £60, so my cost of owning a phone over the last few years was about £3 a month.

BUT THEY WERE NOT WHEN THEY MADE THE CHOICE TO TAKE THEM ON

They also weren’t struggling with constantly increasing costs, high inflation etc when they took them on. Should OP apologise for not having a crystal ball.

This has got ready judgey. I can well believe that someone on a family income of £65k would struggle with the nursery years - we still found it tight despite higher wages and used savings to top up at the height of the costs. Our household income will reach a similar point next year due to some long planned choices and I'm still worried about it because everything is getter more expensive, despite having a sensible savings buffer.

An awful lot of people have stretched themselves based on the last 20 years things being cheap. It's pretty disgusting judging them based on life experience with high interest rates that in some cases happened before they were born. How on earth are they meant to have known to anticipate what that means?!

I bet the people judging this would also be the ones judging those trying to have babies later because they couldn't afford the house and childcare without really stretching themselves. So glad for them being able to predict the future, not just being lucky at the right time...

What would be the incentive to go into careers that require a lot of training and responsibility if you didn't earn more? It's not about working harder or anything as plenty of lower paid people work bloody hard in challenging jobs; but just curious about why having people that earn is an issue. Sure big corps on huge money or whatever, but a consultant for example no one would touch that with a barge pole if it was similarly paid to other jobs.

Yes fine,

but to get rid of pets and car, and also and mocking for existing debt.

Then get rid of all activities etc ?

Some of that can be removed for sure, but some of that advice is just rubbish.

And we have no TV subscriptions in our house either - just Netflix. No sky, no other paid for TV at all.

I can’t believe some of the snide remarks directed at this poor OP.

FFS, can we not call other posters slow and dim? It completely undermines any point you are trying to make. This is a forum and if you can't have a discussion without personally attacking someone else you need to have a word with yourself.

This! 💯

“WTF is the UK coming to when people are blaming ordinary people for buying ordinary things.”

I bet Johnson, Truss, Mogg et al won’t be sat knitting jumpers to keep their families warm.
Perhaps if they and their cronies stopped fleecing the country with expenses claims and dodgy companies, there’d be more for the rest of us.
Their party is in no position to lecture us on frugal living.

Leaving aside all the arguments, it's a huge risk to spend all your money on your current lifestyle when you have a decent income and can afford to put some money aside for a rainy day as well as having nice things and experiences.

That shouldn't be too hard for anyone to work out and put into practice.

Dozens of 10 Gb+ data plans, which is absolutely loads, plus calls and texts from about £8

Yes, enough for you maybe!

My kids use their phones and data at school (for work btw, not just browsing) and 10GB per month would not allow for that.

So your statement doesn’t hold true for everyone.

Nobody below a certain age calls Or texts btw.

You seem not to realise this. They give it out for free because it costs them nothing as it’s under utilised.

It is not a problem having people earn plenty, but there is a point where the gap between top and bottom is too wide. You could read The Spirt Level if you cared.

But I am not arguing for that poster to have lower wages, I am just pointing out that their taxation funds the very system that delivers those wages in the first place. So they are paying in to keep getting out. Tax is not a charitable donation - it is a rational investment in a society that supports our way of life.

But if they cannot understand everyone's circumstances are changing, not just the lower income individuals, they are a bit dim. I don't see that that poster was wrong to point it out.

Someone asked for help and support and although many are supportive some responses are a disgrace. How do we know the OP's situation or how desperate they are? What we do know is that they have left this thread possibly never to return. Why when someone is desperate enough to post on here are there some who cannot wait to put the boot in.

She wasn’t wrong to point it out.

There are some real arseholes on here this morning tbh.

It’s your single track mind that results in responses such as this.

You can live off one car easily, just car share or use public transport.

Nonetheless, the answer is you have to make decisions yourself to cut costs from your own budget. If you don’t then you’ll go broke.

Simples.

Can the outgoings be cut down? Of course they can. Should they have to be in this day and age? No.

"POOR FINACIAL PLANNING" - 95% of the country is in debt in some way. Don't be so naive.

"£1200 ON XMAS PRESENTS?" - Have you ever had children? A £600 games console for one child could take half this budget. Then £600 left for the parents to get each other something for Christmas, any other children's presents, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, Christmas decorations, Christmas food. Be serious. But we already know your answer back to his "Don't buy them a games console the". Ok, we'll just buy them a colouring book and some crayons.

"SAVING FOR HOLS YET PAYING OFF DEBTS?" - Sorry, are you not allowed to take your children away on holiday if you have debt? Sorry kids, we can never take you away to experience a holiday until the mortgage is paid off in 30 years.

Did you even read my post???
Every household is different, and no family should be compared to the next. No-one should be comparing themselves to your situation to try and put you down OP.

This. This is it. This is why we can’t have solidarity and improve everyone’s situation. If OP’s household income was £15K then people would be telling her that frost on the inside of her windows was a perfectly acceptable situation in winter etc. So you have the money saving experts lower earners who are sick to death of being told to stop buying flat screen TVs or whatever on one side and you have the sneering middle classes that overwhelmingly think (out loud or not) that poverty is a moral choice. That to be poor you have to have done something wrong and because you did everything right, you deserve to look down on McDonald’s workers, unemployed single parents and the like, not thinking it could be you. Although I don’t feel the same way about OP and I do feel for her, this sentiment is why a lot of people on lower incomes see the “squeezed middle” and roll their eyes - now it IS you. Welcome to Tory Britain my love where going above and beyond extends to everything but your pay. Have you tried putting another jumper on and stop spending all your money on fags and alcohol?

There are some real arseholes on here this morning tbh.

There really are. I'm not sure if it's down to jealousy, as soon as they hear someone's on a higher wage than them. They just don't seem to get that inflation has affected everyone, not just those on the lower income.

No, you can’t!

You are talking absolute rubbish.

It would be cheaper for us to run a second car where we live to get my boys to school, than it would to use the only transport there is. I live 25 minutes outside of kings cross in Herts.

There is no suitable public transport in many places in the UK and I’m not even rural.

Let that sink in why don’t you.

Your earlier reponses are shockingly rude and I would suggest you are totally detached from reality as it stands. Some savings to be made, sure! But your general narrative around this is appallingly ignorant.

You can live off one car easily, just car share or use public transport.

Not true for everybody. Depends entirely on where the individuals in question work, and what other transport needs they have through the day.

@Zeus44

The fact that you said upthread that someone should reduce mortgage payments and stop contributing to their pension suggests that you are not a financial advisor and actually know nothing about good financial planning.

Ignore Jane.

She is deluded, seems to have no clue about modern finances and probably only ever has to budget to spend her PIN money. That’s how it comes across anyway. Probably also doesn’t appreciate the genuine advantages that Boomers had either.