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 think it's time for your meds

Get on excel, open up your bank account and list EVERYTHING you pay for in a month. Then work out from there where you can cut back.

Have more vegetarian meals? It is a good way of reducing food bills.

This is a good idea. Best way where you can see any unnecessary spending that you may not realise is there

@Soddinghell I think it’s really difficult to cut the normal bills that would usually be looked at in this situation (switching suppliers etc) however could you have a look at your food bill, can you switch to a different tv/sky/phone package?

I'm so with you OP. It's like every month my salary goes less far. I can't really keep up with it to be honest and I've had 2 chunky pay rises this year which seem to have amounted to nothing. If anything, I feel worse off.

Can you not work full time? 65k is an OK income but considering the average house price is around 300k that puts it into perspective.

I'd be looking for more hours at work before cutting back.

@mnhq have reported the troll but they are spamming lots of threads tonight and need properly dealing with please!

@ComeonL are you ok? I don't even mean this jokingly but maybe you have some pyscosis and need to speak to a dr? It doesn't sound well the things you are saying and I have experience of this with people

Some people are higher earners. This isn't a communist state. Since when we're only people on min wage / benefits allowed to post?

What's your take home income? With one higher earner you get hit for now tax than two people earning the same split equally.
I agree with the spreadsheet to through your joint/bills account and list every direct debit, is there anything that can be cut? Reducing food bill is doable, do you buy branded/prepared/more expensive cuts of meat? Would you be ok with veggie a couple of days a week, can you batch cook things like chilli, cities, spag bol and add lots of veg or kidney beans/chickpeas, batch coming also saves on utilities as you just microwave for the second/third meals. Is overtime possible for either of you?

Don’t say that, OP. It's tough for everyone in this climate and anyone who thinks you can only be struggling if you're absolutely on the breadline is deluded (and driving the agenda of poor = victim, not poor = villain). We have a slightly higher joint income than you say you have, and we're struggling too. We do have a big mortgage, which we can more than afford in normal times (or we wouldn't have made the choice to buy this house), but these aren't normal times...

You might need to increase your hours or look at other cost-saving options for now but you'll be fine in the long run. Look after yourself.

Ignoring the bizarre and frankly irritating posts by @ComeonL can you give a breakdown of what you spend otherwise there's no way of knowing. I would say living in NW that should be a decent income unless your mortgage is massive .

Most people can save a fair chunk just by shopping elsewhere, buying household items & pet foods in bulk and massively cutting down on takeaways, pub & meals out and reducing what you might feel are essential but are actually luxuries. I now dye my own hair as I can't justify/afford £150 in highlights every 3 months - yes I preferred salon coloured hair but it was my hair or the kids only sporting activity that they absolutely love.

OP ignore the troll. They’re a pbp, mn will hopefully remove them shortly.

If people just report and don’t respond to them they will hopefully be banned again.

Sorry you are getting a hard time on here OP. People seem to think you can only struggle if you are on the lowest of incomes. The problem with the COL increase is it's affecting the majority.

I am in a similar financial position, and worried how we will manage.

We have a huge mortgage, which was comfortable for us a few years ago. We have 4 children plus my nephew who lives with us, again, we could afford a nice lifestyle for them a few years ago.

Our mortgage term ends in early 2023 so god knows what that will be then. Bills, food price increase, all the kids clubs seem to have gone up. Fuel, DH travels a lot for work.

I have no advice, just I know how you feel. Hang in there Op

I have reported them too.
I think it should be perfectly manageable at that income but obviously depends on your mortgage, debt etc.
Agree you need to do a full budget to look at your commitments and see where you might be able to make savings.

We have an £80k income and the cost increases are biting. I seriously have no idea how so many are going to actually get through this. If we're feeling it then some must be on their knees already. It's grim!