to think the amount of money im left with by the end of the month is ridiculous?

[yellowcheesepie]

I recently went back to work after mat leave and am sat here wondering how on earth this is worth it ?! after paying all my bills of food, rent, electricity, water, internet, netflix, phone, commute and childcare etc i'm only left with £200 a month to save? i'm not a big spender either, all my income goes on the mentioned above plus £100 spending allowance for myself.

I'm not trying to rant, but i'd like to understand how other working mums do it? is this a reasonable amount to save per month or is there something very wrong in my finances? I live with my DH and we split all bills / expenses if anyone is wondering

If you are getting to the end of the month with all your bills covered and money to spare, you are doing better than most.

YABU.

Are you earning the same if you're splitting bills 50/50?

Yeah we save a small token amount for birthdays Christmas holidays house stuff and it all gets spen so no long term saving. Nursery fees are crippling especially in combination with working less hours!

Pension.

@ReturnOfTheMacdonalds
The bar for living standards on this thread is very low.

10000000%.

I'm amazed reading the responses to this thread, so many posters jumping to kick OP while she's down. Of course £300 left after bills at the end of the month is pretty disheartening and damaging for work morale. The way people are talking here you'd swear she was rolling in it.

I get where the OP is coming from . £300 left a month is not a lot and I would hope her DH also adds significantly to that . £300 goes in the blink of an eye and gives no security if the car breaks down or the plumbing leaks .
I would feel very insecure if my income was that tight tbh

I have around 300 left too,I think it's an ok amount to have left just to have set aside for a rainy day.

Lol wish I had £200 to save. Mine is in the OD most months 😔

YANBU. £300 is not much at all these days. People in this thread seem to use being poor as a badge of honour. It's not. If you're happy to accept having so little then good for you, but with that attitude you will stay poor for life

I'm going with the poster who say £300 left over isnt alot.

Although I do try an limit my monthly spending to £300. I also save £400 every month . And what ever I have left whe I get paid again goes into a separate savings account which can be £100-£350+ depending on whether I've stuck to the £300 limit and how much overtime I've done.

Agree with this 100%

Absolutely.

There is also value in putting things into perspective.

Other working mums just about cover their bills and can only dream of saving £200 a month and spending £100 on themself. That's a fairly big budget for luxuries.

Do you really think worrying about paying bills, struggling to make ends meet means posters are using this as a badge of honour, do you really think that’s what people want?

No one wants to accept having so little, if those on lower incomes gave up their jobs for higher paid jobs who would take their place?

@tuttifruit

Yes.

Most people in the UK will stay poor for life.

There is very little social mobility.

And it has fuck all to do with attitudes.

Do other people find that some PPs are using the quote function and then there's either no extra comment or the comment is cut short? @mumsnethq (is that the right tag?)

The problem is that childcare is so bloody expensive in this country, the highest in Europe I believe.

My sister lives in America and when she went back to work after her first baby she was left with $75 dollars a month after childcare alone! But she had to work to qualify for healthcare.

(She did move to a better paid industry and, due to hard work and some clever moves is now a bloody millionaire.)

How much does your DH have left at the end of each month?

£300 a month to spare after paying childcare and bills, I would consider myself fortunate.

Blimey I wish I had £600 to spare each month! YABVU to complain about this OP. Read the room.

*£300 rather.

Welcome to MN, OP!

There are two camps here. You must belong to one or the other. It’s the rooolz.

Camp 1 is for people who earn a mythical 6-figure salary, have a cleaner, children in private school, fly business class in cashmere leisure wear and do “life admin” all day long.

Camp 2 is for people who can feed a family of 9 for a week with one chicken. In this camp it is compulsory to have at least two hollowed-legged teens. You must spend all your time competing with others for who has it worst. Look for these people on “how much do you spend at the supermarket” threads. Don’t post that you have 2 quid left in your purse at the end of the month as these people will pounce on you with phrases like “tone deaf” and “stealth boast”.

unless of course like @tuttifruit your attitude is that people will stay poor for life if they accept as “little” as £300 pocket money after all their bills are settled 🙄

Christ, what's with everyone on here. Having £300 at the end of the month is pretty shit. As is having £0 left over, or -£300. Just because someone had a bit more left over than you doesn't mean their situation isn't also lame.

It could still takes months to financially recover from something like the fridge breaking and taking all your food with it, or the washing machine packing up, or the car failing its MOT. All of these things happen, not infrequently, and being set back months of your work and time each time that happens sucks.

Heaven forbid you want to take a holiday somewhere more exotic than a campsite. How are you supposed to make long term plans for your life, home purchase or improvements, learn new skills to improve your income and quality of life? Put something meaningful aside for a rainy day or retirement?

Pretty much all of the above is impossible when finances are that tight. You end up trapped in your job, maybe forced to buy things on credit where you pay more, buying poorer quality versions of things that will fail sooner and end up costing more in the long run. Having no financial flexibility sucks, hard.

Being a few hundred quid up or down relative to the next person in the thread doesn't change that, it sucks for everyone in a similar situation. Hell, maybe it sucks for everyone in this thread. Being angry at neighbours because they're one rung up or down the ladder compared to you isn't going to solve anything. Everyone at the bottom is being shat on by the people at the top of the ladder. It's not like the money isn't there, it's just being closely guarded to make sure none of it trickles down.