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

But op says it s "her" 300 leftover

We dont know her husband s leftover savings pension etc
She is married so her dh leftover £££ is relevant
If her family is 300 in quids after childcard
Linger term this will be for example 1300 wgen childcare costs decrease
But as she says dh my guess is he is 300 or more in £££ too so as a family they probably ok

"It could still takes months to financially recover from something like the fridge breaking"

OP hasn't said she hasn't got any other savings. The fact that she thinks 200 into savings a month is too little suggests to me that she was saving much more before she had to pay nursery costs.

Good updating OP.

That is such a good answer. I wish I'd thought of it.

Seems fairly normal... you pay all your bills and needs, have £100 fun money and extras like Netflix and then save £200 a month.

That's a completely normal lifestyle.

🤣🤣🤣

Is that for food or leftover after food shopping?

You’re very lucky to pay all bills plus saving and £100 for yourself.

That’s loads…. Many people are lucky to have a tenner at the end of the month

It may depend on what op is saving for. If it’s a house (as op mentions rent) then it’s going to take some time saving £200 a month for a deposit. But like others have said, once the childcare bill goes, you’ll be able to save more and hopefully can continue to develop in your career, pay into a pension & have less gaps in your working life that you have to account for. Take heart, plenty in the same boat & plenty worse off too 🙁

OP are you diamond shoes too tight as well?

Sorry, but FFS I wish I had that left over every month.

Childcare costs do go down as children get older, the first year back after mat.leave is definitely the most expensive. I remember being in a similar position but for me it was worth it as going back lead to some great job opportunities and as my dc is in school now my childcare costs are much lower. Hang in there.

If you've had maternity leave already then you've only got two years to go until 30 hours of free childcare, so essentially you've got two years of saving £4800 and then you will be able to save a lot more each month, so it does sound like it's worth it.

Id be chuffed if I could afford to save £200 per month!

Sounds like you are in a really good position compared to a lot of people, be grateful!

I can’t afford to save. I do kind of save £25 a month into each child’s account (building society I have to sign for) so that at Christmas, birthdays and in August I can buy their presents and school uniforms. Personal savings, no chance!!

I have never had a joint account with my ex H or DH. But we both pay into 'a 'pot' proportionate to income. I experienced DV and vowed to always have access to my own funds that I didn't need his signature to get to

As a single mother with my son in nursery my first months childcare was 1300. My salary that month was 1250. Did I cry? Yes. Did I get over myself pretty quickly? Certainly did. What was the weekend for when he was with his dad? 2 * 12 hour shifts just to make ends meet. I did not have me money nor savings for many many years. I wonder if you now think your post a little insensitive to how lots of people are living right now ☹️

@yellowcheesepie
You would be - £200 with no job. No Netflix, no £100 for yourself. It's not brilliant, I'd rather have it than nothing to save.

Read the room springs to mind. We have people struggling to buy their food and pay their bills and you are thinking 200 a month isn't enough to save.

You are VERY lucky to have £200 left over to save...cherish it

If you don't have to spend it, why would you?

I’m a single parent and still have more than that as ‘disposable’ income. Are you claiming everything you’re entitled to? Or does partners income take you over the limit

I can understand why you don’t find it fair to have that left over, but equally, I also don’t think you can ask if other people think it’s unreasonable because everyone has totally different lifestyles and circumstances. I know people who have zero savings, will never be able to afford to buy a house (unless they train up and make career moves), and who don’t have £50 to do them outwith their bills. Equally, my OH and I are preparing for me to go on unpaid maternity leave and will still be able to save over £1500 a month despite me not having any income for 12 months. In an ideal world, money wouldn’t be an issue for anyone and everyone could afford to do whatever they want, whenever they want, but I think it’s important not to try and benchmark your own position on other mums / working mums x

Save? You're doing very well if you can manage to save!