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

[HollaHolla]

God. £300 a month spare? I’m on what used to be a decent salary (but no pay rises more than the odd 1% for 10 years…) and that sounds amazing.
i used to be able to save anything between £300-£500 a month. Now I’m lucky if it’s £100. I live alone, no kids, sadly - so it’s the only income to my household.

[MintJulia]

You have money left at the end of the month !!

[Bluetree89]

Unfortunately that’s how it often looks when you have kids in childcare financially however I look at it as in X number of years I will no longer have kids in childcare so will then have all that extra money to save/travel/renovate etc etc. Also I look at the extra benefits of childcare, the socialisation, educational aspect, etc. I also think seeing parents working hard instills a strong work ethic in kids. Also think about the Super you are earning towards your retirement that you otherwise wouldn’t have. I get it I have 4 small kids 2 in full time child care and the other 2 in paid before/after school clubs and often question if it’s financially worth me working full time.

[Elegantlyangry]

BUT, you’re keeping your career going, are likely to get promoted at some time in the future and won’t have huge childcare costs forever, so it’s worth ‘ taking the hit ‘ in the short term.

[Nanof8]

Sounds like a humble brag to me.

[teaiseverything]

Surely you considered the cost of childcare before having children?

[IWishIHadNotDoneIt]

You have £300 left at the end of the bills to do with as you please. I work with families that are having to use food banks, choose who eats, go to bed at 6-7pm to avoid putting the heating on. £300 disposable income would be massive to them.

[Sizzer40]

Yes it’s ridiculous. I’d be struggling with the concept of working to have £200 left at the end of the month too. Different situation for me as I don’t have kids so all my money is spending money, but if I only had £200 a month after outgoings then I’d really struggle to have a decent quality of life.
It’s a shame that so many people are working hard for so little, the system really is unfair.

[Sceptre86]

You save more than you spend. That's a good thing. I get that it's not great only having £100 as spending money though. I'd look st how you split the money, for instance are you working full or part time and are you paying half of everything other proportionate to your wages? Ultimately I'd be looking to either go for promotion if possible or look for a new job.

[SnozPoz]

"Worth it"? Who else should pay all your bills and put food on the table? You have somewhere to live, enough to pay all your bills and £300 to spend how you want every month. For a vast majority of people around the world that's a privilege. Stop whinging

[Snaketime]

@Needmorelego

£100 to spend on yourself plus £200 to save. 300 quid.
Oh @yellowcheesepie this thread is not going to end well for you.
Seriously....back out now.
Most people can only fantasize about £300 spare a month.

This OP, by the end of the month I have 0 left. I can't even put £20 into savings let alone £200.

[PeopleAreNuts]

@1000N

Around 41k/year.

Thank you for the reply, I'd also consider that to be a decent job. With all this inflation talk I hope you can push for a pay rise in the near future - a 10% pay rise makes a bigger difference on a salary of 41k than say 20k, and all things being equal you might then be able to have a little left over each month as well :).

[PeopleAreNuts]

@Snaketime

This OP, by the end of the month I have 0 left. I can't even put £20 into savings let alone £200.

Sorry to hear that your'e in that situation.

It's entirely possible that having £0 per month spare, and also £300, are both not ideal situations. Sure, £300 per month is better than £0, and I know many are worse off. But others being worse off doesn't somehow improve OP's situation.

You have every right to be pissed off with your situation, and OP has every right to be unhappy with her situation. As does everyone else.
The existence of a starving child in a country with a famine doesn't make me any less hungry. If OP is unhappy with the amount of disposable income that she has each month, I hope that she is able to do something to increase it.
Just as I hope that you are able to increase yours somehow, if you're unhappy with it.

[berksandbeyond]

@23Elfie

🤣🤣 try not having a pot to piss in and maxing out the overdraft on things that keep you alive, then come back and moan! Joker!

It's not a race to the bottom. So because your life is shit you think everyone should struggle? Nice

[Nursemumma92]

@berksandbeyond clearly no-one thinks everyone should struggle but the OP is a far cry from struggling... £300 spare a month from her income alone... she has not returned to state what her DH has spare at the end of the month... that's loads and it's very boastful to come on a forum and ask if it's worth working for that?! That's loads and that's after she has bought food and paid stuff like netflix subscriptions. She always pays for childcare so once child out of nursery then will have significantly more. Wrong attitude to have on a forum where there are many threads a day created by people who are unable to feed themselves and their children.

[Dusky21]

No response from OP about her bragging??

[berksandbeyond]

@Nursemumma92

@berksandbeyond clearly no-one thinks everyone should struggle but the OP is a far cry from struggling... £300 spare a month from her income alone... she has not returned to state what her DH has spare at the end of the month... that's loads and it's very boastful to come on a forum and ask if it's worth working for that?! That's loads and that's after she has bought food and paid stuff like netflix subscriptions. She always pays for childcare so once child out of nursery then will have significantly more. Wrong attitude to have on a forum where there are many threads a day created by people who are unable to feed themselves and their children.

So no one can post about anything now because there will always be someone worse off than you? Give over. It's not insensitive or a brag. £300 doesn't go far nowadays!

If people don't want to read about people having more money than them, they can always just not read the thread.

It is not shit life olympics - there will always be someone worse off than you.

[wildchild554]

Don't know what you issue is, seems a lot to me, after paying rent, water, council tax, internet, phone, and we do have prime but I paid that for a year before prices went up, we are left with £200 a month to use on energy costs, food, clothes, school uniforms and anything else we need and I manage to even save some from that. I would be more than happy being able to have as much as you have at the end of the month but I'd say atm even I'm luckily than a lot of people a. for being able to still enjoy life with my children and provide for our needs, b. not going into debt, and c. being able to save some no matter how much it is.

[DWMoosmum]

@Needmorelego this!

[xogossipgirlxo]

I think it's the case for many families in the UK- until your children go to school, you'll save very little or nothing. £200 isn't bad tbh and it's after you put aside £100 for your personal spending- I don't have kids and I take this much from my salary for clothes, hairdresser, contact lenses etc. too.

You might feel now like you just work to cover childcare, but you're also building your CV and career prospects.

[23Elfie]

Berksandbeyond
Nope just merely stating that compared to others £300 is a lot to have left over at the end of the month!

Have a lovely day 😊

[kirinm]

@Brigante9

Tbh, £200 left over at the end of the month sounds decent.

Does it? Having enough to live on with minimal spare isn't decent. It's ridiculous that you can work full time and just about manage to get by. Life isn't meant to be like this.

[berksandbeyond]

@23Elfie

Berksandbeyond
Nope just merely stating that compared to others £300 is a lot to have left over at the end of the month!

Have a lovely day 😊

Except that's not what you said is it? You told her she could come back and complain when she had nothing. Someone's the joker here and it's not OP

[Nursemumma92]

@berksandbeyond no one has said its shit life Olympics. I would have chosen not to read the thread had it not been entitled 'To think the money that I'm left with at the end of the month is ridiculous'
We've all come on here to empathise expecting her to say she's got £0 left over once all bills and expenses are accounted for but she's moaning its not worth working for an extra £300 a month.
£300 doesn't go far these days I know, but to have that as disposable income EACH MONTH is far more than the majority of the population, particularly having just returned from maternity leave with a baby in full time childcare.

There will always be someone worse off than you but when the country is in a cost of living crisis, it doesn't hurt to put people into perspective so they can be grateful for what they have. It is AIBU after all, and as the majority of posters have said- yes she is.

[Bizzimomma]

😑Im lucky if I have £50 at the end of any month 🙄