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AIBU?

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

416 replies

yellowcheesepie · 15/10/2022 13:36

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

OP posts:
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Am I being unreasonable?

1265 votes. Final results.

POLL
You are being unreasonable
81%
You are NOT being unreasonable
19%
EmeraldShamrock1 · 15/10/2022 14:27

The young childcare years are a financial killer though its worth staying in the game working for the long run.

Coming out of work while DC are babies have knocked many women out of the market.

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HollyBollyBooBoo · 15/10/2022 14:28

Surely it's worth it otherwise you wouldn't have a roof over your head, food in your stomach or £300 disposable income? What on Earth are you talking about?

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ivykaty44 · 15/10/2022 14:28

I live with my DH and we split all bills / expenses if anyone is wondering

how much is dp left with at the end of the month?

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user1486915549 · 15/10/2022 14:29

I don’t understand your post
Who do you think should work to pay for all your bills , food , childcare , personal spends , savings if it’s not you 🤷‍♀️

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mummybearcub2022 · 15/10/2022 14:30

its crap OP, I am sorry. Its really not much to play with at the end of the month.

I am fed up with this competitive race to poverty on this site, At least your not living in a bin eh, should be grateful. 🙄

This is supposedly a first world country, its not much to ask to have a decent standard of living that stretches more to than just covering the bills.

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Topgub · 15/10/2022 14:31

@mummybearcub2022

The ops money does stretch to more than the bills

How much disposable income do you think people should have a month?

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strawberriesarenot · 15/10/2022 14:32

Worked full time all my life, never come close to have £300 a month after all bills cleared.

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OliveTree75 · 15/10/2022 14:32

@Gwenhwyfar a job that allows her to pay for the roof over her head and pay the bills, and presumably a very decent disposable income once childcare fees are out of the equation.

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Heavenknows22 · 15/10/2022 14:33

Eh? What do you actually expect? Are you saying there is a certain amount you expect to have left to save after you’ve paid all those bills and childcare? Or are you saying you’re better off not working? Or on benefits? I don’t get your point sorry.

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Magn · 15/10/2022 14:34

This is ridiculous. Someone coming here and saying they're working hard and only have £300 a month for all the non regular bills isn't rolling in it. Presumably that includes things like car insurance and maintenance, Christmas, birthdays, emergency repairs/replacement of white goods, any sort of social life or activity, clothes, etc... If she'd put all of those on finance or loans and came here saying she was skint after having to pay that £300 in payments she'd probably get some sympathy, this is just a different way of looking at the same problem.

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MsRosley · 15/10/2022 14:36

Is it worth it? What's the alternative? Sit at home and expect other people to pay your bills?

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Aprilx · 15/10/2022 14:37

I don’t understand what you mean by ‘is it worth it’. You go to work and earn enough money to pay all your expenses and have some left over. How could it not be worth it?

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MelvinThePenguin · 15/10/2022 14:37

I think I understand, OP.

If I didn’t work, we’d save all of the costs of our childcare. DH’s salary would still cover the bills. It sounds like you’d be in a similar position? But working gives you that £200/£300 more in comparison?

PP’s question about what your DH is left with, is key, I think. In my house, we take a set amount each from our salaries (the same amount) to do what we like with. The rest goes into a joint which pays for bills and holidays.

DH earns far more than me. If we paid bills equally, and kept the remainder of our salaries, I’d be destitute, or our lifestyle would have to be significantly worse while DH stacked up money or “treated” me. We’d never have got married, frankly.

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Yourstory · 15/10/2022 14:38

I would love to be in a situation where I could afford to work more let alone save.

Saying that, if the 200-300 a month has to include gifts throughout the year, things going wrong, clothes, haircuts ect, then I still don't blame you for being annoyed. When you look at how much things cost, especially house prices or holidays, it is ridiculous that a full time salary doesn't even begin to have a chance at covering those.

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Mangogogogo · 15/10/2022 14:39

Ugh

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Potat0soup · 15/10/2022 14:40

Topgub · 15/10/2022 14:03

@Potat0soup

The op doesn't say anything about saving for a house.

Not everyone wants to buy.

Maybe she doesn't. But the millions of home owners were saving more than that in order to get a home so can we stop act like she has been diving into her gold coins like Scrooge McDuck

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Anytimeiseeit · 15/10/2022 14:42

MelvinThePenguin · 15/10/2022 14:37

I think I understand, OP.

If I didn’t work, we’d save all of the costs of our childcare. DH’s salary would still cover the bills. It sounds like you’d be in a similar position? But working gives you that £200/£300 more in comparison?

PP’s question about what your DH is left with, is key, I think. In my house, we take a set amount each from our salaries (the same amount) to do what we like with. The rest goes into a joint which pays for bills and holidays.

DH earns far more than me. If we paid bills equally, and kept the remainder of our salaries, I’d be destitute, or our lifestyle would have to be significantly worse while DH stacked up money or “treated” me. We’d never have got married, frankly.

No, working doesn’t give her £300 more than not working. She pays half of all the bills as well so she’s a lot better off working than just £300

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Nsky62 · 15/10/2022 14:42

Lucky you

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VladmirsPoutine · 15/10/2022 14:43

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. It's like chasing your tail everyday for nothing. People are going to think you are being unreasonable because a lot of people end up in the minus figures at the end of the month or only have 2 baked beans and gruel to eat every day but this is the state of the country. We should strive to have better conditions - £200 isn't much considering how much you must be paying/working. People would rather everyone be equally miserable than imagine a society in which this isn't the norm. YANBU.

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mummybearcub2022 · 15/10/2022 14:43

Topgub · 15/10/2022 14:31

@mummybearcub2022

The ops money does stretch to more than the bills

How much disposable income do you think people should have a month?

A lot more than £200 pm!

That is only £50 a week to spend on clothes, outings, socialising, beauty, misc kids items, birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, meals out, decorating, replacing broken items in the house etc.

I genuinely don't think its that much. After all, what is the point in life if you just spend it working to only put a roof over your head and nothing else. It must be miserable.

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MelvinThePenguin · 15/10/2022 14:45

Anytimeiseeit · 15/10/2022 14:42

No, working doesn’t give her £300 more than not working. She pays half of all the bills as well so she’s a lot better off working than just £300

That doesn’t factor in the saving on childcare costs if she didn’t work though. The bills would be significantly lower without the childcare.

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IhateHermioneGranger · 15/10/2022 14:48

🙄

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Planesmistakenforstars · 15/10/2022 14:49

Is it £300 a month disposable income between you and your DH, or just you and he also has similar disposable income? If it's the latter, then I think £600 disposable income in a couple is an enormous amount.

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Topgub · 15/10/2022 14:50

@MelvinThePenguin

Maybe her should give up his job then?

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Topgub · 15/10/2022 14:51

@mummybearcub2022

The op says she isn't a big spender.

Tbh I'm all for increasing income and reducing costs but I dont think the op is hard done to.

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