Could you survive on 1k?

[coffeeanteac]

If you had £1000 left after the main bills.

Could you survive on £1000 for food amd petrol and everything else takeaways, gifts, fun.

DH thinks most families couldn't. I think it should be ok. There are only 3 of us and we all live about three miles away from work and school.

I didn't mean I would rather be dead than poor. What I mean was that I would rather not be a mum if I didn't have financial stability and was renting. I think it would stress me out too much and I wouldn't enjoy motherhood.

My husband is the dad. I meant to say that he does a lot of childcare. I grew up with a dad who didn't do any childcare or have any interest in me or my siblings so as a condition of having a child with him, I demanded that he do as much childcare and housework as me.

He does financially contribute but I was only considering the financial impact of having a kid on my own income vs expenses.

I don’t think you can say your dad has no interest in you - he gifted you a mortgage free home. That’s a huge help for you as you’ve already stated you’d struggle if you had to pay childcare. Add housing costs on the top of that and you’d be stuck.

I initially read this thinking - 'yes, easy, we don't spend anywhere near that!', then worked out that we probably do spend more than that a month if you spread the cost of holidays/Christmas and birthday presents/maintenance/days out etc across the year.

So, I think we could manage it if we cut back, but at the moment we spend more than that. Which is quite sobering, really.

I’m lucky if I have £300 left after bills

But lots of people only can't afford them after they've got them. I was always going back to work until I had my child and then I couldn't.. Lots of men are going to do it all until they actually have them.
I think you said you could manage for 10 years on just your wage with your parents help but life happens, and if you lost that and only had 1k to live on you'd cope. It's unlikely you'd put your child up for adoption so you've had to cope.

I feel awful for the circumstances that those parents find themselves in. I would hope I would be able to cope as well as some of the members I have read about from this forum (I think there are lots of amazing parents here) but to be honest I am don't have much confidence in my ability to hold it together. I love my daughter a lot and I would give everything I have up for her. I have a chronic condition that results in sporadical flare ups, one of which are bad enough to make me bed bound last year. There were moments where I felt like my family might be better off without me. I was not doing things that a good mother should.

Was bad enough *

I meant he was never around much. When he was around he didn't want to spend time with me or my sister. He was once asked to pick me up from school by my mum and he turned up at the primary school instead of the secondary school because he didn't remember my age (I was 13 at the time).

I pay all bills and non essentials out of £1000 for myself and DD, and it’s okay, although it has got harder this year. We have at least one decent holiday per year and I pay for DD to do her hobby.

The major reasons that the budget balances are that we are privileged in other ways. We live in mortgage free home that is cheap to run, and it has a large garden that I use to grow food and flowers for cutting, which I give as gifts. I have access to a company vehicle and bikes so no need for my own car. Also, if there was a major expense, such as works in the house, I have savings, although I’ve never had to dip into them so far.

I wouldn't describe it as "after main bills" if you've not already allowed for main grocery shopping. With current prices we would honestly struggle. Larger family than you but food with no take away etc can be more than half that, plus subs for kids sports, drama etc, then fuel for the car, bus tickets for school, would leave nothing for clothes, birthdays, meals out, gigs, theatre, pet plan, pet insurance (is that included in your "bills"?). It really depends on what you count as essential bills, so it's hard to say. £1000 sounds a lot but I think people aren't really thinking about how much everything costs now. The knee-jerk "he's thick" responses are unrealistic imo unless we can see what you are including in "bills". It may also vary depending on where in the country you are. You may have answered these points already but it's so time consuming going through so many pages of replies, apologies! If I include EVERYTHING that "must" be paid there is almost no disposable income left at all for us. But I suspect some of my "bills" are coming out of your £1000 in your household so we're not comparing like for like.

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I’d be singing 🎶 I’ve got a golden ticket 🎶 if I had 1k leftover, usually have £30 or less a week to share between 4 people

For food and travel?

One thing this thread has shown is what a state the economy is in and how the current high cost of living affects some people more than others.

I couldn't live on £1000 per month after bills, and I know people do, but with the high prices £1000 won't go far at all.

If you're a couple and both working full time you shouldn't have to struggle.

🤣🤣🤣

How the other half live!!! £1K AFTER bills!???

I know! This thread makes me realise how high some people’s expenses must be.

@MrsRonaldWeasley after bills but to pay for food transport and those pesky luxuries like clothes, medication, school trips etc.

My husbands travel card is £200 a month, our car is £200 (£100 fuel and £100 into the car maintenance fund) so that’s £600 left for food clothes and anything else.

Yes, it’s doable, but it’s not the junket people think in some cases.

My son has decided to grow out of his clothes in three months thanks to a growth spurt. £150 on basics that he needs with no warning

I am in the category that has significantly more than £1000 after bills so not an issue for us, but that could be problematic for many who seem to be well off.

What I have learnt from this thread is: lots of people don’t work or they work in a local, part-time job with hardly any commuting to consider or work related expenses.

Yes, and for me, cutting commuting was an active choice. After years of driving an hour each way, five days a week, I’d had enough.

@Merryoldgoat I'm surprised at how so many people think you must be loaded if you think you couldn't do it
I honestly don't think we could. We're a family of 6. £200 on fuel, £600 on food and that would be cutting back. No school dinners they would have to take a packed lunch every day where as now they do a mix, only our youngest gets free meals as they are KS1 and she is so fussy she wont eat them. £150 a week on a food shop for 2 adults, 4 children and a dog does not go that far anymore. That leaves £200 a month to cover absolutely everything else. All clothes, all birthdays/xmas, haircuts, etc
We couldn't do it. We spend at least £500 a year on school uniform and shoes with all the emblem clothing they have to have at Secondary school

Not a choice if you don’t live in a city though. If you rent outside for costs or other reasons.

We are the same. Luckily we have more but commuting costs are wild. If you include bus passes for school/college and all the rest of it. Easily £600. Same size family - £150 goes nowhere for food. I reckon we are spending about £1k - that could be cut back by a mile (as you say, no school canteen or dinners anymore). Many don’t seem to factor in work related expenses or commuting which is very telling. Not everyone works in the business (school hours) and can walk to high school.

There are always choices to be had, but there’s often compromise needed and it depends on your priorities. There are skilled job roles in towns and rurally all over the UK, not just in cities. I haven’t lived in a city for 30 years!

Jeez