To think a family of 5 can’t survive on 25k take home?

[Backpainagain]

Just that really. We are f**ed.

Without more info ,difficult to say really.I would look into all benefits .Maybe a female lodger and buy in bulk .Any chance of PT/Evening work ?

I'd imagine this wasn't the case when they had kids, most people are only a couple of paychecks away from being in the same position.

The OP may never come back.

If that’s your take home it’s relative, isn’t it, for example if you live in the north with a long mortgage. Eg you’re mid to late 20’s early thirties with 120k on a mortgage that you’ve got until your 68 or something, and you got a 5 year fix 18 months ago for example you’re probably doing grand paying about 500 quid a month housing costs, 150 c tax 40 water 100 gas and electric bla bla bla bla

if you live in the south it’s probably not enoigh

Most people are a child or two away from being in this position.

Well I couldn’t do it OP, our outgoings are more than that.

Im sorry you’re in a tough situation, it must be frightening 😔

Impossible to say without more details of rent/mortgage and other outgoings.

We manage fine with 4 people on £17k, but have low outgoings. Plus there is a world of difference between choosing and planning to live this way and having circumstances foisted upon you.

I would say that there is a cost to working, and if you suddenly have a non-working adult there may be lots of ways to live on less that are now open to you. Time is a gift.

I don't know. One of us will be staying home next year and our income will be 45 for a family of four and I'm a bit worried about that. I don't see how 25 is doable. The only way is if you have zero childcare, don't run a car and have help with housing. Even then I think it's tight.

Children don't pop up or suddenly appear like toad stools or mushrooms. Responsible adults plan for children and factor in to that decision income and financial resources. but that does not mean that unanticipated and unforeseeable things do not happen. People have varying goals and plans regarding the quality of life that the want to provide for their family.

That's been roughly my income (combined wage and tax credits etc) since becoming a single parent to four children and you can manage depending on housing costs. You just have to be realistic about what you can afford and your lifestyle. It covers the basics.

I think most people could give a better opinion if they knew what "25k take home" is in terms of gross annual salary and if it is one or two salaries.

Then non-negotiable outgoings and other income from benefits or tax credits are also totally relevant.

After tax and benefits, there's not a massive difference in take home pay between a family on £25k and a family on £60k. You'll be alright. 🙂

When I met my cleaner her hubby was on £23k a year before tax with a family of five. She owns a run down house and land in her home country so not eligible for many benefits.

Which of the five shouldn’t the op have had? Which should she throw back? Which ones of the five didn’t deserve to be conceived and live life?

There aren’t five children.

Don't be ridiculous, no one "deserves" to be conceived. Only the religious mad think that contraception is a sin.

Peculiar emotive questions set aside - we haven’t had our third. Or our fourth. So potentially the 1st, 2nd. 3rd….. 17th child should not have been conceived, if there weren’t the means to live well with the family as is.

Our third hasn’t been had. Or our fourth. Or our…

Of the ones living now which ones shouldn’t have been conceived, born, and now don’t deserve to live to fit your twisted worldview?

Just answer the question.

Now don’t deserve to live? Has anyone suggested murdering existing children? I don’t think so.

People have suggested - quite rightly - that conceiving the 2nd, 3rd etc might be the wrong thing to do in a variety of circumstances.

@MysteryBelle
Which of the children did not deserve some responsible planning and fore thought involved prior to their conception? Should having children be an accidental or indifferent process,? Do children deserve a life of only basics and minimums because their parents are to lax or indifferent to plan ? Is life meant to be come what may experience?

Why do some people plan, struggle. and sacrifice, to provide not only a life but a life sty!e while others just let life happen?

If you were one of those children that you were referencing, to whom would you rather belong?

It's entirely possible to manage. I was a SAHM for our twins and we survived on OH's £22k salary. Kept a roof over our heads, had 2 weeks away in France/Italy every year and ran a car. Brought two kids up and we all ate well. We cut our cloth to suit. No Sky or Netflix or anything like that. No nights out, but a cheeky McD every so often. Apply for UC, and don't spend what you don't have.

The kids have now left school and I can't work due to disability. We've lost CB and most of our UC, but we still manage.

So this was 20+ years ago? £25,000 in 2003 is about £42,000 now, taking inflation into account. So with respect, your experience is irrelevant to the OP.

I wish I had premonition skills before I planned the life I thought I was going to have before the ex fucked off and left me in the shit and I'm now dealing with the life I've got.

It must be so nice to be so skilled and I'm amazed so many people can see so far into their futures considering their heads are up their arses, it's a skill to be sure.