What would our lifestyle be like in U.K.

[Isitsconeorscown]

On this wage-£37 grand a year-Dh
Me-possibly-£18/19 grand a year

We’d be in Cornwall and would have a mortgage of around a grand a month.

We have one primary aged dc

British, but living abroad and wishing to return.

Also, lifestyle on just Dh’s wage (I intend to work, but chronic illness and may not be immediately)

You will get so many different opinions on this, some people happily live on much less and some people struggle on a lot more

Personally, I think it could be a struggle especially if you do end up with just his wage. Costs are going up so much. Council tax is about to rise again, energy prices are much higher than they used to be, but the biggest price change we have noticed is food shopping. Everything just seems so expensive now

Are you both British? If not, check requirements for supporting a spouse visa.

You’d manage but I think finances would be a bit tight so you’d just need to keep a watchful eye. (I have 3 dc so maybe I’m not best placed).

@user1477391263 Both British

@TeenLifeMum Would it be tight with both of us earning or just with Dh earning?

I think that would be tight on just your DH earning, he'd be taking home around 2.4k depending on pension contributions / student loans or similar. Mortgage around 1k plus other bills wouldn't leave much to live on for 3 people imo. Say another £600+ depending on the bills and you're left with £800 a month for things like cars, fuel, food shopping, days out, savings, clothes, general day to day bits etc.

On just your DHs salary

Take home Will be £2432. (Minus any Student Loan repayments)
Mortgage £1k
Council Tax?
GasElectric?
Water?
Internet?
Insurance (house/life)

Then food and toiletries... probably £400 a month
Phones.
Car costs... fuel plus repayments if not owned outright, plus insurance.

Will you be entitled to disability benefits?

ETA... your earnings would add another £1300 a month.

That would be very tight in my opinion. Certainly not achievable to only have one parent working if you want anything like a decent standard of living.

You have another 1300 a month if you also work - assuming you don't need childcare

In Cornwall you will need a car. Cost of living isn’t any more than anywhere else. On £38k plus £18k you will manage but not lavishly. Difficult to save on that but should manage a holiday a year.
the plus side of living in Cornwall do outweigh the downside as long as you are not used to the cultural benefits of city living and enjoy days out outside.

Why Cornwall? It's not the idyll many people think it is, and costs are high. It's very remote, so if you heed hospital visits ( I note you have a chronic health condition) or want to go city centre shopping, or travel.outside of the area, you have to factor in high fuel costs.
And unless your kids are into surfing, you'll be forever taking them here there and everywhere as public transport is very limited.

All this will eat into your budget.

I think it'd be tight even with both of those salaries.

I think you will manage, but not living a life of luxury. But many people are struggling with the cost of living crisis. If there's a strong reason to come back, then do. Life is too short to think too much of what ifs.

Very surprised if you could find a family home in Cornwall for a mortgage of just £1,000 per month unless you are able to put down a substantial deposit.

I'd assume you picked Cornwall because of family. You'll definitely need a car outside of big cities.

Uk median household income before taxes and benefits 35k

After benefits and taxes 38k

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/#spreadsheet

This is the best budgeting spreadsheet I've found. You can work out exactly what your essential spending will be (look up things like council tax etc and give good estimates for fuel bills) and how much you will have over. Will take a few hours to do it really thoroughly but it will be worth it.

Would you need childcare too - after school / school hols?

We both work very flexibly and still need after school clubs and occasional sitters and childminders. Holidays are a nightmare.

Could you get the mortgage lower until you're earning more?

Honestly, we didn't start to feel "comfortable" until we hit 60K joint income. By comfortable I mean not having to worry if something broke/counting pennies at the end of the month/restricting heating over winter etc. That was 10 yrs ago when we didn't have such high energy prices either
On your DHs income only I would imagine things will be very tight with very little margin for error. With your projected contributions added in it would give a buffer but will still be tight imo.
All depends what your lifestyle is like where you currently live and whether you want to replicate that.

We’d choose Cornwall due to family
We’d have a car (paid outright from sale of current house)
We’d have around £150 thousand house deposit

Disappointing to hear we’d struggle

We're in almost exactly this income bracket. It's doable, but I'd advise a lower mortgage if you need to save extra for your pension or have childcare commitments etc. You wouldn't be able to buy a new car or have big exotic destination hols on that sort of money, but if that's not your bag, that income will definitely go a bit further for day-to-day things in the SW than in the SE. You certainly wouldn't struggle for food/heating bills etc in an average house unless you had big debts to repay or other major commitments as well.

I think you'd manage but it would be tight, Id have thought you would need one car at least maybe two with how rural Cornwall is so that would be a thought. We earn more but have nursery fees on top and have found cost of living has had an impact in terms of just food and general day to say living costs whereas prior to me getting a new job.

Would you qualify for pip?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.gov.uk/pip&ved=2ahUKEwji3LbAgpmEAxVWxQIHHSjKBPsQFnoECBcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2gSEm8XUsfgvPsjmFZoUFD

We’d have no childcare costs

Massive areas of social deprivation in Cornwall.
Lack of all year round job security- low wages etc . How definite is the possible £19k because if you are thinking that you will pick up a full time all year round minimum wage job you may be in for a shock.