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)

I think as this thread has shown, everyone's definition of a 'nice lifestyle' is different. My personal monthly budget for you would be (assuming you can get the mortgage you want which might be quite challenging):

-Mortgage £1000
-Council tax: £150 (this might be more or less depending on size of house and council)
-Gas and electricity: £250
-Internet: £30
-Food and groceries, cleaning stuff etc: £450 (for 2 adults one primary aged child happy to be reasonably frugal, own brand products, not too much meat)
-Phones x 2: £40
-Petrol: £100 (this could vary wildly depending on length of commute)
-Car insurance, tax, MOT, servicing, repairs: £100 (again could vary a lot)
-School uniform, shoes, basic haircuts, second hand or v cheap essential clothing and toiletries: £50
-Buildings, contents and life insurance: £50
-Bare minimum savings to replace white goods, boiler etc: £50

That comes to £2300 ish for the essentials which leaves you £200 pcm a month change from DH's salary for everything else, children's activities, holidays, christmas/birthdays, treats of any kind really. So this is where the question of what you define a nice lifestyle as comes in - if you're happy with lots of walks on the beach and very cheap/free activities on the weekends, maybe a camping trip in the UK as your main holiday, are happy for your clothes to be mainly second hand and do your own hair/nails etc then yes that sounds 'nice' and is perfectly reasonable - but other people would have a real problem giving up more expensive holidays, hobbies, subscriptions, being able to be a bit more relaxed about groceries etc - only you know really. Obviously if you were to be able to work too this would make things considerably although you would then likely have to purchase and maintain a 2nd car unless you can walk to work or line up your and DH's commuting needs, which will take another substantial chunk out of £19k p.a.. So my verdict is do-able but not necessarily what I would choose, personally...

I think it depends what you like to do, what your expectations are, what you'd like to spend on, where you would cut back?

It might be worth making a spreadsheet budget of the basic necessities: food, energy, council tax, pension, loans/credit cards, dentist etc. Then discretionary nice to haves: clothes, hair, makeup, coffee, lunch. Then bigger luxury spends: holiday, new car, tweakments etc

You're not going to live a life of luxury on those salaries, but you should be able to survive and have some disposable. It's just deciding what you want to spend that money on: Some people spend a lot on their food shop, but don't go to the pub. Others spend a good amount on clothes/beauty products, but don't go out to eat etc.

You mention "lifestyle" in your post. I would expect it to be pretty basic. You pay your bills. Maybe have a takeaway a couple of times a month. A holiday abroad (peak time) every other year. You can get some cheap clothes and occasional hairdressers.

Not the point of the thread but @Bigdoglittlecat if you've had your phone for 4 years then you're almost certainly out of your fixed contract with EE (usually 2 years) - check with them and if so, request a PAC code and go SIM only. I get unlimited calls and texts and 15GB of data with Lebara for £7 a month on a rolling contract - assuming you don't need shedloads of data you should easily be able to save £15 a month. When you need a new phone you can either keep going SIM only and buy a handset off the shelf (or secondhand) or cancel the SIM only and start a new fixed contract.

There are lots of lovely friendly people in Cornwall.Yes,crowded in summer but all popular places are.When you live in a place you find the quieter places.One problem is no NHS dentists but that is all over the UK so be prepared to pay.One main hospital in Truro always busy.I wouldn’t leave have been here 26 years and love it.Chose your area with care and you will be fine.

Not sure I agree, the OP basically described our lifestyle there. It’s mid winter and the weekend just gone the skatepark, beach and playground by us were rammed. That’s basically how we spend our weekends..

It’s mumsnet and people love to hate on Cornwall, so you’ll get a lot
of negative responses here OP. Your income isn’t much less than ours (and we have huge child care costs to pay!) and we manage fine. That’s if you’re both working, but you should be able to find a term time job in education just fine.

I think you'll find life hard. And depending on the nature of your chronic illness, I wouldn't return the UK at all unless you can afford private medical insurance (also be prepared to pay for private dental care for the entire family).

HI OP,
Cornwall is beautiful. I lived there for several years and the main reasons we had to move were work and distance from family when we had our first child. If my family lived there I would love to move back.

I think your finances would be much more manageable if you are able to work also. I think a family with a child on only your husbands wage would probably be entitled to some universal credit which you could see by looking at https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ Although I don't know if you are entitled to benefits for a while having lived abroad?

The MSE calculator suggest 150K mortgage at 5% will cost you £877 a month over 25 years. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-rate-calculator/ That's a £300k house with your 150K deposit. That's a possible but modest house in Cornwall. £200,000 for a £350K house would cost you £1170.

Does your partner have a job paying 37K lined up or is your OP based on them being able to find a job earning what they earn now? Moving hoping to get a similar paid job is a very risky strategy in this low wage part of the country.
Similarly for you if you are a teacher/TA/school office - you should get a job in time but are you happy to work in a hotel/supermarket/fast food restaurant while you find something in your field? If you are then you should be able to find work quickly, if not it might take you a while.

Will you still have your 150K deposit if you have to rent for a year or two? A rental house can be very hard to come by. You might have more luck with renting a little flat but that might not be what you had in mind. Sometimes working people are having to live in temporary accommodation/holiday parks as they can't find accommodation (which is a scandal when there are so many empty houses but that's for another thread). If you have the option to live with family until you buy that would save you a fortune (even if you compensate them) and be less stressful than trying to find a rental.

Have you got separate savings for surveys/solicitors/stamp duty. Take a look at the Government stamp duty calculator. The stamp duty is higher if you have been non resident at £17.5K for a £300k house versus £11.5k.

On the upsides Cornwall is beautiful and I found the people (who seemed to be about 50:50 Cornish versus movers) to be friendly. Some people will say that they hate the busy summer months with holiday makers and owners of empty homes are not likely to be made welcome.

Overall I think you can live a great life with less money than many parts of the UK as if Cornwall suits you you don't need a budget for holidays away - you can get to (what feels like although I haven't counted) 100 beautiful beaches within an hour. You can walk endless miles of coastal paths, you can paddle, swim, surf - whatever floats your boat.

I don't think there is as much need to "keep up with the Jones'" as there might be in other places. A comfortable home (in the literal sense), a car that gets you from A-B (or the house to the sea) and enough money to pay your bills and get your life basics and you have everything you need in Cornwall in my opinion.

Downsides are that teenagers might find it tricky if you are in an isolated part rather than for example Newquay and ask for lots of lifts or the dreaded scooter. In the future your child might find it difficult to find work that pays enough to buy a house and need to move away or decide not to return after uni. If they stay in Cornwall/don't go to Uni there is a high chance that they could be low earners/seasonal earners.

I think you would struggle on just DH income in Cornwall.

Houses are pricey. And the cost of living in the uk is outrageous now compared to even 5 years ago. The cost of utility bills, petrol, food, going out, everything has increased loads.

I don't think you'll live "very nicely" on just DH salary, but you'll no doubt be "ok".

Our joint income is £52k a year. We have a modest 2 bed house with 1 bathroom, mortgage £980 a month.

Food, petrol, and household bills eat up most of our money. I definitely would not say we are comfortable. We're not starving or destitute but we do absolutely need to keep an eye on having the heating on, and what we buy in a food shop.

I absolutely hate living in the UK and would move elsewhere in Europe if I could.

And good luck if you need to see a dentist or doctor, or attend A&E in the uk.

Mine is SIM only £10 with three and only 4gb , it was £6 3 years ago and keeps going up, I hate the admin and hassle of changing but they never budge on a better deal....most people I know are in contracts of £50 and up

The main issue with Cornwall is that there is no where to rent. Not the price of rental. But just almost no availability. Not sure what buying is like. You'll likely need a year in the UK to be able to get a standard mortgage though not impossible via a broker. Water is more expensive in Cornwall then rest of the UK
And you'll need a car and a lot of fuel.

However it's a decent income, you'll still be entitled to child benefit, you say you'll have no childcare costs, you'll be near family and living in a desirable place that's fits your lifestyle and low cost/consumption family activities. I spent my summers in a village there and everyone local came from mid to low income families but with active lifestyles and hobbies, and teenagers had summer jobs for extras.

What's your lifestyle at the moment maybe people can say if it will be comparable or not or how much.

These figures really surprise me, I live in Scotland where everyone says it's "much cheaper" than England and these figures state the contrary, for example council tax of £150 will be for a 1 bed flat in Glasgow or Edinburgh or quite a low band house (band B), utilities: no one I know living in a house pays £250 or less in utilities a month, haircuts, it's £21 for a haircut for my 11 year old, or £15 for a boy's dry cut, husband £21 at barbers, let just not even mention mine 🤣, so £600 a year is deffo not enough for haircuts, shoes ,clothes and uniforms, in fact that'd probably just cover school uniforms and school shoes for my 2 kids a year (of course the OP only has one child).mechanics are absolutely ridiculous here, pur car needed break pads (no discs, jist the pads) and they wanted £286! £100 of petrol would only work if you don't commute and walk to school. We do very little mileage as office is only 5 miles away, and we don't do the school run , still spend a lot more than £100 a month ,oh and I've never seen a £20 phone contract (with handset)for a very long time....

Well yes, your mileage may vary as the gamer kids say, it depends on so many factors. I guess my figures were really meant to represent the bare bones. I think council taxes must be more in Scotland because £150pcm definitely possible if you live in a small house, that's what we pay ATM and we're south east (in a v small 2 bed terrace though, of course it will be more if OP's buying a bigger house/higher band). I was kind of assuming they're buying a new-ish car in good nick and won't need to replace parts like brake discs for a few years but of course they could get unlucky and need hundred of pounds in repairs within weeks. Barbers/haircuts mainly unnecessary as you can do basic trims or clippers for boys at home, yes it won't look good but if needs be then you must. My husband can get a very basic clipper trim at a barbers near us for £10. And as per a PP if you already have a phone handset already you can absolutely get a SIM only contract for £10 - then put the other £10 away in savings for the next two years and you'll have plenty to replace with a new basic model when it breaks. Or you can get a phone+SIM contract for under £20 if need be, not for a very good phone of course but functional e.g. https://www.idmobile.co.uk/shop/pay-monthly/motorola-moto-e22-black

None of this is precisely 'nice lifestyle' territory but just it must be possible to manage on a £37k salary when that's well above average like others are saying?

School uniforms can be very cheap, I get a lot of mine in the school's old school uniform sale, 50p an item.

My gas and electricity for small house in Cornwall is under £100 a month.

Depends on what you class as a nice lifestyle op. You’ve given bare details. As you can see people live on less and are happy, frugal lifestyles from second hand clothes to how they heat the house. Is that what everyone classes as a nice lifestyle?
personally I think it’s very tight with only your husband working and that size of mortgage, you don’t mention your savings, do you habe any to deal with the unexpected bills? Car issue, washing machine break?

you say you want lunches out and days out with your kid and a holiday, on your husbands salary alone and that size of mortgage those will need to be very frugal indeed. Camping and a picnic from home for lunch kind of thing.

if you earn, then it would help the situation, and you could afford more than a frugal or basic lifestyle, but again, you need to consider savings,pensions, and unexpected costs.

Interest only mortgages are very difficult to get. Last time I looked our lender needed one of us to earn a minimum of £100k.

council tax is generally more in Scotland as it includes water and sewerage

I don’t think you’d qualify for a £1k a month mortgage even with both of you earning let alone just on DH’s salary, have you spoken to any banks/brokers?

My partner earns £32k plus bonuses which would take him up to around the £35k mark. On a regular non-bonus month, his take home pay is £2050. I don't work due to disability/illness. In total we receive around £1600 in benefits including child benefit.

We have 3 children. Our mortgage is £1100 a month. We don't struggle. We watch the pennies sure but we don't have to buy second hand clothes or all own brand products. We get treats whenever we want them. After everything (mortgage, bills, groceries, fuel etc) is paid for, we could potentially put around £700 a month into savings if we wanted to.

Our benefit income would be more than you because we get money on UC for 2 children and we're in Scotland so also get Scottish Child Payment but if you were also able to work then I personally don't think your 2 incomes combined would leave you anywhere near struggling unless you have massive debts.

It all depends on what you expect from life OP. I think in all honesty asking on here is probably a bit of a waste of time, as we all have different desires and needs, and so many MN'ers seem to earn way more than the 'average'. Instead, why not ask the family that you have, who are already living in Cornwall? Perhaps then you can see what sort of life they lead on their particular income and judge from there. They're also likely to be far more honest than a bunch of people on social media. After all, someone was asking how much they needed in their pension pot the other day, I think if I remember rightly, someone suggest at least £3 MILLION!!! Makes you wonder what sort of lifestyle they're used to, doesn't it?

@Spaghettieis Why not? With a £150000 down payment?

I think you’ve asked on the wrong website! 🙄 somehow all mumsnetters are on mega money!

I don’t think you’d struggle - but harder on one wage. I think you’d need yours to be comfortable.

but as previous posters have said it’s all to do with lifestyle! What do you want to do and how much will it cost? I’d work backwards.