Is £200 enough between 2 of us

[Sparkles2295]

Hi

were thinking of going for a bigger house our mortgage will be double than what we have now

after all our bills, groceries, takeaways we will be left with £150/200 is that enough or is it a tight squeeze??

tia

What happens when your mortgage increases?

So is this 200 quid for;
holidays
days out….entry fees
nights out….meals, theatre trips
birthday celebrations
christmas
presents for family and friends
haircuts and beauty stuff and make up
clothing and shoes
emergency stuff / unexpected home costs / home renovations
stuff for house….cushions, new bedding etc…..plants for garden
petrol
do you have DC or planning on them….if so all the associated costs

theres probably loads more I can’t even think of right now …..if the 200 quid is supposed to cover all this , then you can’t afford to move…..if it doesn’t include all this stuff then you may be ok

try living on 200 quid a month as the extra for 6 months…,see how doable it is.

this is what i did ….im 59 ….so when looking at retiring early…for the last 3 years I have been saving over half my wages and living on what my private pension will likely be….. and is been fine…..I have had to dip into savings if I need them..,.eg, I bought a car for cash and we had a big 6 week holiday ….I paid for a family holiday to Disney for all kids and GC….apart from that it’s been doable with all costs …..and I’ve factored in what my savings are….plus my lump sum from my pension…..then getting state pension at 67…..but I couldn’t live on 200 quid after expenses …..not even double that

I doubt you'll get a mortgage approved on such a tight affordability margin in any case.

Just done my accounts for the past year. Disc brake replacement on car, £225. New tyre (puncture): £73. Gas boiler service: £100. Roofing work after the recent big storm: £245. Parking ticket: £40. Emergency taxi: £50. (The person who was supposed to give me a lift wasn't able to). New garden shed required after one wall of the (very) old one caved in: £650. And then there was my long-planned 'cheap' trip to Valencia in early November. I was going to stay for free with people I know. Flights and spending money and thank-you gifts etc all budgeted for. Then there were terrible floods, my friends had to leave their home and I ended up going to Madrid for a week instead. Emergency hotel and AirBnB/ unplanned transport costs left me £600+ down.

I'd suggest you need £2-3k in emergency savings, just in case.

Can you get a mortgage for that amount if you will only have spare each month?

I would also say don't, unless you are certain that you are in for big raises/ career progression in the near future.
Its fine for a year or 2 to say, well we will just go without holidays and clothes and a decent car. It gets old very quickly

Far too tight for me, though I appreciate that there are many who struggle on a low income, and manage with next to nothing spare. But unless you’re spending £100s on takeaways every month (and if my budget was squeezed, I wouldn’t prioritise takeaways for a treat). There’s no give in that budget for birthdays, Christmas, holidays, new shoes, coats, but more importantly, for repairs, maintenance, breakdown, interest rate rises, increased bills etc.

So tight, undoable id say, especially if you own a house so if anything needs doing it's on you. Unless you have a hefty emergency fund?

I would not recommend, I have been there done that, mortgaged to the hilt to live in a big house in a nice area. We only had one young child and this was 25 years ago (before cost of living crisis). The nice house wasnt worth it, it was brutal never having any money left over for extras, all just going to the bank. We lasted two years before downsizing, and the relief was palable.

I wouldn't! I'd stay tiny until the margins are more favorable!

I personally wouldn't but it depends on your circumstances and the reasons for wanting/needing a bigger a house.

As someone else suggested, could you try living on £200 a month for a few months to see how achievable it is.

Will you actually be happy? The reality of living withing that budget means you will actually be living to that budget, so you'll be stressed whenever there is a big birthday, a hen do, you need new clothes, want a trip away, dinner with friends a few times, Christmas, trip to the garden centre, regular and expensive parking fees if you arr unlicky enough to need to go regularly (which you can't plan for).

It sounds really miserable to me.

And that's if you're lucky and don't get fucked with a big boiler or car bill.

YABU

Could you still afford to pay your mortgage if the interest rates go up again?

The bank look at your cost of living before giving a mortgage they won't give you one if you cannot afford to sufficiently live.

It will be impossible without ending up in massive debt. It would take you 2 years to save up for a new boiler for example, and that assuming nothing g else needs to be repaired/replaced in those years and you don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Asides from that, there is no way you earn enough for a mortgage that size if things are that tight.

I’d be very surprised if you could even get the mortgage if it would leave you so short

Do you need a bigger house due to size of family or just fancy one ?

Don't do it. You need more if a cushion incase your boiler breaks, unexpected broken pipe, unexpectedly need electrical.work done, redundancy etc etc

£2000 a year for everything you may need basically, fridge broken? thats £400 minimum, washer? boiler? birthdays christmas's, cars broke? Wheres your emergency money? 2k a year is not enough for me im sorry

I have around £500 left and usually put away £200 savings and feel like it’s not much at all. I used to have £800 a month but cost of living is catching up.

Unless the accounting for everything includes a big chunk going into a savings account then the answer is no it is not enough .

What happens if your mortgage goes up, or your boiler breaks, or you need to buy a new car, or pay to get the oven or fridge replaced?

To follow from my previous post.

there are millions of people who literally live with nothing or almost nothing left from their wage and they manage and are happy with their lives BUT they are living that way because that is the reality not through choices that leave them with that little and almost all would feel safer and better if they knew there was a cushion to control unexpected circumstance.
they dont because they dont have a choice and nothing they are in control of could change that.
they don’t have things mostly people take for granted as standard because the budget is so small but that doesn’t mean they feel limited they don’t have good lives.

it’s maybe something to think about before you make any decisions you can’t come back from.

I'd say no.

too right. What about unexpected expenses. house repairs, a new washing machine, broken down car. Holiday. how Secure are your jobs? I wouldn't.

Far too tight. Rise in energy prices, car breakdown or maintenance bill and you will be up shit creek unfortunately.

If after expenses £150-200 is all you have remaining then I doubt anyone responsible will give you the mortgage you are looking for