To wonder how people are coping?

[CobbleWobble]

We are very lucky, I know this.

We are "Mumsnet rich" both have professional jobs with good salaries (£170k household income) and yet this last 12 months:

• removed children from private school
• changed how we do the weekly shop to reduce costs
• cut subscriptions (like Disney+ etc)
• reduced what I bought in the back to school shop
• decided against a holiday in October half term
• concerned about our usual Christmas food order

What is going on? I just don't understand why or how prices are rising as they are or how people on less than us are coping!

I'm extremely grateful we have the things to cut that we have but we've also had to remortgage this year which has doubled our mortgage payments and then our utilities have increased and the food shop has just got insane.

We have other things we can cut - a holiday in the UK, Netflix, the monthly takeaway but its just miserable to think we may need to do that just not to be living.

Happy to post spending particulars if people are finding it hard to see where I'm coming from.

So AIBU to think that as a country we cannot go on with prices rising like this? How are others coping?

I'm genuinely relieved that other people are feeling comfortably off and not so affected by the cost of living rises.

I've misrepresented our income - it's £160k, I calculated it based on my FTE and I only work 32 hours. Apologies.

Yes, our mortgage is huge - it wasn't when we bought the house but we had to borrow more to fix a big issue that wasn't picked up on the survey and insurance wouldn't cover, and then the interest rate has more than tripled. This happened at the same time as the 25% vat on school fees, which at our school was passed directly to parents. So we had to withdraw them.

There's also a big difference in income between two people on £80k and one person earning the majority of our income (it's about a £9k per month in scenario 1 and £7k in scenario 2, which is our scenario).

And yes, we've always been comfortable where we haven't really needed to watch our spending where as now we very much do.

2 adults, 2 children, 1 dog and 2 cats.

Basics expenses:

Mortgage 2500
CT 240
Utilities 430
Broadband 50
Childcare 950
Children's activities 200
Car expenses Inc petrol 300
Phone 30 (previously 60)
Subscriptions 40 (netflix, prime and TV licence - previously 75)
Home & contents insurance 60
Pets (food and insurance)100 (previously 170)
Cleaner 140 (we've reduced the hours, previously 240) - this will be next to go.
Food/ toiletries / household items 600
Professional memberships 250
Commuting 80 (we both work mainly from home but need to go in to the office twice a month each)

Which leaves £900 for day today spends, adult hobbies and savings/ Christmas/ birthdays/ holidays etc. This is after we've made savings, it was a lot less. When we bought the house our mortgage was £975 and the extra we borrowed brought it up to £1200 which was affordable, but the huge increase in interest rate has scuppered us massively. Also council tax jumped up either last year or this. It's just the jump in everything pushing on stuff.

I'm not sure moving is an option at the moment - as we've just remortgaged we'd have to pay a huge fee (around £20k) to pay off some of the mortgage, but if we still feel like this once the fixed term is closer to ending then it's definitely something we'll look in to, though our house is very averagely priced for our area.

In the next 18months my student loan will be paid off which will give me back about £120 a month.

To be fair, the rates haven't gone mad, just returned to a more normal level. I think the trouble was they were low for so long that some people thought that was normal and didn't account for them going up.

No, you're not mumsnet rich; you're just rich.

Is this some kind of joke, £160k a year, you’ve stopped your subscription but have a cleaner 🤣 oh my heart bleeds for you.

Agree - 2 people earning £60k are £6000 a year better off than one person earning £120k when tax NIC and CB are factored in. If they both have nursery aged children then the high earner is a lot worse off as they lose the free hours. Its a major reason for not having enough GPs as so many of them fall in off the cliff edge so cut their working hours to earn less and be better off.....

Be as cynical as you like @sansou but I don't think no reply in a couple of hours is that unusual is it?

Also changed my username incase the crappy papers like the Daily Mail pick it up. I could name all the ridiculous Mumsnet threads from years gone by (penguin bollards, stop the check, penis beaker, Maui) if it helps?

The OP stated their household income. We have no idea what the actual post tax split is. The number is purely indicative without actually being informative.

Therefore I can't assume without knowing the breakdown what is likely to be reasonable or not. The way your income is taxed as a household is clearer because you've given a split. Their 170k could be a 90/10, a 50/50 split, who knows. Either way the post tax income is what is relevant, then the spending and obligations.

Perhaps they saw the mortgage rates and knew they wouldn't be able to afford a remortgage without taking the kids out of private. Perhaps their LTV is low. Likely what they own, if they do own, is expensive and even if it goes to market could take the better part of a year to sell. Even if they sell, they need to buy with all that costs these days....
It's not about being able to afford Disney or Netflix, they just used that as an example of where they've reconsidered their subscriptions and usage, perhaps they don't use it enough currently to justify it. I regularly cull mine.....

To be fair, the rates haven't gone mad, just returned to a more normal level. I think the trouble was they were low for so long that some people thought that was normal and didn't account for them going up.

No it's because house prices in relation to salaries are abnormal.

Just recently got a new job and £15k salary increase. Prior to that was on total household income of £45k, 2 adults, 2 children. So about a quarter. Didn't qualify for UC, tax credits, social housing, or council tax support on that salary.

UC I believe is £1534 p/m for a couple. So £18.5k. So a tenth.

Most people aren't paying three and a half grand a month on housing and childcare, basically.

Do you really need the professional memberships? Food bill could also likely be trimmed.

UC awards vary massively depending on childcare and rental costs. It's possible to get a higher amount than that.

Agree re house prices but that is not really relevant in terms of mortgage renewals. In fact it can only help with ltv as you will have more equity.

They're legally required for our jobs. Like a doctor or nurse being registered with the accrediting bodies. If we didn't have them, we'd be fired.

@CobbleWobble I wouldn't say your mortgage is huge. What's your monthly net income?

Do you really need the professional memberships?

Certain professions require them eg a doctor.

£6998

You have 3 pets and are only spending £100 a month on them?

Nailed it

Agree, I'm not sure what the UC threshold is but at one point our joint income was under £40k and we didn't qualify for anything.

@CobbleWobble I don't understand why it's so low even if one earner was on 120k & one was on 40k so tax punitive it should be higher?

I imagine given the salary that there is a lawyer/accountant or similar in the mix in which case no professional membership means no job.

eg that would be 9k, but are pensions & student loans really 2k a month?

For a couple of months they were nearly 3.5k...so glad to be out of that phase!

OP, you made me laugh.

I'm a single mum, working full time, with an income of about £50k. I have one ds, at independent school on a 50% scholarship. We never had a Disney,or any other subscription. We have a tv licence. Parkrun rather than gym membership. Do all my own grooming.

Certainly things have tightened over the last 18 months. I'm coping by buying own-brand, making my own bread, jam, sauces. Growing and freezing veg & fruit for the winter. I cook from scratch, learn to cook cheaper cuts of meat. Nothing goes to waste.

Making clothes last an extra year. Repairing shoes. Making my car last a decade or more. Relying on a wood burner for warmth on cool evenings.

Decent healthy food and my ds' education have priority.