To wonder how other families get to the end of the month?

[gundigirl]

DH and I are both middle earners, with a combined income of around £90k. We have one DD in state school – no fees, but she does a few clubs and after-school activities, which add up.
With the rising cost of living, I’ve had to take on a side hustle. I actually enjoy it, but still – without that extra income, I wouldn't have been able to cover recent repair bills, for example.
I honestly don’t understand how other families (especially those with two or more DC, or just one working parent) make it to the end of the month. I’ve never felt more financially squeezed.
I’m not exactly a super-saver – I like the odd hair appointment – but I do try to save or invest a bit each month when I can.
What am I missing?

Everybody just seems to be one minor disaster away from catastrophe.
Our car was off the road this week. I’d already spent the weekly and monthly budget on petrol that was in the car that couldn’t be used.
One week of using public transport is literally wiped out the food budget
I’m gonna be on tins of soup for the rest of the month
It’s extremely expensive being poor

How much are your mortgage repayments?

I thought I was good at budgeting until I saw it as detailed and organised as this. Thanks. I'm off to sort my financial life out 😃 I find these threads helpful.

The mortgage is often £2k plus and there are car payments, which are presented as as if everyone has those - so the the poster asks what they are doing wrong having no money left

Most people the OPs age will have housing & transport costs.

The answer to how we get by on a combined income of £70k is that we live in a 4 bed terrace with a mortgage of £750 a month and own both of our cars outright (one being a Mini worth about £3k!)

And how old are you and when did you buy?

You need to really review where your money is going if 90k income is a struggle

Also allowing for inflation the OPs income is equivalent to 47k in the early 00s. Did salaries of 23/24k really class as high incomes?

So glad it helps. I review it every 6months

We're on around that OP and we're fine because:

• We're mortgage free
• Have a much smaller house than anyone we know
• Own both our (decent) cars outright
• Don't have any debts
• Have no childcare costs - although we do have kids at Uni but have already saved what we need for them (2 x 3 years of living expenses)

Not rubbing it in, just showing why some people don't feel the pinch or are affected by the current CoL.

Right!! Some of these replay make me laugh with the hand holding and aww poor you.

Work harder is the line usually trotted out to those who are on low incomes.

COL? Yeah everyone is going through the same thing, the only difference if lifestyle and those at the bottom have literally nothing left to give. OP could easily give up the fancy cars, houses, food etc but god forbid eh.

You must live in a very expensive area? London or the Southeast? And you have a very high mortgage?
Can you relocate to somewhere cheaper? We are 2 adults and 2 DC and we spend £100.00 a week on food so you will be able to save some money there, stop buying brands and shop in cheaper supermarkets.

How is anyone supposed to give advice on 'we pay bills and a mortgage'?

Your mortgage. We recently downsized because it was the only part of our budget which we couldn't slim down with lifestyle changes. It feels much better.

Your cars: I have a 6 year-old skoda. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to insure (relatively). What do you have?

Your holidays: so we don't do those, really. Occasionally have a weekend away if we have a bit of extra.

Bills: shop around, keep heating low, reduce phone contract (£6/month sim only deal).

Eating out: we don't at all.

So, look at what you spend. See where you can cut.

Ye gods. Do you live in cloud cuckoo land?

Instead of saying “bog standard house ” say “average in the south east”

if you borrow 400k against the average house price of around 460 in the south east that 2k a month

but the median house price is 375k which assuming 75 k upfront is 1600 a month - that average is skewed

many people would have that 75 towards the house assuming it’s their second home and they haven’t gone for the forever as their first home - although so many now do that because of inheritance

OP, you're spending £60 a week each for food and eating out. I spend £60 a week for two of us.

You have gym membership, you eat out, you get your nails done.

The simple answer to your question, is you spend a lot on non-essentials.

I don’t believe you can do a family’s weekly shop for £70 in Waitrose. Do you have a receipt you don’t mind sharing? Many of us need guidance

I want to see the weekly Waitrose shop for £70 please too

@gundigirl you struggle to get to the end of the month because you don't budget your spending. Simple as that. It doesn't matter what your income is or whether other people are managing on more or less, it's because at the start of the month you do not have a clear picture of what the end of the month looks like.

To stop this happening you can do this:
Have two accounts- a bills account and a spending account. Work out all your bills, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually, average it monthly and then put aside that amount from each months wages straight away. I would not include things where you can make reductions yourself like food shopping in that category but I would include public transport.
Then look at what you have left over each month. Multiply it by 12 and divide it by 52. That is your weekly allowance. Set up a weekly standing order into your spending account. Thins way you know very quickly if you are living beyond your means and can adapt your behavior appropriately.

If you want to save put it aside after bills and before the spending calculations. Make sure it goes into a seperate high interest account so it doesnt get mixed up with other money but keep it easy access at first in case you mess up with your bill calculations.

They may be essential for her, but she should probably not complain about not having enough money

But I never said I did the whole shop in Waitrose did I?! I said I still bought a fair amount from Waitrose. My meat, cheese, cat, coffee, tea comes from Waitrose. Fruit and veg and canned goods are mostly from Lidl

That’s only helpful if you state how much your mortgage is - if it’s £3k every month then it’s understandable that you’re struggling a bit, not so much if it’s only £1k.
Same applies to how much the running costs are for your cars (eg £200 vs £800) and how much you spend on holidays - big difference between a £5k all inclusive in Europe for 10 nights vs a week in a UK self-catering cottage.

So I would say I spent £35 in Waitrose and £35 in Lidl

How much is your mortgage I assume it's a lot that's your answer. We earn combined about 75, I work part time and we survive very well but our mortgage is very cheap.

How much is the mortgage/gym/holiday/bills/cars?

I mean there's a big difference between a 2k or 10k holiday or a £15/£100 a mth gym membership. If a gym membership is a top expense it doesn't exactly sound like a cheap one.

£180 a week on food is a lot.

cars on finance usually cost more than saving and buying a cheaper but still reliable car (saving and buying anything is better than finance imo, same for insurance, pay in bulk and not monthly).

Oh and as a reference point our family of 4 in greater London have £165 per week to spend on everything outside of essential bills, so food, toiletries, petrol, cards, gifts, activities, school trips, prime/netflix when we have it, household stuff etc.

We do put aside £75 a month before that though for Christmas, so have a seperate pot to pay for that.