To say there’s always a high earner thread? Tell me about your income vs expenditure if you are of the opinion that you are broke/not well off?

[Moneymadness]

Just that really. Every other money thread ends up taken over by those with large incomes and low expenses, or just large incomes tbh. If you want to. Post your numbers if you are bloody broke and just getting to the end of the month(or not)…a safe space that cannot be taken over by the higher earners maybe?

Not even sure how one would get a mortgage on their own in London when their salary is £28k

I have approx £700 a month left after bills. I’m not broke but I do have to be careful. 1 adult, 2 kids living in East Anglia. Child maintenance has dwindled to nothing over the past 3 years. I spent last year fighting with CMS, arguing with my ex and being upset about it and living beyond my means. I’ve got a handle on things now and feel more in control. It’s not the lifestyle I wanted for my kids but we do ok despite the kids not getting the support they should. I’m morally wrestling with the idea of applying for FSM when my children become eligible, because technically I can afford to pay for school meals. My mum, who got lucky in the property market then downsized, has gifted us holidays over the last 2 years which I’m very grateful for.

I’m not sure if it’s considered an expensive city in Scotland but when I visited Glasgow on holiday a couple of years I felt like weeping when I saw the range of lovely houses I would be able to buy for prices that would get me a 1-2 substandard bed flat at best here.

I come out with £3410 a month... sounds a lot but I pay out over £1200 a month in debts that I am currently trying to consolidate. A combination of disaster after disaster in the house (appliances breaking, walls caving in, etc) and poor mental health leading to an out of control shopping addiction, so I entirely own it. Mortgage is £900, bills are about £400.... ok so breaking that down it sounds like I should have a lot left! But I also have a weakness for holidays and beauty treatments and keep them up because I don't want the world to know I'm skint (I know I know...)

But I also live on my own so absolutely everything falls on me

Well we claim UC top up so I guess that means we are not well off and are in the poorer end of society. We don’t feel it though. I’m on 27k, dh is on 34k. 3 dc at home (one with a disability which we get dla for), rent social housing. Can’t afford to buy a house (we’d never get a big enough mortgage on our salaries for a small family home where we live) but can certainly afford to run two newish cars and have a nice foreign holiday each year. It’s all in the mindset though isn’t it? Someone could have our income and feel they are on the breadline, others might think we are rolling in it. As someone who was once an unemployed single parent living off just benefits alone, now I’m working and earning I definitely feel like I’m rich

How much UC/ child benefit do you get? I seem to have similar outgoings (£860 mortgage though) and don’t have that much for food weekly. Any tips welcome and appreciated!

I do wish people would stop implying that anywhere outside the south east is 'affordable'. Yes the prices in London are astronomical, but they're tough in most places, related to wages. I live in a small northern town and a tiny two bed tends to start at £950 a month. That's a lot for those on minimum wage which is what most the jobs around here are.
I am lucky that I've been able to move up in jobs which mean I'm no longer scrimping, but I think some people don't realise that being skint doesn't just mean needing to cut down on some luxuries. It can mean that 'luxuries' become things like 'treating yourself' to including hair conditioner on the weekly shop. Or writing out a budget and there's just nothing left to cut, so the budgeting becomes what you can pay first, what bill you have to try and avoid till payday, and how many days you're going to have to exist on air. When you're in that situation it can be really wearing.

You should move here. 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I earn under £19,000 a year working full time. I’m a single parent and receive universal credit and child benefit. I have a small mortgage because of a lump some I received after an inheritance helped me have a large deposit. I don’t feel poor but I earn the least out of my circle of friends. Some are on over £100,000 combined income and plead poverty but they buy from online stores constantly and are up to their eyes in debt.

Isn’t 19k under minimum wage for full time?

Single parent with a (ravenous) 12 yo DS. Earning £35k, with about £700 a month after bills etc
DS’s dad recently passed away so I now have no child maintenance coming in. I have a mortgage so don’t qualify for any UC or other benefits.
I’m one car breakdown or household emergency away from not being able to make it through the month.
I’m trying to declutter my house to sell excess items to try and build a slush fund but have so many pressures at the moment, it’s difficult

I think the hardest part when you are a single parent is that you don’t have anyone to share the load with, struggling with parenting and money worries alone is so difficult. I really feel for you. I’ve been broke on and off for most of my adult life, but it was much less stressful when I had a partner to talk things through with and to discuss things with.

Annual household income is 39485. Annual household expenditure is 39360.
A whole spare 125 a year. 🤣

As a teacher I saw some really broke people,
where decisions such as do we eat/have electricity.
Where their wages DONT cover their 'basic' bills, never mind 'luxury' ones.
Where the kids have never had new clothes
Where the kids dont get toys.
Where they dont have phones/electronics.
Where they have to use food banks

Ive also had parents complain how much they are struggling, and im not saying they aren't, but they've had holidays, they've got a pretty decent/new iPhone drive a canny car, always in new vlothes (even if cheap/ copies)
. That's not being broke, thats choices you are making (that you don't have to choose) causing you difficulties.

But £1200 plus PIP isn’t £1200 is it. If you’re on top rate both components it’s more like a total of £2k a month take home which I wouldn’t describe as very low!

On paper we would be seen to be very comfortable. In reality I worry about money every single day. My son is autistic and really struggle at school we decided to pay for him to go private. The fees have gone up 35% since he started. I constantly think about how I am going to work more hours to cover the fees. I am working 55-60 hours a week. He is happy and thriving at school so I guess that's all that matters.

I've gone from 5.2k to 2.5k ! I don't know if that makes me poor or not. I'm single (DS lives here when not at university) and i pay a mortgage.

Please think when posting things like this - PIP isn't bonus money; it's to try and offset the considerably higher costs of living with a disability.
I can keep my heating bills low because I'm out at work, and I can feel well with an extra jumper. I can walk to the cheaper supermarket and physically carry my shopping home. That's not the case for most people undergoing cancer treatment. 2k when in good health compared to 2k living with cancer are very different things (and that's if the PP gets both components which they may not do)

Wtf
75k and no rent.
This is the opposite of what OP was asking for.
SHUT UP!

Skint but getting by here OP.
No savings, pennies in bank day before pay day. Wer'e 'UpNorth' though,
where rent is a pound and bread is free of course.

I'm on £17 000/ year. I'm only working term time so can look after the children when there's no school.
My partner is on £43 000.
We receive the DLA for our autistic child.

We pay for counselling, swimming lessons, gymnastics and after school clubs for the kids. We have a dog. We have a fairly small mortgage (£650/month). We still have 25 years to pay. We've just extended the term to bring the monthly payments down.

We go on holiday abroad once a year ( nowhere further than a 3 h flight) . That's paid on a credit card. We repay over a year.

My car is paid on finance. We still have 5 years to pay.

I feel as if we're always playing catch up. It wouldn't take much for us to find ourselves in a difficult situation. It's a fine balance as we want to give our kids plenty of opportunities to live a life as full as possible, but we can not stretch ourselves any further than we are at the moment.

Has your son got an EHCP? You could name the setting you want (private school included) and try to get him there without needing to pay. If it's in the child's best interests, they have to consider it.

Umm, how have you managed to increase your salary by £20,000 in 1 year?!?

I was on a temporary promotion which was extended every 6 months for 2 years and expected to go on more or less indefinitely, then the funding for our team was pulled and everyone had to go back to their substantive pay grades. I'd had multiple temporary promotions as I'd climbed up the ladder but technically my permanent grade was still the lowest one. It took me almost a year to get a permanent role at my previous level but luckily I could jump straight back to that grade as I had proof I'd done it before.

I work fulltime and take home about £1500 a month. I get child benefit but no other benefits and i get £320 child maintenance so less than £2000 a month in the bank. I manage ok and the dc are fed well, have extra curricular activities and we go abroad once a year but getting fed up with costs going up each month so dont know how long it will feel ok for. I look out for bargains and live within my means, so no debt, but i do wonder what people that work and still qualify for universal credit (so end up with more in the bank than me a month) biggest costs are a month if they get rent paid, council tax reductions (or universal credit towards it and not including single person discount) and social tariffs, none of which i get.

I’m also confused as to why you don’t get these things and people earning more do?!