AIBU to ask what you have left monthly after bills?

[Manth0914]

Hi all, I know this is a VERY broad question but AIBU to ask what you have left each month after all bills. Money you use for food, fuel, clothes and so on? I ask as a single income mum of 2 with a part time job. Just wondering with the way things are how people are getting on?

Single mum, 2 DC, work full time earning £50k but pay 13% pension contributions.
Mort of £800…save £700 a month atm for holidays, birthdays, emergency fund etc. after all bills left with around £400 - but that quickly dissapears each month on god knows what.
My mortgage renews in Feb (currently on a very low rate) and I’m actually fearful how I’m going to pay the what’s looking likely to be a huge increase with how interest rates are heading.

If it doesn’t poor janes brain is probably going to burst 😂

We have about £4500 after bills but before food and fuel. Spend around £1k on fuel and food

Speak to a mortgage advisor & see if you can fix earlier. Had this Iran war not broke out we would likely have seen at least one more rate cut this year, that would have meant less impact on mortgage rates for people coming off deals

Nothing that mystical. I’m at director level at a media company and DH is also director level in the public sector.

Well done you. I also volunteer at a local animal charity one day a week and donate to several animal and environmental charities (since you ask) A nurse above has detailed her income and expenditure, doing a worthwhile job and still doesn’t have much to spare. It just makes me feel cross that people boast what they have whilst others struggle while working equally hard.

I don’t work and haven’t reached retirement age. I do though have my own income and a small monthly pension.

I'm left with £1050 after essential bills are paid

Same here, I obviously never thought that I would get rich from nursing but it would be nice if our skills were recognised in our pay.

(I’m not in my overdraft but I am very careful scrooge and have scraped some savings together so that I don’t go into debt although it feels like one step forward and ten steps back).

We have around half of our monthly income left after bills (mortgage, utilities, tutoring/lessons for our dc, insurance and so on), but not food. Our food bill is astronomical (household includes teenage boys) and I need to reign it in.

I'd even settle for our measley yearly pay rise being in line with inflation.
3.3% won't even cover how much petrol has gone up.

And how do you know I don’t do a “worthwhile” job?

I’m not that high by high earning standards but have a degree from a russell group uni and masters in a STEM subject. Worked all my uni holidays and a pocket money level job during term time. Got through uni before tuition fees were a thing. Lived at home for 3 years when I first started work (paid rent but also enabled me to save), have a professional qualification and 25years experience in the private sector where job security is pretty good, perks are ok but employer pension contributions are crap. Have sacrificed long periods working away from home over the years, haven’t had a pay rise that’s kept up with inflation for a number of years and probably still underpaid compared to my male counterparts
also managed to get on the property ladder before prices rent bonkers, but also haven’t moved for nearly 20 years as a result.

Too late for that, it’s burst! Seriously though, I know these threads always cause bad feelings, but surely I’m not the only one that can see the unfairness of life? I’ve never earned anywhere near these amounts and have worked bloody hard all my life. I think nurses, police, ambulance staff etc, all essential staff should earn much more. It just makes me cross to see how some people struggle. no offence meant to anyone 😀x

She’s not boasting! She’s answering the op!
The answer regarding charity work was in response to your tantrum.

FWIW, I’m a nurse aa well and don’t blame Stats for my budget! 😂

She’s not personally responsible for other people’s financial situations. It sounds like a person who has done well, made good financial decisions and is planning for the future. I admire her!

Our household pays over 100k income tax/NI every single year. It’s not a boast it is a simple fact in response to the question posed.

The notion that people who generate such tax liabilities have just been handed it all on a plate is ridiculous.

Were it not for the relatively small number of people paying similar amount of tax, everyone else would be in a far worse position than they are. We have a system where a small minority bankroll an ever growing majority.

After mortgage, bills and food etc. I have £167 left each month. I deposit £40 into my SIPP and £27 into my Emergency Fund. I keep £100 as “fun money.”

If you feel well off and enjoy life then why feel shit? Enjoying life is the only thing that matters. You may not enjoy life quite as much if you earned significantly more. More money doesn’t necessarily mean better.

It’s part choices, part luck. I only took one maternity leave then went back to work full time when my twins were 6 months old. Doing so meant I was promoted a lot and eventually reached a very senior position. But if you talk to many mothers they wouldn’t want that sort of life/work with having kids. Which is perfectly understandable.

My DH’s income is part luck, part choice. He’s always been in public sector but job-hopped an awful lot. He’s never stayed in a job more than 2-3 years since he started working – that’s a classic way to maximise salary. He has landed very lucky positions being right place and right time.

Maybe you do I have no idea. Doubtful though on that salary

It’s insulting.

Usually nothing. I get my state pension, a local government pension, and Im still working part time and generally spend everything I get. But this is the first time in my adult life when Ive not been in debt so I’m quite happy with my finances now.

@Jane143 you don’t think there are worthwhile jobs paying £50,000? You do know there a loads of public sector roles that pay that kind of salary, teachers, doctors. Even people in the charity sector can earn that, and not just director level. You’re being ridiculous.

@Jane143 you didn’t mean to offend anyone but you have offended me, my job is worthwhile, I work in a pharmaceutical company that makes products including cancer therapies, and products for rare diseases. My job is to ensure that we comply to rules and regs set out to us. If we don’t make the drugs…no one gets them! We are the only site that makes them. No one else can make them. So take from that what you want.

I sort of think this!

These threads are always totally pointless.

OP surely before creating this thread you had a little think and realised that responses would range from 0 to thousands?????

Exactly how does it "enlighten" you to know that you are somewhere on that scale?

I think we have about £3k after the direct debits. Though included in that are things like Netflix, Spotify, sky etc which we could easily live without if needed. Food and fuel come out of that £3k. Of that just over £1k goes into savings and to pay for holidays. So we spend £2k on food, fuel and general spending, which sounds like a lot, but soon goes.