To ask how you’re affording everything right now?

[Niftywigglesheep]

We’re two full time workers, 2 kids. We have a level of income per month on which we’ve based our budget on. However I’m unsure how everyone’s managing the increasing cost of life right now.

For example- our mortgage has gone up, our food shop, our petrol etc the cost of just basic living. We think we’re about £1000 less in disposable income each month which is huge due to the increased living costs .

Our salaries have not gone up in line with the increased costs so our normal budget for living like swimming lessons,
clothes etc is being really squeezed.

I find it really depressing- we both work full time, busy with being parents and we really don’t have much to show for it anymore and a bit sad that we work so hard with little to show and stress.

I feel like we absolutely should be able to buy ice creams on days out, go on holidays, not think about buying school uniform or paying for football etc but we really do and it’s horrible.

How’s everyone else dealing with it?

By putting in an extra 10-15 hours a week of work in a second job on top of my full time role which has definitely NOT had salary rises to match inflation. There’s not much time for fun or even just routine household maintenance and housework, but it’s the only way I can have one hobby and afford some unavoidable medical costs for one of my children, and contemplate a holiday once a year. I am a single parent though which makes everything much more expensive.

Our mortgage is paid,husband retired from a very decent job , but his pension is rubbish in comparison with what we expected,about £1400 a month,I work part time as a nurse,working 2 ,12 hour shifts and get home on the bones of my arse ,look after grandchildren and am absolutely knackered when I have no commitments apart from walking the dog! Absolutely not what we were hoping for…soooo depressing !

“ you need to£149k a year to not be struggling”

Absolute bollocks

I’m starting to think this is a thread full of right wing bots

Like you we both work and earn a decent amount- deliberately didn’t get a mortgage that stretched us too much, but these days the ‘buffer’ that gave us is used up and then some. Anything non essential we’ve just cut out. We do prioritise the kids being able to do a few clubs/activities each and I’m grateful we can still stretch to that. But definitely no meals out or takeaways any more (days out used to be a mix of beach/woods/playground but with occasional farm or soft play- now we never do the paid ones). I’m obviously relieved we can cover essentials, but agree with you that as two people in professional roles I felt life would be more enjoyable than this!

Why would his pension be less than expected due to the current “crisis”?

Thinks what I’ve been doing

get paid. Subtract bills /direct debits etc and balance /remainder is what I take out in cash

then use

friends are wow you always pay in cash. I just say helps me budget

it’s easy to tap phone /Apple Pay and then think ouch as comes out of account

prob is many places now don’t accept cash and has to be card - which doesn’t help budgeting

Yeah agreed and the examples they use in the article for ‘Henry’s’ budget are ridiculous.

Yesterday you said your DH petrol cost had INCREASED BY £400 a MONTH.

Now you’re saying it’s increased by £40 a week.

You need to get to grips with your finances accurately, but either way, his fuel consumption is very high.

For anyone that doesn’t understand how much the working population is taxed and the impact that it’s having on our economy should read this book:

Follow the Money: How Much Does Britain Cost?
Book by Paul Johnson

This might help some people elucidate why their experiences of raising a family several years ago is no longer applicable in the economic conditions of today. Instead of trotting out tropes about budgeting and cutting your cloth.

Tbh. I think there is a bit of hysteria and competitive 'poverty' going on now.
Yes jyst about everything has gone up, but i refuse to believe that the 'two high earners' all over this thread are really struggling more than a bit of cutting back could not solve (a takeaway for our family costs around £40 a pop. Hence we have one on Christmas Eve. New Year's Eve and my son's birthday only. A weekly one woud cost £160 a month)
Who has decided they 'should be able to aford' takeways, lunches out, expensive activities, weekly soft play, running two new cars, regular beauty treatments, regular holidays, date nights etc? You can't compare your parents' lifestyle to yours because half of those things didn't even exist and the ones that did were regarded as definite treats, not an expectation or a right.
And i will never believe that millions in the UK can't afford the absolute basics of life.

You’re sort of right but every few months I have to cut a little bit more to meet my budget.
This month it was the milkman. Next on the list is the few charity subscriptions we have.
We are high earners but our lifestyle isn’t extravagant. We go out to eat maybe once a month max. Never have a take away mainly because I don’t really like them.
Nursery does take up 25% of our monthly income though, which everyone will focus on and say “you’ll be rich by the time the youngest start school” but things will have gone up even more by then so I’m not so sure

You’ve not understood that article at all.

It's all down to lifestyle creep. Anyone - at any income level - gets used to a certain lifestyle and struggles to find anything they regard as 'non essential' in their budget as they are used to having it and are defensive about giving it up. A daily £4 coffee or a weekly £9 soft play session or a monthly £35 manicure or a weekly £40 lunch out won't neccesarily break the bank. But together, that's over £300 a month on basically luxuries that no one needs.

What it actually is is an erosion of lifestyle. There is no creep. I cannot afford the same thing that I could last year.
And for some, that erosion is getting down to the bone of the essential outgoings

This home would have been regarded as a perfectly normal house fir a family of four in the 80s and 90s.
Modest and mediocre??

Ditching holidays, meals out, unnecessary car journeys

Financially we are probably in the best place we've ever been due to promotions, side income ( property/ side hustle), kids being old enough not to need childcare and a small mortgage taken out 15 years ago.

Still living modestly but no need to properly belt-tighten.

Household income of £113k (two adults and kids left home) We don’t feel particularly rich. Our 5 year mortgage fix is up in December and I’m not looking forward to it.

I do think people have certain expectations and differences of opinions as to what is an essential bill and what is a luxury.

I am sure if people who were struggling listed all their income and outgoings it would be obvious to others where they could cut back, but the issue is people don’t want to or feel like they shouldn’t have to cut back or budget.

you need to save for clothing
school uniform, shoes etc,
cut back on your other spends

before you go out for your next meal, order your next take away, ask yourself, should i be putting this money aside?

I have done the following:
-no car
-no foreign holidays. I live by the sea so can still enjoy great summers
-no TV. I did not want to keep paying the BBC licence
-cancelled any unacessary subscription

• I have been vegetarian for about 10 years now and that keeps food shopping down as well as improves my health
• securef the best tariff I could get for broadband and mobile
• try to buy from charity shops when I need something
• grow my own cooking herbs and fruits in my garden
• colour my own hair
• moved out of London 4 years ago for a Kent seaside town where things are a bit cheaper
• no longer pay for gym membership or exercise classes. Instead I took up running, do long walk, swim in the sea and do weights at home.

Basically I prioritise mortgage, council tax and utility bills and cut down on all extras.

I have health issues so can only work part time so I am used to living frugally.

But I am really annoyed that governments have failed to curb profiteering energy companies and want to see utilities and public transport back in public ownership. And also the fact that wages in the UK are just stagnant.

Yes, like OPs >£600 per month petrol bill for one person's commute only. I'm sure your employers will offer an EV leasing benefit. It's pretty much standard these days. Or buy an older EV, the 100 mile range is a perfect use case for cheap charging at home over night.

Consciously look for ways to cut costs.

E.g. we like real bread not sliced placcy bag stuff, so I make it myself early on Sunday mornings. It actually takes very little effort. £1 a large loaf instead of £2.50.
Choose meat on special offer, buy own brand, eat veggie once a week, take leftovers for lunch, grow my own tomatoes, chillis, cucumbers, courgettes in pots, make my own jam. All very easy.
Polish shoes, get them mended, turn down ds trousers with hemming tape to make them last longer. Wash the car myself (early Saturday morning) I use every minute to cut costs.

Parkrun rather than gym. Wine is now a treat about once a quarter.

I think I save about £60 a week on average.

No trouble sleeping cos I'm physically tired 😁

I don't know why your all struggling so much we have an income of 30k a year and manage fine we live up north so mortgage is low but have plenty to live comfortably

I lived in a two up two down for much of my kids childhood, up to 15 years ago. People expect to have it all from the off nowadays