to ask how much money you have after all your bills

[galaxyplease]

left each month, which you consider makes you a middle income family??

What I should have and what I actually do have are two very different things.

I don't know what middle income family means.

After all bills (including food shopping) we have zero pounds and zero pence left. Sometimes less than that.

About 75% of my salary - husband pays for the bills

After we pay all our bills, we have a minimum of £1300 left. £1000 goes into savings.

We are very lucky, A large part of that is because I own my own business and DH has a good job. He also bouht his first house at 18 so we have had a good leg up.

After bills before food we have 560 but 160 goes into savings for Christmas B.day's e.t.c but I think we are a low income.

After bills, food, nursery costs etc we have approx £1500 (more when DH gets his bonus) left over, a grand of which goes straight in our savings account.

Like VirtualPA we bought our first home (which we still live in) when both DH and I was 19 and back then house prices were much lower compared to now, even though it was only 12 years ago really - but hardly have a mortgage.

after food, bills etc, we are left with £550 spare a month.

I dont think we do too bad, I would say we are middle earners, maybe low-middle earners, we aren't poor put it that way

after bills, rent etc I have £327 for food petrol etc so I guess I'm low income!!!

We are both in training at the mo (career change) so after EVERYTHING (i.e.: savings inc Christmas, hols etc, all household running costs, pets blah blah blah) we have around £300 p/m left. I don't think that is too bad given we have a lovely life and neither of us work full-time.

I don't know what middle income means

We have around 600 left, but food and petrol and haircuts etc still have to come out of that. There's usually nothing left at the end of the month although I want to start spending less on food.

After mortgage, utilities, groceries, petrol etc we have about £800ish a month leftover.

But a good chunk of that goes into savings.

After everything is paid incl food petrol and nursery about £400 is left for days out, clothes, shoes, treats, Xmas, birthdays, car maintenance etc. Can be tight some months. I guess we would fall into middle income. Joint wages 50k gross but both of us work full time. Mortgage is 155k property bought in 2007 just before dd was born so the 20ishk we put down is probably all but gone!

We have about 5k coming in every month and there is never anything left really

There's at least 3,500 of direct debits

Scary isn't it. We live sensible lives and yet seeing it mount up (geeky excel spreadsheet) never ceases to amaze me. I feel pretty good about our finances though despite them being low, we have savings for a rainy day and a little leeway if needed. Our budget is hugely comprehensive too, it covers literally everything!

We have nothing left over with nowhere to go. I run an 18 month cashflow forecast, so all money is allocated well in advance for household, bills and various projects. There is never any money I look at and think gosh, wonder what I can do with this.

Would it be wildly rude and nosey to ask how 3.5k of direct debits breaks down?

Sorry but am intrigued.

we have about £50 left a month !
i think thats great . a whole £50 to do fun stuff with ! ..... feed the ducks again kids ?

Sorry I should also add my own finances.

DP and I have separate finances so no joint income.

I take home ca 1500 pm, and half of that goes on direct debits. So I have about 750 to 'spend' including food and anything that isn't a direct debit.

Will all change when the messiah turns up in October and I go onto SMP.

I have 2k saved up so I can still have the occasional mag/ latte/ new top.

DP earns more then me, but has various share schemes etc he pays into so similar take home pay.

does bills mean essential stuff like food, mortgage, council tax, fuel bills etc or any sort of bill (farrier, livery in my case)

at moment am running at horrible loss so does my growing overdraft count as available income or just a big baggy monster of a debt?

Dunno what OP is after, but I included literally everything.

Will change slightly in about a month when our first child comes along, but according to my projections the overall picture shouldn't really change.

You can be as nosy as you like, I'm not all weird about money

£1500 mortgage
£150 council tax
£450 car hp
£110 gas/elec
£90 school dinners
£450 insurances(cars/house/pets/life/illness)
£300 student loan
£400 home improvement loan

I know I've forgotten a few there but that's off the top of my head - I'd have to go and look for the rest

Wow thanks laurie! I'm not squeamish about money either but am aware that many people find this kind of debate very personal and intrusive.

It's all a matter of perspective and degree of course, but to me 3.5k of DDs is... eek! Not eek if you have the income to cover it of course.

No doubt somebody somewhere thinks my own finances are equally scary.

My own outgoings will take a leap in time to come with nursery fees etc.

I've only recently done a budget which includes everything from council tax to insurance, bills, clothes money and the emergency fund. We used to have about £1000 a month left over but did not use it wisely - didn't go into debt, but just spent all of it. Admittedly a lot of it went into the deposit/legal fees for buying our current house which we got at the beginning of this year.

Now I'm on maternity leave though and have dropped around £1000 in wages as a result - so we're having to make cuts in order to have any money left over. Not sure where I'll be once I go back to work as it depends on the hours I get/childcare options.

I'm a bit hazy about the question. What do you mean by 'left'?

We do have direct debits, but these cover not just the household bills and car bills. There are school fees and pensions and savings and investments and they all go out on direct debit. In theory they are all things that could be done without.

Anyhow, after direct debits, all that is left is referred to as beer money. Which is ironic because none of us drink beer. Effectively it goes on clothes and meals out and general entertainment - probably around £1.5k a month.

£450 insurance?

Consider my gob smacked.

Are you earning a fortune to pay so much student loan back? Only, I'm on (or will soon be on) the average wage and only pay back c. £60 per month.