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How much money do you have leftover per month after paying all outgoings?

32 replies

williaminajetfighter · 30/04/2013 07:10

After you pay mortgage, bills, credit cards etc how much do you have left to last you for the month?

This month I've got £600 which has to cover food and travel too.

Am honestly just curious to see what people cope with.

OP posts:
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Ragwort · 01/05/2013 09:13

Tend to agree with Net and never quite sure of the point of these threads: if you are asking 'how much is left after paying credit card bills' - some people put all their expenses on credit card so, for example, if you have bought an expensive holiday, new clothes, huge car repair bill or whatever on your credit card and then paid it off ..... you will have a different approach to someone who never puts anyting on a credit card. Similarly, some people have huge mortgages - some have none. Some people have lots of children & pets to feed, some have only one child.

We are self employed so never exactly sure how much 'income' we have, however we have savings so we can use these if necessary to 'top up' our income. We have no mortgage so our outgoings look very low compared to some people. Equally, our 'usual' income is below the average household salary (is that about £30K?).

I think we are comfortably off, however I am more than happy to buy clothes at charity shops which I know some people wouldn't dream off.
So long as I can afford decent expensive coffee I am happy Grin.

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CockyFox · 01/05/2013 09:46

Well at the end of the month we have 0 give or take a few pence. However this includes putting £25 into savings for car tax etc. We have the luxuries, cable TV, broadband, 2 cars and extra curricular activities fir the DCs so although by lot of standards we are not well off I actually think we are as we live to our means.

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Signet2012 · 01/05/2013 10:08

It's swings and roundabouts.

Having being ttc for 3 years we spent the savings on doing the house up and got into debt to get the kitchen done as it was dangerous. (Dodgy wiring plumbing and units falling off the wall) I don't regret getting it done because the week it was completed I found out I was expecting dd and now she is 8 months I can happily let her in the kitchen whilst I work without fear of something coming off the wall. That's 200 pounds a month on interest free loan.

Couple that with me taking a demotion and hours cut reducing my wage by 700 a month ill be earning the same as smp so had we not commited to the kitchen we wouldn't have been able to do it again now.

I manage. I don't go out, I don't get my hair done, I don't buy clothes. We don't drink or smoke and we meal plan.

I make sure dd has all she needs and then some and although I've missed a few bills I quickly get caught up.

My priorities have changed since having dd and I'm quite happy. A little security would be nice though.

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OhHullitsOnlyMeYoni · 01/05/2013 10:10

Max of £800 in per month
£200 on council tax
£180 on gas/elec
Got rid of landline thanks to nuisance calls
Mobile £30-40
Usually £100-150 for food
No rent thankfully :)
So about £200 left over for travel, clothes and day trips

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OhHullitsOnlyMeYoni · 01/05/2013 10:12

Actually forgot one of my biggest ones! Nursery fees £150...so no wonder the last 2 months have been a nightmare as have been going over drawn.

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stressedHEmum · 01/05/2013 10:48

jynier, it is impossible, to be honest. I'm behind in everything, just so that we can eat.

we don't drive, don't go out, don't drink or smoke, don't have subscription tv, don't buy clothes, get hair done or anything like that, don't go trips etc. with kids, kids only have 1 club (BB and GB). There is nothing left to cut back on.

The worst of it is that DH changed jobs about 4 years ago to try to get a more secure salary. The next year the pay freeze came into effect and he hasn't even got the incremental rises that he should have, so his wages are about £4,000 a year short of where they should be. The other problem is that once you take travel to work costs off, he only sees about 40% of his top line - the predicted increments were supposed to take care of that.

On paper, we get a few pounds a month over the cut off for things like housing benefit, but in reality, we have nothing like that.

However, we have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs, plenty people don't, so in many ways we are blessed.

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supafish · 12/05/2013 18:36

Nothing at themoment :(

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