Am I worrying for no good reason?

[alabasterangel]

Ok. I earn 18k in a part time job at present. Take home pay is about £1050 a month. I had the option to increase my hours again in a few months which was a plan we wanted to pursue. Being part time was a choice for us for a couple of years while the kids are little. Of my £1050, you could technically deduct £500 in childcare immediately which if i wasn't working we wouldn't need. So essentially that leaves me bringing home £550.

I've found out this week that my job is in danger of going. I'll know in a couple of weeks but the likelihood is very high. DH earns 40k a year and we have a £550 a month mortgage.

At the moment I'm panicking that we won't manage on just DHs money if I do loose the job. What I do is a skilled job that I trained hard for, and is limiting in terms of where else I would get a job doing the same locally. I would like to continue my career but not commute a long way while the kids are young which working for an alternative company would very likely involve. I would of course be happy to do something different, but it would probably earn less and we'd still need to cover the childcare costs involved. DH seems insistent that it wouldn't be worth it and we should be able to manage on what he earns.

When I say to others how much DH earns and that I am panicking about the prospect of surviving on that for 2 or 3 years while the kids are little, they seem surprised. I don't think we have a lavish lifestyle. We have a one week Uk holiday and both have company cars. All our money seems to get spent though. I wouldn't plan to have a car if I was home all day, school for older DC, drs, bank, food shops all within walking distance and I can use DHs car evenings and weekends if needed.

Am I being pathetic questioning whether we can comfortably survive as a family of four on 40k?

You DH's take home is about £2500 (according to the online calculator), so that leaves about £2000 for food bills etc.

As well as childcare costs have you worked out how much you spend on work: clothes, shoes, any petrol that you can't claim for (I was never able to claim for petrol for my normal journey to my main place of work iirc), lunches, coffees, meals out or take aways that you have because you have worked late and had no time to cook?

You can sometimes make savings when you are a sahm because you have a bit more time to cook from scratch or hunt down bargains (go to Aldi in stead of using ocardo because its quicker).

I think it's always a worry when you know your income is going to drop no matter how much you have/will be on. My dh earns 45k and I was earning a take home pay of about £350 but I haven't worked for about a year so I know how you feel. We pay £860 a month for the mortgage. You will be ok but you need to sit down, sort out your budget and stick to it. We have a few short breaks a year and run one car.

...sorry, to answer your original question, there is no reason why you should not be just fine (depending of course on any other loans etc you have) .

You will get by; I'll be honest and say our mortgage is less per month and we wouldn't be comfortable on £40k joint income. There would certainly be no risk of losing our home, starving etc though.

I am factoring in running two cars and also my travel costs to my own thoughts though.

You cut your cloth, so to speak. It is definitely manageable, you just need to look at where you need to be more careful.

On paper, we could survive on OH's wage. In practice, I'm paid more than OH and we still spend it all! But that includes things like paying off our long haul holiday next year, money into savings, meals out, cinema etc. I was a single parent for a long time living off of £1k a month (benefits + student loan/grants) and we managed ok.

Good luck!

We have 1 UK holiday a year and run two cars on an income of £23k. We have to budget but I would say we were fairly comfortable. We'd be flush on 40k.

Our family finances are very similar to yours, I earn around £1250 and partner comes out with £2150, we have 4 kids, mortgage £525 per month. i've been really unhappy juggling my part time job and it's causing me real anxiety and tears. I've gone over the figures so many times in my head wondering if we could cope on my partners wage alone + child benefit. I know for us it would mean very little in the way of holidays and treats and my dream of paying off the mortgage before the kids start heading off to Uni would be impossible. Like others say though if you have to live on less, you will find ways to do it.

You can easily afford it. My mortgage is £700 and I have one DD. I'm a single parent and earn a bit over £30k.

You are probably spending lots of bits of money here there and everywhere that you're not realising. Buying new clothes for the dc when they would be fine in 2nd hand, little treats of drinks etc when you you go out and about, take aways, meals, activities. It's scary what you spend without realising it.

Stop spending now and start writing down everything you do HAVE to spend and see what you really "need" to live on. Check your utility bills, mobiles, sky package are you on the best deal possible for you?

Dh earned this in he last job and our mortgage is about the same as yours.

It is do able, you will have to budget though- we didn't have a car so saved a lot of money there, and I used to shop around a lot with ds2 in the buggy while the big ones were at nursery.

It is always hard when your income reduces, but you know there is the possibility of getting another job, even if you have to commute, so I would try it and see if you can manage.

I thought you would bring home a bit more than £1050 on £18,000 a year. I think you should manage on £40k with a mortgage of £550 a month. I agree with writing out a spreadsheet. But sometimes it is terrifying to see how much the standing orders come to when they are all added up. But it's the only way. I think you'll manage fine with a bir of care.

All our money seems to get spent though

that can happen no matter how much you have.

Oh my, our mortgage is £1400 and we manage on much less than 40k!