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Original poster

Starting a family with 110k combined income in London

179 replies

socialmedia23 · 21/12/2022 13:42

How comfortable would it be?
Net income £6100 as I don't have student loan.
Based on the rates of a local childminder, childcare would be £1600 excluding tax free childcare (mother in law has also agreed to help when she can)
Current mortgage is £1020 but our 2 bed flat is teeny and we are looking to move to a 3 bed flat which would probably increase mortgage by £700 per month. Current flat is on the market and I am paranoid that I can't move once I TTC.
Current service charge is £150 per month, would be £200 in the new flat
No car. we use public transport and bike.
We could move to a big flat in St Albans for the same price as our london flat but probably would not have MIL's childcare support and DH & I both work in the London office quite a lot so even the season ticket costs would add up quite a bit (and St A's transports costs are quite low for a Home Counties town).

I just got a new job offer verbally (which is what this figure is based on) and DH is looking for a new role (expecting to get an increase in salary as well).

I am 30 and DH is 32
Just interested to know everyone's views.

OP posts:
chary · 21/12/2022 16:24

another reason was moving for secondary schools

StanleyPaul12 · 21/12/2022 16:25

Im not in London but DH and I have a comparable combined income. Our mortgage is £1450pm. We will pay £1k per month in childcare fees but pay £500pm on car payments so similar outgoings. We dont anticipate any financial struggle that wouldn't be being caused unnecessary by ourselves. Obviously if we noticed this happening we woukd rein in our frivolousness. Get the bigger flat now and move before or during pregnancy. Good luck!

chary · 21/12/2022 16:26

It doesn’t really though as the OP has a large amount of disposable income

it's not huge when you factor in housing & childcare costs. Most people who think it's huge earn far less but got on the ladder decades ago.

chary · 21/12/2022 16:27

Being catchment now doesn't mean to say you still would be when the time comes nor if you'd even want to use that school.

in London it's likely for many areas primary catchments will widen, they already are near me. Not enough kids.

chary · 21/12/2022 16:28

Its been mentioned before but its not worth moving unless you are going to stay in your new home for 5+ years due to costs of moving, stamp duty etc.

yes particularly with the current economic situation.

Original poster
socialmedia23 · 21/12/2022 16:30

chary · 21/12/2022 16:26

It doesn’t really though as the OP has a large amount of disposable income

it's not huge when you factor in housing & childcare costs. Most people who think it's huge earn far less but got on the ladder decades ago.

100%! And we are lucky cos we had 3 years rent free. If we were buying now and were renting, i think we may get somewhere but may still struggle.

OP posts:
moofolk · 21/12/2022 16:31

That's loads of money

candlesinthesnow · 21/12/2022 16:33

chary · 21/12/2022 16:27

Being catchment now doesn't mean to say you still would be when the time comes nor if you'd even want to use that school.

in London it's likely for many areas primary catchments will widen, they already are near me. Not enough kids.

Agreed.

A lot of people will give advice based on the situation 5-6 years ago when school catchments were a bit of a nightmare there were “black holes” i.e. roads where you wouldn’t get into any school except the failing one on the other side of the borough.

That’s just not the case anymore thanks to a combination of falling birth rates and people moving out of London.

I see it on my local FB group all the time where people with older kids will advise that you’re only likely to get your closest school, it’s just not true anymore. Where I live you could realistically get a place at about ten different schools, most of them rated good or outstanding.

girlmom21 · 21/12/2022 16:33

Childcare costs will be your biggest change.

We're on a similar income. Mortgage £1500, childcare £1100.

Sign up to tax free childcare. It's a big help.
Try and avoid a flat with service fees etc.

Formulas expensive, but there's the option to breast feed too. Nappies can be pretty cheap depending where you shop.

Glittertwins · 21/12/2022 16:34

Good to hear that on schools in London. We're Herts and it's not good.

chary · 21/12/2022 16:38

@candlesinthesnow yes the yr my eldest applied they were only 28 places after siblings & I think the furthest distance offer was 350 metres. It's completely changed now.

Schools are in for huge issues as budget is based on numbers so choosing a popular good school is probably more important than ever.

candlesinthesnow · 21/12/2022 16:38

Glittertwins · 21/12/2022 16:34

Good to hear that on schools in London. We're Herts and it's not good.

It must depend on the area of Herts, as in some areas it’s absolutely fine and very similar to the above i.e. you can realistically get a place at several good schools.

Keepitrealnomists · 21/12/2022 16:47

Sorry your getting a hard time OP, MN can be fucking weird and rude!
I'm currently on Mat leave with DC2, we have a similar household income to you.
My advice would be, if you can manage in current flat and have space for a child then great, if not move now before you have DC.
As others have said you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you want regarding pram, cot, car seat, clothes, ect.
Our mortgage is about to go up by £200pm and we have no debt. I wanted to go back to work full time, hoping for a promotion in the next 12 months but financially it just doesn't add up. I will be doing 30hrs over 3.5days, I permanently WFH. Childcare is £65 per day, we get tax free childcare which will help. It's fine, although I've reduced my hrs after all expenses we still have 1k left.
Your lifestyle will change, your spending habits will change its just the way it is. Get a budget together and save, save, save!

NoelNoNoel · 21/12/2022 16:50

it sounds very doable, if you decide to have two DC closish together and also move home then you’ll probably have a few lean years like most other young families.

HomemadePickle · 21/12/2022 16:51

Make sure you check the maternity leave policy at your new work place. You may need to have worked there 1 yr + + to be eligible for maternity pay. SMP is not much fun.

LolaSmiles · 21/12/2022 16:52

Those are not our jobs but if you met a couple who is a business analyst and an executive assistant at a party, would you think 'wow these are some rich, successful people?' You would probably think they are average, and thats what we are.
Most people aren't not in the business of meeting people and trying to suss out their salary and how rich someone is

You seem fairly intent on arguing that a household income of over £100k isn't a lot.

Many people fortunate enough to have a household income over over £100k aren't stupid enough to stubbornly argue they're just average.

Either you're on the wind up or are totally out of touch with reality.

Blanketwars · 21/12/2022 16:54

We moved out of London when DS was 3 months old. We had similar income to you before I went part time. We now bring home about 5k between us, although that will increase in Jan. Our monthly non negotiable expenses inc nursery 3x/week are about 3.5k (that’s everything, insurances petrol mortgage bills shopping etc etc) we save 500/m and have 500 each per month to spend.

We are no longer able to save for holidays but can use DP bonus and I can do overtime.

I mixed fed till 6 months and then weaned used to spend about £50/month on formula. Say £20/month on nappies.

I’d advise saving plenty in a baby account so when you’re on Mat leave you can go to all the classes and buy coffees from Gails etc without worrying and have a nice mat leave.

I do miss having more disposable income, but as others have pointed out we are very lucky. And you do get used to it. It’s not like we go out any more!! And we have enough to go for roasts and to the little farms and other days out etc and to go out with friends, just not as much as before.

Is that the sort of info you were looking for?
Its natural to wonder how your life will change. It’s very lovely tho 🥰

Original poster
socialmedia23 · 21/12/2022 16:59

LolaSmiles · 21/12/2022 16:52

Those are not our jobs but if you met a couple who is a business analyst and an executive assistant at a party, would you think 'wow these are some rich, successful people?' You would probably think they are average, and thats what we are.
Most people aren't not in the business of meeting people and trying to suss out their salary and how rich someone is

You seem fairly intent on arguing that a household income of over £100k isn't a lot.

Many people fortunate enough to have a household income over over £100k aren't stupid enough to stubbornly argue they're just average.

Either you're on the wind up or are totally out of touch with reality.

Surely you have to look at the area of the country they live in.

www.statista.com/statistics/416139/full-time-annual-salary-in-the-uk-by-region/

Median full time salary in London is 41,884. Bearing in mind that London is disproportionately young (lots of people move out in their 30s but still retain their london jobs). So a combined household income in excess of 100k isn't that different from the average.

OP posts:
Original poster
socialmedia23 · 21/12/2022 17:04

Blanketwars · 21/12/2022 16:54

We moved out of London when DS was 3 months old. We had similar income to you before I went part time. We now bring home about 5k between us, although that will increase in Jan. Our monthly non negotiable expenses inc nursery 3x/week are about 3.5k (that’s everything, insurances petrol mortgage bills shopping etc etc) we save 500/m and have 500 each per month to spend.

We are no longer able to save for holidays but can use DP bonus and I can do overtime.

I mixed fed till 6 months and then weaned used to spend about £50/month on formula. Say £20/month on nappies.

I’d advise saving plenty in a baby account so when you’re on Mat leave you can go to all the classes and buy coffees from Gails etc without worrying and have a nice mat leave.

I do miss having more disposable income, but as others have pointed out we are very lucky. And you do get used to it. It’s not like we go out any more!! And we have enough to go for roasts and to the little farms and other days out etc and to go out with friends, just not as much as before.

Is that the sort of info you were looking for?
Its natural to wonder how your life will change. It’s very lovely tho 🥰

awww yes this is the kind of response I was looking for.

I have been blessed for a long time. Didn't have great income by london standards but no car and relatively low mortgage meant that we could be frivolous!

Its nice you still have money for fun time. I do remember not having money for fun time and being too poor to afford TFL fares in 2016 (when we were job searching) or the money to afford delivery costs for IKEA furniture in 2015. There is a part of me that rebels against having to go back to that time!

But its nice to hear that you still have money for days out and to go out with friends.

OP posts:
F4chrissakes · 21/12/2022 17:17

Haven't read the thread, but my wise old grandmother told me that you can have kids or you can have money, you can't have both. So you will be skint. But it is relative. You earn good money, so maybe not as skint as some of us. But you will spend more than you think on your kid(s) because you will want to.

LolaSmiles · 21/12/2022 17:20

Median full time salary in London is 41,884. Bearing in mind that London is disproportionately young (lots of people move out in their 30s but still retain their london jobs). So a combined household income in excess of 100k isn't that different from the average.

It's still around £20k more than the 2 times the median salary you quote.

But sure, £20k+ extra a year isn't that much extra money.

Blanketwars · 21/12/2022 17:25

I too have had some very lean years, but equally have lived a fabulous life with lots of travel, so swings and roundabouts.

My advice to anyone wanting to budget is get a monzo card or similar and squirrel everything away into little pots for various things.

You’re still pretty young - I had DS at 38. I definitely understand the longing for a child but you’ve got time in your side to wait a couple years and save plenty more if that’s an option.

Re. moving out of London - we miss it but at the same time haven’t looked back. It’s great having a garden and clean air!!

Namechanger355 · 21/12/2022 17:36

You can do the maths - our nursery is now £2k pcm so less that and your housing cost seems to give you at least £2k pcm? That’s obviously more than enough to care for a little baby - formula and nappies really don’t cost much at all.

so yes of course it’s enough. If you are looking at bigger houses with larger mortgages or private schools then it’s unlikely to be enough and you would need at least double probably - but that’s not your question.

Appleabananasandpears · 21/12/2022 18:05

Combined income of £110,000 is not huge by today’s standards in London. Sounds big on paper but money doesn’t go so far these days. I really think our heads need to catch up with the reality. For example, £40,000 salary for one person might have sounded good a few years ago but unless you’re in social housing, bought your home many many years ago and don’t have to pay for childcare, it won’t be brilliant.

chary · 21/12/2022 18:21

I'm sure 50k today is equivalent to 30k in the early 00s. wages have seen barely any real growth.