How much would you need to earn....

[spexsavers]

To be comfortable as a single parent in this climate?

I'm on my own, earn 46k. Have a mortgaged modest 3 bed house, no finance on my car, live fairly modestly buying hardly anything extra for me and the kids, 2 young teens. Ex pays maintenance and I'm still not in a position where I'm not shitting myself. How much does it take these days to have a decent standard of living? I grew up in poverty so I'm good at not wasting money. I'd have thought years ago on 46k I'd be on easy street but I dread to think what would happen if I had even one more thing added to my outgoings. There's no chance of luxuries like a holiday. I know I'm lucky to have what I do, and I'm not complaining as I know there's so many struggling worse, I'm more bemused than anything. Hats off to anyone managing on much less than this, I do not know how you do it 😖

depends on size of your mortgage

£700, couldn't rent cheaper and houses here any smaller aren't big enough.

I would think someone on much less would get some help from UC

Council tax and bills can vary a lot.

Basically, you've got to earn more than your outgoings...

Totally depends on circumstance.

I'm fine on 44k, but I own the house and car. Would be tight with mortgage and car payments. Very tight, probably. I've 2 kids under 6, childcare is my single biggest expense.

I am In exactly the same position, same salary and mortgage of 670. No fancy car but essential for my work. I am going to ask exdh for an increase in maintenance due to rising costs but he’s likely to say no.
I am constantly budgeting for anything more than necessities.
Im due backdated pay increase of about 700 and that is earmarked for external house repairs but would have been great to have put towards a holiday.

I suppose I'm more just interested to hear in general what range of salary brings comfort to your average lone parent family these days. I think my position is fairly standard, Im not a high earner but would have expected on this salary to be able to afford the basics in a reasonably priced area without worries and maybe a cheeky holiday. Blows my mind on that kind of salary it's not bringing a better standard of living. I am nhs so pay into a pension and have student loans but still...

How much are your bills? How much do you spend on food each week? because on MN I read enormous amounts of £££ spent on food.

I hear you. I'm the sole earner and have a decent income, with child maintenance too (not single tho). I'm actively looking for a higher paid position in order to build more cushion into my monthly budget - my 1.8% fix comes to an end in October and I've stress tested a 5.5% payment which left less than a tenner in the monthly budget. 😵 Bricking it tbh.

I‘m a single parent, one teen, don’t get any maintenance. I take home £3400 pcm and have a similar mortgage to you. I consider us comfortable - I can save and we go on (cheap) holidays.

I try and stick to £100 a week, all Aldi really except the odd thing I run out of. I'd say I've got a fairly standard set of outgoings, certainly nothing frivolous.

Sorry for £100 for food shopping

How much do you spend on commuting each month?
What about utilities, how much are they?

Because OP's take home (after tax, NI, pension) must be near ... 2800? And her mortgage is just £700. With no car payment, if I understand correctly. And some maintenance from ex.

I'm not saying £2100 is oodles but it should be enough to manage, even with 2 teens to look after.

https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

I'm on £62k and feel very privileged to be fairly comfortable. When me and DS' dad split we sold the house and I downsized, wasn't sure if I'd regret it but the mortgage payments are more affordable and it suits us fine- would have been struggling more otherwise. Also grew up in poverty so still can't believe my salary and have complex feelings around it; one off shoot is I'm frugal (albeit DS never goes without) and so would be fine on around 40k but that'd be counting pennies at the end of the month territory.

My take home is nearer 2300 and 400 maintenance, so 2700 all in. I feel it should be enough but it just goes.

Why’s your take home so low if you are on 46k?

Student loan and pension take a chunk off.

But that takes off £18400 a year which seems nuts. I work 37.5 hours a week and salary is 20k but get maintenance and universal credit help and ultimately take home only about £100 a month less than you, it seems crazy (though I have childcare costs and rent).

It may be worth logging your outgoings for a few months to see where every penny is going. We are a family of four with a monthly car payment and for
us personally that income provides a comfortable life. Obviously we all have different ideals

And this is the issue with middle earners in that we are just above the UC rate for support but NI and tax are high.
my friend works 22.5 hours gets UC and has a combined income of just £200 less than me on 46k full time. Both single parents

I think the point is that on a salary of 46 k you shouldn’t need to count every penny but others think that is a huge salary but this is the reality.

Student loan repayments and mortgage are a very large chunk unfortunately.

You could extend the term of your mortgage.

@giggly very true

I log ours purely because I’m a bit sad like that. That income personally works for us as a family without needing to worry but we all have different lifestyles/expenditure