£720 a month..

[northernbird1988]

That's what I earn for working 15 hours a week in a new job?
I don't have to pay bills or mortgage but I do pay for some food, days out, clothes etc.

Is that manageable?

Yes absolutely as if you have no bills then you will be fine do you have any children ?

Is this a serious post? So you have no bills or rent to oay and wonder if £720 a month is enough....lol...you'll be fine.

Just you? Or dc as well?
With no bills I can't see how that's not enough.

I would say yes if you have no bills or housing costs but not enough if you want to move out to your own place etc.

Yes!

Its about £175 a week, or £25 a day.

Work out a budget - how much do you spend on essentials like catching a bus to work, lunches, parking, whatever. Take that out of weekly budget.

Then try and save some of it. Its always good to have an oh shit fund in a seperate account. Just direct debit it out when youre paid.

Set yourself a weekly budget, see if its too much on some things/too little on others and adjust as needed.

Are your days out big trips like massive theme parks or is it more meeting friends for a coffee and a walk in the park?

That’s not far from what you’d get with UC….

Well you could easily spend it all without trying too hard if you buy a nice lunch every day, clothes, beauty treatments, upgrade phone, car, bits for the house/DC etc but if it's £720 pm extra coming into the household, it should make a good difference to how comfortable your joint (I'm assuming you have a partner and were previously a SAHP?) finances.

Would probably be a good idea to save some of it in your own name just for you/top up your pension if needs be, rather than treating it all as extra spending money.

Also worth a general review of the household finances so that everything is covered and fair (ie your money doesn't go on household/DC costs while your partner has lots of his own personal money).

Surely you would have calculated what expenses you have before accepting/renegotiating?

It’s plenty if it’s just for some food and days out.

Yes that is plenty. Divide that by 4 weeks and it gives you a weekly budget of roughly £180 if my math is correct. After all my bills are paid (including food bill each month) I have around £750 which I just split over the weeks. This used to be “play” money (not so much anymore - trying to save and pay off credit card..!)

It's twice what they would get on UC and they would also have to seeking full time work.

I have 2 quite young DC. It's to pay for things like playgroups and things with youngest DC, and theme parks, swimming etc kind of days with my eldest. The odd food shop, if I see any clothes for myself or DC, odd house items.. that kind of thing x

My old job was zero hour and minimum wage but I changed as it was weekend work.
I could earn up to £1000 some months as I did extra hours here and there.
I thought this would be more money, but as it's contracted 15 hour, even though it's more money per hour (£11.25) because I got 12.7% for holiday pay on my zero hour job, it works out a bit less

So you've posted to say you've got no bills, no housing, an occasional food shop, but £720 to spend on days out and outfits. What response were you hoping for? No? That's not enough for trips to the zoo and a new outfit for everyone?

So basically it’s extra spending money? That’s absolutely fine!

If you’re contracted for 15 hours you may pick up some more anyway. But yeah £720 spare cash for a couple of baby groups and lunches is plenty.

Who's paying for everything else?

Are they trustworthy and supportive of you earning so little? What's your long term plan if they aren't around anymore?

Who pays bills and mortgage?
If you are living with kids dad its all joint?

Sounds fine. Unless you are a fan of designer gear and celebrity type hairdressers. In which case no it won't be enough.