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Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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Original poster

Disposable income

25 replies

littlebird2519 · 23/02/2025 08:25

I know this question is very personal to each family and I absolutely don't want to come across insensitive as I know some people have much less.

We are trying to move house. Ours really is too small now and we are desperate for a driveway. We had bought a renovation but the sale fell through (sellers fault not ours) but we now have a buyer waiting to buy ours. We really need to be in a particular village due to school, work and family. The location is important but of course with that comes larger price tags.

We're considering now two other options but of course they're more expensive that the Reno.

House 1 we looked at yesterday. New build. Beautiful house. My husband works for the developer so they did do us a great deal. But they said we need to decide this weekend. He was honest and just said they have a target to meet. Would be about 20k more than option 2.

House 2 we are due to look at this morning.
Very pretty house. Slightly smaller than the new build in bedroom sizes it looks like from the photos but I could be wrong by when we view. Always loved the little culdesac it's on as I've parked close by when taking dc to school and have thought I'd live to live on there. It's about 10- 15 year old house.

We always said we'd renovate but the appeal of a house that just needs some decorating with two kids is winning us over now.

Anyway, I've been up all night panicking because the mortgage would be much larger and I feel like we need to decide today.

We are 29 & 30 and have 2 dc. After mortgage and fixed cost bills we would have approx 2k remaining as a family for food, fuel (at the moment I wfh and dh works round the corner so it's isn't much) school dinners etc then also savings for yearly car insurance, Christmas, holidays, birthdays, life insurance, days out, an ice cream at the park etc.
does this sound reasonable?

I currently only work 14 hrs per week. But I can work more when youngest dc starts reception in September.
Dh has a lot of potential for salary increases and promotion too.

Sorry for the ramble but opinions from outsider perspective would be great. DH is very risk averse so is struggling to know too 😆

OP posts:

DustyLee123 · 23/02/2025 08:41

I’d go for house 1 , you never know what you might discover in house 2 when you move in.
Would you consider renting for a while, it would give you time to think rather than jumping into something you might regret?

TickingAlongNicely · 23/02/2025 08:43

Go through your bank statements and work out what you spend on those things now.

FiveShelties · 23/02/2025 08:44

Option 1, especially if your husband works for the developer.

niclw · 23/02/2025 08:44

2k remaining after bills is a lot compared to mine. I'm a solo parent to one child and have about £550 left every month after bills. So it sounds like you have plenty to me. However it will depend on your lifestyle I suppose.

With regards to the houses. What does you gut instinct say? Would you regret not buying the house you want due to the renovations needed?

Luddite26 · 23/02/2025 08:45

House 1. If they've done a good deal at least you will have more equity in it. Nothing to do so more time to work or budget. Renovating and DIY is v expensive right now. I'd go for the simple life in this climate!
2k over seems reasonable.

curious79 · 23/02/2025 08:47

You are describing lots of potential upside to salary for you and DH
i wouldn’t fear the extra money

Igmum · 23/02/2025 09:22

I like the sound of house 2 (location location location), but it's your choice. You're both very young, there will be an increase in your income in the short term and you sound very sensible. I'd go for it.

Original poster

littlebird2519 · 23/02/2025 09:33

niclw · 23/02/2025 08:44

With regards to the houses. What does you gut instinct say? Would you regret not buying the house you want due to the renovations needed?

Thank you. And I'm sorry I didn't want to come across insensitive to other's situations as I know we are extremely lucky to even be considering buying either of these houses and have some money left over.

I grew up in a single parent household and we were well below the bread line so I think that's why I'm so worried.

My gut is saying house 1. More because my Dh works for them and can have a lot of input on the house and make sure it's right.
And after 6 months of stress with the previous house I'm worried about another one falling through whereas once we reserve house 1, it's ours and there's no chain.
Both equal distances to school and family

OP posts:

Original poster

littlebird2519 · 23/02/2025 09:36

Thanks so much for all of the replies.
I am leaning towards house 1. I don't think we'd get the opportunity again in the place we want for DH to have such a big involvement in the build.

I do think it would be okay. We aren't very materialistic and quite good with money and savings. My car is paid for outright and we have no debt.
We just still want to be able to take dc on holiday, even just UK ones but I'm sure if we budget right it would be okay 🙂

OP posts:

OxfordInkling · 23/02/2025 09:37

House 1. Your DH can make sure it’s right, and it’s bigger.

Luddite26 · 23/02/2025 09:40

House 1. No brainer with your updates. Go for it and enjoy.

Tumbler2121 · 23/02/2025 10:10

simple exercise when you can’t decide ..

Toss a coin. If you accept the answer it’s what you want. If you feel disappointment or say best of three, you want the other option!

Beebee30 · 23/02/2025 10:15

Renovations and DIY are very expensive, we’ve renovated a 3x bed house, done all the work ourselves bar plastering and it’s still cost around 20k. Id go with option 1.

kitchenhelprequired · 23/02/2025 10:22

We were in a similar situation at your age with young DC and went for the new build - I'm not a huge fan but at the time it meant pretty much 10 years assurance of no unexpected house maintenance costs which makes budgeting that much easier. New builds are not without issues, we had several years of snagging problems but at least none of the cost was down to us. We knew the roof & boiler, bathrooms & kitchen wouldn't need any money spent which gives huge peace of mind.

caringcarer · 23/02/2025 10:23

Both houses sound like they'd work for you so pick the one you'd prefer. You should be able to manage on £2k after bills. Also once your youngest is at school in September you could always opt to work a few more hours each week.

suki1964 · 23/02/2025 21:27

I remember the pure fear when we bought our first home back in 95 - a Reno - which we did everything ourselves. Suddenly it felt like there was no disposable income and we would be eating beans on toast every night

But you know, after a few weeks, when all the big payments had left the account, we were OK, we could still go for a pint at the weekends and enjoy a takeaway ( oh we knew how to live it up lol ) , we still had a life that we were happy with. We were fortunate in that whilst we bought when rates were extremely high, they started to fall not long after so mortgage payments weren't so frightening

And whilst we didn't have a huge going out lifestyle, our quality of life improved considerably. When the house was finished we had a beautiful home that we loved coming home to, we had room to move, room for the kids to come stay, parents etc. I think it was about three years. in that we were starting to be able to save, have holidays, update the car etc , but those first few years weren't horrendous , bit tight for sure but manageable

With 2k, yes you are going to have to pull the belt in but it won't be forever and surely its best to do the scrimping now whilst the children are young enough they won't notice they aren't going abroad etc etc

Original poster

littlebird2519 · 25/02/2025 10:42

Thanks everyone. There is some really good perspectives here.
I do worry about the cost especially with everything increasing constantly but I'm sure we could make it work and I can definitely increase my hours come September. Which by the time we move may only be 3/4 months as the new build won't be ready until June if we chose that one

OP posts:

CherryBlossom321 · 26/02/2025 14:03

We’re moving, and our mortgage is going up. Our disposable works out the same as yours and I’m not particularly worried. Everything DOES keep increasing and it’s a pain but I’m happy to fore go things like eating out, takeaways, expensive clothing, and we don’t go away often anyway. The benefit outweighs any negatives for me. Ours is also new build, so zero costs for repairs or upgrades for a very long time. And our quality of life will increase too.

Lighttodark · 26/02/2025 14:11

New build!

Original poster

littlebird2519 · 26/02/2025 23:25

CherryBlossom321 · 26/02/2025 14:03

Thank you for this. I think the biggest thing is our quality of life will Improve massively which is definitely the way to look at it

Good luck with your move ☘️

OP posts:

winter8090 · 28/02/2025 05:33

I think the new build.
I think an older house will suck up 20k quite quickly
What % of your income would the mortgage be?

Ultimately trust your gut feeling.
And also consider how you can increase your income.

verycloakanddaggers · 28/02/2025 05:39

I'd choose house 2. You already like the street and the house is tested.

Amilliondreamsisallitagonnatake · 28/02/2025 06:38

I actually think £2000 isn’t masses after bills. It is about what we have but goes quickly. Food averages £450 a month to account for 5 week months, £250 petrol, savings for birthdays and Christmas, family days out, clothes for continually growing kids, savings for car insurance and mot and repairs.
It’s certainly fine and we don’t go without treats but we do have to watch budgets quite closely

hattie43 · 28/02/2025 07:09

Depends if you're a practical or emotional house buyer . House 1 sounds practical and easy ( personally I'd never buy new build )
House 2 sounds like the one you like and can see yourself living there. Most people fall in love with a house and want to be in it .
You don't sound like you really love either .

Original poster

littlebird2519 · 28/02/2025 21:11

Just an update - we have actually had an offer accepted on house 2!!
Initially I thought the new build would be my preference but we sat and had a long chat about it. At the time I felt really panicked as we had lost our original purchase but house 2 is definitely the right choice for us. We loved it when we looked around. The garden is west facing and isn't over looked at all. It backs on to a playing field & small playground where a lot of the children from dc school go after school which is lovely.

My Dh stated the roads etc on the new build estate wouldn't be finished for at least a year. So as much as we're moving to be away from a main road, we wouldn't have that luxury for a while. House 2 is on a quiet culdesac where DC can ride their bikes the day we move in if they wish.
As much as the developer did us a good deal and my Dh could make sure the house was done to a great standard there was only a limit of what they could include so it still would have been £££ for all the extras we needed.
House 2 is already finished to a high standard and we can move in and not worry about it.
They also accepted an offer of £15k below asking so it felt like a no brainer.
The mortage is therefore cheaper than we anticipated so we should have roughly £2.3k for food and expenses before increase my hours in September

OP posts:

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