Can i be nosey and ask how much u live off each month?

[TwoLeftHands]

..just somethinleft with friend said to me. Me and dp between us earn 2,000 a month. Our bills are around 13,000 so were left with 700 and thats not covering petrol and food.. So say were left with 300 odd spare. We currently don't have any children (dp has two to ex partner) and we both want 3/4 kids. My friend said to me we won't be able to afford one child. Is this true? I don't think we'll be entitled to any benefits. How much do ur large families live on a month? Can we live on what we earn?

Much more than we have, we have 3 and another on the way. I am SAHP, hubby brings home about 1,600. It's tight, I won't lie, not a thing spare, but do-able.

With five children on benefits only and no maintenance I do struggle to pay for some things. However money above a certain amount is unimportant if it means that you have wonderful children.

I receive £500 a week. I went to work for a few months but it works out hardly any better off and when you figure in childcare and all those moments I missed it wasn't worth it. So I quit in February and am happy to be at home for now.

Do you have to pay rent out of that money mummyoffive?

We couldnt live on what you earn.

I have 5 between 4 months and 6 years.

Our rent is 1200 a month,council tax is 200 a month,food is about 900 a month (not including takeaways or beer)

have no idea how much car costs as dh sorts it all,same with bills.

we live in south east too.

I always saw myself with 3 kids. We have two, and unless there is a significant increase in our incomes, we will stop there.

For us, It's mainly about childcare. Unless you can survive on one income, or have grandparents who are able to help then expect childcare costs to take a significant chunk of your cash. I will pay over 1,250 quid a month for nursery and breakfast/after school club when I return to work (I'm on maternity leave ATM). We're in the north west.

We could possibly afford a 3rd in a few years, but it would mean no extra curricular activities/ treats for the kids, and I dread to think what it would be like when they're teenagers or decide to go to uni.

As a family we can afford to live with 2 DC's if we were to have 3 I think it would be pretty bleak.

This is hugely dependant upon where you live. £2000 a month here (Lincolnshire) is plenty to bring up a family. We have 2 DCs and have £650 a month mortgage (but do live in a very nice area with excellent schools etc and could get it for a lot less in the same town). Rest of our outgoings including grocery shopping, car loan, petrol costs, council tax, gas electric comes to roughly £1000 so £1650 a month. DH earns £2500 a month and we are doing fine.

Add message | Report | Message poster NinjaKangaroo Mon 10-Feb-14 20:40:09
Have three children living with us- £1600. It works out quite easily tbh, one of my friends manages on just above £1000, though.
Wow I'm impressed what do u spend on shopping

We have 2dc and our income Is 2100 a month after tax - we have to be careful x

It depends on different factors, where you live being a huge one. Read a thread yesterday saying someone could barely afford to live on 30grand in the south east! Which sounds incredible to me, but I'm in the north. I have a very very very low income (self employed, just starting up) and I survive on next to nothing. I think many people would feel my life wasn't doable but of course it is if you have to do it, you just adjust. You cut costs where you need to, you get rid of those "essentials" which are eating into your I come and you make do with less. To me, 2000 a month is flipping loads and I am v envious ;) but its how you use it. I wouldn't worry about having 3 or 4 just yet, try one and see if its for you :D

It depends where you live and what kind of lifestyle you want. There are sacrifices to be made and sometimes I think I wish we could do that but it depends on your priorities.

I have 4 DCs, DH makes about £2,000 a month after tax, at £400 a month I don't make enough to pay tax. We live in Scotland so can afford on this salary to own our house, run two cars (but mine is an old banger) and be relatively comfortable. That said we don't go on abroad holidays, we don't have fancy smartphones or tablets or things, don't spend lots on money on designer clothes or decorate the house every few years but we have 2 horses 3 dogs, 2 cats, fish and hens and have a laptop for the household to use.

Earn £2000 a month (DH) No childcare costs (I'm a SAHM).

Bills are about £1300 so that leaves 700 for food/petrol/clothes/activities.

We have 3 children incl 2 teens - we manage fine but don't have big holidays or expensive hobbies. DCs do swimming lessons, scouts, occasional school trips. We buy everything second hand, meal plan, take packed lunches, don't buy coffees when we are out etc etc.

It's fine. I don't feel hard up. I lust over expensive handbags from time to time but I really don't need one!

We live in the south east nr London but not in it. We bought our house a long time ago (till paying mortgage). We could nt afford to buy here now...the prices are ridiculous, so we won't ever move (until DC leave home and then we'll downsize).

I have 2 and I want 4dcs, currently ttc. We live off roughly what you do depending on overtime.
We do fine and manage so save a bit too, but I am very frugal generally and don't waste money on coffees out and magazines like many of my friends do! When they are very small they cost me very little, reusing clothes / hand me downs, breastfed, cloth nappies, but they don't go without iyswim
We also work alternate days to avoid child care costs so work a 7 day week between dh and I. I think its worth it and wouldn't change anything tbh

2K per month for 2 adults and 2 kids. In my case: Gross income 33,000. net monthly 2000. (after pension and 50 into company shares scheme) Mortgage and rent = zero. I travel to work in London, £10 each day. Pay for 3 mobile phones. Have 2 kids (7 & 13 ).
Annual holiday camping in Cornwall, 1 car: a 2001 mondeo, no loan. Insurance for medical, life, CI, unemployment. subscribe to 1 newspaper. Dear Partner is S/E music teacher but just breaks even.
At the end of the month... there is no money left! I live in London, zone 5 (outer suburbs). What kills me is the cost of food, gas & elec, and petrol and the school run... and we are rubbish at budgeting.
You need 2 decent incomes and then you can get by, paying for childcare was worth while when they were younger.

We have 4 dc. On a low month with no work away £1500 and it's not enough to cover everything, some bills get missed. I have £160 for food, nappies, wipes, household cleaners, clothes, school meals and anything else dc need. On a good month with work we get around £2500 and then we make over payments and catch up on bills but that doesn't change the amount I spend it's always £160. I'm a sahm and the way dh works and our rural location I couldn't return to work not until all dc are all in school and that's still 3 yrs away. It's tough but we make it work. The hardest is telling the dc we can't do something because of the money, this month it's school clubs, halloween party, a sponsored walk and a sponsored beach clean. The dc understand but it sucks. I will have a home halloween do and the promise of a historic trip or walk once a month instead of school clubs was a good trade off. My dc everything they need but perhaps not everything they want and that's a lot more than some so I am not complaining we could be far worse off.

We have 4dc. I am a SAHP and we have a family income of £4500 per month. We have high fixed costs of £2400 per month. We live in a rural location which means a cheaper lifestyle but high, unavoidable travel costs; £300 per month in fuel alone. We have a great lifestyle though. Kids do lots of extra curricular activities. We went on a cheap groupon holiday this year but next year we are going on a big holiday.
It hasn't always been like this. We had 3dc on 2200 per month but we managed just fine then too although def no fab holidays!

We have 2 dc and live relatively comfortably in a nice area of SW London on 2500/month. Our lifestyle isn't flashywe live in a two bed flat that we bought before the price hike and don't own a car, so very modest compared to our neighboursbut it's comfortable and we're able to afford little luxuries here and there. We regularly go on foreign holidays, our home is nicely (if not expensively) decorated, we have non-essential electronics and a good broadband package, we enjoy coffees out, we take the children to lots of things like soft play and swimming, the children have nice clothing and toys, and we're able to save about £200/month. Basically, we don't feel poor.

I think our outgoings are quite low because:

1. we don't pay anything for childcare, cleaning, laundry, etc (I'm a SAHM)
2. we don't have a car--primarily walk and use buses when necessary, which I realise is only really feasible in a large city
3. we live in a fantastic school catchment so no private school fees
4. DH's family is v v generous and has kept our children very well kitted out
5. we shop at Aldi for basics like flour, sugar, canned goods, milk, etc that are basically the same everywhere; save Waitrose for the nice stuff
6. we rarely eat out unless it's a special occasion
7. we often get things like cinema vouchers or clothing shop vouchers for our Christmas presents, which we use to offset things like date night and clothing costs
8. we're part of a babysitting coop so never have to pay sitter fees
9. I buy a lot of things (stuff that doesn't lose integrity) secondhand
10. We don't smoke and we don't drink much alcohol, which saves a LOT
11. I shop for good quality clothes in the sales for DH and I, and neither of us has expensive grooming habits (manicures are a treat instead of the norm, for example)
12. I shop almost a whole year in advance for quality children's clothing and then sell things on ebay when we're done with them--I keep my eyes peeled for the big sales at Boden, Jojo etc. and then after they've been grown out of am able to sell on the clothes for usually just few pounds off of what I paid for them new.

We're planning to try for another baby this year--the children's bedroom is a good size, so it will fit 3 quite nicely.

Essentially (at least for us), it's possible to live comfortably on a budget without feeling like you're being squeezed if you're willing to shop sensibly (buy used if it doesn't affect how the item looks/works), delay gratification in order to get a better price, and not spend more than you have to on things (like larder essentials) that are the same everywhere.

My husband earns about £900 a month working full-time.

We get tax credits and some help with rent, we have 6 children(1 at uni so we don't get anything for him)

I am disabled but don't get DLA, wish I could work but finding it difficult to find a job I can do physically. I used to work.

We have 2 children. After bills we live off £700 and have to buy food out of that we find it really difficult.

Meant to type £400 not £700!

Hi there, well me and dh have three children, he works full time and I'm a Sahm. Husband earns around £4350 ( after tax ) a month and that is all we get, no child benefit, tax credits etc. Now I know many family exist on a lot less than this but it's all about perceptions and the life you've become acostomed to.

For instance I used to work full time too bringing in around £2000 after tax so with a combined income of over 6k each month we were extremely comfortable. We made the choice for me to become a Sahm once our third child came along and although it has been the best decision it has meant sacrificing a few luxuries. But anyway when me and dh had our first child and we were in different jobs, ( both part time ) we used to earn around £1900 a month between us and at the time we managed just fine with the or child, so it is do-able x

We don't have a mortgage, I am a SAHM and DH earns £27k (£1500 per month) and our CB is £140ish per month. We don't get tax credits due to some investments which on a day to day level we ignore and have never made a withdrawal from apart from to buy the house.

We spend approx £350 on bills, save £300-£450 into a medium term account (have only dipped into it to buy a car) and so £850ish covers our car, food, holidays (we have 4-5 a year but mostly Sun holiday types in caravans). We go on a few meals out a month and have a National Trust membership for days out. We have DD1 (3.2) and DD2 (1) and a Bloody good life.

However, I think if £2k has to cover childcare and rent or mortgage it will be a struggle.

Also it depends hugely on lifestyle - we live in a suburb 3 miles from the city so have Aldi, Lidl etc within a mile and DH walks to work... If we lived more rurally or down south (we are E. Mids) then things would be different.

YOur OH wants 6 kids and earns less than £2000 a month! Bloody selfish. How is he planning to support all these children?

OH and I have £2700 a month after Tax mortgage is £600 - we have a 4 bedroomed house, and two kids. We certainly don't struggle and our small family means we can afford some nice things in life and allow the kids to have extra curricular activities, holidays and days out.

Old thread I know but stumbled across this while looking at average incomes
Very interesting

I have 5 children
No rent factored in as house is paid for
Car
Shop
General needs
We have a income of £2900 month

After the essentials we are left with £2000