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Original poster

Do You Think A Family of 4 Can Survive On £800-£1K Per Month?

70 replies

Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:19

Dh and I have finally found our dream house, if we put in an offer for it and it was accepted after mortgage and all bills we would have approx £800/£1000 to spend on food and day to day living expenses including school trips/birthday presents etc. Is this doable?

I am a regular btw but have changed my name for this, nor do I want this thing to kick off!

OP posts:
Mercy · 11/02/2007 20:33

Yes, easily.

Am very envious I will admit, but good luck to you! Glad you have found your dream house.

Skyler · 11/02/2007 20:35

Deffo yes! Hope you get the house.

Original poster
Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:36

Thanks Mercy. It's not in the bag yet, we are probably going to offer £30K under the asking price and I can't gauge what the reaction will be. It has been up for sale for ages because of the hideous decor I think. It needs a touch of the Andrew Winter or Ann Maurice about it.

OP posts:
Gobbledigook · 11/02/2007 20:36

Ha ha - fishy, tis not me!! I am not a family of 4 am I?!

LOL at 'Hm i htink its tight knowing oyu as i do'

Damn right!

CristinaTheAstonishing · 11/02/2007 20:38

Our unexpected costs this month have been: dentist for me (£90) and my DH (will find out next week), urgent change of car insurance (£130), osteopath for DH (£80), going out with a friend who's in town for a short time (£40) - and it's only the 11th of Feb! I think you need to plan very well.

JARM · 11/02/2007 20:38

in response to opening question.....

Yes, and we do on a lot less. (family of 4, 2 in nappies, food/livable income is £400 a month)

Go for it, it will be so easy once you lower your standards a little!!! (may i reccomend www.living-for-less.com)

Original poster
Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:40

Thanks Jarm. Poor Cod, she'll never guess who it is. Arf!

OP posts:
granarybeck · 11/02/2007 20:40

Limbodancer, we're just in process of tripling our mortgage so have had similar dilemmas. We decided that as long as we can just about manage on the amount we'll have hopefully things will then get better with pay rises etc. We've had to do this at various stages in our lives due to moving, babies etc. and the amount you have always slowly increases (then we see another house!) and the drop in money begins to feel less harsh.

Does the house need much work? That's one thing I've had to think about, is how patient I can be about redecorating etc. Am usually v impatient! Sometimes you just know it's worth it and you have to have a couple of leaner than you're used to years. Hope it works out

Gobbledigook · 11/02/2007 20:40

It can be done, of course, it's not as much as many people think it is though - it will require forward planning. You'll have to make sure you account for months where you have to do road tax, car insurance, car service/MOT, kids' parties (if you do them)...

If you've only got £800-1000 for the month and your car tax comes in at £190 - that's quite a big dent.

If you think you can do it and it's worth it to you for the house then go for it.

It's hard to suddenly have to live on a lot less though.

HeartOnMyGreensleeve · 11/02/2007 20:41

It does irk me a tiny bit when people come on threads like this and say "Hmm, I know millions of people manage perfectly easily on less than half what I have, but tbh we would struggle to survive on that".

Struggle? You're no different from other people, you don't have more needs, you're not thick - bloody learn to live on less!

Not addressing that to anyone in particular.

Original poster
Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:44

Thanks GDG and GB. I don't mean this to sound awful but I am used to just going out and buying whatever I want whenever I want be it clothes for me or the children etc. My three year old even asks on the weekends "where are we going for lunch today, mummy" which is all going to have to stop.

OP posts:
PanicPants · 11/02/2007 20:45

ummmm yes.

ssd · 11/02/2007 20:45

bloody hell, sorry but when I read the op I thought "we live on £1k a month and are a family of 4", but I thought that was before bills and morgage need to be paid. then I read first post and realised that was after all bills and mortgage are paid!! what planet are you on?? of course you can live on that!

expatinscotland · 11/02/2007 20:45

But GDG, it could be possible to save £100 or so a month out of the £800-£1000, if they budget well, and then have a little nest egg for emergencies like that.

Or, for example, we pay our car tax through saving stamps, just buy £20/month. Then you're not hit with it all at once.

Gobbledigook · 11/02/2007 20:46

I didn't say that did I?

I think it's doable but I'm just recognising that it can be hard to adjust your spending when you are used to more and you will have to plan things more carefully. Budgeting is perfectly possible but it's not easy - that's all I'm saying. Weigh up the pros and cons.

Original poster
Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:46

Greeny I think you have just said what I am trying to say to myself!

OP posts:
HeartOnMyGreensleeve · 11/02/2007 20:48

I wasn't meaning to be rude

Seriously, I think you'll be fine. It's still quite a lot of money after mortgage and bills.

Gobbledigook · 11/02/2007 20:48

Oh that was to Greensleeves btw.

That's what I'm saying Limbo - everyone says 'of course you can! we live on a lot less!' but it's more about making an adjustment if you are used to more. I think that's quite hard but you won't get much sympathy I guess when it's still a decent amount of money.

I don't know all your circumstances and everyone is different but from the scant info you've given, I think I'd go for the dream house and adjust spending habits

sandyballs · 11/02/2007 20:49

I agree that is sounds a lot of money and it is a lot more than some people have after everything is paid, but it can soon get eaten up. Agree with the earlier posts that said depends on activities/social engagements etc.

We have a similar amount left each month but loads seems to go on petrol and food (prob 500) and then various kids bits and pieces. Things just seem more expensive now - we have a friend staying at the moment and decided to make the most of it and pop out for a pizza/pasta last night (me and DH whilst she babysit) and the bill came to more than 50! Not much alcohol either .

Original poster
Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:49

SSD-I just needed positive stories from people who live on this sum. It is as GDG said when you are used to more and its gone. Sorry if I have upset you, but to suddenly treble your mortgage is very very scary.

OP posts:
lockets · 11/02/2007 20:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

wotzsaname · 11/02/2007 20:52

after mortgage and all bills, I'd hope so. No kicking off, but I think most would be happy to have that amount as spending money.

It depends on your social life too. Babysitters and nights outs.

Also you need to remeber you need to have some extra when things go tits up, like the washing machine breaking, or buying a new car tyre for the one that just got a puncture.

Glad you found a nice new home and hope it works ot for you.

Original poster
Limbodancer · 11/02/2007 20:52

Thanks everyone, need to go talk finances with dh now. Can't put the offer in until a couple of weeks as the vendors have gone on holiday, so plenty of food for thought.

OP posts:
HeartOnMyGreensleeve · 11/02/2007 20:53

Good luck with it, anyway, I hope they accept your offer

Gobbledigook · 11/02/2007 20:53

Good luck! House sounds fabbo!

See if you can live on £250 a week for the next 2 weeks as a trial run

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