Disposable Income

[Frankie2015]

So this a really non issue but I'm curious... DH and I work full time and I had a mid management goodish job my DH has a high earning job which has meant we've been lucky enough to have £1000 each after bills to spend on what we wish. It always goes super quick and I never really sure what I've spent it on other then clothes etc for the DCs and a few coffees at work and at the moment Christmas presents!

My husband is about the take a much lower but better position in the long run which will mean our income will go down dramatically! Just wondered what other people disposable Income is a month and what it goes on!?

£600 after all bills but that has to cover food, petrol, clothes etc.

Incoming approx 4500pm

Outgoing
Childcare 200pm
Electricity 50pm
Car fuel x2 300pm
Life insurance x2 70pm
Phone bills x2 70pm
Food 250 pm
Dc Activities approx 50pm
Health insurance 215pm

So our outgoings are under 1500.

I think you’d need to specify what you mean by disposable income as it means different things.

You can look at the website below to see how things compare. It looks like the average income for a family of 2 parents and two children is around £3100 after coucil tax.

www.ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

We have around 3.5k maybe more ( it sometimes Varies) left after bills, mortgage, food, Sky Tv etc, mobile phones, DC uni contributions, cars, commuting, council tax, insurances, pension contributions, private health and all the other stuff you have to pay each month.
We spend really a lot on holidays (that’s our main indulgence), eating out, days out, expensive gym membership, not that much on clothe.
I also have a separate £300 disposable income that goes on things like hair, beauty treatments, some clothes or towards an expensive night out. Often I save it for a bigger thing.
I’ve manage on way less than this when I was a single Mum studying at University, it’s funny how the more your income goes up then so so do your outgoings. It seems normal now to subscriptions to magazines, Cineworld membership, Spa membership, hair done every month, Sky Q in lots of rooms, etc, etc.
So much can be trimmed off it needed to be.

We've just dropped a massive amount as dh has retired. We have everything we need, and the rest is just wants. We used to be in the same position as Charm8ed, but knew it was time limited, so we made sure the mortgage was gone, ds through uni without loans or debt, and all debt paid off before dh retired.

As we were abroad, I had stockpiles of things that were cheaper in UK, that all came back with us, so no need for shower gel for a while, ditto shampoo, towels, tea bags etc. I have lots of clothes and footwear and books and sewing stash, so no need to hit the shops except for fresh food.

Even on Dh's pension, once we've allowed for bills and food, we should have about £750 left at the end of the month, having allowed some fritter money.

scaryteacher A very interesting post, my DH and I are hoping to retire in a few years.

About £60 after all bills, childcare and food.

You will be fine.

Charm8ed We've dropped, with loss of salary and rental income (as we are living in it again), about 6 figures per annum. Big readjustment on the Amazon daily book deal habit; however, I now have access to libraries again. I went grey last year to get out of the €175 a time salon colour visits. I do my own nails, have always has a PAYG phone, and we did Freesat abroad for TV.

Dh's pension is still more than I would have earned teaching full time, so we are OK. I am going to start job hunting in January, as I still have 6 years of NICs to make up, and dh is 58, so after 40 years in the Forces and then an associated job he feels he has earned an early retirement.

We were paying shedloads in rent abroad, plus internet and landline charge was lots compared to here, as were gas and electricity costs. Food was expensive, ditto car tax and insurance. I bought clothes and shoes in the UK as it was cheaper. Not having to pay a mortgage makes all the difference, and whilst we don't have the money to throw at things now...we have time to sort things. Dh is an engineer and very practical, so things will be properly fixed now, as opposed to someone whizzing in and out to do a quick fix.

We are currently trying to shoehorn our belongings back into the house, so having culled things before we moved, we are reculling here. It's a biggish house, but evidently Belgian ones are bigger!!

scaryteacher , thank you that’s all really interesting and helpful. I don’t want to clog up this thread with pension posts but my DH will be in a similar position in a few years except we’re UK based with one regular property.

OP You'll be able to manage on less than you think. When dh was earning megabucks, I could have had anything I wanted, but I didn't want or need it. Now, I can't have it all, and find myself wanting it again, but is that just panic at not having that mega buffer every month, or the reality hitting home.

What is priceless though is dh sleeping through the night and losing that grey, pinched, imminent heart attack look he had. he stays awake in the evenings now, and isn't doing 12-14 hour days and the relentless travelling at certain points of the year either.