Would u describe me as poor?

[dingdongmer]

As the title suggests and here's some info. I don't work as looking after toddler and pregnant also. Hubby works. Household income is approx £1600 after tax. £1,340 is rent and bills and we try to save £100 then the rest is weekly money so approx £50 a week Altho I do get weekly child benefit of £20

Would u class this as poor and could u live like that with a family of 3 soon to be 4

We are careful with money and buy own brand stuff like toilet rolls and food etc and toiletries I always get on offer.

No debts

I will look into any benefits thanks

I would say you are doing well.

I would say that you're pretty hard up and money is tight, but you're applying the Mr Micawber principle and spending below your means. You're managing to tick along, but you have very little contingency. It will be very difficult for you to build up a safety net of savings.

Could you downsize to somewhere with lower rent, maybe?

Yes.

I don't like the word poor, it's emotive and subjective, and I don't understand why you need to label yourself as such.

You're a low income family. That's it really.

Sounds familiar, although I've got no way of saving. Already had to borrow money from family this month for gas, electric and petrol :(
Don't get paid for another 12 days either!

25K per year is a LOT more than we live on. 2 adults 3 kids. Me on Zero hours seasonal cleaning and wife on part time for NHS. I suspect the only thing that allows us to manage is the fact that our mortgage was paid off years ago.

@TheSandman, its not comparable if you don't have similar rent/mortgage to the OP. You need to compare disposable income.

God yes

If you were poor, you wouldn’t have decided you can afford another baby - so I would say you are low income, not poor. Quite odd to say that you will look into benefits. You haven’t already?

Yes.

If you and your family are warm, dry, fed, clothed and happy... then you're not poor.

I’d say poor. As above, I imagine you’re entitled to benefits.

I'm sorry OP but I would say that you are poor. Yes you aren't homeless but there is really very little money left for any contingencies.

It's appaulling that your DH gets paid so little and I'm sure you can claim benefits to top it up but I just, and sorry to sound harsh, cant work out why you would chose to have another baby when you are so skint. It just seems madness.

Children only get more expensive as they grow and their list of wants seems to be never ending. Whilst you can say no you won't want to and it will upset you.
You really need to get a second income as a matter of urgency.

Yes, that's bloody tight. I don't think you're going to manage a house deposit on those savings, but they're probably sensible in case of broken washing machine and such like. That will feel like more of a problem with children than it is now!

Oh man, London rents are the very worst. To those asking whether OP could downsize at all...no, I imagine not! We moved away from London a year ago and the flat we were renting (a 2 bed, but second bedroom was v small) was more than what OP is paying now. I would really struggle on one income for a family in London as you are and so impressed you're saving at all! We felt poor when we were in London and we had two incomes.

You are missing out on a huge amount of benefits. You need to apply for universal credit. You will get over £200 per week based on the information you’ve given here.

Well, this thread made me feel shit.
We're in the same boat, same money, but a mounting debt due to unexpected expenses, e.g. last week DH it a pothole, exploded tyre and tracking needed redoing, took £86 out of the pot, which again means we're already in our overdraft this month - lots more examples of bad luck/clumsy/mistakes.
I thought we were average.

It sounds as if you are managing. Well done.

I wouldn’t say you were poor and think managing or getter by are better terms. You obviously know how to make your money stretch which is a good skill to have.
If you are having another child you can claim SMP or Maternity Allowance - this would help surely? Or have you already factored that in? X

As a family unit yes.
But you seem to be managing very well.

its not poor - there are huge numbers of families facing much worse struggles who can't hope to save anything. but certainly you aren't comfortable - you are in that "just about managing" category. making ends meet but only just.

on a scale where the poorest families are at 0 and thev wealthiest at 100 your income level is about 35% along that line (give or take) and I would only think the word poor applies to those below about 20%.

but wealth is always relative to how you feel and what your aspirations are. there are people who are at 90% on that scale who consider themselves "just about managing" because there are still some things they can't afford.

I would say you are poor if you can't afford to pay for accommodation, heating, bills and food. You are doing this and managing to save. You must have excellent budgeting skills. When kids both at school you could choose to work part time and soon you will get an extra child benefit.

If DH could get a similar job in a cheaper part of country I would consider moving. For what you pay as rent on 2 bed London flat you could get 4 bed house in North and have change.

on a scale where the poorest families are at 0 and thev wealthiest at 100 your income level is about 35%

For a family of four to live on? Isn't that stat for one person in terms of its below average salary?