How much are you left with a month?

[NewMum2021x]

Hey everyone - I know this is nosey and probably rude. Sorry!

First time mum here getting our first place (only rented) with my partner this year. He works - I will be looking after the baby until nursery/school years. Worked out we will be left with roughly £300 a month after paying all bills? (Boyfriend works away in the week and has to drive 2 hours home every Friday and back on Sunday so we use about £200 patrol there)

Is this high or low or average compared to you? How do you make it work?

Sorry to be intrusive just thought I'd ask! Thanks in advance x

I think it workable. You are doing your best.
Make sure you are getting all that you entitled to. Things like Christmas and holidays will make it tougher those months. But some weeks you may spend very little. We are all walking and doing free stuff. Get a flask and so on to save on buying food and drink when out. No takeaways etc

I’m not sure OP has been totally clear if all standard expenses of living have been covered before the £300. Other people have asked about funding cars, pension payments, any insurances etc.

But assuming everything else has been covered, if £300 is purely for leisure, it doesn’t sound too bad to me.

You probably wouldn’t manage holidays (maybe one of those sUn cheapies) but what do people spend it all on? In a typical month, there might be a few coffees and cakes out, maybe 1 takeaway and 1 meal out, a class or 2 for the kids, a couple of magazines or books, maybe a download of a couple of films if you do t have a streaming package, perhaps £50 on average for household items needed?

Am I miles off the mark?
If there is loads more spending on some of these things, it should be fairly possible to reduce takeaways, eating out, coffees etc.

I agree that you need a contingency fund for break downs of white goods (unless the landlord provides) and those bigger expenses which crop up. Even if you saved £50 a month it would be better than nothing.

The thing is, I suspect that when you say ‘all bills’ are covered, you’re not including all those monthly essentials and some of them are coming out of the £300. For example, have you included clothes or new shoes for the children, or costs which crop up less frequently but are still vital for funding life?

You'll be entitled to extra benefits once the baby is born. I'm sure we had less than £300 when we were at your stage, but I do have parents who helped us out when the shit hit the fan re car repairs/broken white goods.

My advice is to look at Turn2us or Entitledto. Make a realistic budget for both before and after the baby is born, I would try to funnel a bit of money towards a savings account for a buffer where possible. I used to (and still!) make budgeting a bit of a game. I was impressed with how well we did on a low income.

My other advice is to live as frugally as possible. Your income will go up, but if you accrue debt, any extra you earn will go towards paying your debts, and there is nothing more soul destroying.