How do people afford to live in London?

[galwithkids]

What it says in the title really..
We live in a 2 bed flat with our 2 DCs (4m 3m) in London zone 3. I love our area, I love London and I don’t want to move away. However I keep wondering if everyone around me is making more money that us to be able to live comfortably? Both me and DH work full time in demanding jobs and we bring home approx £9000 net. Our monthly outgoings are £7300. I have tried everything to bring this number down but I am not able to. This is just family basic living expenses, no extras, no commute or car costs, personal
phone or subscriptions not included. I have worked SO hard to bring myself to a point of earning that much, and yet every month I am left without any spare money, I never spend any money for myself, all my clothes are from Primark or H&M, the kids clothes and toys are all second hand, we don’t order take out, the weekends are usually free activities in the park or museums, I don’t save any because there isn’t any left. I feel like I have worked so hard for so long to bring myself to a decent salary level and yet I am not living the life that should come with it. I don’t want extravagant expenses, I don’t mind shopping at Primark. But I would like to have some
savings for the kids’ future, and I have nothing because money is never enough. What am I doing wrong?

Has to be a wind up- I won’t even dignify it with an answer

We live in London on about half of your income and are very comfortable. However we have a very small mortgage and no childcare costs.

Can I be nosey and ask what your rent/mortgage is? Are you paying for nursery? Your outgoings are huge.

However I keep wondering if everyone around me is making more money that us to be able to live comfortably?

Basically, yes, they have more money from employments, investments, inheritance, or from having had a mix of opportunities to do things like buy when property was less expensive, etc.

You don't have to be doing anything "wrong" to be struggling.

These are our monthly expenses

Mortgage £2,254
Council tax £150
Service charges £268
Childcare £3850
Cleaner £360
Bills £200
Food £800 (3 adults + 2 kids)

Windup. We earn salary-wise, 35k for me and 25k for dh. We don’t have small children, though. We live in zone 2.

Ah, you're in the childcare-is-more-than-the-mortgage scenario.

Other people likely don't have that kind of cost, either due to work schedules or having family help. That would significantly impact their budget.

Ooooohh...I winced at that childcare bill. That's absolutely huge!

Well your 4 year old will start school soon, that’ll help that crazy childcare bill.
What are you spending £1700 a month on that you can’t afford better than primark?
Why are you feeding 3 adults and 2 kids?

Yes unfortunately we have no family in the country and we need wraparound childcare as we both work full time with about an hour commute each way

Your child care costs are short term. They’ll reduce significantly when your children start school.

You could cut the cleaner if you wanted to free up some cash? It’s a 2 bed flat, not Buckingham Palace. Have them come fortnightly instead of weekly? How many hours are they doing? Our cleaner for a 3 bed house (fortnightly cleans) is £80 and we are in the Home Counties so not exactly a cheap area

I don’t understand how you are spending almost £4k a month on childcare 😱😱😱

Don't have childcare
Don't have such a huge mortgage ( or a huge house)
Don't have a cleaner
Don't spend that much on food

Well it's pretty obvious your problem is childcare. When do your kids start school? Wraparound care doesn't cost this much.

That's still £1.7K to play with. That's what DS and I actually live on...

And you will have a London property to show for it and in 4 years the nursery fees will be gone.

Why are you feeding 3 adults? And you have £1700 a month left after all bills including food - you can afford to save.

Curious as to the 3 adults

To be fair, the food bill is much higher each month which is not accounted in the outgoings. I have noticed the supermarket bills getting out of hand lately. We have a nanny for after school care and she eats with the kids so I cook for her as well. Then we have the personal expenses eg railcard, gas for the car (DH drives to work) mobile phone bills etc
the 4yo is in reception already

Well no wonder you're struggling...your mortgage combined with childcare is more than our entire monthly income. At least childcare is a temporary cost... you'll feel loaded once your kids don't need it

We have a nanny for after school care and she eats with the kids

Very obviously the childcare is what is absorbing your money, just for a few years while your children are very young.

Can you look for cheaper childcare?

Thanks, I hope so because sometimes I feel like I am working for nothing..

In drips, you're giving us a clearer picture of your budget.

There are definitely places you can economise, but unless you are totally and completely honest with yourself about every expense - food bill, nanny, etc. - then it will be difficult to see where you can cut back.

£150 council tax. Is that correct? That's very low. I'm in the north west in a 3 bedroom very unremarkable house and our council tax is £230. Maybe drop the cleaner to save some money?