Is this going to be tight?

[Greatgabby]

Hi

I became single fairly recently, by choice! My situation now is that I am a single mum leaving with my two kids aged 8 and 10.

I don’t receive any financial support from their father, and that isn’t something that he’s going to change unfortunately. I am lucky to have a good job and my total monthly net income is £3400

I have been through my outgoings in detail and all of my essential and regular and monthly bills come to just under £2500 per month we do live in a fairly expensive part of the country. Relocating at the moment isn’t an option as I have a lot of support from family. I have also looked into selling the house, however rents are either equally as expensive, or in some cases more than what I’m spending on my mortgage at the moment.

so I’m moving forwards I will have about £900 a month after everything is paid. I will need to buy food out of this moneu as well as any other non-regular spends such as birthday presents and Christmas etc

Am I going to find this tight? I’d also like to add that I am aware that I am fortunate to have a good job and some spare money so please don’t feel that I am out of touch or that I am being dismissive to people who are really struggling.

I think in these circumstances all you can really do is sit and go through in your head everything that has to come out of this:

Food (£80? £100? A week - how frugal are you?)
Petrol (how many tanks a month? £100? More?)
Christmas - how much? Remember to account for food and outings. (Maybe £300 minimum so maybe £25 a month minimum)
Birthdays - how many over the year, divide by number of months (similar to Christmas, probably more, remember to account foe children's parties etc)
Car repairs - how much is your MOT usually? What about tyres?
(I'd assume this is likely to be £600 a year so £50 a month)
Health expenses - dentist, opticians, does anyone need glasses, what about prescriptions? (Might get away with only £20 a month or so for this depending on your family?)
Are there any annual bills not accounted for in your £2500?
Clothes and beauty expenses - do people need haircuts etc, or do you do it at home? How much is schooling uniform? Again add it all up and divide by the number of months. (I'd assume even with second hand clothes you're probably going to spend £50 a month on this on average, given two new lots of school uniform and school shoes and trainers, but it could easily be more.)
House repairs? No idea how much to allow for this honestly.
Day trips/entertainment/holidays? This is purely discretionary which is easier.

My low guesses add up to £650, all of those could easily be more.

I think if it was after food it would be a really good chunk of money, but given it needs to include food you'll need to budget carefully. Doesn't mean it's not doable, does mean thought will be required in every area.

Is the house and mortgage in your name? Is there a chance you might not be able to stay, is what I mean.
And how long is left on your fixed rate?

You will be ok though- just try and stick to a realistic budget.

What actually needs to be paid out of that £900 OP?

Is that with absolutely all bills paid, so for example your car insurance, petrol & road tax (if you have one), your phone bill, childrens phone bills, gym/kids clubs memberships, subscriptions for example Netflix, Disney etc? Or do those things also have to come out of the £900?

If that £900 is purely for food and Xmas/bday savings then I’d say that should be fine, that would give you basically £180 a week to spend on food shopping which should be more than enough for a family of 3 and would allow you to save £180 a month for christmas etc x

£2,500 seems a hell of a lot for three people. Is a big chunk of that a mortgage repayment?

A big chunk is mortgage as well as £500 debt repayments. The rest is utilities and general bills

How much do you normally spend on groceries and can you reduce that amount? Maybe meal planning will help.

Also, Christmas and birthdays, cut back on things. If you’ve been buying presents for adult relatives then tell them now that you can’t continue for next Christmas.

Can anything else be reduced, do you have Netflix and Amazon prime, for example, cancel one of those. Phone contracts, ask for a cheaper price.

Buy basic toiletries and laundry/cleaning things in discount shops. I’ve bought 2 packs of toothbrushes today in Poundland. That’s 8 Colgate toothbrushes for £3. I think you can order online with them, I’m not sure about others but it’s worth looking.