£1k a month

[RosieIs44]

I realise it’s different for everyone, but do people think £1k a month for 2 people (adult and child) is enough/a lot/too little to live on? This is after rent and utilities so it’s to cover:

• food
• transport
• mobile phone
• clothes, hair cuts, toiletries etc
• days out
• anything else that pops up ie random repairs to house, car etc

Just interested to know what other people think about that figure, as have friends who say they spend that amount just on themselves a month, and others who get by on a lot less. Maybe it’s a moot question given everyone’s wildly differing situations

I agree - but still totally shocked by the lack of shame in doing so. Where do these people think the money comes from?

Well I think it is going to reach a crisis point with so many claiming benefits and so few paying the taxes needed to cover the cost. Unfortunately I think the shit will hit the fan in coming years unless more taxes can be raised. the cost of social care, rising private rents, lack of social housing, it's all costing an awful lot in public money and no government wants to be addressing the problems we face !

Pension payments usually have to come from earned income. So you could put all your earnings in and live off savings but couldn't put in more than earnings.

If you have no earnings you can pay in £2,880 p.a.

Not sure if you have some earnings you could pay in 100% of these and the £2,880.

Because you then have a pension and won’t need pension credit when you retire.
Basically the choice is

• use it now and get no UC fir a few months but will rely on pension credit when retiring so for many years
• put it in a pension get UC now but then not getting pension credit.. when you retire

When looking at the whole picture, what would you say is the least costly to ‘society’?

But people who get the new state pension amount do not qualify for pension credit because the amount is just high enough not to qualify unless the applicable amount is raised due to disability. Most people receiving state pension form now on will be getting the new state pension so won't qualify for pension credit anyway. Going forwards it will only be people who have barely paid any NI contributions like some self employed or people off work long term who will qualify for pension credit.

How much extra would you need? Would an extra £500 make it doable?

I don’t know how soon you’ll need them but if it’s not for a while I’d probably put the savings into a pension - that’s fine by dwp rules and will qualify you for UC.

we have a little over £1100 a month for a family of 4 after mortgage and basic bills. I find it pretty tight and usually have to dip into savings. I do have some (interest free) debts which I’m repaying from that. Always have to pay things like mot, holidays, car insurance etc from the “pot” rather than day to day spends but we do also live a reasonable lifestyle with some corner cutting expenses because I have a stressful situation!

I'm disabled.

I get about that a month.

I'm dipping into savings (admittedly I moved house recently to a cheaper one but it ended work) and am considering trying to work more or letting a room out.

Which is based on the assumption that people have been paying a decent towards their pension.
Aka not working part time on a MW job and paying the bare minimum towards it.

My reasoning was more to do with cash savings accounts having no place as someone's "pension". That's what pensions are for. There are special considerations in place to encourage usage. Also, it's a much better use of funds.

The fact it may also bring her back within benefits eligibility is a secondary consideration.

FYI, I am personally eligible to claim UC but choose not to.

It wouldn’t be enough for me to maintain my current lifestyle on but it would be doable. If food has to also come out of that, how much of it will be spent on feeding yourselves?
Is the transport for getting you to and from work?

We are a family of 5 and I think this would leave me with little to no social life but there are 2 of you and you should be able to manage. I’m not sure how much in the way of days out etc will be manageable as the food/transport amounts aren’t clear from the OP.

Also I’d be concerned if house/car maintenance would also be expected to come out of that. These can be very costly (obviously this is a wide variable).

It’s impossible to say. If your transport costs are £700, and you phone and haircuts are £100, then absolutely not.

Transport is an essential for getting to work. I think you need to take that off. How many people do you need to feed? A phone is essential too, but probably could be done cheaper if you’re paying £100 a month. Maybe give an example of those costs you are paying and people can advise how to reduce.

Food £60 a week budget (£250 a month)
Mobile phone £30 for two (assuming child is old enough).

Hair cuts £30 pm budget for two.
Extra toiletries not bought with food budget £20 a month.

That makes £330 a month leaving £670 for clothes, presents, days out, transport, car repairs.

Seems fine to me but depends on whether transport is £50 or £500 and that depends on what/ when/ how often. I think you need to break down the spending more. How much are you spending on the car on an average month, for example?

It's not actually possible to do this. You can only put in as much as you earn, up to £60k. If you don't earn, the max you can put in over a year is £2,880.

I mean, you can put more in but there's no point because you'd pay tax on it.

Before you spend the whole £1000 every month, make sure you deduct and put aside money every month for the below annual expenses (pick the applicable ones)

• Car MOT/ insurance / tax
• Car running costs (new tyres/ oil change / etc)
• Birthdays
• Christmas
• Holiday
• Amazon prime etc annual subscriptions
• Dental check ups / prescription fees
• School uniform
• School trips
• Home & contents insurance
• House maintenance sinking fund
• Boiler service

Usually the biggest issue in most budgets is that the annual costs are ignored!

After all outgoings are paid (so that includes food), I have €1000 a month leftover. I 'save' €400 of this but would routinely dip into this money for larger purchases and short breaks away (haven't been abroad yet as children are too young and it would end up just being parenting in a different location). Wife is a SAHP.