Mortgage vs Salary

[propertyquery]

I'm interested to know if you all think I am in a dead end financial situation. And whether I should sell my house and try to find something cheaper or if I should be able to live ok on my salary.

I bought a house 3 years ago, putting all my savings down as the deposit.

My mortgage is £1,400 per month. My net salary after tax etc is £3,300.

Bills for energy, broadband, insurance, council tax etc come to about £1,000 per month.

There's nothing I can cut or reduce within my monthly direct debits (I don't have any gym memberships or anything like that).

Travel and food use up the remainder of my salary each month.

I have no debt except my mortgage.

I'm single, no children or dependents, yet I really struggle.

I never take holidays or buy much in the way of clothes.

I have a dog which seems to bring never ending costs - vet bills, grooming, food. But he's one of the few pleasures in life so he's worth every penny.

Do you think my mortgage payment disproportionately high compared to my salary or should I be able to live ok on this salary with this mortgage?

I pay about £700 for all utilities/Council tax and thats for a family of 4

I also wonder what people who smash their phones are doing with them, as I've never broken one either and I have dropped them onto hard surfaces.

Years ago I was told that rent/mortgage was at least half your wage/salary in London. I wouldn't have thought that's changed much.

If not in London I guess it depends on your property.

Bills for energy, broadband, insurance, council tax etc come to about £1,000 per month

That’s really expensive - we pay about £500 per month for a three bedroom house (two adults and a child). £216 council tax, £47 water, £105 gas and elec, £42 buildings/contents insurance, £23 phone line, £25 broadband. My sim-only mobile contract is £25, I pay for my gym membership annually but it would be £27 if I paid monthly.

Where’s your extra £500 per month going?

In the OP's defence, I am not by nature a smasher of phones and yet I have once done it, while engaged in the notoriously high-risk activity of... visiting a model village. It fell out of my pocket and happened to land at just the wrong angle on a metal grille in the floor. So I will give them some grace on that front.

I have to have screen protectors on mine. I need a new one every month or so. I’m forever smashing them, especially on tiled floors.

My screen protector is pretty smashed up and I’m averagely clumsy, I think!

It's quite a high mortgage as percent of take-home, but I'm another one questioning the 1k in bills, and think you should be able to do something pretty drastic to reduce that.

OP you’re asking if it will get easier - surely you can foresee what might change in the future? Your salary could increase. You could receive inheritance. But other than that nothing is going to get cheaper unless you make changes, so I’m not sure what you’re asking?

IMO mortgage lenders used to lend too much. Your mortgage is crippling you. Perhaps you had no choice but to buy in an expensive area? Or did you take the maximum the mortgage lender would give you? Have your payments gone up because of interest rates? Did you plan for that? Can you extend your term to reduce payments now?

Your bills are expensive - is that because the house is big? In my small house council tax, gas, electric, and water total £270 a month.

I earn your salary and perhaps made different choices (not judging you here as I don’t know your circumstances). But I intentionally bought an affordable house in an affordable area. My mortgage is £650 a month, and I overpay. Internet is £30, my SIM only phone contract is £7 a month. Home insurance £20, pet insurance £15. Total monthly outgoings about £1300.

My mortgage similar and I pay around half of that in bills. Didn't even pay £1k on bills in a 2 person household!