What are 'essential living expenses'?

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  • horsechestnut
    horsechestnut Posts: 1,446 Forumite
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    Why not try to live off the reduced amount now?
    That way you will know if you can and at the same time put the savings away for when you income genuinely reduces.
    Think of all the teachers who do live on that money!!!!!
    Also don't forget that once he qualifies then he will get pay rises and hopefully promotion.
  • FrankieM
    FrankieM Posts: 2,454 Forumite
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    Thats what I was planning to do...work out a budget now to live off, put the 'left over' into the mortgage...also showing DH that we could manage....
    I'm not even sure how many years it would take.....!
  • Icemaiden
    Icemaiden Posts: 641 Forumite
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    My hubby starts uni in sept doing a full time PGCE/QTS so our income will also take a nose dive. We went down the student loans line many years ago when he got his degree so have decided this time around we are totally funding it ourselves from savings. Luckly we already lead a fairly frugal lifestyle but I will have to get a job:eek: so that some money is still coming in, our priorities here are:

    mortgage
    council tax
    food
    utilities/tv licence
    Insurances
    car cost
    Internet


    Thats it.. don't have sky anyway, only one mobile phone, only one old car, already buy clothes from secondhand shops. If youre not use to cutting down it will be hard so start now or have a trial run for a few months to see if you can manage it.

    Ice
    x
    Rebel No 22
  • dolly_day_dream
    dolly_day_dream Posts: 466 Forumite
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    pavlovs_dog wrote: »
    hey frankie - do you mean a drop in money whilst he is training, or will teaching wages (around £22k for a newly qualified teacher before deductions, outside of london) be significantly less than you are used to?


    I am a qualified teacher at the top of the pay spine, outside of London - I haven't gone through the Threshold (but poverty is about to force me to:o ) I take home 1728.77 a month - please do not believe all you read about teacher's wages in the news.

    On the good side I have managed to raise 3 children and fund them at University on that wage. Yes money is tight but if he enjoys it teaching is the best job in the world. Just realise that it will take over his life during term time - he will be more tired than you can imagine.

    The internet should be counted as an essential because he will use it so much for his training. Personally I manage without a car (2 bus journey to school) new clothes, holidays, trips to the cinema etc. I cook from scratch and follow a vegan diet because it is healthier and cheapest. You just learn to adjust and decide what is important.

    Me, I am going to jump through their blessed hoops and prove that I am doing the job they are paying me for so that I can earn enough to keep a roof over my head.
    True wealth lies in contentment - not cash. Dollydaydream 2006
  • vivw_2
    vivw_2 Posts: 2,230 Forumite
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    My advice is for him to make sure he is completely sure it's what he wants to do. If he hasn't already done it, he needs to spend at least a week in a school observing., talk to plenty of teachers and find out all the pros and cons of the profession. Remember approx a third of teachers leave the profession within the first 3 yrs.
    We don't need to do it perfectly - good enough is exactly that GOOD ENOUGH.


  • Penelope_Penguin
    Penelope_Penguin Posts: 17,288 Forumite
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    FrankieM wrote: »
    ( I thought I'd put it here cause its not debt related, I thought 'oldstyle living' related!)

    As it's not really Old Style, I'm going to move it to the Budgeting board ;)

    Good luck to you both.

    Penny. x
    :rudolf: Sheep, pigs, hens and bees on our Teesdale smallholding :rudolf:
  • pavlovs_dog
    pavlovs_dog Posts: 10,199 Forumite
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    frankie

    the money is 'better' if he trains as an unqualified teacher on the GTP programme than if he was to do a PGCE course, however low levels of funding means competition is fierce and places are few and far between. plus there is the added stress of finding a school that is willing to employ and train him. on the bright side, it is possible for strong candidates to qualify quicker than on a traditional PGCE course, but i believe this is the exception rather than the rule.

    if he was to do the PGCE i imagine he would be entitled to the non income assessed part of the student loan, if not the full amount, which at the very least would cover his course fees. depending on the subject and level he wishes to teach at, he would probably also qualify for a non-repayable bursary of somewhere between £4-9k. for shortage subjects taxable golden hellos of £2500-5000 are available after he successfully completes his induction (NQT) year.

    bear in mind that in switching careers, you are likely to loose some costs and gain others. dont forget things like the crb check, which cost money (mine was around £40), and if he doesnt already have suitable work clothes he will need to kit himself out.
    know thyself
    Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus...
  • Hardup_Hester
    Hardup_Hester Posts: 4,800 Forumite
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    Hi Frankie
    You asked does anyone else pay for different parts of the budget with different money...say clicks, ebay etc cover non essential items??
    I do, I make & sell scarves, bags etc to pay for Christmas, one of my part time jobs earns just enough to pay for broadband, Amazon & Ebay sales, I try to allocate to car expenses, not petrol, but MOT, tax etc.

    Never let success go to your head, never let failure go to your heart.
  • FrankieM
    FrankieM Posts: 2,454 Forumite
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    Hardup_Hester wrote: »
    Hi Frankie
    You asked does anyone else pay for different parts of the budget with different money...say clicks, ebay etc cover non essential items??
    I do, I make & sell scarves, bags etc to pay for Christmas, one of my part time jobs earns just enough to pay for broadband, Amazon & Ebay sales, I try to allocate to car expenses, not petrol, but MOT, tax etc.


    Thanks for that...

    Do you have a budget then or is what you spend dependent on what you make?
    also what if you don't make enough?


    I've done a bsic budget on the amount I think we'll have coming in. I'm going to sit down with DH and children and explain that we are going to give it a go as of next pay day, which is the end of the month.
    I'm already trying to stick to the food part....hopefully if everyone is on board that will help our chances of success!
  • CLAPTON
    CLAPTON Posts: 41,865 Forumite
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    if you have a house and a car and kids then you MUST have an emergency fund... i.e. some savings to pay for things not on your list... CH boiler packs up, slates come off the roof, car needs major work etc.
    So not only make sure you start debt free but you have some savings AND put a little in your budget for adding to the savings (say 20-30 per month)
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