How much income do you need to support a family???

worried_and_confused

Tom_Saunders wrote:

Telewest is Broadband and home Telephone......

If I was struggling I would get rid of all of these but I'm not so I won't.

A family of 4 £100 per week shopping plus a take way one a week..

We can all scrimp and save but life shouldn't be like that, thank christ for credit cards and overtime.

That's fair enough - Oldstyling isn't for everyone and you can choose to spend your money how you want (obviously!). It's also good that you can see where you could cut down if you had to.

On the other hand most people can 'cut back' without really scrimping, e.g. just by getting the best deals on utilities/phones etc and by savvy shopping. We often end up paying through the nose for 'convenience' that we don't really need if we just do a bit of forward planning.

moggins

We have three children and live on one income, however our mortgage is only £330 a month and I manage to keep 5 of us plus 2 cats and 2 guinea pigs on £200 a month. DH has also just taken a paycut to move to a job he is happier in.

It's all down to how you are prepared to live really. We manage to run two cars, although mine is a banger, the kids never go without and are always well clothed although not designer labels and we all eat really well because I cook everything from scratch and takeaways are a treat. Even with maintenance for my son and CTC we still bring in less than £20K a year but I think we live just as well as everyone else around if not better in some cases, it's just being wise with money, careful budgeting and being prepared to get stuck in and make things from scratch a lot more.

Spendless

Tom_Saunders wrote:

Telewest is Broadband and home Telephone......

If I was struggling I would get rid of all of these but I'm not so I won't.

A family of 4 £100 per week shopping plus a take way one a week..

We can all scrimp and save but life shouldn't be like that, thank christ for credit cards and overtime.

Is debt building on the cc though and would you manage if o/time was stopped?

wealthsaver

The government calculated amount that a family with two adults and two children can live on per week is £202.51!

pennies2pounds_3

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1089226742,17582,#planner


try this!

funky-footprints

my husband gets a payrise in January until that since March of this year we havnt broke even ! Its been horrible, but we have had savings and had predicted this would happen when he did his job change. We have cut back considerably, switched our mortgage (saving £126 per month) cancelled gym membership (£90) taken my daughter out of nursery (£120) switched house insurance (saving £15) and we dont socialise at all, friends come here. He brings home £1530.06 a month and it isnt enough !! I guess that is mainly because we have been used to him earning much more than that and because of our savings we havnt had to axe things such as 2 nice cars (both owned outright) sky & charity donations, on the times we have had to go out (weddings etc) or the kids have needed school uniform, shoes etc, we have delved into our dwindling savings. However come January if we realise the payrise isnt enough, then my car will be the first to go ( I have already started looking for a smaller and cheaper model)

Spendless

funky-footprints wrote:

my husband gets a payrise in January until that since March of this year we havnt broke even ! Its been horrible, but we have had savings and had predicted this would happen when he did his job change. We have cut back considerably, switched our mortgage (saving £126 per month) cancelled gym membership (£90) taken my daughter out of nursery (£120) switched house insurance (saving £15) and we dont socialise at all, friends come here. He brings home £1530.06 a month and it isnt enough !! I guess that is mainly because we have been used to him earning much more than that and because of our savings we havnt had to axe things such as 2 nice cars (both owned outright) sky & charity donations, on the times we have had to go out (weddings etc) or the kids have needed school uniform, shoes etc, we have delved into our dwindling savings. However come January if we realise the payrise isnt enough, then my car will be the first to go ( I have already started looking for a smaller and cheaper model)

Hi- Do you work also? If not is it possible for you to get a job. How old is your child? Are you claiming tax credits? https://www.entitledto.com

funky-footprints

dont think we are entitled to any tax credits because of my husbands previous salary, but from what we understand next tax year we may be eligible??

I dont work, our children are 5 & 3. thanks for being concerned (spendless) we are having our next money assessment once we see the new salary slip at the end of January !! As a trainee, his salary goes up every 6 months, and we have budgeted our savings will see us though for another 18 months.

Job front if things get bad then I am prepared to get evening or weekend work, child care has proved impossible for us, no family to help, and until my daughter has routine pre-school hours, no child minder seems interested in ferrying her around. (and I have phoned stacks !!!) Our main problem is our children go to a school out of our catchment area, so child minders here cant cater for pick ups and child minders in thier school area are very few and already fully subscribed. Once she is full time it may be easier .. thats next september.

having money didnt seem to buy us happiness anycase, we dont argue anymore, and actually talk to each other now as we cant afford to go out with our friends, we are blissfully happy, even if we are terrible skint !!

Spendless

As your youngest is 3 are you aware you can get funding for 12.5 hours during term-time? You can use this funding to reduce costs at a private nursery.It isn't means tested. You can also use this funding with accredited childminders (if you can find any in your area). Also have you looked into your hubbys employer offering childcare vouchers as this would further reduce costs. Martin has recently done an article about the childcare vouchers. Might mean you could look into a daytime job- Good Luck

funky-footprints

hi spendless, my youngest starts pre-school next week 3 mornings, (that is funded) I need to find a childminder who can pick her up at 12am, 3 days a week, and then also have her for for 2 full days.

Job wise I would perfer something where I can drop them off in the morning together, (my son starts at 8.50, my daughter nursery 9.15) then pick up my son at 3.15. Other than that a childminder would have to be able to pick my son up. This is proving difficult as is holday care, as the childminders I have spoken to ,dont do summer holidays. Im searching though (term time work, evenings, part time etc) there is something out there for me !! (got to admit however I want a proper job, not bar work etc , if its gets bad then I will have to change what I am looking for)

childcare vouchers are definately something we would consider should I find that magic childminder !!!!!!!

We tried https://www.entitledto.com and next tax year, things should be a lot different.
thanks again.

skint .. but happy !!
xx