So....just how much money is 'enough' ?

SarahNeedle1872

This thread is great, it really makes u appreciate everyones different situations.
We're on a joint income of £39k atm, although it all changes at the end of the month, hopefully OH will have had a pay rise, but I'm on maternity leave, and my company maternity pay just finished.... SMP here we come! Then when I return and have to pay for child care, it'll change again!

I can pretty much echo the housing market sentiment... On our salary, where we live, with our debt (which isn't horrific), there's no way we could afford to buy a house/flat. We looked last year before we rented this house, and the repayments were at least £900pcm... and that was before the rates rises. This would have gotten us a 1 bed flat.... no good with a dog and a bambino too! Our rent for a 2 bed house, with garden, is less than £700pcm.

As to how much is 'enough', I'd love an extra £7k a year til our debts are paid... once they're gone, we can afford to save money and still have enough left after bills to have a little fun.

Then maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to afford a house... That's my goal :rolleyes:

doitmyself

It's all realative isn't it. My mum told me recently how my great grandad, (not so long ago) had the chance to buy the house they were renting for £800 (yes, eight HUNDRED quid), but wouldn't because he didn't want a mortgage. Value today - c. £300k.
Most of us have probably got £800 in our pockets and down the back of the sofa these days...
Good post OP, thanks

JAMIEDODGER

interesting thread OP,

I earn about 23k pa. self employed and single parent of 4 children. i dont need to earn more than i already do. im nearly at the end of the df road and when its paid off, the money that went to debt repayment will be plenty to live on, however i believe this is all relative.....my housing costs are less than £500 per month. BUT i couldnt afford to buy more than a flat and where would i put all my kids?:) so the housing ladder eludes me still and i cant see myself ever being able to get on it!

wherediditallgo

No matter what you earn, your 'wants' go up accordingly - how many of us get our pay rise & swear to save it each month, only to almost immediately get in the habit of spending the money? Even lottery winners, who suddenly find themselves with lots more than they could ever dream of & clearly don't have the outgoings to strip that, still sometimes end up broke. There was a man in the papers the other week - he won £10m 10 years ago & has nothing left. Even if he'd given away half of that, he could have still lived very comfortably on the interest alone from the remaining £5m for the rest of his life. I know I could have, not that I'll ever get the chance to experience that kind of wealth .

My parents only ever owed on the mortgage. When credit/debit cards came out, they refused to have them, & paid cash for everything rather than even write a cheque. There was no shame in wearing home-made clothes, & dad used to mend his shoes & my brother's rather than pay for it. Mum used to buy dilutable soft drinks but only pour out enough to last the week, & 'afters' was tinned fruit, or block ice cream with jelly. We couldn't use the phone without asking, & the heating went on at a set time, not a minute earlier. Lights weren't left on when you weren't in the room, the washing machine only went on for a full load, so you had to know how to hand-wash if you wanted something clean sooner. I can remember my mum regularly taking small change to the building society, & showing me the pass book with the amounts increasing every fortnight. My mum taught herself to sew & made her own curtains, cushion covers, pillow cases etc. She wouldn't dream of throwing something away just because a button had come off or the zip had broken - being able to hand-sew & also having a sewing machine were her essentials. We're only talking about the 1970s & 80s, but it seems there was much more self-control about spending then. These days, what other people have seems to dictate a lot of what we want, so as our income goes up a level we want the things that people at that level have, when really we have little idea of whether they've put themselves in debt to get it. I laugh when I hear people describing decking & an ensuite as things they've got to have. Who knew about decking 5 years ago? How many people will be burning it or trying to give it away in another 5 years when the fashions change? It was the same with pebble-dashing - now people scoff at houses with it on.

I'm starting to learn the lesson of needs vs wants. I stopped being a slave to fashion years ago, as it's more important to me that the clothes are in my price range & will last a long time thanks to mixing & matching, than that they are the latest 'in' colour or design. I've got a sewing machine, & a couple of weeks ago I dug it out from the depths of the cupboard & got some material to make some skirts. I made two that weekend - allowing for elastic, buttons & thread, they cost me the equivalent of £3 each. I needed a new bag for work. I don't need the £50 one that I'd have liked to get though, so this weekend I got an £8 one from the market. I can knit, so very soon I'll be starting on my cardigans for this coming winter, as I know I can make one for about £5. The day we all learn to only cater for our 'needs' rather than our 'wants' or the 'essentials' we think other people think we should have, we'll start to really enjoy our money & what we get with it. We've forgotten/dismissed so many of the old skills, & being aware of our own money is just one of them.

Seaxwyn

HI there

Spendi - we took out a 21 year mortgage when I was 37 and my OH was 51!

We don't have fixed earnings as we are both self-employed, income fluctuates a lot but over the past five years has never been over 30k total. Meanwhile we have been paying a mortgage of over £1000/month which was around half of our income. It has been crippling so last year we switched to interest only, which is £703/month.

I regret getting on the housing ladder as we were really happy in our rented flat for £628/month. The mortgage feels like a huge burden. The house needs work that we can't afford to do. The only thing that comforts me is we do have a fair bit of equity so when my children leave home we can sell it and I hope have a sizeable sum to put toward a smaller place.

Ali-OK

A really interesting thread and particularly the comparisons with our parents and grandparents.

My parents were/are careful with money and now have a comfy retirement and Mum never worked. But there were many things not invented to buy in those days - mobiles, video recorders, dishwashers, Sky and items like sofas and fridges lasted at least 15 years. These days people seem to buy new inventions or replacements much more often - "not built to last anymore" quote Mother!! Going out to a restaurant was pretty much unheard of for us and they never used credit (Dad had an Access card in case of emergency, but never used it - who remembers them?! :rotfl: )

I earn £40K and am debt-free by 5 weeks and I've now got a good chunk of spare cash every month and that goes into savings. It wouldn't take much to increase monthly outgoings and reduce the "spare" though - let's get Sky again, let's put mobile onto contract, let's join a gymn...another £100 a month gone! And mortgage isn't huge, which helps considerably and I empathise with those who want to buy, but can't.

debbycatz

What a great post wherediditallgo - gave me a lot to think about in your post and there was a lot of truth in it. Thank You