Money left over for yourself

[AugustMum]

Ok,

This might be a bit personal I dont know, but Im just trying to work out something and wondered how much you have left after rent/mortgage, gas electric etc and food etc to have for yourself?

Ive worked out that if I was to live with a partner with 1 of us working we'd have about £1000 left to fund the car and LO.

Sorry if it sounds stupid

 

[Amyrose]

I have no idea tbh. After bills I think we have 400-500 a week to play around with but I do give the kids money out of it on weekends

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

After all bills and food is paid out we're left with £50 a month! We're really struggling ATM cos I've dropped my hours at work but can't afford childcare so can't work more hours!

 

[littlemiss83]

I have about £200 spare from my monthly wages after i've paid all the bills, OH pays tv/broadband & both our mobiles & if he has anything left he spends on himself/stuff for house or gives some to me.

Normally my £200 flys out my account literally on pay-day coz i'll have a list of things like ppl's birthdays/days/nights out/ school trips ect, & all that sort of stuff has to come out of that.

I also get my tax credits/child benefit weekly & there's normally about £30/40 a week left from that (after I pay travel expenses & weekly shopping) but thats normally spent on crap from the shop or added onto my shopping to get extras.

 

[Esoames]

we have £400 a month for food, fuel and ourselves. We both work full time, no benefits toher than child allowance, and childcare is 21hrs a week

 

[AugustMum]

We'd get sod all in terms of childcare I think so thats where alot of the money would go as well as rent (if I was working fulltime ).

I would say thats alot left over AR but you've got 6 children so it's not like its all for you!

£50 is crazy. I honestly don't know how you do it! Im having to spend such a tiny amount the past 2 weeks to afford rent but I know thats only for 2 weeks.

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

Emma, do you get any help with childcare?

 

[AugustMum]

It sounds stupid but this is making me feel alot better. I live off £570 a month and thats to pay the bills and food at the moment so I dont know what Im worried about really!

 

[Princess81]

I'd say I'll have about 400 per month to buy food/petrol/treats with out of my wages and after the mortgage is paid etc when I'm working on reduced hours. O/h will have his left-overs too but tbh I dunno how we'll work it out. We'll deal with it at the time x

 

[Esoames]

Emma, do you get any help with childcare?

No, nothing, we earn over £50k combined. So I didn't expect any help but it would have been nice!

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

I keep thinking I should work more hours but I doubt we're get any help either and there's no point working if your paying the whole lot out on childcare.
Mum said she'll pick the kids up from nursery and school so I can work but not until she retires and that's not for another 2 years!

 

[AugustMum]

If you left it another 2 years you'd only have a tiny amount of childcare to pay then because charlier would be nearing the free 15 hour place as well so that'd cut cost. Just sucks that its 2 years away!

Ive just applied for an admin job and Ill be applying for a teaching assitant job later as well. I need to pay off my overdraft before I start thinking about extra money. Ill start getting charged for it next summer :/

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

This is how far in advance I've looked into working, he gets his free nursery place in jan 2014!!

 

[AugustMum]

Sept 2013 for Paige lol.

I have this discussion all the time with loads of people, but I just can't get over how hard it is for mothers to get back into work sometimes!

 

[littlemiss83]

Its incredibly hard!!

I'm glad I stuck with my full time job when I fell pg the first time, I was very tempted to leave totally, I got a very small amount of mat pay but stuck it out & i've been within the civil service since. Went to part time after mat leave tho.

Its soooo hard for ppl who have a year or two off to look after baby. And trying to find a part time job is a nightmare.

Gets even worse when they start school, not only do you need a job that allows you to collect/drop off, but you also need something sorted for school holidays, after school care or family member, we've been using after school care & its very expensive.

Its worth thinking about school when applying for/thinking about jobs, esp if its shift work.

 

[AugustMum]

If I could get the teaching assistant job or the admin job they're term time only which would be good.

Its difficult with part time at the moment because if there are part time shifts available they expect you to be uber flexible and work weekends, evenings and on a rota basis which is rediculous!

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

I don't know how much money I'll have at all! My TC have stopped whilst they do my new joint claim! OH has about £30 p/w left but that's his for fuel/whatever else he needs! Bills, food etc are down to me! I filled out an application for a job and then realised I'd actually just be working to pay nursery fees and tbh it probably wouldn't cover that! We wouldn't qualify for childcare either! Just no incentive for mummys to work!

 

[AugustMum]

Yeah I worked out how much we'd be better off if I worked (not as a single mother) and I think we'd be pretty much the same, if not worse off because we'd have an extra car with fuel to run But I think I need the sanity of working lol.

I think it's possibly better to work if youve got a well paid job and average rent/mortgage but if you look at average wage (which tbh is only about £14000, if that) then you're not much better off.

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

When K goes to nursery it'll be easier, but if I worked now, I'd be earning about 200-250 a week and would have to get 2 kids in nursery! It just doesn't work!

 

[xxbeckyxx]

Its difficult with part time at the moment because if there are part time shifts available they expect you to be uber flexible and work weekends, evenings and on a rota basis which is rediculous!

Definitely! I reckon my work thinks I don't do anything on my 'days off' too so I often feel guilty working part time even though I am busy with Lou!
I used to be mega work obsessed too - I had so much work to do within my 37 hrs a weeks and so nearly always used to start early/finish late/come in on days off just to get my work done. Now I have the exact same workload but have to fit it into 17hrs with nothing extra. Luckily I don't care so much any more as my most important job is at home with my bubba