[Solved] 29K to live!!

We are under that too, my OH has stopped working and we are still under it, I too don't have a pension although I did before meeting her, but have had to give up my contributions to the fund so far, my OH doesn't have a pension either although I do have to admit we rent so no mortgage so to speak and we own our car sp no HP to pay, but the monthly expenses are more than enough!.

I know what you mean - I reckon I will be working into my seventies at this rate.

Even basic holidays cost a fortune and don't get me started on petrol or fuel prices.

I have decided to try to be happy and if that comes at a price then so be it - my family are so much more important than money. If that means I have to make personal sacrifices then I can do that.

Ths generation is in real trouble as we have been allowed to take on more debt than we can afford and I do worry about how my children will ever afford anything!

I always want to know how they calculate these figures! I'm highly skeptical...... what about those living in London vs cheaper parts of the country..... However at least they haven't reduced the tax credits limits below that figure.... not great feeling to be dependent on benefits though - esp now!

I earn what most would consider a good salary, my husband works part time.

So why when the government say we need to earn £29k do we struggle on £56k ?

I will tell you why, it costs me over £60 per week to get to work ( thanks to fuel duty and greedy fuel companies), we have a teenager 😆 , 2 dogs and 3 cats, a mortgage and all the other lovely bills that we all have to pay.

So why do I feel soooooo disgruntled when "friends" of mine sit on their bums and have more spare money than we do ?

Why have we not been able to afford a family holiday for 3 years ?

If anyone can tell me where it has all gone wrong, please do 😛

mags

Just to add insult to injury - did anyone see this article on "Britain gets low marks for its poor treatment of families" at the weekend? Read article here

It says that the spiralling cost of raising children, a crisis in elderly care, a lack of affordable homes and the over-commercialisation of childhood are making Britain a deeply unfriendly place for families. 😮 (Hold the front page!!! 😉 )

A report by the Family and Parenting Institute awards school-style grades to policy-makers for a range of different factors affecting the lives of parents and children. The lowest mark – a D – was awarded to the cost of childcare, the treatment of the elderly and the protection of vulnerable children. But the report also criticises maternity and paternity leave, the price of public transport and the numbers of children and pensioners living in poverty.

Overall, it concludes that Britain would gain no more than a C- for family friendliness. The report, to be released on Tuesday at a Westminster conference addressed by the children's minister Sarah Teather, states that:

? It costs £200,000 to raise a child from birth to the age of 21 – which equates to about £800 a month.

? The cost of a nursery place in England rose by 5.1% last year.

? Approximately 60,000 older people pay for a place in a care home every year by selling their own home.

? Children face a "postcode lottery" in transport. Those in London ride free on buses while others face the steepest rail fares in Europe.

? 84% of parents believe companies target their children too much. The average child in the UK sees between 20,000 and 40,000 TV ads a year.

? 2.8 million children and 1.8 million pensioners live in poverty.

Emigration anyone!!! 😉

its hard to say what a minimum amount is. I earn what a lot of people would say is good (over 50k) but some months still struggle when unexpected bills pop up. Other months i have a lot to spare. What i found best was to budget every month, then if/when there is money left over just put it in another account, don't just go spending it because its there. It is all about living in your means. I bet you there are people out there who are comfortable on 20k because they know how to live within their means.

hi folks,

just read though the blog and to be honest amoungst all my worries about becoming a young farther is the money side of things.
ive gatherd that, at least for the first year, most of the fincncial burdens will be down to me with my girl friend being on leave, which is fine by me. but the more and more i think about it all, the more and i realise how stacked up the deck is against young families.
how i see things is: im currently not a home owner, house prices are cheap! but some how ive gotta find a 10% deposit for somewhere and then be able to make the payments!, which are high at the mo anyway and are only gonna get higher when intrest rates go up again.
then i have to run the house which is even more expense! you would think that the obvious choice here is getting a better payed job. this is sound in theory!, but do i risk my safe and secure job to go for more money?? with unemployment rates being so sky high?? i dont have a pension, which everyone ive spoken to has told me theres no point anymore,true???, so by the time my retirement comes round, the age will have risen to somewhere around the mid 80's mark and i still wont be able to stop working, because the state pension probably wont exsist by then! all in all then buggered!!! haha!

sorry to go off a little bit but as you can tell, some what worried by it all!! 😕

any advice would be greatly recieved!!!

Hi Daddyoleary

Welcome to the site mate. 😀

Money ... to be honest i think we all worry about it to some degree but there are lots of things we can do. As a more mature dad of 2 kids aged 5 and 6 let me say, without sounding to old, don't worry about money to much. I have been the only provider in my house for the last 6 years and whilst we don't have lots of stuff we do ok. I have learnt to take one day at a time and focus on what things are important and what we can do without. I have stuck two fingers up to the virtual Jones family as the stress of trying to keep up with them is not worth it!! I focus on the fact that this is just a financial season we are in as a family and that when my OH goes back to work even just PT we will have more income.

I would say stick in rented for now coz although we own our house it’s not in a great area and therefore has crud schools. It is also a money pit coz all we could afford was a do-er-upper. Mates of mine stayed in rented and pay the same as us in mortgage payments. Ok so we have the investment but to be honest not sure that’s worth the crud area and school!!

Socially things are changing, is owning a house that big a deal? If we hope our houses will be our pensions then I'm not sure that’s going to work out for us!

I don't have a pension either and agree that it’s not worth it. My contributions would only go to pay the monthly payouts of my retired parents anyway. Old age is going to be a huge issue that the future government will have to figure out!

Stick in the safe job my friend and find ways to cut costs. Budget and budget well, don't over stretch yourself and live within your means. It takes a bit of getting used to but is worth it in the long run.

Buy all your nappies at somewhere like Boots or Tesco’s using your child credit and then buy Christmas stuff with the reward points, that got us through many a Christmas! Swop baby and kid clothes with other parents or buy cheap coz they grow out of them fffffffast!

The most important thing is that you and your girlfriend agree that being parents to baby daddyoleary is worth all the sacrifices (holidays, meals out etc etc) and that the early years pass quickly and you will be a 2 income family again at some point.

Enjoy being a dad it’s amazing 😉