Newly single parent here and worried about budget. My mum thinks I am spoilt and that my income is fine. Approx $75000. I live in the city so mortgage will be 400-500 per week minimum.
Just curious what others live off and how much in your budget for taking kids on outings? I have two kids not yet at school. Do you have money for your own social life?
Single parent budget
Single parent budget
Posted in:
Money
13 Replies
Yes your income will be fine!
Sit down and actually do a budget. I suppose it depends on what sort of social life and outings you are expecting.
Youll probably still need to adjust for lifestyle and expectations but you sure do have enough income to be fine.
Wow seriously! Your mum is right. There are many 2 parent families who live off far less than $75k. You and your kids will be just fine.
The best part of being in a city is the amount of free stuff to do with kids! Council website will be a good start to see what events are planned, then there's the free bits of museums, libraries etc. There's some online budget templates you can have a look at to see how much of your pay will be left once all expenses are covered (and include everything), then allocate some of what's left for outings. If you utilise enough of the free activities you can save the weekly outing money to build up a bigger amount for treat outings :)
$1500 a f/n with expenses coming to $1100 not including food, rego, car services, dentist, kids sports and sports fees. All of that has to come out of $400. $75000 is a shitload of money compared to what I get. $700 of that $1100 is my rent.
Im the poster. I'm a nurse. Will be working night shifts and weekends! And very dam hard.
Sorry that some of the comments feel abit harsh.
Sit down and make a budget, you learn to adjust to what you have.
Write down everything from mortgage car insurance health insurance & savings etc, will be much easier to work out then.
Im a newly single mum working off a quarter of that but i live rural so costs are lower.
All the best xx
Ignore the haters. They're probably just jealous. Yes, you should be able to live comfortably on what you earn although it may be that you may find your standard of living drops a bit, or you can't do everything, and you do need to be prepared for that. I clear on average $30,000 p.a. and I have over the last 12 years paid off 2 cars ($10-15,000.00 each), saved enough to take my daughter on some pretty good holidays, pay about a thousand dollars worth of dance lessons per year, put a bit away as a nest egg AND have a bit of social life. I don't have credit cards so I am not currently in masses of debt. Its really all about working out what YOUR priorities are. You need to budget and you may need to be strict and you need to be prepared to say "No" (to yourself as well as your kids) when it is not a priority or essential. Eg. I rarely buy new clothes for myself but I make sure I have money for my weekly gym membership and dinner with friends once a month. Put in place arrangements to pay your bills fortnightly or monthly so you don't have to find a few hundred dollars in one hit. You got this!
You will absolutely be fine! I am currently surving on the single parent pension (approx $19k) a year plus family tax benefit and child support (I'm studying full time while my youngest is small) which combined is only about $35k a year and I have three kids (3,9,10) who each do activities outside of school. I pay $400 a week rent. Money is tight but we don't go without and still have play money (I get my hair done every 6 weeks and that is $200 each time).
My advice is to do up a good budget. Not just week to week but a yearly budget with all your known yearly expenses (car rego, services, birthdays, Xmas, Easter, insurance, school fees later etc etc) that way you can plan in advance. I put enough aside every month into an account that is only used for this purpose. Then after my standard monthly bills, savings and expenses anything left goes into a 'play' account which we use for outings, holidays etc.
I think you will be ok, depends on what you're accustomed to. I earn a little bit more and still get child support and some ftb. I am not rolling in it as some people seem to think. I still don't always have money for social outings or to get my hair done etc. OSHC is the biggest killer for me. I pay $420/wk rent and my daughter does some extra curricular activities. We are not hard done by, but not in a position to pay for a cleaner, internet connection or save for a house deposit either. The hardest thing for me is meal prep so we tend to eat out a lot!
I'm reading the comments on fb and they aren't fair. It isn't the kind of shit you need to be reading right now and I'm sorry so many people have been unkind. I've been exactly where you are and it is bloody hard. Childcare fees sucked up all my money and I will be paying those fees off my credit card for a while yet. If you can rent instead of mortgage maybe consider it? No rates, less insurance costs. Personally I stuck with the mortgage because rental prices were too high where I live so I understand if you're in the same boat! Maybe consider an au pair or a nanny over traditional daycare, doing shift work this may be your only option anyway. Learn the Centrelink website back to front. You won't be eligible for much but make sure you know what you're entitled to and use it. Child support doesn't always happen so budget excluding it but remember that what you 'should' get affects Centrelink entitlements. Don't be afraid to make Maccas a regular outing so the kids can use the playground. I hope everything works out OK for you.
Enough money for social life? Who's got time for that with kids ?
Holy shitballs you will be fine Hun! We're a two income family on 64k a year with 3 kids & we don't go without