How much should we have left after all bills are paid each month?

Bought a house in April. While we had saved for a while and had a great deposit, mortgage is high because of my credit - someone had taken out phone contracts in my name and ran up bills. Tried to contest it but got nowhere.

It’s been hard the first few months. I’d say about 65% of my wage goes onto our bills before we get to the spending money on other things
This happened to me all be it about 15 years ago when I had my identity stolen. I was advised to register with CIFAS and Equifax and dispute the fraudulent activity on my credit history. It took a while but eventually all the history was cleared.
 

If you're going for your first mortgage you need to try and think about how your life is potentially going to pan out over the next 25 years. It might be worth stretching yourself now if you're in a job that will have a regular salary increase over the next few years. Leaving yourself with just 20% disposable income now might mean you have 50% disposable income in 5 years because your salary has gone up. But if you're not in that kind of job and you don't see your financial position improving, keep your fixed costs down to about 60% of your income so you've got 40% to enjoy life a little bit.

The real key to having a disposable income is to not have kids. They are far more of a drain on your money, time, mental health, sanity, will to live etc.
 
This happened to me all be it about 15 years ago when I had my identity stolen. I was advised to register with CIFAS and Equifax and dispute the fraudulent activity on my credit history. It took a while but eventually all the history was cleared.

Yeah I didn’t dispute it because it would have us set back on buying the house - which we were desperate for and will probably live in forever.

Never had an o2 contract in my life and being told “it’s in your name, your address,” was ridiculous
 
As someone who isn't financially savvy, i will say always pay over what your mortgage is, if its £600, and you can afford it - pay whatever extra you have.

Have assets, not liabilities. Kids, mortgages, cars on the drip, mobiles on credit - all liabilities, turn them into assets. Good luck la.
 
Going for a mortgage and wondering what do people think is the minimum amount that they should have left after all bills are paid each month to live? I don't want to live just to pay my mortgage.
Under Universal Basic Income you will (currently) receive £1,600 per month for everything, all bills, food, porn, Netflix, Deliveroo, etc… so base it on that
 

Yeah I didn’t dispute it because it would have us set back on buying the house - which we were desperate for and will probably live in forever.

Never had an o2 contract in my life and being told “it’s in your name, your address,” was ridiculous
For consideration...

 
Maybe read the last 5 words he wrote

OK, thanks, I get he wants to "Just to pay his mortgage"

Where m = Mortgage
b = Bills
d = Disposable income (have left to live)
t = Total income available

Now acceptable bills are a subjective concept really, but for simplicity we will assume them to be a fixed unavoidable amount.

Given
d = t -(m+b)

For the purposes of this question, the opening poster has proposed a solution for the value of d=0. If we substitute that in:

0 = t-(m+B)

Therefore
t=m+b

So there isn't anything left afterwards. The minimum value of d when d=0 is 0 :lol:
 
For consideration...


My mate has been going through the same thing, think he's 3 years into the dispute now after someone registered a company in his name.

Extra precuations have been put in place, mind.
 
Depends on circumstance and how much you like to spend on additional items like holidays, clothes, eating out, etc.

When my wife and I went for our current mortgage they offered us a ridiculous amount over what we could have afforded - this was just before Covid for reference. Had we taken that amount we would have had to sell the house after Liz the lettuce Truss crashed the economy and everyone’s mortgage went up astronomically.

Just bare that in mind when speaking to the banks. There are loads of tools online which can help you work out how much you can afford based on what you earn and what you want to spend, save, invest, etc. I’d recommend using one of these tools or even ChatGPT as that can help you with it.

Lastly, if it’s a first home you’re buying factor in the price of furniture, plates, cutlery, etc. I got caught out on that when buying my first property.

Best of luck with it mate.

the problem with chatbotGPT is sometimes it makes mistakes and you don't notice unless you already know the math, so it's worth it in most cases (especially with a mortgage) to learn to do the math yourself or get advice from an accountable human being
 

The old advice was the rule of thirds. 1/3 for essentials, 1/3 for savings and investment, 1/3 for lifestyle.

I think that is impossible for most in the current climate. I think 50/30/20 is a more realistic split. 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings.

Needs would be home and all it’s associated expenses, insurance if needed, auto, groceries, etc. So your mortgage by itself should not be more than 33% of your income. Lenders tend to limit your borrowing to 36% of your income.
 
And for transparency, I don’t succeed in following the 50/30/20 myself. I have a great job but I also have child and spousal support obligations that eat a substantial % of my after tax income. My mortgage is under 1/3 of my income, but I don’t save near enough and spend too much on food. Also, US healthcare is broken and $500 per month for useless health insurance is painful.

Just do your best.
 
OK, thanks, I get he wants to "Just to pay his mortgage"

Where m = Mortgage
b = Bills
d = Disposable income (have left to live)
t = Total income available

Now acceptable bills are a subjective concept really, but for simplicity we will assume them to be a fixed unavoidable amount.

Given
d = t -(m+b)

For the purposes of this question, the opening poster has proposed a solution for the value of d=0. If we substitute that in:

0 = t-(m+B)

Therefore
t=m+b

So there isn't anything left afterwards. The minimum value of d when d=0 is 0 :lol:
Isn't  b an undetermined value though, and unknown as to what it encompasses? Is a 6 pack of beer on a Friday night included within b or would that be classed as  ds (discretionary spending) which would completely alter the equation?
 

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