To wonder where all these peoples spend there money?

[choiceofwords]

I have a household income of around 50k. We eat out regularly, nice and quiet neighbourhood, DC always in nice clothes, run a nice car, save a little.

I am quite a big spender and not great at watching what I spend so I don't feel comfortable because I'm careful with cash.

Yet people, multiple people on MN, often seem to start threads suggesting anything below much more than this is poor?

I really don't understand it.

I have friends on much less that still do nice things like go out and on holiday every year. Obviously the same won't be true for everyone on similar incomes but I just wondered where these 'anything less than 100k' tribes are coming from.

[choiceofwords]

*their money

[livingthegoodlife]

I spend mine on holidays. We hardly ever eat out due to having no spare cash after holidays. Our income is higher than yours but the lifestyle you describe seems luxurious to me. Maybe we have more outgoings?!

[choiceofwords]

living I go on holiday too. 1/2 sunshine holidays, cheerful all inclusive, and maybe the odd trip to somewhere like Ireland.

I suppose it may be the equality of the holiday? Mine are really quite cheap as holidays go

[StatisticallyChallenged]

People who have, basically, lives where they spend a lot of money on things which don't seem like luxuries. A house in the south east with a big mortgage (but maybe not actually a fancy house, just expensive due to location), a kid or two in full time childcare. All choices but if you have a mortgage of 1k and 2-3k on nursery every month then that's a fair chunk gone.

Not saying it's poverty before anyone leaps on me.

[BanginChoons]

Everything gets bigger doesn't it? Bigger car, bigger house, bigger mortgage, bigger holidays.

I'm a single mum of 3 on £20k. I genuinely cannot imaging what it would be like to have £100k per year.

[choiceofwords]

Stat We only have 1 DC so I suppose that makes a huge difference. If we had an extra child, that would be an extra £££ on childcare that is currently spent doing ' nice' things that we actively see the benefits of having/doing

[strawbebbies]

Whereabouts do you live?

I live in Scotland and I find I seem to have a lot more disposable income than my colleagues who are on the same wage band but live in the south of England just simply because the cost of housing, childcare etc down there is extortionately high compared to Scotland and the north of England.

[brittabot]

I think it really depends on where you live and whether you have a large mortgage/high rental costs. I life in London and a big proportion of our earnings are spent on the mortgage.

[Fraggling]

Well I mean it all depends

How much your mortgage is
How much commute some tickets are thousands
Some people put a lot into pensions
Etc

Everyone's circs are different I never really understand these threads.

[museumum]

Housing I’d guess is what really eats money for most. In an expensive region housing is really quite crazy prices.

Also private school which some seem to consider a middle class right that many on your level of income insist on but around here it’s at the very least least £12k/year/child and even though we earn more than you between us we would consider it out of our reach.

[choiceofwords]

I live in the South East, things weren't as comfy when DH commutes to London for 6k a year But still reasonably well off

[Fraggling]

It is true though that for many people however much you earn it gets spent.
For me as my salary has gone up,, the brands I prefer, how much I am prepared to pay for stuff has gone up too.
I do spend a lot that I don't need to, I mean we could cut back, but I don't want to really. Then when summer holiday comes I think we should have money where's it all gone :D

Human nature really I reckon.

[Fraggling]

This is 50k before tax I assume

[choiceofwords]

Fraggling Yep, before tax!

[RedSheep73]

Mumsnet isn't exactly a representative sample though. By the time they've all paid their school fees and their cleaners bla bla bla there probably isn't much left.

[Gatehouse77]

I guess it comes down to how you prioritise spending your money. We do a mixture of things. Sometimes we prioritise a holiday but at others it’s doing more frequent smaller things like theatre trips, theme parks, city breaks, concerts, festivals, etc.

Number of children, extra curricular activities, cost of living, childcare, etc. will vary massively too.

[MrsKoala]

Our income is double that (one person gross) and while we are not poor by any means (I consider us rich) it sounds like we don't have as much disposable income as you. Our bills are over £3k per month before food, fares and holidays. We have 2 all inclusive 10 day sun holidays a year but drive a 12 year old crap heap. Don't eat out much, maybe wagamamas once a month but that costs about £100.

We have no savings and no pensions and are in our overdraft every month.

[Foghead]

Do you live in the south east op? How much is your mortgage?
Most people I know have mortgages well over £1000 a month for standard 3 bedroom houses. More for a bigger house.
They’re not poor of course but aren’t exactly rolling in it.

[BarbaraofSeville]

They think normal basic shopping is organic everything from Waitrose at £200+ pw.

A holiday is a luxury villa in the posh end of Mallorca or 5* AI at an Ikos resort, for about £8k+

Candles are Diptythingy at £50+ a time.

It's very easy to spend a lot of money without it being noticeable to others.

[user1480880826]

Your holidays/meals/mortgage/car etc etc will all be cheaper versions of what people earning more money have. You’re probably also saving a lot less. A lot of people with large incomes worry a lot about not having money and how they will maintain their quality of life once they retire and consequently save a lot.

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

Our annual income is around 47000 We go on a 5* once a year and have days out,treats etc regularly

[ThisBear]

Commuting takes a toll. You need wraparound childcare if you have to travel for an hour on the train, on top of the fare and maybe station parking.

Even if you own a house, high rent prices have a knock on effect since you can't save up as effectively. You finally get onto the housing ladder with the minimum deposit, but of course you won't qualify for the best rates.

Some things are down to lifestyle choices though.

[LynetteScavo]

3 DC and a big mortgage.

One DC is at uni with minimum loan, so we have to top that up, and 2 DC who have music lessons (&instruments) maths and English tutoring. We also need two cars.

We can eat out if we want to, we don't have to budget for it.

We do go on holiday but not 10k ones others might expect.

It's a life style choice. We earn a reasonable amount but choose to spend most of it on our DC.

I would feel poor if we had a lower income because of my expectations.

[morningdread]

Well say you have 1 earner per family the one on 50k takes home 3,120k after tax & NI per month & would also get child benefit. The one on 100k takes home 5540k so a difference of 2300k (allowing for some CB). So it's obviously more but not as much as you think. It then makes a massive difference where you live & also when & if you are on the ladder. Easy to be spending 2k a month on rent or mortgage.

[standupbecounted]

People (normally) adjust their lives as they earn more.

So as they work up through the pay bands, their lifestyle changes and then they simply can't see how they could live on less.

Also depending on where you live, how much you have left on your mortgage, how much debt they have to support their luxuries. A salary alone can not give a full picture of how people manage their lifestyles.