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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

High earners - how do you spend your salary?

988 replies

Citygirly · 21/05/2022 10:03

DH and I earn just under £140k combined.

We do maximum pension payments (his is 9% as NHS) and we also give about 10% a month to charity.

Other than that, we plan to start overpaying the mortgage. We invest £1k a month (so £500 each) and save £1k for holidays. We of course do general/specific savings but then have a good chunk left over for disposable income.

AIBU to ask other high earning households how they tend to allocate their money? Just want to see if we could be using it better or this is about right for comparables.

OP posts:
WalkingOnSonshine · 21/05/2022 13:49

Joint of about 130k. We spend 60% and save 40%.

We’ve got about half a million invested, and a further 250k as equity in the house, so aiming for be mortgage-free by 40 (unless we get our dream overseas move) and semi-retired by 55.

lancsgirl85 · 21/05/2022 13:49

roarfeckingroarr · 21/05/2022 13:41

I wouldn't consider myself a high earner, I earn around £66k, as a household we earn around £110k, but London...

Childcare (£1600 a month for a four day week) then general nice life things - gym membership, regular trips away, eating out when we want, and saving £500 min each month.

The regional variation in childcare costs absolutely blows my mind.

I'm north east, and a 4 day month with my childminder is circa £650-£700 pm.

So despite our household income being around 30k less than yours per year, we pay less than half for the same childcare up north.

Crazy!

Collinsro · 21/05/2022 13:48

This is so depressing, I'm over 30 and working but still can't afford a house at all. I'm putting off a wedding, having kids, have a peanuts private pension, only buy discounted food at the end of the day etc trying to save. Can't find a job offering more than I'm earning now which is barely over min wage. I'm prepared for all the 'bitter' comments, but genuinely amazed at how the other half lives.

roarfeckingroarr · 21/05/2022 13:45

If people find this distasteful they could, you know, not open the thread.

Mumsnet is for everyone, not just those struggling

Evilcountspatula · 21/05/2022 13:44

You are of course entitled to post about whatever you like but I like some others find this subject matter singularly distasteful.

TeenyQueen · 21/05/2022 13:44

DH is a high earner (roughly 300k) and we own a business so fortunately we can put a lot of expenses through the business.

We live a pretty average middle class life with average cars, buy clothes for the DC from supermarkets, big weekly shop at Aldi etc. The luxuries we have are a big modern house, buying high quality food from butchers and farmshops, cleaner and eating out. We haven't had a proper holiday for a while due to covid etc, but we're planning a family holiday to Dubai in the winter. The main luxury is not having to worry about bills and expenses and I know we're so fortunate in this respect, especially right now.

roarfeckingroarr · 21/05/2022 13:43

Oh and nails; acupuncture; massages.

roarfeckingroarr · 21/05/2022 13:42

Oh and a cleaner

Overthewine · 21/05/2022 13:42

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Original poster
Citygirly · 21/05/2022 13:41

PaddingtonBearStareAgain · 21/05/2022 13:28

So 5 pages in and OP has gone awol.

Any thoughts on what people have said op?

Just reading through and about to start responding!

OP posts:
justasking111 · 21/05/2022 13:41

Cheesepleeze · 21/05/2022 13:28

I genuinely don’t mean this as an insult, but why are you all sat around on Mumsnet if you’re loaded?

I come on mumsnet because I’m bored and I guess I don’t have much of a life since having young children. I like to think that if I had plenty of money, I’d be busy living my best life and not sat on a forum where half the users are miserable sods😂

I guess everyone has problems with children, relationships, no matter their financial circumstances

roarfeckingroarr · 21/05/2022 13:41

I wouldn't consider myself a high earner, I earn around £66k, as a household we earn around £110k, but London...

Childcare (£1600 a month for a four day week) then general nice life things - gym membership, regular trips away, eating out when we want, and saving £500 min each month.

jackstini · 21/05/2022 13:40

Have an offset mortgage so savings mean we pay no interest, but money available if we need it
Holidays
Pension top ups
Property
Charity
Max in premium bonds
Shares
ISA
Kids' savings
Surprise anonymous gifts

EmpressoftheMundane · 21/05/2022 13:39

Our expenses in descending order:
-taxes
-school fees
-mortgage
-food/utilities
-pension savings
-routine home maintenance
-holidays/eating out/ theatre
-charities

Next year our car will need replacing. So that will be high in the list.

Once the school fees drop away and the mortgage gets paid off we can pivot to sorting out major home repairs, making sure our pension contributions are enough and being more generous to our wider community.

(I find holidays a chore and I am not interested in clothes or jewellery. I do want my house to be nice though. I wish I could spend on that.)

lioncitygirl · 21/05/2022 13:37

Private school, holidays, investments (husband works in banking so he does this for us)

dumdumduuuummmmm · 21/05/2022 13:37

NohoHank · 21/05/2022 12:15

I wouldn't call that particularly high earning

Bingo!

It depends what is thought to be high earning. If for example you have 2 or 3 dc who you want to educate privately, £140k will not allow for that. Some people would argue that if you can't afford private education then you aren't a high earner but a moderate earner.

Passanotherjaffacake · 21/05/2022 13:37

Earn a little less then this combined and live in an expensive city (not London). Huge mortgage and childcare costs take at least half after tax, ni and pensions. House is big and our main luxury, good school catchments etc.

food, groceries and eating out is a big outgoing - I don’t buy organic but do look for good quality fruit and veg which tastes of something and I am anal about eco friendly cleaning stuff. we are reducing our budget here though but we do value going out for an early dinner with our LO at the weekend.

Rest of it is normal stuff like things for the house, little day trips, car expenses, insurance etc. having a dog is expensive. Spend almost nothing on clothes for us. My make up and face stuff is mid range but lasts ages. We won’t be able to afford a holiday for a few years.

so nothing unusual and no huge savings or investment plans until we childcare years are done. Definitely not a wage/lifestyle which stretches to expensive hobbies, holidays, school fees etc.

MintyMoocow · 21/05/2022 13:37

Amazon Prime mainly…😳

Xenia · 21/05/2022 13:34

It has varied over the years but for a lot of it was full time childcare and the mortgage. Then school fees for 5 children and this year post grad fees and other costs for the twins - fees alone £16k per twin -so coting about £50k a year as it also cost me in their 3 undergraduate years (no student loans) and also in the last few years helping each of the 5 children buy a first property.

However every family well off enought o save any money has their own priorities. Mine is keeping the twins and also trying to pay off my mortgage.

CaliforniaDrumming · 21/05/2022 13:33

Mostly DC's education. We are expatriates in the UK and DC are international students at UK unis so will pay double. And flights to see scattered family. And savings ahead of DH's early retirement or lay off whichever comes first.

To do this we don't run a car and live in a flat. Not that I am complaining about either.

Newmumatlast · 21/05/2022 13:33

Cheesepleeze · 21/05/2022 13:28

I genuinely don’t mean this as an insult, but why are you all sat around on Mumsnet if you’re loaded?

I come on mumsnet because I’m bored and I guess I don’t have much of a life since having young children. I like to think that if I had plenty of money, I’d be busy living my best life and not sat on a forum where half the users are miserable sods😂

Lol money is still valuable and I dont want to waste it when I had a long time without it. I live modestly. My daughter and I have just been swimming though. But I have cleaning to do and probably will go to the park. Won't be on mumsnet all day. Still like scrolling when eating lunch or have a moment where I need to chill and not think about work. I spend an awful lot of my time working and am exhausted alot.

Newmumatlast · 21/05/2022 13:30

Isonthecase · 21/05/2022 12:54

Why are people so bothered by this? Knowing how other people spend their money is massively important for social mobility, otherwise you end up in a situation where the rich stay rich for generations and the poor may get rich for one then it's gone.

Personally we spend about 2/3 of our money on childcare, mortgage, savings into s+s isas, overpaying the mortgage (this varies based on childcare, we couldn't do this with 2 in full time). The other £2k ish goes on not worrying about food, eating out, and savings for the less regular costs like council tax and car insurance as well as some towards a rental mortgage.

We try to make sure we save as much as possible because we've both grown up in families with relatively recent experience of poverty. I'm aware we could make more by risking more but, for me, it's not worth it.

Same. Very modest background for me and husband poor. Both working class. We therefore save more than we spend as we don't know when it might stop and we also are worried about risks. We also spend alot being generous with friends, family and strangers.

Merryclaire · 21/05/2022 13:29

PaddleBoardingMomma · 21/05/2022 13:23

I mean, I understand people are nosey curious. Sometimes I have these questions too, I wonder if I could spending differently / better. Buuuut, there are lots of forums like MSE and financial boards that would surely be a better place to ask.

And at the end of the day, what does it really matter. You could be at the top of your career, living in central London, sending your kids to private school, jetting off for a weekend in Monaco and be as likely to be struck down with incurable cancer as someone who is left with 34p in their account a week before payday.

At the moment, when we are in the midst of a very real cost of living crisis, I can see why a few posters are less that impressed.

Yes - this! She posted on the AIBU board rather than a dedicated money/finance board. Of course a portion of the posters are going to decide that, yes, she is unreasonable to ask that question!
More money = more problems, so they say. (I’ll have to take their word for it!😂)

minipie · 21/05/2022 13:28

I agree with that @PaddingtonBearStareAgain ! £140k is a lot by anyone’s reckoning. Even in London. Sure there may be some who find it tight on this, but that’ll be because they’ve chosen to spend 7 figures on a house or send kids private.

PaddingtonBearStareAgain · 21/05/2022 13:28

So 5 pages in and OP has gone awol.

Any thoughts on what people have said op?