To be in this job and feel poor?

For what it's worth, our full time combined income would be £60k in the SE but I work 4 days so it's less. We have childcare fees and a mortgage to pay. We live in overdrafts.

Your fuel bills are way too high OP for a single person

@ireallycantthinkofaname I'd assume law. Bank loan to cover the LPC

Have the heating on an hour a day, gas and electric bill was 240 last month.

check for better deals! I’m with next eon and it’s £220 a month for a large 4 bed house and a hot tub. We have heating on wherever it drops below 19 degrees in the day (dh works from home) and 3 teenagers constantly showering.

58k? People live on that as a joint income and have dc too. Sounds like you’ve over stretched yourself and want more than you can afford. Yes, most people do find they need 2 incomes to fund buying a house yet you’ve achieved that on your own. I’m not saying you’d be on private jets and 3 holidays a year, but you can live a decent life on less than that so stop the pity party and realise you earn more than most.

Do you also have absolute job security, a great pension, very generous sick pay and a transparent career trajectory that will likely double your income in the next 5 to 10 years.

If you're on 12k, and are a parent, there are benefits available to top that up considerably. Not judging, just making you aware, in case you weren't.

I thought you said £50 a month! So £200 a month then, OK. You've only saved a bit though, this still isn't a luxury lifestyle. It probably was pretty good before the interest rate kicked in though and the OP is probably justified in feeling annoyed about that as it's out of her control.

OP you've had some really rough responses. I absolutely understand. It's like "Have I worked this hard, to be this skint?" If other posters don't understand, or are in a different situation, fair enough - life is different for everyone, and nobody's experience of it should be marginalized, but you're definitely not alone in feeling this way.

Cheapest phone possible is not necessarily crap, this is pure capitalistic brainwashing that the more expensive phone = better phone.

And £50 a week for food for a single person is not eating like a sparrow, that is literally a normal amount to spend.

I don't see how you can survive on £12k unless your housing costs are £0.

I meant £50 a month as you mentioned. That is going to be some basic food. If you've gone SIM only you must have paid for the phones up front which you'd have to save up for or borrow money for.

why do you have a 'professional bank loan' ? What career do you do that it's 'standard' on £58k ?!

Some of us out here surviving on 12k !

@andrew10642 400 quid food for one person a month is not eating like a sparrow.

Our monthly shop for 4 of us is about that.

And it's doesn't have to be a cheap crap phone. We have 4 phones on sim only deals for less than 30 quid a month total. Nowt wrong with our phones.

Ok, buying the cheapest crap phone possible and eating like a sparrow can save a little bit. The point is people are carrying on like this is some kind of luxury lifestyle, if you're having to do that it isn't.

Basically, you’ve lumbered yourself with excessive borrowing and now the inflation rate has gone up.

It won’t stay this high, I don’t think.

What about the car loan? Are the payments large? And how much longer is the loan? I recently bought a cheap, reliable second hand car because I’ve been stung with a car loan before. They really do suck in a lot of money.

Ultimately, this situation is temporary. When I bought a house a couple of years back, what struck me was that this was going to be the worst time. In general terms, payments on a mortgage stay the same over the whole term (barring interest blips) so over time, you in ten years, you will be making the same payment per month, whereas those paying rent will be paying way more. In the meantime, your wage will have risen, at least in line with inflation and likely your house will be worth more, so your mortgage is much smaller than it would be if you bought your house over again.

Tighten your belt. Take on the lodger, if you really think you’re at risk of losing your home (your reaction to that suggestion indicates you’re not really at risk at all). It’s not much fun right now, but for you, this is the worst it’s going to be and it will improve. For a family in a rented home, not so much.

Umm, phone she can get as cheap as £6, that's £24 saved = 1094

Food shopping 400 is way too much for one person and can go down to £50 = 894

This is more than most people have disposable income and there is no chance that she wasn't able to afford to go on holiday in years as she claims, I have less disposable income that that and I go on several holidays a year, you just need to make smart choices.

Like in most of these types of threads, something doesn't add up

@TheFancyPoet

you work part time rather than full time - immediately less stress.

Some people aspire to more than beans on toast, some need to thrive for happiness not just survive.

Why a single lady has a two bed semi? Why do you need a car with a large finance? Sell and start from scratch, 1 bed, then 2, small car, beans on toast is healthy btw.

It is 3 of us here, living on much less than you, I am saving all my part time wage, we have two double bedrooms, a car and money seems to be spent, but reasonably on whatever is needed

Doing the sums on this.

£58k paying a plan 2 student loan back and ignoring pension is £3,390 a month take home. In reality there would be a pension deduction.

-£1,300 mortgage = £2,090.
Car loan maybe £250? = £1,840.
Insurance/VED/fuel = 200 (guess) = 1640.
Council tax £200 = 1440.
Water 60 = 1380.
Gas/electric = 250 maybe = 1130.
Broadband 30 = 1100
Phone 30 = 1070
Food shopping guessing at least 400 = 670

So maybe £670 a month after essentials. I'm sure people have to make it work for less, but that's hardly living the dream and she probably imagined having more than that left over when she got the job.

You're not wrong to feel frustrated. Your mortgage has doubled. You are earning in the top 9% and you're skint.

People might be thinking ooo if I had that money... But the reality is they might be in a similar boat. If you can afford a mortgage, you buy a house and that's biting you in the backside, but you can't sell and rent. So you're stuck.
Student loans are grim to pay back.

I think you're probably in the most awkward /painful phase of it all right now. Hopefully your mortgage eases off.
Definitely some good advice on here about easing your burden but you don't sound frivolous with your money and as people keep saying you earn a good whack, so yes it reasonable to think you'd have a better quality of life on thst wage. It's crap and a state of the times that you can't.

If your mortgage is a tracker and the rates drop, I would consider funnelling some money to over pay your student loan down quicker and give yourself some head room so that longer term your pain is lessened on that front. You might be skint still but if you are managing to pay double your mortgage, if that goes back down you could afford to overpay your loans a bit more and reduce the over all burden.

But I genuinely empathise with you. It's hard on your own two when the cost of living is hitting a single pocket.

Are you a GP?

If so I recommend going abroad as you are not appreciated here. Workload is ridiculous, patients unhappy and not remunerated for that at all.

I think this race to the bottom/gratitude narrative is all well and good and yes, we should all be grateful for what we have, but I think the point the OP is making is that she’s worked hard, sacrificed and ‘done everything right’ in order to have a comfortable professional career and the expected lifestyle that affords and still doesn’t have it. I understand that resentment, I feel it too.

Of course there are people that either didn’t have the ability or opportunity to go into traditionally middle class careers. My Mum was in that position, she left school at 16, married at 22, became a single Mum by the time she was 27 and moved into a job where there was progression without advanced qualifications (therefore no student debt). Those types of opportunities seldom exist anymore. A degree is a minimum qualification for jobs that needed 5 GCSEs when I left high school in the mid 90s.

I have a master’s degree and 20 years of experience in my field but don’t have near the level of financial security that my mother had at my age because she bought her first house for $6,000 when she was 21 when you needed three times your salary and that matched what she was earning. Our quality of life is worse, there’s no doubt about that.

Sorry but I think you need to have a really hard look at your expenditure as you are earning a handsome salary.

There are families with two/three children where couples earn less than you , combined, who somehow manage to cope.

Sell your property and buy a smaller one bed place. £600 for student loans/professionals seems excessive.
What are these professional fees?

I get it, it's sounds like a lot of money but when after tax you take home around £3400/£3500 and around £2100 is mortgage and loans, it doesn't give you the financial freedom you'd hope for after you factor in bills, food, petrol etc.

I think you need to look at short term solutions to help you out here.
Can you look at extending your mortgage term until interest rates drop a bit?
Can you extend the private student loan term to reduce your monthly payments, look around for better interest rates?
Can you look at trading your car in for a cheaper model/older car or maybe temporarily halting your pension contributions until your car loans paid off?

I don't know how much your private student loans are but it might be worth looking at interest free options. I paid of my private loan for tuitions with a balance transfer credit card that was 0%. Saved me the 5.9% Apr I had on my loan and let me flexible repayment. Obviously you need to make sure you still make repayments and this may not be the right option for you.