To be in this job and feel poor?

Are you single? Maybe get a partner who’s also on 52k and life will be better and more income and split bills and you can do all the “fun shit” you’d have done in your 20s with them. The only reason your “20s” stop is if you have a kid, cus then life’s all about them, but single and child free is same as “20s” in a sense but better as you got income

It's not after utilities. She's got energy & water to pay, then insurances and pension. She seems to be paying way too much for energy.

Water - @fedippp, are you on a meter? All small households should have water meters. Also use a comparison tool to see if you're getting a good deal on insurance.

Having a house you will end up owning and a nicer car isn't just getting by though is it? You've got it better than most people

£1300 a month after mortgage, student loan, car purchase and utilities is loads. All she has to pay for is food, petrol, clothing and social stuff.

OP says she has education loans costing £600 a month. After council tax, this would leave approx £1,300 a month. It's really not bad, but it isn't loads and it sounds like she needs to be a bit more clever about how she uses the money she has.

I hope she might be able to switch or restructure her mortgage, too.

@fedippp, I'm agreeing with those going "HOW MUCH??!" at your energy bill/usage. I live on my own in a flat, heating set at 20° for 12 hours a day, paying about £120 a month. Here's my Octopus link if you'd like to switch and get £50 credit on joining!

I saw a big change when I swapped all the light bulbs for low-energy. It's such a trivial thing, I didn't expect it to make the difference it has.

Try not to buy food "for now", if you do. It's far more economical to cook family-size packs, even joints of meat, and freeze the rest in portions. Bonus is you have ready meals on tap, all made by your good self from real ingredients.

That mortgage jump is horrendous. What are your chances of switching to a less excruciating deal?

Also what PPs have said about seeing whether you can extend your loan periods, reconsider the car deal, and double-checking all your direct debits.

Stick at it Things will get better and you'll be glad you muddled through this tricky period.

I'm waiting for someone to suggest that the OP should take in ironing.

It's not a race to the bottom. A graduate with professional qualifications and no children should be able to have a good standard of living without having to worry about interest rate rises. Sadly that's no longer the case.

It's the interest rate rises that have caught you. Are you on a fixed rate or tracker?
Assume you don't have kids? If not, rent out the spare room?
Can you swap the car for a cheaper one?

Sorry - just having a conversation!

and I thought it was in the spirit of OP’s post - she feels poor despite a really good salary! People saying most single homeowners have a lodger doesn’t help, unless OP wants to live like that. A lot of people don’t.

I was merely saying it seems weird to expect a relatively high earner to take in a lodger to make ends meet! Most people don’t have to - I was trying to sympathise with OP.

but as I said just chatting! Conversations often spin out on different directions!

SFE is an absolute con

I'm now paying back 250 a month with 6.25% interest

I've had cheaper bank loans.

Zero incentive for today's graduates to aspire to anything above the payment trigger point

Does it matter how common it is having a lodger when you’re single? OP has hardly any disposable income, yet is sitting on a potential source of income that could massively enhance her life. Because of her outgoings, she can’t afford to live alone, unlike people here who do live alone and have no desire to get a lodger. Hardly anyone would consider having a lodger if they didn’t need to.

I absolutely accept that. I am a little
olfer than OP but not a different generation. Lodgers seem to be considered common on mumsnet and it’s often offered up as a solution but in real life I don’t know anyone who does it passed their twenties. Maybe I have an unusual reference group!! I don’t live in London, but I do live in a city. I have friends who live all over the globe in big cities (Sydney, Toronto, Singapore, London and Brussels) - lodgers stopped at late twenties.

at OP’s age and income bracket it would be unusual in my experience to have a lodger. In fairness I do earn a good bit more than OP but have friends in a similar income bracket and a similar age to OP. No whispers of getting a lodger.

but in your experience it’s common - single women I. Their thirties earning above average salaries and getting lodgers. To each their own / but I would feel like it was a backwards step! The beauty about aging is getting our independence

Not everyone lives your life or that of your circle of friends - which presumably is in a different area of the country or indeed you are an entirely different generation to the OP.

The thread had moved on after your initial post and my answer so you will see her postgrad loan was not SFE funded and she has an actual bank loan. In any event even if you do not believe her outgoings are as high as she states I do.

Unfortunately I frequently see people who earn less be incredulous that someone who earns more than them, or even the same as them, or sometimes less than them not understand that everyone's personal circumstances are not the same as theirs.

Many people don't even realise the reality of student loans via SFE as regards amount of payment (as touted as affordable graduate tax without the actual figures of how much is withheld) and the impact on affordability of mortgages.

It’s people on these types of salaries in such careers that will take their skills and tax overseas where they will have a far more comfortable life. Leaving the UK in an even worse situation.

I think the point is if you worked hard in further education, you have a stressful job where you presumably work long hours, and thus have a very good salary, living in a 2 bed semi should be very easy for you and it’s not and that’s the problem with today’s society. It’s frustrating and it probably feels like you have no reward for all the self sacrifice, hard work and intellectual effort required working a stressful job. I think there are several reasons for this;

1. The generational wealth gap - retirees seeing 10x value increases in their homes, yet also getting high state pensions
2. Inflation - caused by supply issues (HGV drivers, semi-conductors, construction workers and materials, fuel) but exacerbated by people demanding pay rises which makes them worse off in the long run
3. Double income households - increased affordability makes everything (especially housing) more expensive. This makes it very difficult for single person or single income households
4. The fact that sadly stressful jobs requiring high education are financially rewarded but not as much as they should be comparatively to other jobs
5. Housing supply

Im sure like others have said there are ways for you to cut down on spending and make things easier for yourself, but the real problem is the system. At that salary you should be more than comfortable and because you are not that is very frustrating. I do know how you feel.

I also know what it is like to do a job requiring a lot intellectual effort, long hours, lack of socialising after work etc etc. It’s not fun and I don’t think other people understand. I sometimes wish I’d chosen the easier life where I finish work at a set time and go home of an evening without thinking about work.

We’ll all just ignore it then I suppose

The cod psychology demonstrated here - “you’re all jealous she’s a high earner” - is as predictable as it is pathetic.

It's interesting really. OP is the reason the Tories will be wiped out at the next election. She should be financially comfortable on a salary like that at her age but she doesn't feel it. Others can complain about the fact that she is "lucky" to be on a reasonably good salary at that age but compared to the standard of living experienced by previous generations in similar socio-economic groups OP is undoubtedly experiencing a much worse standard of living than them.

I know it is a bitter pill to swallow for those on low incomes but salaries of £50k-£60k don't make you anywhere near wealthy these days. We are a low wage economy up and down the chain outside of the executive suite.

You’re bringing home nearly £3500 per month, and your mortgage is £1500? How on earth can’t a single person live on £2k per month??

I’m purely talking about the people I know, and it’s a fact where I live. Houses are expensive around here and the only way most single people can afford a mortgage is to get a lodger. In my street alone (17 houses) there are only 2 that are owned by single people under 40 and they both have lodgers (at least 1 lodger). And on our village Facebook page people are constantly advertising rooms to rent in their house.

would I want to do it? No. But I’m not single and pleading poverty.

@Bellyblueboy

Where do you live though?

If Scotland, NI, wales parts of north England you are probably right.

SE England, even parts of Manchester I know singles and even families - in great careers might I add - who have to have a lodger…. And this was the case before mortgage rates rose too.

And what is your income, when did you get on the property ladder, do you and friends still have mortgages? Lot of factors to weigh in.

Looking at from another angle, in the 60s/70s 5-15% went to university, now it is 40-50%….

My parents walked out with middling to abysmal degrees straight into good careers. Even with 15% interest rate on their mortgage, they shouldered things because house prices were lower, other costs lesser and expections relative to other things in life less (no huge childcare costs - in fact there were very few providers), they had one car, one holiday a year, simple children’s birthday party at home and so on….

Now with so many graduates and an influx of people for housing the competition for everything is greater and thus the price… wars, pandemic etc have shown up what has been going on under the surface - a gradual erosion in wages and in quality of life.

Now to get ahead you generally need at least a 2:1 and post grad…. Heaping up the debt for many students in the lower and middle classes whose parents may not be able to foot the bill.

In short in trying to lessen economic disparity by widening university participation, we have potentially widened it (particularly for middle class), and lessened the value of degree level education and the rewards gleaned from it.

Really? Most people?

I don’t know anyone who has a lodger. I have a large circle of single friends, and know single people in work who all own homes. No lodgers.

I of course know some people do this - I just don’t think it’s as common as you think.

I am single, own a four bedroom home and can’t imagine anything worse than sharing with a lodger.