I know Im being unreasonable!! but WTF?!...

I think this woman was just checking her banking app on her phone in the queue.

The post offices I go in you stand back and wait your turn,never is anyone that close to see people’s banking apps.

If someone looked over my shoulder while I was on a banking app, they could easily see anything up to £100k on there.

None of it is mine, my business account is on the same app as my personal account. Customers pay huge amounts into it but 99% does not belong to me, a tiny amount is my profit.

I've also been power of attorney for relatives and able to check and access their banking. None of that belonged to me either.

So you really don't know what you're looking at. She could be richer than you, she could be poorer than you, she could be on the same level.

And you already knew the above about the person in front of you in the queue.

£13,800 isn't loads and loads. If she's saving a house deposit it'll get her nowhere!

£18k though - that's below minimum wage, take it you work part-time? The solution would be to work full-time.

That's hardly crazy money. You also shouldn't have snooped, how tacky.

Similar thing happened to me, I was in a queue for a cash machine and the young woman in front of me (early 20s perhaps?) was checking her accounts and I could see she had over 20k in both.
I was impressed. I am not on the breadline by any means but she was some 30 years younger than me.
This was Liverpool St station so she probably worked in the City.

Just find a money tree OP, it’s that easy! 🙄

Some of these replies are ridiculous. Not everyone is in the position to be able to save money at all, let alone those amounts. Your unchecked privilege is showing.

Comparison is the thief of Joy @PunnyOliveTurtle

your life is no different now to what it was before you went into the post office. You already know that some people are much wealthier than you - some obscenely so. Don't let that bring you down.

I have a relative who is in the obscenely wealthy category after selling a successful business - one of his siblings has gone NC because of that (hard line socialist). Other "old friends" have suddenly got in touch with "business ideas" they want him to support. While it would always be nice to have a bit more money - and yes I still hope to win the lottery - I at least know that all of my relationships are because of who I am not what I have.

No. It's an exhausting way to live. If I ever do find myself focusing on what others have, which is completely irrelevant to my life, I would immediately refocus to my goals. I have savings I put into regularly that I cannot touch. I have 2K. This is the most money I have ever had.

My payday is in 2 weeks and I have £20 to feed myself in that time. I'm exclusively breastfeeding a baby and I'm consistently under calories. I've given up trying to eat "enough" but I feel fine.

I'm working on some endeavours to change my income level before my baby is old enough to eradicate my benefits. Plus I'm saving basically one entire child element of UC to elevate my position, for my children, not for me.

My children don't know we're poor and enjoy a good living standard.

I'm intrinsically happy becuase I choose to be. I have friends who are well off and I am so proud and pleased for them.

I earn just above average but am a single Mother funding one DC at Uni, mortgage and bills eats round 50% of my salary. If you looked over my shoulder you would see pretty much the same put I have pots of money for various things. It can take me months / years to put away tiny amounts that build up.

You don't know what you're looking at. I have 53k in my account at the moment but it's my business account. About half that amount will go in business costs and tax, and the remainder is all we've got as a family for about the next 8 months.

Please do elaborate on this sterling advice with suggestions of well paid jobs, what qualifications and experience are needed for them, where are they predominantly located, how secure they are and while you are at it maybe you could suggest ideas for successful businesses.

Yeah I was just thinking that… my mortgage shows as a positive figure on my Lloyds account. Anyone seeing that would think I was minted 😂

I have an account which at times has lots of money in. I am set up as self employed and put £ aside for tax. Just before the great lump of it goes out that account looks very healthy, but it's not my money as such.

I've just been made redundant. At the end of this month I will get my severance pay. It's a big sum and my account will look very healthy.
If I don't get a job it will not look healthy for very long.

I have POA for a family member. Before pretty much all of his assets were used on care home fees, his account was very healthy.

Not everything is at it seems.

If you saw my accounts listed one would say £200k in the list, it’s how much I owe on my mortgage! Very easy for a kid to see a list and not understand, or they’d just sold a property etc. inheritance or many reasons to have transient high balances.

if you saw mine you’d see a list of 10 accounts with varying amounts in adding up to a number that is comfortable.

I remember my father teaching me when one time he got out his wallet and I looked. He said it's not polite to look. I always thought that might be because the wallet holder may not have much in there. I can now also see how the reverse might be true, i.e. that they might have more than I have, and that I might feel hard about that. Whatever the reason, and you know you were being unreasonable, but when people pull out their virtual wallet, look away. Whatever information you gather will not help you in any way.

Also, in solidarity here OP- sometimes it looks like people have more than they do.
My accounts right now show-
£300 - main acct to last until the end of the month
£2087- it is savings but it isn't mine- DS DLA goes in there and its being used for private consultations for hearing specialists, hearing tests and will pay for his grommets (I'll be shy £1500 so that'll end up coming from my overdraft)
£1980 despite looking like money I've got, it's credit card debt... always tricking me into thinking I've saved more than I have
£94 in my save the pennies account. I'm betting by the end of the month, that'll be my fuel to get DD to college.

I'm sorry, things are so tough sometimes.

I will make sure I keep my phone covered up to stop nosey people.

It’s better not to dwell on it. My boss is on £400k pa + bonuses and shares. I don’t really think about it, everyone has challenges, he’s not bad at all as a boss.

And death is a great leveller!

@PunnyOliveTurtle I know the feeling. Have got about £25 in the account until the 19th and am into my overdraft £800😬🫣 I also will never have that kind of money either

I don't think those are crazy amounts and I'm not a hight earner at all. The biggest could be a house deposit.
I once inadvertently (honestly) seen a distant family members Banking app and she had 85k in her current account.

Nope, the PP is correct.
My Halifax credit card just shows a number and it appears alongside all my other accounts and a few times I've thought, oh I didn't know I had "that" put away. Nope it's debt trying to deceive me

Nasty.

If I opened my banking app you would see £157 to last me until payday on the 28th so I do know where you’re coming from. However, DH’s banking app would look more like the one you saw. That’s because the £800 in the current account would be our food & fuel budget (4 adults, 1 teen & 2 fussy cats) for the rest of the month. The £2k would be our holiday savings account which he adds a little too each month. The £1k would be our rainy day fund - again he saves a little each month towards MOTs, car repairs, home repairs etc. The larger amount would be part of the inheritance he has recently received following the death of his aunt, the rest of which is in an ISA.

It’s all explainable & doesn’t mean he’s even a high earner.

I just try to think that we never truly know anyone else’s finances. The £10k could even represent a bank loan for an essential expense & therefore actually be a debt.

It’s shit to feel like everyone has more than you OP, I get it. But also not everything is how it seems.

Oh shit why didn't I think of this? Why don't we all just do this?!

Thanks HangryLikeTheHulk!