Page 26 | To think it’s crazy that National Minimum wage is £27k

Boreded · 09/10/2026 20:54

@intrepidpanda bet you’re wishing you hadn’t posted now…it’s not your husband and you were just explaining what they were doing and now everyone is replying like you’re the one claiming a low income 🫣 got to love mumsnet sometimes don’t you

x2boys · 09/10/2026 20:54

Butterflyfluff · 09/10/2026 20:53

I would genuinely love to know how this is possible - our council tax, utilities etc are north of £10k per year before anything else.

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It isnt.

x2boys · 09/10/2026 20:53

MyFairLady27 · 09/10/2026 20:19

Well we get by nicely with kids,pets, new cars, holidays,no credit owed to anyone or anything. And get around £20k a year between us as I'm part time atm dh full..Takes good balancing and communication and we do fine and dandy

You would get a fair bit in Universal credit too ....

MrsPapillon · 09/10/2026 20:53

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

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Of course he does. I’m sure you live quite comfortably on all the cash he doesn’t earn. 😂

Shatenoeuf · 09/10/2026 20:53

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

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No darling, that's what he declares to the tax man.

Original poster

Butterflyfluff · 09/10/2026 20:53

MyFairLady27 · 09/10/2026 20:19

Well we get by nicely with kids,pets, new cars, holidays,no credit owed to anyone or anything. And get around £20k a year between us as I'm part time atm dh full..Takes good balancing and communication and we do fine and dandy

I would genuinely love to know how this is possible - our council tax, utilities etc are north of £10k per year before anything else.

OP posts:

Boreded · 09/10/2026 20:53

Bedroomdilemmas113 · 09/10/2026 20:41

No he doesn’t, he takes that as a salary out of his limited company which he’s a director of. Plus dividends, plus whatever personal spending he puts through the business….

People are not stupid.

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The person you are replying to isn’t the poster claiming the low income. She is just trying to tell people what is really going on without saying something that would get her posts deleted…

JoannCourcyIveGotThePowerNSoul · 09/10/2026 20:53

A lot of jobs are part time with shift patterns that don't allow second job.
Full time hrs are thin on the ground in NMW sectors.

HappyLizard23 · 09/10/2026 20:52

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

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Yeh… sure 😂 that’s just what you tell HMRC

Shinyandnew1 · 09/10/2026 20:52

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

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He takes home £1000 a month and works full time?

Is this some dodgy self-employed tax scam or is he just a really rubbish tradesman!?

CatamaranViper · 09/10/2026 20:50

And yet we have a gross income of £80k and struggle to make ends meet.
We're stuck in a debt spiral and have been for years. Can't get out. Every time one of us earns a tiny bit more, everything else becomes more expensive and we still can't pay off the debts we have.

Boreded · 09/10/2026 20:50

Evaka · 09/10/2026 20:47

Is this a typo?

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That’s what will be claimed when HMRC come calling 🫣

SleeplessRoads · 09/10/2026 20:49

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

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He should probably give it up then as he’s a terrible tradesman. He’d be better employed as a lackey on a building site getting paid more.

But that’s not actually true is it? He earns much more than that and you’ve just quoted his salary, which is wildly different to his income.

Boreded · 09/10/2026 20:49

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

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Yeah this!

Hardly worth her posting what he tells HMRC his income is. All of his bills, new cars, holidays are paid how exactly 🙄

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 09/10/2026 20:48

I'm in the SE and earn 15k a year and my partner earns about 20 - 22k. We keep our money separate and pay 50/50 bills, and I do struggle on my wages but until my dogs go to doggy heaven then part time it is.

I'd feel absolutely loaded if I earned 27k!

badboss2020 · 09/10/2026 20:48

@MyFairLady27 I can’t actually believe you think you are “surviving on £20k”. If your DH is working full time and genuinely only takes home £12,570 he’s a shit tradesman and should consider a part time job at maccers.
You’ve got some brass posting that on here 🤣

Evaka · 09/10/2026 20:47

MyFairLady27 · 09/10/2026 20:19

Well we get by nicely with kids,pets, new cars, holidays,no credit owed to anyone or anything. And get around £20k a year between us as I'm part time atm dh full..Takes good balancing and communication and we do fine and dandy

Is this a typo?

Boreded · 09/10/2026 20:45

HardFuckingBird · 09/10/2026 20:15

DH and I live off around £50k gross between us and we have a very comfortable lifestyle (we have two children in primary school). It's a perfectly reasonable household income in inexpensive areas (I realise it wouldn't go far in London or much of the south). In my area the problem is lifestyle creep. People's expectations are crazy compared to when we were children. When I was at school most families didn't have one foreign holiday a year, but now a lot of the families I know expect to be able to go away 3-4 times a year. Families often shared one old car - now most people I know have a luxury car per adult, often on PCP. Meals out used to be a rare treat - whereas now a lot of my colleagues feel entitled to coffees, lunches, takeaways and meals out every week.

This…in the north I was making our household income of 40-45k stretch to take us to Disney World every year pre-covid. It’s all relative, my mortgage was only 500 and I had no childcare costs because I had someone to do the school run, and we shared a car. You couldn’t do it in the south though, and you probably can’t even do it here now either with the cost of housing.

Lyra25 · 09/10/2026 20:43

HardFuckingBird · 09/10/2026 20:15

DH and I live off around £50k gross between us and we have a very comfortable lifestyle (we have two children in primary school). It's a perfectly reasonable household income in inexpensive areas (I realise it wouldn't go far in London or much of the south). In my area the problem is lifestyle creep. People's expectations are crazy compared to when we were children. When I was at school most families didn't have one foreign holiday a year, but now a lot of the families I know expect to be able to go away 3-4 times a year. Families often shared one old car - now most people I know have a luxury car per adult, often on PCP. Meals out used to be a rare treat - whereas now a lot of my colleagues feel entitled to coffees, lunches, takeaways and meals out every week.

In the south east one person would struggle on that wage. My mortgage and bills alone are £2,500 thats without food or travel

Endoadnowarrior · 09/10/2026 20:42

Butterflyfluff · 09/10/2026 20:08

Yet it’s not really enough to live on 😢

My first job paid £7.5k per year and I thought I was loaded! And I’m not ancient.

Now 2 people on NMW earn over £50k between them yet it’s really not enough these days.

It also depends what you are classing as "full time", it would have to be 41hrs pw for an over 21 to earn 27k.
At 37.5h (which a LOT of jobs are! Especially in admin/office roles,) FT NMW is actually just under 25k. Which is even worse!

Bedroomdilemmas113 · 09/10/2026 20:41

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

Show quote history

No he doesn’t, he takes that as a salary out of his limited company which he’s a director of. Plus dividends, plus whatever personal spending he puts through the business….

People are not stupid.

BiteSizeByzantine · 09/10/2026 20:39

Waitingfordoggo · 09/10/2026 20:21

Agree @HardFuckingBird

Admittedly, the costs of energy and food have risen sharply in recent years and many people struggle with that, but I completely agree that expectations are often too high. We have become very spoilt over the past 30 years or so. When I was growing up, it was one second-hand car for the whole family, one holiday a year (and often UK holidays at that), hand-me-downs instead of new clothes. Going to a restaurant or even a cafe was a rare treat. The first time we had a takeaway I was 15 years old and I remember how exciting it was, how lucky I felt. We weren’t a poor family, my parents earnt fairly well, but we appreciated what we had. I don’t remember ever coveting what wealthier families had.

In basically the year 2000? Everyone was going mental on credit cards and mini breaks became a thing

intrepidpanda · 09/10/2026 20:39

Endoadnowarrior · 09/10/2026 20:35

That doesnt add up?
How can your combined wage be 20k if your DH works full time???

Edited

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He is a tradesman
He earns £12, 570

Fidgety31 · 09/10/2026 20:38

HardFuckingBird · 09/10/2026 20:27

Salary! No benefits except for Child Benefit. Believe it or not, we are both GPs - we have a child with significant SEN so both work part-time.

We earn £50k a year from employed income. We do have some erratic, unreliable self-employed income which we can't rely on and don't budget for - we save it as soon as it hits our bank account.

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Cloud cuckoo land… you have other income ! So don’t pretend you live on £50k

plus - you have the option to work more and easily earn more should you need it ! You’re not scrimping by on min wage worrying about whether you can afford to put your heating on !

Endoadnowarrior · 09/10/2026 20:35

MyFairLady27 · 09/10/2026 20:19

Well we get by nicely with kids,pets, new cars, holidays,no credit owed to anyone or anything. And get around £20k a year between us as I'm part time atm dh full..Takes good balancing and communication and we do fine and dandy

That doesnt add up?
How can your combined wage be 20k if your DH works full time???