I’m a woman earning £13,000, AMA😉

[StarDolphins]

As title! I’d love to be earning £500,000 or £870,001 but that’s life!

This thread has made my morning 😂😂 Love it op, you and your daughter sound like you have a wonderful life ❤

I’m 49 so I do feel like it’s too late tbh. Plus, what I would choose to do (SOcial Worker/MH Nurse) would mean shift work/random placements and I literally have no one that could pick my DD up
or have her in the evenings.

My friends would pick/drop her if I needed them to but I wouldn’t ask on a regular basis.

Edited to add…I’m also peri menopausal so I can’t even remember people’s names half the time so I don’t think I’d be great at learning!

Thank you! I love my life and I’m very grateful.

My DD has the most awful life. She’s not allowed her ears pierced, or a purple iPhone 15 or TikTok. It’s a shame really that she gets treated so terribly. Especially when ALL her class (although when pressed, it’s actually 1 girl) have all these things🤣

😂 Plenty of Dogs

Do you work for the NHS OP, think I was on that wage while my child was at school too? At least they’ll get a full maintenance loan when they go to uni and you won’t have to worry that their £80k in savings won’t stretch to keep them there!!

@StarDolphins
Absolutely not too old! You are a wonderful writer - perhaps something to do with English? I think part-time courses are about 5 years so by the time you got your degree your DD would be more self-sufficient.

You could do something like private English tuition perhaps which I think is quite lucrative?

To me people advising you to go to university/study/get a better job/it's not too late etc are like a modern day version of the fable about two fishermen...

Question: "Why don't you go to university for 4 years, struggle with childcare, study in the evenings, get a long hours well paid job, pay for childcare, work into the evenings, buy a bigger house, pay a bigger mortgage, take regular holidays abroad.....
and what would you like to do when you have made it and are ready to retire OP?"

OP Answer: "Oh I don't know probably buy a little cottage in the peak district and live a quiet life with my dog."

The OP is happy as she is. So she is already living the dream. Not everyone wants to be pelting full speed on the capitalist hamster wheel.

To help your daughter if she wants to go to uni OP I would suggest, as the easiest time to work more is when your daughter is an adult, that you up your hours or get a second job at that point. Whatever extra you can bring home you can give to her.

You could also encourage your daughter to take a year out before uni. She can work and save a nest egg to take, and as she will be an adult you can up your hours and start saving more - as well as securing that increased monthly income to help her when she is away at uni.

When your daughter graduates you can reduce your hours again if you want to, or keep them higher to add to your savings or to help your daughter further.

Your life sounds great to me.

Why are people telling op to go to uni, not everyone wants to go to uni and work 60hr weeks in stressful jobs and that's OK. I would choose a stress free life with my girls everytime. The good thing about being poor your whole life is you get really good at it and you don't need 100s of thousands pounds to be happy or live a full life.

At least it wasn't borrow my doggy. They are tramps

Exactly .

I imagine that interest rates and housing prices were a lot lower at the time she purchased her first property. Plus not attending university meant that she had an additional 3 years of working and no uni debt .

A bit of luck and a bit of hard work . Still doesn't put her in the level of the top whatever percentage of earners though . If you were to add the price of an average mortgage for a small house to her monthly outgoings she would still be managing on a lower than average salary .

I'm thinking that part of the @StarDolphins income is currently maintenance which won't be paid after her DD is 18.
Obviously she can up her hours in whatever work but it would be nice to have a wider choice of job.

Plus the OP is talented!

True! I don’t work for NHS. I’m going to keep saving so I can try & help her in whatever she decides.

Thank you, that’s lovely of you to say!

I am happy as I am, I’m very grateful to live like I do. Which could mean I’m happy & content with my lot…..or that I lack drive & determination!🤣

If I win the lottery I will remember you

Yes that’s what I will do. As soon as she doesn’t need me as much, I will work more & save it.

Yes that’s the thing, I know maintenance & child benefit (approx £350) won’t last so at some point it would just be my wage. I just need to keep on saving every single month.

If I could do a degree between 9-3 as part of my role Mon-Thurs so still getting paid, I might be interested. It just doesn’t exist and I live far away from a uni. Which I guess could be done online but currently, I have no time at night & on my day off, I look after my elderly mum.

Thank you😁

Same back. I don’t do the lottery but if I win the school raffle, I’ll share it!

This is true. My first flat was 34k & easier to pay than prices today. Plus everything else was a lot cheaper too.

🤣🤣 dealbreaker!

This is so true! I’m very good at frugal!

When my DD puts a top on with the names of 3 other owners scrubbed out, it feels good🤣

One thing that used to be trotted out on here a lot is advising people with no qualifications or career to take a basic coding course online and become a coder which will earn mega bucks... As if it's that simple 😂😂😭 some of those threads were mind boggling (and funnily enough I don't think a single person suggesting it was actually a coder)

What's your take home every month and what are your outgoings?

Now we're getting down to it - how much do you spend on Ddog and Dcat? Do they have winter coats and and what about doggy drops and catnip? Are the poo bags £1 shop variety or from Pets at Home?

salary, maintenance & child benefit - £1484

Outgoings each month….
c.tax £119
Gas/elec - £120 ( I over pay, they suggest £100
water - £16
Petrol - £60-£70
Pet/house/car insurance- £74
Phone -£17
broadband - £26
Swimming lessons -£27
Brownies - £10 maybe bit less
cat/dog food - guess £30
sxhool lunches - £65
food - £280- 300 approx - this changes if I buy something big that month
savings £200-£250
Netflix £7
Window cleaner - neighbour owns the business so £5
Dog groom £12.50

Then I have things through the year like car tax/mot, birthdays, script every 3 months etc. very little toiletries,no treatments & my hair gets done every 3 months by my friend who owns a salon & thats £40

edited to add dog groom which I forgot!

🤣 I had to look at what this was🤣