Things I have learnt since becoming rich (a.k.a. fuck you: Nigella and Jamie)

[TheAutumnHere]

1. Having an oven that holds temperature stops cakes falling
2. A stand mixer simplifies baking by a factor of at least 4, and improves the results
3. Branded vacuum cleaners actually remove dirt from the floor
4. Le Creuset pans don't stick, and just wipe clean
5. Baking with children is delightful japes, when timed the morning before the cleaner comes
6. Corn fed chicken is the bomb

Just leaving a note to my past self - who never cut herself any slack and thought she was a slattern and a crap cook.

Numbers don't really define it - because rent, childcare, debt & travel are such a big part of it.

I thought my first salary was pretty darn good - would never have called myself poor at the time - but it was a pretty sharp reality check for the cost of living. (And it wasn't just about being young & naive . I'd cooked for my family since the age of 12.)

TheAutumnHere

That sounds tough. I see where you are coming from, but I do think people have mistook your message. You are comparing the two and sharing your conclusions. I was just thinking earlier that so much of what we see on TV is very middle class and aspirational, and a lot of these food programmes are the same - where the fuck do you find a Jerusalem artichoke unless you live in a lovely quaint market town or near a Waitrose? We never see proper budget cooks like Jack Monroe on the TV, just Gregg Wallace on his Thickos go Shopping programme. I guess it's another way to make people feel crap about themselves.

I was just asking about web development as I'm trying to find time to learn coding (for data analysis, not web development though) so just wondered what you did before and how you got rich.

OP, I think your "rich" is what most people would call "Comfortable". Enough money not to worry too much about money, but you aren't holidaying in the Caribbean 5 times a year, have a full time housekeeper and a private jet.

The next step is "Well off" which to me is a £250k+ salary, stocks, shares, big house, second home.

"Rich" to me is millions in the bank, several homes, investments, off shore accounts a la Boris Johnson

"Stinking Rich" is Lord Sugar, Paul McCartney, Richard Branson, Michael Jackson, Bill Gates, etc

Am I way off with these brackets?

@Monsterinmyshoe - I have a degree in science, and then working experience in london finance. Web development is kind of vagued up for MN (don't particularly fancy being trolled IRL - I did guess this thread might get a mean edge) - it's a bit more
niche than that sounds - I moved into it because I had more kids & wanted to be able to work on a freelance basis.

I'm really not a squillionaire on it - but its the accumulation of having a decent paying job, having DH who is now qualified and well
established in his career, and not paying any
childcare. As myself, I'd be earning more if I'd stayed on partner track in the City -
but the flipside of my change in circumstances is that DHs job is now 70-80
hours a week plus travel - so I took a pragmatic pivot that let me use my professional skills but be around for the kids after school etc. I think I posted on your other thread - I do highly recommend a targeted move into programming - especially if you can combine it with your existing skills & background.

That list is comfortably off in my opinion

Your use of the word rich was attention-grabbing and not really accurate in terms of what you were thinking

@BendyLikeBeckham - to me - I'm rich.

I can buy anything I want. One in every colour if it tickles my fancy. And I sometimes feel embarrassed around my old friends and extended family - like when my friend nearly got evicted and I technically had the flex on my mortgage that I could have bought her home out and given her breathing space to get back on her feet.

That kind of economic power is rich in my book.

A tiny eye catching comedy squillionaire contingent isn't really relevant - unless its to perform a social service to make other otherwise rich people decide that they're actually quite frugal in comparison.

Bendy

Your well off category would be the top 2% of the UK population according to the IFS calculator. I think that might be a bit narrow.

I would have put well off as an additional rate tax payer.

Im assuming you're in the 1% OP? You said upthread about how the secret was good gadgets & the ability to afford them which you wanted to share with others. I actually think it's more beneficial to share stories of someone who goes from earning 30k to being rich, it's not that common particularly as an employee.

@chippychip1 - why would my stories be beneficial? So that others struggling on a low wage in London would be inspired on how it could be done? Because if I can do it why can't they...? Like that...?

I'm hearing that people don't love
my posting style - but that is so spectacularly missing the point of the thread.

Why would I derail it by piling on yet more superwoman bullshit to make poor people think that It's their fault that they never became dotcom wealthy. Cos people do it all the time - with an old laptop in their garage. And this woman - Autumn - on the Internet did it - and she had kids. Didn't hear her moaning about zero hours contracts - huh - all it takes is a bit of initiative.

Jeez!

This thread is so bizarre

If May and June are real, they both sound like tedious cliches.

Rich is thinking ahead for Shrove Tuesday?!?

What bank account level prerequisite is there that makes you more or less aware of a forthcoming Shrove Tuesday?

Every society has 'poor' and 'rich'.

It's not really practical for every low income job to retrain into a top tax band job. But it's kinder if we can be a bit real about the difference money makes.

A poster downthread said it better - something like that all the little things matter & accumulate.

I knew that low income meant that I bought my clothes in charity shops not designer stores. I honestly did not know that low income meant that my baking would be iffy and my house permanently messy. I
didn't know - and a lot of pp are underlining the point by insisting that one doesn't follow from the other. So I blamed myself. And that was wrongx

@VanyaHargreeves - I used to have one multipurpose frying pan that I cooked everything in. Last year I bought a nice crepe pan. It's an extravagance - but does make better pancakes. It really is the little things that build up (or bring down) your confidence. I knew about the big things. The little things, I blamed on my own lack of skills & effort.

So in answer to your question - having about £60 slush on your weekly budget gives you the power to make Shrove Tuesday about 10% easier.

To be honest OP I, were I wealthy would probably buy the high end/prestige things if money were no object.

Why though is it such a revelation that expensive things are expensive because they are the best quality and do the job to a high standard.

I'd probably be more inclined to the hair and beauty end of indulgence if I'm honest.

Any good recommendations there?

its all snake oil. I use nivea moisturiser & cut my own hair once a year.

Well I think it is beneficial & personally I do read about female entrepreneurs & high fliers. There is still a gender pay gap & when looking at wealth, women are still very under represented.

I know plenty of women who are higher rate taxpayers (I was but pt now) & a few who earn 200k plus however we were set on that path from Uni. I don't know anyone who went from poor to rich.

I think it's useful to hear stories of how people do turn their life around & it may or may not encourage rethinking or retraining or awareness of the opportunities that are out there. Probably more useful in terms of actually being able to buy that Miele washing machine.

Not sure what's so jeez about it 🤷‍♀️

Its just a whole different conversation.

I don't want to tell old me to work more,
to push harder.

I want to tell old me that she was doing great . That good enough is good enough - to just keep scrapping through to fight another day - to cut herself some slack.

I knew that low income meant that I bought my clothes in charity shops not designer stores. I honestly did not know that low income meant that my baking would be iffy and my house permanently messy.
Probably because one goes with the territory where as the others seem to be less of a given.

I put a le crueset pan in the bin, it was crap. I dream of have a KitchenAid.

Jamie's food looks crap, it's smothered in olive oil and he chucks half a lawn on everything.

Well done OP! You managed the struggle of being piss poor and now you are 'rich' you bake better with all your top branded appliances. You have fathomed out paying a bit extra for car parks so you don't get parking fines.

Well done the old you .

Lecrueset was a 80s must have - along with those big fuck off vodaphone handsets. Both gave you RSI.

The same that old me would have liked someone to deconstruct for me how much of my time I was spending on menial skivvy work compared to someone who had a better house. Whether I used that information to adjust my expectations, or get angry or change my job - knowledge is empowering.

So only when it comes to knowledge re what brands are worth the money as opposed to knowledge re adjusting expectations & changing jobs.

I'll let you get back to forgiving yourself.

This thread is bizarre

I used to make cakes in a bedsit in my tiny Baby Belling oven using a £4.99 hand mixer from Argos. Now I make cakes in a huge kitchen with a big range with double ovens and a professional stand mixer (Kitchen Aids are over priced and over rated ). They taste the same to me.

It’s nice to have good quality stuff if you can afford it but it’s not essential.

This threat is totally weird to me.
I mean I grew up fairly poorish and am very fortunate now, I still managed to cook and eat well at both end of the spectrum.
To give you perspective i'm retired from working completely, have my own home and not quite 40 yet.
I have been able to bake with a microwave that also had a oven function, with very cheap market baking stuff-they were all absolutely fine.
I have had delicious meals made with very few ingredients on a tiny budget, that would rival a top restaurant(I know because I have done the comparison plus most are very overrated!)