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Original poster

3.5 k a month? For uk

71 replies

Earteill · 10/06/2021 21:21

In the UK is this a lot for one person household? How good a standard of living would this be? It’s taking ages to research online when outside of London

OP posts:
Bigwave · 10/06/2021 21:22

gross or net and living where?

Original poster
Earteill · 10/06/2021 21:23

Net living in middle of uk

OP posts:
Ivy48 · 10/06/2021 21:24

Depends on where in the country and lifestyle. A Wales that’s an awful lot of money per month. My and DP earn that between us and have all we need with money to spare

WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo · 10/06/2021 21:24

Sounds like plenty to me. It's over double my entire monthly income for 3 people. Unless you have a huge mortgage of course.

NannyAndJohn · 10/06/2021 21:26

Highly depends where you're living.

DS (26) is on just under 50k a year (£2,600 take home a month) and is having to live hand to mouth.

He was overall better off when he was on half the salary but living in a cheaper location.

QforCucumber · 10/06/2021 21:27

Its more than dh and I bring in and we have a mortgage on a 4 bed detached house pay full time nursery fees and after school fees and aren't doing badly.

WaterBottle123 · 10/06/2021 21:29

@NannyAndJohn

50k is over 3000 per month net.

Is he supporting a family? Even in London that's not hand to mouth!

LadyWithLapdog · 10/06/2021 21:29

That’s about £70k gross per year. You’ll manage well on that money.

MrsPandigital · 10/06/2021 21:30

[quote WaterBottle123]@NannyAndJohn

50k is over 3000 per month net.

Is he supporting a family? Even in London that's not hand to mouth![/quote]
Have you accounted for pension / student loan repayments? Grin

Checkingout811 · 10/06/2021 21:31

It depends on many things.
Mortgage / rent
Cars
Your lifestyle

OldTinHat · 10/06/2021 21:32

How the other half live! Try living on £520 a month as a single person which I do thanks to the joys of ESA.

NannyAndJohn · 10/06/2021 21:32

[quote WaterBottle123]@NannyAndJohn

50k is over 3000 per month net.

Is he supporting a family? Even in London that's not hand to mouth![/quote]
I said just under, and he puts the max possible into his pension (very sensible). He's single, but this takes into account rent, student loan, running a (cheap) car, commuting (his bastard boss has forced everyone back into the office) etc,

NerrSnerr · 10/06/2021 21:36

DS (26) is on just under 50k a year (£2,600 take home a month) and is having to live hand to mouth.

Hand to mouth is subjective though isn't it? To many it means not having any money left to top up electric at the end of the month and having to decide which meal to skip because you can't afford any food. Even if things are tight I'm sure it can't be that bad.

Ijustreallywantacat · 10/06/2021 21:37

This place is nuts sometimes.

'Depends on Mortgage/car/lifestyle' comments make me Hmm too. These are all things people CHOOSE. it's not as though they just happen.

I lived on much less than that, in London, and did just fine. Hand to mouth indeed....

WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo · 10/06/2021 21:38

@NerrSnerr

DS (26) is on just under 50k a year (£2,600 take home a month) and is having to live hand to mouth.

Hand to mouth is subjective though isn't it? To many it means not having any money left to top up electric at the end of the month and having to decide which meal to skip because you can't afford any food. Even if things are tight I'm sure it can't be that bad.

Absolutely agree. To me hand to mouth means you can't cut back anywhere. If you can afford to pay the maximum amount into your pension (which is Absolutely sensible if you can afford it) then you can make cut backs if you need to.
copperpotsalot · 10/06/2021 21:40

Hand to mouth is literally just that... you receive money, buy food, eat, and it's gone. Your son's not hand to mouth bit I get what you're saying, it does depend on area.

OP you should be okay though, maybe not luxury but you'll be fine. We have less than a third of that and there's me and a teen DD to support

thisplaceisweird · 10/06/2021 21:40

That sounds like plenty OP!
Not rolling in cash but enough to support a nice lifestyle for sure. Can't be specific without knowing your costs, dependents etc

@NannyAndJohn your son is crap with money. Even in London that's a decent wage. I know plenty on less in London who have lovely flats and do plenty of socialising!

waitingpatientlyforspring · 10/06/2021 21:41

We are in the north east and our joint take home is a little more than that and we have a good standard or living. Its subjective though and depends what you class as a good standard of living is.

PolkadotFlamingos · 10/06/2021 21:43

It depends. What are the housing costs and commuting costs in the location? Does the person have children to support? Childcare and housing are by far the most expensive things in most locations in the UK and that could be impossible to do on that salary in some places with children. In others, very easy.

PolkadotFlamingos · 10/06/2021 21:46

@NerrSnerr

DS (26) is on just under 50k a year (£2,600 take home a month) and is having to live hand to mouth.

Hand to mouth is subjective though isn't it? To many it means not having any money left to top up electric at the end of the month and having to decide which meal to skip because you can't afford any food. Even if things are tight I'm sure it can't be that bad.

How judgemental. I have been really poor and had no money for food or heating etc.

I am also capable of understanding that if someone happens to need to live in an expensive area to work (or, move to a cheaper area and pay huge commuting costs) plus childcare they can struggle for money just as much even though their earnings alone may sound high to some who have lower outgoings for basics. Housing and childcare are not luxuries.

To be honest your post sounds bitter and naive.

SpaceRaiders · 10/06/2021 21:47

It’s not a huge amount especially in the south east, housing costs & commuting would burn through that easily.

WarmAndFluff · 10/06/2021 21:49

I get under 45K pa, pay a decent amount into a pension and still bring back £2,700 pm.

I do get that it's not much for London though - without DHs income we wouldn't have been able to stay here with a family - our rent alone has been over £2k/month for a family home, it wouldn't leave much for anything else (zone 3).

Should be OK for a single person though.

Howshouldibehave · 10/06/2021 21:49

@Earteill

Net living in middle of uk
Middle of the UK could mean a huge variety of places!! Wherabouts?
LobotomisedIceSkatingFan · 10/06/2021 21:49

The Child Poverty Action Group published an excellent book - which one can now access free - called 'Hand to Mouth'; it's actually bloody offensive to use that term to describe anyone earning £50k (especially someone a few years out of university with no dependents). It literally means those who can't afford to meet anything beyond their most immediate needs, so mention of pension contributions? Do me a favour.

HopeValley · 10/06/2021 21:52

Midlands, large 5 bed house with about £180k left on mortgage, older cars, 2 kids, one set of childcare to pay, annual holiday - that's our net household income and I'd say we're comfortable. If we had a smaller mortgage we'd be even more comfortable. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to afford the size of house we have so to me it's a good income.