What is your salary and what is your job role?

[YourBusyTurtle]

Been at my company 5 years and am earning under £35K. Albeit did start on £19k.

£79k. Associate Director in property (not sales). Quite a specialised role, 15yrs experience.

Where does it all go? The normal - mortgage, house renovations, bills, still have a significant childcare bill for wrap around as it has to be bullet proof and expensive so I’m not worried about leaving bang on time if I’m caught up with a patient.

@YourBusyTurtle mortgage is going up to £1700 next year so that'll take a chunk! We have 2 cars. Go abroad a couple of times a year and have teens!

I earned about the same as you at your age (a little less but probably the same adjusted for inflation) I got to £50k around 33 and then over £70k at 35, I want to get to six figures by 40. Have you looked at your career path and trajectory? I thought I was going to stagnate but saw where the value was in my skillset and took a little side step into a more lucrative but similar field, I assume you'd have prospects in financial services?

I think getting to £50k is the hardest step (speaking very generally) lots of people to compete with in the average earning middle manager roles, but when you get into slightly more senior (in public sector so £50k+ is senior but understand that won't always translate outside) I find it's easier to find your niche and it leads to networks and better paid roles.

Beauty therapist, 16 hours a week 25k a year

£76k - freelance copywriter with 3 consistent clients - 20+ yrs experience - mostly goes on mortgage, 2 not particularly extravagant holidays a year with both sides of family, and getting on even keel with finances after being sh1t with money in 20s & 30s.

46k Commercial Services at Cadent Gas. Top of the pay scale for this role so only annual pay rise but I am more than happy with this as the job is busy but not stressful, WFH and flexible working.

Social worker in a specialist role within the Civil Service/ MoJ: 49k.

Management role would add 10k or more depending on level, but I'm a single parent and don't want it at this stage.

Acting head of a very large primary school £71k Been in education for 30 years, in leadership for the last 9.

£43,000 security advisor - public sector.
3 years experience but 15 years prior working in same organisation but in a very different role.
No room to earn more unless I leave and go to the private sector.

Save it, will then buy a bigger house. Just put it into assets.

Nice car
Enjoy dining in central/mayfair
Holidays
Comfortable life

It would be for those susceptible to stress, but the selection process and ongoing education and training will eliminate anyone unable to demonstrate good levels of concentration amongst other things. It takes three years to gain the licence.

Really appreciate this response gives me some hope! In all fairness, I have a 2 year old and we are expecting our second (and most likely last) child in February, so I have been only doing 2 days a week for the last 2 years, so will be stagnant for a few years I imagine, but I definitely wanted children earlier rather than later and appreciate that’s a choice I’ve made.

£30k currently as a PA, but I was earning £75k (excl bonuses) 15 yrs ago as a chartered surveyor in a London firm...I gave up my MRICS after my 4th child...my peers who had fewer/no children and who are still working are on £130k+...

What actually is a civil servant?* Whenever I see the job description of civil servant, I never know what it means.What does a civil servant do? What is your actual job title and role?*

Sorry I know it's not very helpful, it's just naming your general employer really, you can be anything from a driver to a CEO as a civil servant! A civil servant is just an employee of central government, I'm a senior leader in a specialist tech profession.

3 years as SEND Casework Officer 38,250 prior to this I was a SEND TA earning £15,250.

We’re currently mortgage free, so saving as much as we can & investing. There’s a possibility we will move to Australia in the next ten years & hopefully both go part-time.

As the kids get older, travel is going to be a priority.

My spending is probably not much different to yours. I “spend” £1000 per month on going out, clothes, weekends away a few times a year.
The rest is ISA, Pension, Uni accommodation, mortgage, bills, and trying to get to a point where I can stop work

Lose a large chunk of it to tax

£38.5K editor in med comms, 4 years in industy, second company. Fully remote and great team. I’m relatively junior, with plenty of scope for progression.
(11 years in total editing, but previously in a nonprofit in book publishing, where the pay and benefits were awful, but I learned a lot and honed skills between maternity leave periods!)

Nursery manager £29k.

I have a masters degree and am a qualified teacher. Been managing settings for almost 10 years and at my current company for 3.

DH earns enough for both of us in a job he tolerates so I can do a job I love!

Well this is depressing

Really appreciate this response gives me some hope! In all fairness, I have a 2 year old and we are expecting our second (and most likely last) child in February, so I have been only doing 2 days a week for the last 2 years, so will be stagnant for a few years I imagine, but I definitely wanted children earlier rather than later and appreciate that’s a choice I’ve made.

Honestly I was you! I had my children in my 20s too, I don't regret a thing it's worked out really well, my youngest goes to high school next year and I'm so excited for the freedom it'll give my career.

You're in a tricky stage right now with childcare, demanding little ones, you've done brilliantly to get to £33k in the midst of that. My advice would be to think strategically, always think one job role ahead, what pay bracket/role do you want next? How can you start working towards it. And don't be afraid to change employers, in my experience, that's the quickest way through pay progression, loyalty doesn't pay!

TA’s are paid for only 38 weeks of the year. However it is paid over a 12 month period. This is partly why schools and colleges are struggling to recruit TAs.

I'm a personal assistant in pharma, in London, I'm on £50k base and £8k bonus (well that's what I got this year, last year I got £4K bonus so it varies year to year)

Local Authority management 62k including some overtime