Middle class but no money

[roopiea]

Does anyone else feel like this?

We would say we are middle class. Both university educated and privately schooled. In our 50s now. Parents had similar professions to us.

We work for the public sector, a teacher and management in local government. We live in a pretty reasonable part of the country. But we still feel we have no money for being in the middle class? We probably earn a combined 80k a year but live in a pretty bog standard 3 bed semi. Have holidays in places like Spain or Greece.

Whereas our neighbours are blue collar workers but seem to have so much more money than us. My best friend and her husband work similar jobs and they have a nicer house and better holidays than us.

Loveable some people saying "ah but you'll have a pension!" As if life starts at 70. That's not making anyone less upset that they can't buy a house, go on holiday while they can still enjoy it or heat their home through the winter!

@Hwi, are you in the UK? You don't seem to grasp that there definitely is a middle class and an upper class in the UK.

Bravo.

By your definition, doctors, lawyers, architects, surgeons and the like would be working class. They're not.

I think it is entirely possible to slip into the working classes unless you are able to fund a middle class lifestyle and continue the advantages for your children. I have also seen the upper classes struggling in similar circumstances.

That's really not how the class system works, or at least not how most people I know perceive it.

It's very outdated to assume having a degree entitles you to earn more than 'blue collar workers' (tbh who even thinks like that)
My DP is a tradesman and outearns every uni graduate I know as do I; I'm self employed no degree.
I really hate this snotty attitude of assuming those without a degree and lower & poorer than you, horrible way to think.

It brought it home to me when our architect friend found out she is earning less than half the salary of her own cleaner.

Cleaners do not get paid more an hour than an architect. Unless you meant the cleaner owned a cleaning firm employing lots of staff so was a small business owner?

Increasingly the distinctions between working vs middle class are becoming obselete.....we are moving towards 3 classes as follows:

1. The rich (gradually getting richer - a small minority)
2. The majority of us (gradually getting poorer due to COL increase/stagnating salaries)
3. The destitute and near-destitute.

We are regressing to the early 19th century. And the so-called difference between middle/working class blue vs white collar workers is a fiction designed to divide us.

I think it’s all very objective. We have a household income of 285K, live in a property that is worth low seven figures (mortgage free)…..and consider self well working class. Work in a professional role, but working class background.

I do think though, it very much depends sometimes - not all times, what your priority is. As a youngster I very much was determined never to be in a situation where I didn’t have any money and would never lose the roof over my head (growing up this happened multiple times). Having said that, I think these days much more difficult to do what I did. Not sure it’s actually possible to do it now, fees were 1 k a year when I was at uni! (am early 40s) while I have a very decent income bought my first property on a 100% mortgage and moved up the ladder, always overpaying….think it would be incredibly hard for someone of my background now to achieve what I have at my age (with uni fees and property prices etc) albeit I have never lived the lifestyle of my income - bar the location where I live!

That's because all this obsession with class in the UK is complete bollocks (sorry). If you don't like it, you could retrain as a plumber? I'm the same as you by the way - 2 university degrees and on 27k. Things have changed.

They would like to think they are not, but they are - they work for a living. It does not matter actually what they think - some of them think they are gods, but hey, that is their problem. Don't get me wrong - if a doctor or a surgeon owns the means of production (clinic with an ICU and equipment and materials) and hires people to work for him, then such a surgeon stops being working class and turns into capitalist class, but until such time he is, I am afraid, a hired worker - i.e. working class. Same applies to lawyers, architects, etc.

Spot on.

Rubbish! Architects day rates are between 300 and 700 pounds a day.

Bravo! At last, a sensible comment.

This endless talk of 'class' is so tedious...

This. In spades.

Indeed, OP, you seem to be complaining that you are too posh to be poor.

I would say you and your DH haven't fully utilised the privileged start you both had in life if you only earn £80k between you.

A self employed cleaner working 7 hours a day here is charging 25gbp per hour. My architect earns just over £42,000 PA and her cleaner whom charges £25 per hour and tops up her salary with a few ironing jobs a week earns a £1000 a week. Roughly £48,000 PA
She also gets a Christmas bonus from her clients that equals around £700/£800.
Plumbers here charge £70 per hour and even our handyman charges £35 per hour and as far as I can see he is entirely uneducated!

Myself and my husband both university educated (not private school), professional jobs in respected industries, jobs titles ‘head of’ etc. Husband’s brother and partner 10 years younger, in a trade and beauty admittedly don’t yet have children but have just purchased a house for same price it took us 15yrs to climb to. Also don’t have huge student loans to pay. I’m chuffed for them but it does make me question my life choices.

Middle classes in UK are renown for speaking 'a variety of languages', stuff of legends their linguistic ability.

You are showing financial illiteracy. You are talking about self employed people who have to pay all their own NI, annual leave, sickness, maternity pay, travel costs, advertisements, and accountant and admin costs.

What a snooty post! I’m from central Scotland, I have never heard anyone talking about class. Or not in my circle anyway . What a load of cak. Is it an English thing to be obsessed by class?
Anyway since we are on the subject, me and my partner are definitely working class. He’s an electrician, prob earning around 80k. I work part time in a warehouse. 11.90 ph.
We own a 3 bedroom detached house, a new car. No holidays as Iv been ill. Two young teens.
We aren’t uni educated.

Social class in the UK is not related to money. If it were, the Beckhams would be upper class.
But having said that, MN is about the only place I ever hear social class mentioned. There seems to be a obsession with it on here.