How do middle-class people attain those lifestyles?

[YourPoisedFinch]

Young professionals on 30k a year, multiple holidays a year, parties, concerts, outings etc. ... how do they afford it?

I lived this lifestyle when I was younger.. I lived at home with parents whilst saving for a house, but as I wasn’t paying any rent to my parents (on the agreement I was saving for house deposit) I still had a huge amount of disposable income whilst saving £1k a month (as was my partner) So travelled, had holidays etc.
then at 25 we brought our first home. Relatively Lowe mortgage due to where we are based (midlands) so could still continue having a fair few holidays a year and going out etc.
now our priorities have shifted somewhat as we are saving more for house renovations, future children etc

A lot will be because of no dc hence why so many aren't having them at all.

which industry is he in?

Is £30k a young professional's salary? Our new graduates (in IT) start on £35k. It's the minimum a new teacher can earn.

I would expect a young professional to earn more than that.

You're probably watching the highlights reel on social media or listening to them talking about the fun things they've done and thinking that's their entire life.

They're probably eating a lot of lentil curry and living in a tiny flat with mould on the walls, shopping around to get the cheapest AirBnB to afford a long weekend in the Balearics. Let them enjoy their holiday.

Our graduates start on over £55k, and after 2 years they're on £150k. That buys a lot of travel and tickets.

i was on 32k in manchester at the big 4 ... granted it's not london

which industry

But how long ago?

Who told you that? Unless you're teaching in London, a new teacher salary is £31,650. You wouldn't hit £35k until M3.

Lower general outgoings, flexibility, ability to cut back elsewhere.

We used to always get the cheapest flights as it didn’t matter when we flew, stayed in hostels, didn’t eat in restaurants etc.

I’d often end up with only a few quid for the rest of the month - but as a single adult I could make that work.

Low household bill costs as shared.

If they live in a shared house it’s not hard? And usually shared airbnb or hotel room its reasonably priced.

I travelled 3/5 times a year on that salary no credit cards.

I'd advise not to watch social media at all. It's full of total nonsense. Why waste your time comparing yourself to others? Make some personal goals in your life and focus on achieving them instead.

I'm not sure what middle class has to do with being a young professional? Have you something specific in mind, such as a wealthy family who might be supporting, still?

2023 grad, got told to leave after failing and now looking for a new career after undertaking a masters

My graduate level job paid about £30k a year as did my husbands. It was easy enough to afford a nice lifestyle then- we went abroad 4 times a year, I feel like we were forever out for dinner, spent a lot more on clothes etc. we now have a much bigger income but also have kids, more outgoings etc so we can’t maintain the lifestyle we had at 22/23 despite earning more.

I prioritised working in a high paying industry. People may think I earn £35k based in my job title but it's more than double. Husband works in same industry, a few years ahead. We clear £9k a month with £2k disposable even after a huge mortgage which we overpay. The result is 2 x nice cars, exciting days out and holidays and most years a home improvement of some kind (taking a year off this year after moving our bathroom last year and wanting to prioritise saving!)

Two people both with 30k incomes with no kids is loads of disposable income!

We never did hostels but I can remember the £1 Ryanair flights. Literally took my sister to Paris for her birthday for £36 return for us both 😂

This
Children cost a fortune

DINKYs OP! That’s how. Double income, no kids yet. Give them ten years and they’ll be struggling along with nursery fees.

Those I know who have kids and a lot of income tend to have done some combination of the below:

• partnered up young
• settled in an area where they have a lot of family support
• got inheritances
• got loads of debt

which industry is this?

Law

In most parts of the UK £30k doesn't pay for a 'middle class' lifestyle
A DINKY couple, more likely but still unlikely

However:
Holidays can be incredibly cheap (a friend of mine just got back from 10 days half board in a not at all fashionable Spanish town for a total including charter flights of £160 each)
Parties can be free (other than the cost of a bottle of plonk)
Concerts? No idea, never been to one
Outings can also be free if you've got NT or EH membership

My daughters are probably the sort of people you’re thinking about. My two older dds both did grad schemes straight out of uni earning about £30k. Dd1 has recently finished her grad scheme and is now earning £60k.

They both go on 5-6 holidays a year, usually including at least one long haul trip.

In terms of how they afford it:

• They’ve lived with us rent free since finishing university - we’re very fortunate to have been able to help them in this way since we have a large house in London, which is where they both need to be at this stage in their careers.
• While they do save quite a bit, they’re not under any pressure to save as much as they possibly can as they’ve already got decent house deposits inherited from their grandparents and know we’ll give them extra help when they’re ready (we’ve just helped DD1 buy a house so she’ll be moving out shortly).
• They don’t do super-luxurious holidays - it’s about quantity, not quality for them. They don’t do hostels, but they typically stay in Premier Inn-type budget chain hotels, for example.

So they’re spending their own money on holidays, but they’re not really spending their money on anything else…