Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask you all how much you get paid?

664 replies

UnderWorkedOverPaid · 20/02/2011 11:36

Name-Change if you want to - I have. AIBU to be curious what other people earn?

I am a nurse. Qualified 6 years. Work 30 hours a week.

I earn about 25k (with unsocial hours etc added in)

OP posts:
Bonsoir · 27/02/2011 10:16

breathing - what do you mean by "hitting the ceiling on the ksf scale". KSF = Key Success Factor in my post.

breathing · 27/02/2011 10:17

Sorry about that, KSF is also the nhs pay scale

shitmagnet · 27/02/2011 10:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bonsoir · 27/02/2011 10:25

On Xenia's point: you could also segment the answers in this thread to regional as well as national and global economy. Even local.

One of the problems faced by two parents in a couple both working in the global economy is that those jobs, which often incur lots of travel and unsociable hours, are extremely difficult to reconcile with parenting. Hence, probably, there being very few posters with that sort of job here.

BikeRunSki · 27/02/2011 10:37

Civil engineer, 15 years exp, MSc, PhD
£21K + car
3 days a week
Public sector, good hours. Could earn a lot more in consultancy (and have done)t was out of house at least 12 hours a day.

bubbub · 27/02/2011 11:42

part time optical assistant in an opticians on the upper advanced pay scale (6 years in)
22.5 hours a week takes home 750 a month. this is more than i ever could have hoped to earn!
always worked in retail. retail is generaly min wage, my dh works 39 hours a week as a supervisor in a cinema he earns practicaly same as me, doing only 22 hours!

BrandyAlexander · 27/02/2011 12:00

Dh is in same industry as me and worse case scenario we would both do lots of travel. Its stressful, tiring and importantly not conducive to family life so we try and minimise as much as possible. Thankfully, pregnancies, mat leave and breastfeeding have been reasons why I have ditched travelling but dh cant use those as excuses!

In terms of what to encourage DC to do, its a hard one. There are some careers where the pay will be limited, others where the sky is the limit. But equally it comes down to how an individual performs in that career, how ambitious they are and what sacrifices they are prepared to make etc. So my job has a pay range of anywhere between £15k and £millions with most people closer to the first number. I have seen enough unfortunate outcomes to know that encouraging a child into a career that they don't have the aptitude or desire for can be a total nightmare for that child and can end up screwing them up.

Gay40 · 27/02/2011 12:18

25k. I am over paid and over qualified for what I actually do. I could earn twice as much or more by being self-employed or just moving up the ladder but I'd have to work harder and as I'm bone idle etc.

Salary is no indicator of how hard you work, either. It's not even a measure of how hard you worked to get there. Or a measure of your qualifications.

MoneyTalk · 27/02/2011 12:38

I run my own bussiness and this year i made 65K profit. I'm starting now two more projects, small ones, and i hope next year to make around 80k.

It is not much comparing to what others here earn but it is for me because i don't have a good degree or phd, in fact i don't have a british education. This is the reason i post not to be smug but to show that if you haven't studied medicine or law it does not mean there is not hope. Many women here say 'oh i 've missed the train, i don't have qualifications, i cant do anything'. But i know many women like myself, we didn't even speak english when we came here let alone having a phd.

Basically i think that IT, Law, and Medicine are the best options money wise (if you can and if you want to study those). If not, then running your own bussiness is the next best option imo. Ok it is not guarantee, but you just have to be ready to change direction or to add something else, to keep ahead of the game. Small bussinesses that don't require big capital are good. Not better than being surgeon or lawyer but better than working for MW.

MoneyTalk · 27/02/2011 12:42

shitmagnet's job sounds good!

rainbowinthesky · 27/02/2011 12:43

Can I ask those who have their own business, how you started it? It is in a field you were already working in? Did you need funds to start up?

BrandyAlexander · 27/02/2011 12:45

MoneyTalk, your story is very inspiring. So many people start businesses that make losses for 3 years and then fold so plenty of kudos to you. Is what you do "unique"? If so, how did you come up with the idea. Plus rainbow's questions.

breathing · 27/02/2011 12:47

I just read another one of those "woman who changed her career and started own business" articles in she magazine. Yes, you guessed it...they all had husbands and a pot of money to start up.

MoneyTalk · 27/02/2011 12:55

rainbow and novice,
a) Not much capital, i started with a small sum then put in some more once i started making money.

b) Not excactly in the same field as my previous job but relavant.

c) 'Unique' as an idea (thats why i cant say more, i will be recognised), but not unique in terms of skills or qualifications. Everybody can do it.

MoneyTalk · 27/02/2011 13:01

Not always breathing (no, i don't make cupcakes). You see, this is why many of us don't say anything. Someone will come with a bitter comment.

If you say something positive on mn 'you are boasting' (even if you namechange for this!)

Oh yes women can run bussiness only if the husband backs them up Hmm

breathing · 27/02/2011 13:02

I didnt suggest that.
How did you eat and pay your mortgage while you started up?

breathing · 27/02/2011 13:03

That wasnt meant to sound snarky btw , its a genuine question/

BrandyAlexander · 27/02/2011 13:08

MoneyTalk that's very interesting, thanks. I read comments like breathing's a lot of MN which seem to imply (and apologies to you breathing if you weren't implying this) that if only they had the husband/daddy/generous banker/other benefactor they would have started a successful business. I can only repeat what I said earlier..... the vast vast majority of businesses started fail to get off the ground irrespective of the source of the funds. In fact, it is more unusual for a start up business to be successful. For this reason, I always admire people who are able to come up with an idea and successfully monetise it.

SparkyDuchess · 27/02/2011 13:10

100k as a programme manager, work from home. Programme is global so sometimes early starts to accommodate Malaysia, late finishes to cover Houston. 40ish hours per week. 4 poor a levels, no degree, live in the north west.

Fits in perfectly with family as no childcare issues, although job can be very stressful and I have to consciously walk away from my office to end my day.

It's ideal really, and I consider myself extremely lucky.

breathing · 27/02/2011 13:12

I wasnt commenting on moneytalks, I was commenting on the articles I read yesterday.

My point is that these women were held up as inspirational yet had been assisted. They had given up well paid careers to go out on their own, yet had a safety blanket of large redundancy payments or another income.

Its difficult when you are the main income earner. Id love to just leave and set up but financially I would find it very difficult.

ben5 · 27/02/2011 13:14

$19.40 per hour + 57c per km Irive.Will be working up to 20 hours per week school hours and term time only. I'm a HIPPY tutor working under the ngala team. like homestart in UK

MoneyTalk · 27/02/2011 13:28

breathing, to answer your question @13.02.32 most people who run small bussiness don't do it in 'la-la-land' style, that's a myth and the magazines you read don't represent women who own small businesses.

For example if you work in a cafe for £6ph and your dream is to own a cupcake bussiness you don't just give up your job and starve (or live from your dh). First you research it very well. Then you make a list of the contacts you get through your job. Then you start making your cupcakes on evenings and weekends while you still work in the cafe to pay the bills and so on...if it goes well you go from there, if not you have gained experience and you think of something else more unique. Always have plan B, and always keep your job in the begining.

The internet helps a lot for small bussinesses (research/advertising/'premises').

MoneyTalk · 27/02/2011 13:30

Thank you novice Smile

Xenia · 27/02/2011 13:34

IT, law and medicine are totally dwarfed by many of the roles in the City, though and you can earn (if you are a rare success) much much more selling out a business like netaporter, White Company etc than you ever can in those careers.

Although I would say though on average most good people in IT law and medicine ( and we shoudl add accountancy and management consultancy to that too) on avreage do a lot better than most people who try to set up a business. In other words it does help remove the risk of failure a bit more.

I had no guarantee of work when I started to work for myself but I built up some paid unrelated things which coudl cushion it if it didn't work and I probabhly could have returned to paid employment if it didn't work but we had 3 children, a mortgage, a nanny school fees. It was certainly risky.

noodle69 · 27/02/2011 13:53

Ormirian - I am in SW to. No one makes good money here really but its too gorgeous no one wants to leave. I would rather stay on a low wage for life if I have to and get to live in a place most people in the city dream of (thats why they all buy second homes here!).