in thinking that asking someone how much they earn is beyond rude?

[Megatron]

Now I know this may be a generation thing as my parents would never have dreamt of asking anyone how much they earn, or how much something cost, but over the last week I have been asked how much I earn, how much we paid for our house and how much I paid for a top. Now I'm not bothered about the top, I'm usually happy to tell anyone if I get a bargain, but I didn't really know any of these people all that well (school mums). I do think people are more open to talking about money these days but I still find it mortifying. Incidentally I didn't say how much I earned, or paid for the house. AIBU?

Sooooo....How much do you earn?

I'm paid to !

House : 15 minutes on rightmove

Very little! Maybe that's why I didn't want to say because I earn such crap money!

Just say "Money in fair words"

As my dad used to say when we asked him inappropriate money questions when we were young.

To this day I don't know how it answers the question other than to imply that one shouldn't be asking the question to start with.

I lived in India for a while, and people are very direct in asking what you do, how much you earn, educational attainment etc. It annoyed the hell out of me at first, but after a while i found it oddly refreshing .

Don't know. I'd never ask about salary. House and top yes... doesn't take much to find out how much a house went for anyhow these days.

Maybe it's my age, I HATE talking about money, I get really embarrassed. My mother would have passed out if anyone had asked the how much she paid for a packet of biscuits.

Pfft, no, not really.
You can find out answers to both Q. on t'internet.

DH's salary is £1 less than the ERS NI limit
so is mine
dividends are never finalised till afterwards .......

I don't mind telling you that my income is a little short of W&RWRQ(EYQ(WEY£$Y(QY($*

Oooh, not sure what happened there. Must be sun-spot interferrance.

:o

Pretty normal re: house these days - no point being coy as people can find out on the Internet. I wouldn't say how much I earned though. I'd find asking how much for a top a bit weird, just ask the shop and that gives you a good idea anyway!

I don't see the point in being embarrassed about it really. In many cultures it's quite usual. Being coy about it also holds back equality; one of the reasons that employers have been able to pay women and men different amounts is that women often aren't aware they're getting paid much less than men, because it's so taboo to discuss salary!

Privacy in income affairs is a relatively recent thing
Mr Darcy had no such luck.