Is my dh BU to think we cant live on £45 grand a year?

[Bellstar]

Inspired by the other thread re household incomes.

A lot of people thought 45 thousand was a very good income and I agree. It is roughly our household income.

Dh thinks that it is impossible to live on this amount and i constantly moaning about it.

Is he BU?

Totally agree, pictish. My partner and I don't share money and he will actually complain to me about how skint he is when he earns 3 times what I do. It honestly really sickens me that he thinks he is poor. It is one of his least endearing qualities, I just find it unbelievable that he thinks 30K is a bad wage. It's not as if he was brought up in a house with an abundant supply of money so no idea where his attitude has come from.

People want to go and see what being skint actually means before they start complaining.

"Of course you can live on £45K...but it wouldn't leave much room for luxuries, or nice holidays, or decent clothes etc."

holidays, clothes and luxuries - you can spend as much as you've got, whatever that is. It doesn't mean you can't have holidays, clothes and luxuries on 45 or less.

You're right LeQueen...our clothes and holidays are shit.
Wish they were decent like yours.

Pictish!

OP I think you really need to talk to your dp about finances. It's not good to be that much in the dark!

its a high salary, top 10% in the country I beleive. But if he is moaning tell him to get a second job/new job

The issue really is that OP seems to have no idea about outgoings and actual income. It's perfectly possible to be skint on £45k if there's a shedload of debt that has to be paid for and that's looking likely if her OH is so secretive.

I can't comprehend a situation where I didn't know if we could afford to decorate. Our finances are a joint responsibility although I take sole charge of the paltry savings or they'd go as well :)

I can't comprehend a situation where I didn't know if we could afford to decorate

Do you wake up sweating and shivering from nightmares where your card is declined from Farrow and Ball?

Some people works their arses off, and don't know if they can afford to put the heating on. Or eat. They do not earn 45k a year. Believe me.

Or if they do, they've fucked right up somewhere along the line!

You've misunderstood me. The OP doesn't know how much money there is and whether she can afford it. I can't imagine being in that position.

I know I can't afford to decorate.

What is farrow and ball

Oh I seeeeeee!
Sorry bout that!

Oh...and Farrow andball are a paint company, who make paint that sticks to your walls and makes them a different colour, and who inexplicably charge twice the price of Dulux.

It's worth it though, as when Tristan and Natasha come round for supper, they can say "LOVE the off-white in your cloakroom....Farrow and Ball?" and you can reply "Naturally!" while you all share a knowing chuckle.

I'll save up. It'll be worth it

Ow!

That's about £2700 per month (about dp's wage). We couldn't live on it because our outgoings are:

£800 mortgage, £125 council tax, £35 water, £40 gas, £40 electricity £15 tv, £50 Phone/internet, £300 food, £600 fares, £500 savings, £100 car, £20 mobile and other bills i am sure i can't think of now. I don't think we live outrageously either. I haven't had new shoes or clothes for years.

We are expecting a baby (so also buying furniture and stuff for that) and i will have to give up work in Aug, so i am not sure how we are going to manage. The savings will have to go (neither of us has a pension so that is our equivalent) for a start. I understand people live on much less but the only place we could cut is food really. All the other bills are not going anywhere.

The thing is OP, as others have said, it's not about how other people manage on £10K, £20K or £45K it's about the fact that they can break down their expenditure, explain where they save and splurge and what the overall +/- balance is at the end of the month.

Sounds like you can't do that for your household and that' s the concern IMO.

Actually, I doubt DP could give you the actual £s for our house (I'm the higher earner and manage most of the household bills etc) but he could certainly give you the overall gist of our finances.

Somehow LeQueen although I believe you about the car, I did have you down as a handbag splurger.

dh earns less than half the amount the op or her "d"p earns

and he never moans about it

thank christ, I'd rather live on nothing with a good man than live on 45k with a greetin face

Depends on your circumstances and outgoings and where you live

Don't do pricy shoes
Bags, yep
But have no other vices.don't smoke,don't drink.so some arm candy is divine

LeQueen me neither. But then I find most aspirational handbags pretty meh and I've never been good in heels. Clarks flats will do me fine.

I'm kind of hoping the whole "expensive heels are more comfortable to walk in due to premium engineering" thing is true, but I have no desire to splurge £100s of my hard earned pounds to find out that they still make me walk like a drunk transvestite

Dulux and other paint companies also make non-vinyl emulsion paint in a vast range of colours, one of their ranges being especially suitable for new damp plaster that needs to breathe. However it does not have the absolute key advantage of Barrow and Fall, being ridiculously expensive and having silly colour names, which is essential to making it fashionable among women with more money than sense householders with a keen eye to status, who think you can impress with the brand of paint on your walls FFS