In thinking 40k income really isn't a fortune??

[mummymacbeth]

Yes, a thread about a thread kind of. And I am fairly sure it has been done before but still!

I really don't think a forty grand gross income is a fortune. Our income with two kids is currently a bit less than that, though has been that in the fairly recent past. It is - and was - a bit of a struggle. We are not in the south east, we do not have a huge mortgage, expensive cars, kids are at state school and we don't manage to get abroad every year. We are living from month to month. A "fortune" it ain't!! (ref the post about someone wondering whether to have a fourth child)

I think it depends on your cirircumstances, if we were on an income of £40 we could save at least £15k a year, but we are not so we can't but we still have a great life.

Depends where you live. Its not a lot if the average house price in your area is say 400,000 but if its 100,000 you'll do fine.

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/datablog/2012/jun/22/household-incomes-compare figures here]] It is certainly (or at least 20k salary is) less than the average salary which is about 28k I think... But this is skewed by a small number of VERY high salaries which is why median income is a better measure.

So if you look at that graph provided, you can see that 40k household income is MUCH more than the poverty level and much more than most people live on. However, THAT figure is also skewed somewhat by the large number of people who live on very low incomes...

You can even see this in the shpe of the graph (and the lovely description of dwarves and giants [hhm]) in which the lower end is clumpy and the upper end is a short but stratospheric vertical curve

Yanbu

Fluffed link. It's been a long time.

[[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/datablog/2012/jun/22/household-incomes-compare]

YANBU. I'm in London and we couldn't manage on that even though we only have one child - our mortgage alone is £18,000 per year, and that's low compared with a lot of people's.

Bloody hell Anotherusefulname I am seriously going wrong somewhere!!

Yes budgeting to be done, and I am sure there us unnecessary expenditure going on but genuinely not much. Is a mortgage of £650 that high? That is by far the biggest expenditure we have

AAAAARGH

PLEASE WORK THIS TIME

I wouldn't mind an income of 40k . Depends on the level of outgoings though.

As I said on the other thread - we earn a lot less than that, have three children and we are quite comfortable.

It entirely depends on where you live

In London / South England it would be a struggle - up here in Scotland that would be fine to live kn.

We were paying nearly £1200 a month childcare on London (one child!)

Now we've moved away everything is easier even though we've taken a bit of a pay cut

It depends on your outgoings and your stage of life. If you have, for example, a three bed semi to maintain and run, two teenage children, if you need a car (or possibly two just to get to work), if your children do one activity each and you would like them to go on a school trip, if you have a pet, and if you want a modest camping holiday then no I don't think it is a lot.

OTH if you are retiring, can downsize to an easy to maintain property, and don't feel the need to keep up with the Jones's you would be very comfortable.

I also think there's a huge difference between managing on £40k pa if you are living in local authority accommodation and having to pay a private rent or pay a mortgage on and maintain a small house.

We are on a similar amount, have a mortgage of about 900 and are skint!

One of the eternal truths is that if you have DCs then disposable income is a theory only. Your DCs dispose of it very effectively without you ever having to worry what to spend it on!

Of course 40k sounds like lots but at that level there are I think few if any benefits other than child benefit.

You think that you should live at a significantly higher level than if your income was 20k. The problem is that you cant afford it.

random a person with a 20k income (after tax) with 2 children would get about £95 a week ctc so that would be approx 24 k a year

It is if you live on half that amount like us!

650 is not that big a mortgage imo definitely not on 40k.We have sky, 2 smart phones, butlins for a week, laptop, 50 inch telly, car etc on 23k with just cb (we get some tax credits but it all goes on childcare)

We dont have debt but we do have only a 2 bed flat mortgaged down south on that much.If we were on 40k we would be in a much bigger home.

Mummymacbeth,
My parents were very badly off when i was a child. I will never forget my dad cutting and mashing two sausages to make lunch for five. Or a single tin of toast toppers being dinner for five.
I just can't bear waste so budget carefully out of habit.

Thanks for the link wilf eventually

Ok I did the interactive thing 44% of households on a lower income than me and I am officially in the squeezed middle. That's how it feels for sure!

40k is bugger all! Together we earn about 125k. we both drive old cars, we live in a 1 bed flat. We are not rich, the bloody government take half of it!

We do go away a lot (camping) and we also enjoy eating out a fair bit (zizzi, ask, local Indian, so not hugely expensive places)

At the end of each month we have no money left and we have NO savings!

So I take my hat off to the OP who was raising 3 (and wanted a 4th!) on that money.

Much more squeezed than middle I should say!

I am in scotland!!

Thanks flora but we do have a very small mortgage no childcare costs (cause I don't work) and by the time a 4th is in he pipeline DH should have a promotion - we're not a weird specimen of humanity!

It's not a fortune, but it's far from a low income.

Proves me wrong then

I agree with you - I never can work out how people live on the amounts mentioned on thi thread ( we are nearly £80k and feel skint a lot) but always thought they must live somewhere where rents are v cheap or they bought heir houses yonks ago and have a mortgage of 2p