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)

(40k before tax)

Yanbu

It's all relative. We earn more than that but have child are costs of approx 24k, the mortgage 18k, cars, billsvetc etc. we are on the edge. We haven't been on holiday for two years

We struggled on 40K,(big mortgage in expensive area)thankfully dp got a new job.We had the same in our pockets as friends on benefits,I know because we discussed it,they were shocked at how similar we were.

We also rarely go out, I buy half our clothes on eBay.

In your opinion krumbum. If people earn the money, they can chose to spend it how they please and it is up to them to decide if it is wasted. Personally, I don't think it has been. Excellent state schools which offer state of the art sports facilities, music facilities, three separate sciences, classical and modern languages, are thin on the ground.

I don't think £85k per annum does make a family wealthy; comfortable yes, wealthy no. In London that level of income would be unlikely to leave enough over for school fees.

Also i can't actually afford to go to work now as my earning potential is lower than the cost of travel and childcare. I would like a job which i could afford to have.

Invicta - do you think its just because you know you have more you spend a lot more?

Bulletproof. Why are your childcare costs so high? Are you trying to pay if your mortgage in a very short period?

Between us dh and i earn about 31k gross. We have one toddler, a mortgage and we're renovating our house. We have plenty of money, in fact we manage to save about 200 a month. We have no debt besides our mortgage. If we had 80k i wouldn't know what to do with it!

Bloody hell Trainee give us a breakdown as we camp,have 1 v old car,kids don't do activities,live in a normal house-earn more than 40K.How do you do all that on 26K?

If anyone lives comfortably on £20K, with 3 DC...I would love, love, love to see a break down of their expenses. Even if they name change...I am very curious and

If you live in the south then I would say it's not a lot for a family if that was the combined income, mainly because housing here is ridiculously expensive.

Money is funny isn't it. Last year DH and I spent most of our wages, this year we've changed our approach and spend only half as much despite having a baby, getting a car and getting a bigger mortgage and yet I don't feel our quality of life had changed nor our tastes particularly.

That said, when I finally persuaded DH to do week shop at tesco not waitrose it knocked £30/week off the food bill for no difference in food bought!

Marriedinwhite. 85k definately is wealthy. And anyone paying private school fees is definately wealthy. I think you must have a very skewed idea of what the majority of people in this country earn and how most of the wealth is held by very few.

Gingerchick - my rent is £1,233/month for a one bed flat. If we needed bigger, a two bed (just checked) would be about £1,500. If we needed the other bedroom it would be because we'd have a child. If we did we would probably need childcare to keep our two salaries which equate to about 40k a year. the nursry fees would be about £1,000/month. There's only so far the money can stretch so in those circumstances we would struggle on £40k.

Ditto Calin,just how do you save and renovate on that-breakdown please!

"I dont want to live in a teeny, tiny house that costs 2k a month full of damp, woodworm, rot and slugs"

Then dont. You cant possibly "need" to.

I pay the nursery 1400 and the rest to the au pair. Substantially cheaper than two in after school clubs (18 per day per child). It's the going rate in Surrey.

I have a large mortgage but again Impossible not to around here

It depends on a families lifestyles.

But as we say in Ireland, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

40k is almost 6 times what I earn in a year. YABU.

Goose but you'll be getting benefits to supplement that sooo.....

40k is a healthy salary but not ott in the South East.

To me it is a fortune, compared to what I have it is a fortune

I just this minute posted on that thread. We earn £40k and can't afford a second child, let alone a fourth (we don't want another, mind, but it's like having enough money to buy an elephant...).

Someone, please tell me what I'm doing wrong cos we're skint!