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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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To think that 60k is a lot of money to earn a year?!

938 replies

MinkSlink · 25/10/2012 19:53

I think it is a lot of money to earn per year but it seems a lot of people on mumsnet don't think so, am I in the piss poor minority here or what?!

OP posts:
threesocksonathreeleggedwitch · 25/10/2012 22:40

yanbu
to me that would make me rich

Lizzylou · 25/10/2012 22:40

Couthy, NMW for someone over 22 yrs old is a smidge over £12k pa.

I don't think getting all angry over this is helpful.

TBH If you are on £12k in the UK and housed you are better off than some vast percentage of the world. Does that make it right? NO! But you are not foraging on waste dumps in Brazil are you?

£60k pa is a not poor. But neither is £500 per mth in other countries.

To coin a phrase, it's all relative.

Justreadthefuckingwords · 25/10/2012 22:40

DH (& yes, I'm sorry Cat it is DH, I used to earn a substantial salary but now choose not to (& am from the North)) earns 15K a month after tax.

I know this is way over and above what the majority of people in this country earn.

I wouldn't dream of whining about the cost of living & 'houses in the SE'.

IT'S FUCKING OFFENSIVE.

& 60K is a brilliant salary.

Now stop your quimming & get a FUCKING GRIP.

FunnysInLaJardin · 25/10/2012 22:41

It is a lot, but we could only just survive on that due to our outgoings. If we lived in the house we had when we first got together with a mortgage of £30k we would have plenty of cash on £60k. As it is we have a mortgage of £400k and so £60k doesn't go so far. Our joint income of £90k only just covers our outgoings......

CouthyMowEatingBraiiiiinz · 25/10/2012 22:41

I could earn £12k, pay for my DC's to do the same activities yours do, then be unable to feed them.

Me then claiming poverty would be just as laughable as you trying to claim £120k isn't an ENORMOUS income because you decide to spend a lot of it on those same activities, wouldn't it?

catgirl1976 · 25/10/2012 22:41

Quimming Grin

TalkinPeace2 · 25/10/2012 22:41

After tax incomes
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3-3table-feb2012.pdf

Look at the second column to see how rare or common your income band is ....

Also highlights the gender gap ...

Spero · 25/10/2012 22:42

I did 'get a grip'.

I moved away from a city I loved and all my friends because I could not afford to live there unless I quit my job and went on benefits.

That isn't 'offensive'. Its reality I am afraid.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 25/10/2012 22:42

15K a MONTH?????????????????????????????????????????/

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 25/10/2012 22:43

And you had a go at us????????????????????????????????/

catgirl1976 · 25/10/2012 22:43

dying to know what justreads DH does!

Banker? Barrister? Surgeon?

mifirlady · 25/10/2012 22:44

it is also slightly off if you don't acknowledge how lucky and rich you are to have that choice

Well we have slightly less than that income in home counties. Judge for yourself. We live in a run down 2 bed old lady type house. When I say run down - no carpets upstairs, the bathroom is 40 years old and leaking. The roof is very old and frequently needs patching up - which yes, we usually can afford to get a man out to fix the odd tile. Run one 17 year old car. We both work (me part time). We're both in our forties, both graduates. Neither of us have any pension to speak of (less than 4 years private contributions). We've been on Sun newspaper caravan holidays but we haven't been abroad for around 8 years. If my dh lost his job we'd be homeless because the benefits wouldn't cover the living expenses here. I am wearing the same winter boots I bought 3 years ago from BHS for £40.

It's really not the life of riley you imagine. How lucky and rich am I? I have no more than my sister who lives in the midlands and lives on £24k a year. She has a three bed semi, runs two cars, her dh only works a few hours a week, she works part-time. They go skiing every year, albeit by ferry and in an apartment - but they do.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 25/10/2012 22:44

cat damn right we need to know. She had the audacity to have a go and me then pulls that one out the hat. Confused

Spero · 25/10/2012 22:44

someone whose husband earns £15K a month is telling us to stop whining? What reality are you gripping?

timothyclaypole · 25/10/2012 22:46

I assume this thread is coming off the back of the child benefit thread? I don't think the argument there is that 60k isn't a lot, just that a dual income family can earn more and still keep their cb, whilst the single earner gets battered more for tax too as they only have one (high band) tax allowance. It's the unfairness that people hate. Very very few people would say that 60k is a low wage.

We are lucky, DH earns a good salary. The equivalent of my pt salary gets eaten up in childcare and commuting costs. Our rent is £1400 a month which seems like a fortune but we are lucky, we can afford it. I know we are lucky, believe me. But it's ridiculous that it's that expensive to rent a (small) three bed family house, so if we didn't earn well, we'd need HB to cover the rent we couldn't afford.

If you have DC's and earn a low salary, your income gets topped up with TC's etc, you may get housing benefit, in an attempt to bring up your income to a livable level. I think it's absolutely shit that minimum wage is as low as it is that we need to have these benefits, and even more shit that DC and his cronies are trying to take these away.

But everyone is feeling shafted by this government, except those who are actually properly rich , who really could afford to contribute more without feeling it at all.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 25/10/2012 22:46

spero Grin

catgirl1976 · 25/10/2012 22:46

Footballer?

MrsDeVere · 25/10/2012 22:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 25/10/2012 22:48

cat lets open a book. Place your bets here! Oh hang on, betting is a luxury. Better not Grin

CouthyMowEatingBraiiiiinz · 25/10/2012 22:48

That's the point, catgirl - you CAN do it, but you choose not to. Because you don't like the look of the lifestyle.

Well those people who work bloody hard for their £12k don't have the choice to have the lifestyle you do. Even if they work their socks off. It's still £12k.

And to the person saying £12k in the rubbish dumps in Brazil would be unimaginable riches, I agree.

However, the point I have been trying to make all along is that people that try to claim that £60k isn't a lot because they live in London/SE NEED to compare like with like, and imagine earning just £12k IN THE TOWN THEY CURRENTLY LIVE IN.

If £60k isn't much in London/SE, then what on earth is £12k, all other costs being the same?

Some are saying that they chose to buy as it is cheaper than renting - your higher income GAVE you that choice. The person renting in your town that earns £12k has to spend their entire income on renting that property. Without state support, they can't eat AND keep a roof over their head, despite working FT.

THAT's the point!

charleybarley · 25/10/2012 22:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Everlong · 25/10/2012 22:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 25/10/2012 22:49

cat Grin again!!!

catgirl1976 · 25/10/2012 22:49

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