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

[MinkSlink]

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?!

Bumblebee in my city the local radio station puts out an appeal every Christmas for everyone that can afford it to buy one extra present. You then drop these in to designated places and these are distributed to children in care homes or children living in poverty.
This appeal needs to be nationwide really.

Why is it ignorant? Banks are arguable what ruined the economy so whilst a job may not be in a sector of banking which is directly to blame, you would still be contributing labour to a bank.

I think money is actually a misdirection, productivity is what matters, things like banks and tesco etc, what is actually the value in working for them when they are actively harming the economy rather than being productive.

No actually I don't qualify for top up benefits, I'm 21 and am not entitled to any.

0 people in my family. So my income is 13.5k before tax.

It's ignorant because you clearly don't know what you are talking about. It's ignorant because it displays a lack of knowledge ofthe subject. Ok? :)

a higher paid job does tend to come with a bit more respect as a person and does tend to be less physicly demanding. obviously im refering to physical tasks as opposed to brain stress.

and obviously not all but lots

I'm going to get flamed, but here goes. My DH earns £90k a year and before I decided not to go back to work was on £40k a year. We've just bought our first house, not in London, and mortgage is £2k per month. Then all the bills on top of that.

So on what most would consider to be a decent salary, we are still adjusting to living on one salary and go overdrawn most months. He's just been offered a new job with reduced pay and this now means that I will be leaving the start-up company I have founded with my step-mum to return to FT work.

As someone said earlier, the more you earn, the more you spend. It's how it is. I cannot complain about going back to work FT as we have set a standard of living that we want to maintain. My DH has worked fecking hard to gain the professional qualifications he has and create the career he's forged. I too have worked my socks off.

I don't spend my days in beauty salons or on shopping trips. I buy my DS's nappies from Lidl, have visible roots more often than I have naice hair. My DS wears mostly hand-me-down clothes and I'm going to interviews in dresses that I bought in a charity shop. Our car is ten years old and we cannot afford to go on holiday next year as we're trying to do up our wreck of a house.

I am not trying to plead poverty as I am damn lucky not to have to worry about heating etc. All I want to say is that salary isn't wholly indicative of how 'well off' someone is.

Y'know, claiming benefits can be stressful. Filling in the forms, finding the documentation required, taking in your application, wondering whether it will be successful.

It's quite humiliating sometimes.

I think at 21 with no children and earning £13.5k you would be better off than many people earning £60k from one wage earner who have 3 or more children tbh! Really depends on circumstances.

Public sector on low wages have better terms and conditions - maybe in the past, but everything is being cut and if you don't agree you will be dismissed and re-employed on the lesser terms. Oh and massive uncertainty over redundancy - there will be another round of cuts next year so maybe I won't keep my (low paid) job.

I know what ignorant means mordion, I was asking why you think that statement displays ignorance.

I actually completely disagree with CouthyMowEatingBraiiiiinz

The situation you describe is not being 'wealthy' it's just not living in poverty.

hmm I think yes its a hell of a lot of cash but, 45% of that automatically goes to the tax man, NI must be a fair whack too, and then there is a pension that comes out of it too, so before they even get the cash in the bank at least 50% of it has gone, so effectively they're only getting less than 30k take home.

I think at 21 with no children and earning £13.5k you would be better off than many people earning £60k from one wage earner who have 3 or more children tbh! Really depends on circumstances

I work 50 hour weeks for that money, sometimes more. I bring home 11.5k a year. £6,600 of that is rent. £913 is council tax. £1,400 is college. Train pass £1200 a year... not to mention phone bills, water gas electric. So nope I'm probably not.

Offred true, a single, young person living in a house-share on 13.5k can actually have a pretty high disposable income!

I lived in a house share when I was 17, it was nice at first, then it went bad and I would never live in one again

But do you actually know what it is like to have a large family on £60k? Do you think those bills don't matter to them?

Oh come on, offred. First you told GhostShip that she wasn't counting her benefits and she was really well off. Now you're claiming that she's better off than someone with three children and £60,000. Talk about shifting the goalposts.

Y'know, GhostShip might want children, and she's anticipating a final salary of less than £60,000. Will she still be better off then, too?

And do you not think that people actually have no right to tell families living on £60k what they can and can't afford and that they should make different choices just like they don't have a right to maybe tell you to live in a house share to save money? I don't see how it is different.

gossip you know you only pay increased tax on income over certain amounts dont you.

i only pay 50% tax on money i earn over 150k not on everything i earn

No I said people earning £13.5k get benefits to top up their incomes referring to my earlier post about those benefits being worked out based on costs. I'm not attacking her, I'm just trying to point out that people are making some really nasty assumptions and comments about other people based on incorrect assumptions about what they think they have/can do.

It doesn't really matter what your income is, it is your disposable income that decides whether you are rich or poor. We used to do quite well on my salary with tax credits for 3 children, but now we only get them for one and the two older dcs still need support so they are more expensive than before, we are feeling the pinch. DD is on a course that is free because she is under 19, but that means she is ineligible for a grant or loan so what is she supposed to live off? Tax credits and child benefit have stopped and she is living away from home so I have to support her.

offred

nobodys saying dont pay for this that or the other,they are just saying that if you do dont then try to claim your broke.

if you do spend your money and are broke you are so because you have made the choice to spend it.

its very different to being broke because you didnt have it in the first place.

GhostShip on £13.5k you have sacrificed disposable income to live on your own rather than a house share. That's cool, your choice. Albeit a very unusual one! But don't you see a family on £60k makes similar choices about housing (location for schools, bedroom each for the kids, garden) which just eats up their disposable income too?

Offred what are you talking about I was expressing how 60k is a lot to me! I haven't mentioned anything about how those on 60k+ should live their lives... so please don't go on about assumptions when I have made none, but you have though.
First telling me I'm not including benefits - yes because I dont receive any
then telling me I'm better of than someone on 60k with kids - no as I've just expressed.

socket Oh wow I wasn't aware of that at all, I thought that you paid a certain amount of tax after 8k and they would go on annual income previously and tax you accordingly to the amount you earnt over certain thresholds, (sorry, but I've never managed to earn over 15k and I am now a SAHM with a self employed dp who's only just started his business, totally ignorant to how the system works, and went on what my uncle has told me)