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?!

Eddie - that position breaks NMW laws. NMW is £6.09 p/hr last time I looked (it may be slightly higher now).

On £6.09/hr, a 37 hr week should bring in £11,717 before tax. A 37 hr week for £10k would equate to an hourly wage of just £5.20/hr. Which breaks NMW rules.

just pointing out that someone on a 60k salary. doesnt have that in their pocket.

after approx £14000 in tax, and £4500 in NI its £41000

1 bed flat in out area =£19k, (£1500 a month)

leftover is 12k, so no far from the same income, and like mentioned above, childcare etc would prob need to be taken from that..

that is why its hard

if we personally moved to a cheaper area we would be paying £500 ish a month min in commuting

I think the cost of living these days relative to average salaries is shocking. :(

Avon I apologise for jumping on you.

EddieVeddersfoxymop - you are fortunate that you have the luxury of taking out insurance etc. It all sounds very prudent and money well spent, but I don't think you can reasonably claim to be "skint" after paying for those expenses.

Anybody who REALLY thinks that the average in their town is over £60k a year needs to look at this
www.actsmart.biz/news/the-10-richest-towns-in-the-uk-and-the-10-poorest.php
even allowing for the fact that its three years out of date, NO TOWN has had a 25% average pay rise since then, so sorry but your impression of the average income in your area is just plain wrong.

Unfortunately, we couldn't live on 60k.

Fair point Couthy, but I'm not going to out myself. I can't recall the exact figure off the top of my head......but it was certainly less than £11717. The lower figure quoted would have been for younger folks. The company in question do take on 16 year olds as they are cheaper than old gimmers like me.

It is all relative, it just is, but those earning £60k+ are clearly not going to win this argument. It is a lot of money. DH and I earn, a bit less than that (me) and quite a bit more than that (him). We come from low income families and are frankly embarrassed at how much we earn.

I'm not going over the same arguments everyone else has re large mortgages, commuting costs, nursery fees necessary just to allow us to go to work. Key difference for me is that lower incomes get more state help in the form of working tax credit and subsidies on child care. We get the child care vouchers and that's it. Add to that that those earning this type of money live away from family, in order to get the jobs, and now you've also got to pay for all other ancillary items like babysitting or whatever, travel to visit family and so on. I can't afford another child because we're tied into our salaries with the mortgage. I'd love another child. I just got a big pay rise, it's still not going far though and I live in fear of the future!

Either way, there's not really much point in being cross with each other is there?

In my case though if I moved out of London I would have to resign, so I don't really feel i have any choices.

justmyview I'm not claiming to be suffering real hardship, just that we do have skint times like everyone else. We pay for all those things, food and fuel etc and still get hit with bills like when my bastard cooker blew up, followed by a bill to fix my aerial and then finally my car going a bit bonkers today which will require a garage visit.

sophie, thank you, a voice of reason.

forever

£41k minus £19k = £22k

Or just under the average salary, before tax

And I cross posted with your other post, I'm a slow typer due to my joint issues.

Yes, I get het up about this issue - because I once stood on the other side of the debate, safe in my own head in the knowledge that what I earnt wasn't a huge amount.

Then real life educated me. I now know I was an idiot. I didn't appreciate how fortunate I really was, and karma truly bit me on the arse.

The choices afforded to those that earn anything over £40k are far and away the benefit of being a high earner.

Nowadays, I class anything up to £22k a low income, between £23k and £39k a medium income, between £40k and £55k a high income, and anything over £55k as a large income.

Because, actually, that's how it really is.

EddieV you are being an absolute fucknugget.

Seriously.

Jeysus Christ.

Anyone who says they cannot imagine living on less than £60k in the SE or ANYWHERE is being a complete chuff (to put it nicely).

Because people do, every day, the majority of people do.

They do.

Knowsabit - you COULD live off FAR less than £60k. You just wouldn't have the same lifestyle you currently do. You could live off £20k, but it wouldn't be the life you currently have.

Do fuck off just read, I know that. I have a degree you know .

Oh Sophie. You are telling us that you and your dh on a combined income of a lot more than £120,000 pa cannot afford another child?

But if you were earning less and in the sort of income bracket where you were entitled to top-up benefits like working tax credit you would be able to?

Is that really what you are saying? [hshock]

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DH earns twice that and we are definitely not rolling in it. It is a lot but it just disappears...we have a sizeable mortgage on a 4 bedroom house, two cars, three children and two dogs. We don't take fancy vacations but our children are all heavily involved in various activities so that eats up a lot and our town is fairly affluent (not us, but there are lots of mega-mansions nearby) so everything seems to be very expensive. My brother is a banker and has almost payed off his mortgage at age 33 .

complete chuff?

I earn about £60K. My mortgage - for 2 bed terrace house is £1,300 per month. My child care costs are about £500 per month. Petrol is about £200 a month. I can't work if I don't have a car. Council tax is £120 per month. etc, etc.

That £60K goes pretty quickly. I have no savings and am highly unlikely to ever be able to save. I don't go on holiday - my mum paid for us to go for a week to Devon.

I am not saying I am poor or unlucky, I know many people have to get by on far less.

But to live in London/South East is extremely expensive. I couldn't live in London on what I earn - that's why I left.

paid

Sophie - do you think that even with state subsidies, someone earning £12k is then getting £60k?

Because you are wrong. They STILL have to survive on less than a third of that amount, after every subsidy they get. And they still have to do that in London and the SE.

Your argument doesn't hold up, I'm afraid.

Sriracha - the extra activities your DC's do? A CHOICE afforded to your family by dint of your high income. Your 4 bed house? A choice.

Doesn't make your income any less high than it actually is simply because you CHOOSE to spend it on luxuries, does it?

Because that would be, well, a frankly daft and insulting thing to try to tell people, wouldn't it?

I could live on less than £60k but I would have to move house, sell the car, take DS out of childcare, cancel my life insurance, not pay my debts and go into some sort of debt mangement plan - which are some fairly major lifestyle chages.