AIBU to think that even if you live in the SE/London, £7000 a month is enough to live on?

[LadyKooKoo]

The second writer thinks not

She hasn't had a stroke (or she'd have written about it); she was born with a birthmark covering one eye and the birthmark was removed. Still don't feel in the slightest bit sorry for her though.

What drives me mad about some of these articles is the sort of comment
"just because we are on 100k doesn't mean we aren't struggling..."

Shona - as your previous articles have shown you are shite money manager - if you are "struggling" on 100K you are making some bad choices.

We live in London, have an income over 100k, 2 kids in private school etc and we are definitely not struggling nor do we need our child benefit.

I think the dual income each just below the threshold issue is important and needs sorting out and I wish that the CB I was losing could be ringfenced for things like disability benefits. However, I am not going to insult anyone's intelligence by pretending that on a six figure salary we need child benefit - we don't.

I second what Chazs says. My husband earns over 100k and I don't feel rich but I wouldn't insult anyone's intelligence by pretending to be poor.

Having 4 kids and living in the south east means that we have to make choices, just like everyone else. We don't live in a huge house and we don't have expensive holidays. We have considered private education but don't think we can afford it, not without major cutbacks. And I think ensuring our children have a roof over their heads is more important, unlike this stupid woman. We are the ones who chose to have 4 so it is our responsibility to feed and clothe them, not the states.

Next year we will be losing 4x cb, but I think it is fair enough. We will just have to cut back, just like most people in the country. I will not be pleading poverty because I know enough people who are really struggling. I think these people are totally detached from reality and it makes me really mad.

I imagine it would be a struggle if one had nursing homes to pay for for Aged Parents etc, but this woman makes some extremely odd lifestyle choices, putting it mildly.

Prairieflower, if someone is earning 60k they are not 'in the middle' or even particularly close to it. They've a higher income than most of the population. Don't get me wrong, I can envision scenarios where such a person would really notice the loss of the child benefit: huge mortgage, big commuting costs, debt, several teenage DC who go through food and clothes at breakneck speed etc. But they still wouldn't be in the middle, and would be better off than many people with similar outgoings and needs.

I couldn't help myself, I posted a comment on that article

She is an idiot. She earns in a month almost what my husband was earning in a year, yet can't see a way to trim £240 from her monthly budget? What a fool.

She is an actual twat.

I have 3dc and earn a fraction of what she does.

If my cb were to be stopped i would cope, i would feel it but i would manage.

She needs to spend some time in the real world.

This is the woman who lost her house because she was not willing to send her kids to the local State school Bohunt
[hmmm]

Omg must read the article.

I don't for a moment find any of this stuff believable. No more than the ridiculous Samantha Brick and Liz Jones. Still it gets people talking and reading the articles which I expect is the main aim of this nonsense. Yes I fell for it too.

Being a bit of a saddo who should be sorting out the loft for jumble at the moment I just googled Shona Sibury's articles. There are loads of contradictions in what she writes, e.g. not being able to afford holidays vs an article on their annual skiing jaunts. And she describes herself as scraping a pittance as a writer and Poor Keith on a middling job in sales, but then says their monthly income is 7K. If that's "scraping by" then I'm an idiot.
I also notice that they employ a housekeeper!!! And the girls' school fees are £8000 a term! But she won't/can't give up the private school for them as it gives so much more than the state sector. Although she also says she doesn't care what her girls do academically as long as they're happy and have good manners!

Bizarre.

Argh hate the daily mail. Absolute WOM and shit stirrer. Every time.

Zombie thread-two years old?

Perspective innit? Sounds like a lot to some people, not a lot to others.

I would need more than that to live in the manner I've become accustomed to in my 'dinky' stage if I had children! Yes yes I know you are meant to take a drop in living standards but I can kinda see how 7k would feel tight.

Oh zombie. Oops. And the woman is a twat.

She should spend some of that money on getting her teeth fixed.