To be absolutely fucking amazed how much money people have?

[HiggsBoson]

I thought we were in a recession.

I thought people were genuinely struggling.

DP and I certainly do as we are on low incomes, but we try to be grateful for what we have.

How is it then, that so many people can afford ipads, clothes from the likes of Joules and Boden, Mercedes and Audis, Hunter wellies for their kids ffs, expensive overseas holidays and huge 10/20/30K weddings?

Honestly I'm quite baffled. Everybody seems to have an ipad - they're £500!!

What's going on?

I agree with those noting that you really can't know anything from a brief glimpse at someone's pram in a shopping centre etc.

Like some others on this thread, we are now considerably better off than when the economy starting going to the shit. We were both students and since then we've both managed to get well paid jobs (although not in the sense that some posters understand well paid; neither of us pays HRT ). We have disposable income because of a range of factors. H inherited some money that helped us buy a house. We bought a house we can afford to pay for and live comfortably in on one salary. We have iPads and smartphones and eat out. But we've never been on holiday as a family. Ever. We're sorting out the house first.

It's certainly a very good thing for everyone if those of us who do have some disposable income spend it.

I have a massive hd tv that's 4 years old, an iPhone I sold my ex's Xbox & accessories to pay for (haggled it down second hand), a second hand pram, sky I pay £20/m for everything for, monkey often in gap/h&m that have been gifts or 70% off sale, clarks from factory shop, my clothes are all prepregnancy with the odd newer primark offering or stealing my mums clothes. I also smoke (not much) but get friends who travel to bring me tobacco back and roll my own. DS has his own IPhone at 15m that's my dads old one and not really worth anything but people are :-o when he's playing with it.

I'm bloody broke (single mum on benefits ATM) but I do everything on the cheap. Today we're off to city farm, we'll have a picnic in the park first and it's free to get in, ill go by tube even though ill have to struggle on escalators/stairs because it'll be cheaper than the bus.

they have had health issues, but insurance covered most of the costs.

it's nice to read someone describe American health care as affordable!

DH reckoned his company profits were (are) tanking so (as their highest paid employee) he quit before he was pushed. The company owner is still putting 3 kids thru private schools, though. Local gossip is that one of the schools is about to go bankrupt but DH's boss not least bit surprised or worried.

And we go on lots of 'holidays' to my parents in Scotland and the midlands, I have a railcard and scour for the cheap tickets, we had a free trip last time from points. It doesn't cost anything really because I don't have to do the food shop!

I think GPs help a lot more too, they certainly do in our family, we've had a lot of help from both sets, house deposit, wedding, top of the range pram, holidays and ds1 got his iPad from them for Christmas. We struggle to balance things, dh has 2 jobs and we certainly both had bugger all as kids but our parents have done well and do a lot to help us - love them

I feel quite envious of people who have parents that can help them out financially or leave inheritance. My dear mum bless her has always lived hand to mouth and is living on a state pension with nothing. [Sad]

I think a lot of it is due to Internet shopping and sites like hotdeals/moneysaving expert.

Cash back websites and credit cards also give me about £300 a year + about £100 tesco vouchers (tesco credit card)

I got my iPad for about £300 on the apple outlet site. Hunters wellies for kids were £20 on m&m direct a bit ago. Boden/joules clothes come from eBay or new using discount stacking codes etc..

We've been in the house for 15 years and have paid off the mortgage. Kids are now both in school so childcare costs are minimal.

We both invested in our future by going to university (student loans) , doing extra qualifications at the weekend, all our own DIY to improve the crappy but big house we bought , living on very little for years to pay everything off so we are now able to have a decent disposable income.

Thats how we afford the holidays, buy what we like etc..

The fancy car is company car, the iPhone is a company one.

Moneywise we are fine. I've got a good, secure wage (well for the next 18 months I have), we are able to save and don't have any expensive habits. Our clothes are almost all supermarket, but I have spent 'well' on the classics - a very good coat, nice suits etc. Clothes that are still going strong almost 10 years down the line - so if you saw me dressed for the Mess you'd probably think I had more money..

Our home is cheaply rented, but has good solid furniture that will last and looks better the more 'lived in' it is. When we buy our biggest extravagance will be the kitchen, because I want it built to last and not date too badly.

I do have an iPad (raffle prize - I had a thread on it), iPhone £40 a month and DD has my old iPhone she uses as a games engine. But DHs phone is a brick that is now 9 years old. He gets a new one every year but passes it on to his DD because he doesn't care for technology.

My contract finishes in 2014, and if I don't find work straight away I will be taking home a 1/4 of my current wage in a pension. But I'll still have those good quality clothes, technology and furniture, so people may think I have more

One of our 'expenses' though is helping our parents - both sets on pension only and with health problems. They won't accept our 'charity' but we are able to buy things / fix things and they don't always know about it (we replaced my DPs fence last year, but they think it was the neighbours!). I'd say that between them they 'cost' us a couple of hundred a month. We would give up a luxury before we stopped helping them.

To look at them though you'd think they were minted. My DPs drive a 2003 plate 'flash' car - I gave it them and pay the minuscule insurance. They spend weeks at a time at our caravan - but it's cheaper to heat then home, and what's the point in it being empty? They have a big house with a large garden, but it needs lots of work. DPILs have a huge house, but it's in a very cheap area and they don't use the top floor. The have a lovely new car - courtesy of DLA. DMIL dresses fabulously, but her clothes are years old and only worn at home (she can't really leave the house any more). They have sky and 2 large flatscreens, but when your only entertainment is TV then it is a blessing.

Looks can be deceptive OP. People may not be as well off as you think.

Before the recession, I was a single mother/student/working low paid part time posts. Now I have a professional permanent job, DS is older and my partner lives with us, bringing in another FT wage, so we are now considerably better off.

Dude for a lot of people morgages are superr low and salaries are broadly similar.. but I would never spend £50K on a car, some people are just daft.

I started a new job in late 2007, just before the economic crisis began. I still work for the same company, but my salary has increased by 57% over the last 6 years. I agree with others who have said that not everyone has been impacted by the recession.

Although I would say that it has completely altered my atttitude towards money and material things. My parents got caught up in the 'loadsamoney' mentality of the 80s and never taught me how to manage money, or the value of it etc.
My monthly outgoings now are actually lower than they were 6 years ago (though this is about to change as expecting baby in June). No iPads, iPod or iPhone here. Nor branded clothes or fancy cars. My car is 12 years old and I would be upset if he died because I have given him a name and personality.
From conversations with friends and colleagues though, I get the impression that some people are still prepared to put themselves in precarious financial positions in order to keep up with the Jones'.
I couldn't give a shit though. Each to their own I suppose.

I would be financially worse off as I have been in a 3 year pay freeze whilst my living expenses - food, utilities etc have increased - however I have chosen to increase my working hours to full time so that now I am significantly better off
So I have more money to spend in absolute terms although effectively I am working longer and harder for less on an hourly rate iyswim.
Everyone makes the most of their own situation, don't they?
I have nice clothes and hair cuts because I need them for my job.
But I travel to work on a crappy old bike in all weathers!
Other people might never buy new clothes but have a car/use buses/have a nice bike/chose to work less hours than me or not at all...

To look at me, you'd think I didn't have a pot to piss in. I spend hardly anything on clothes, don't have a car, get the cheapest crewcut I can find once every four months, and shop around to save pennies (or the local equivalent) and buy in massive bulk when something I use regularly is on offer.

That way I can afford to indulge on things I really want.

Having said that, neither DW nor I are gadget-addicts - our main luxury is a break in a really nice hotel every so often, so perhaps the people who see us going in there wonder how we can afford it.

I am astounded at how little people in the UK seem to save, however. The Japanese are absolutely fervent savers, despite the non-existant interest rates.

My gran says this is not a real recession.the recession they saw was a real one.noone could go shopping and people truly struggled.who actually NEEDS an ipad?

In fact ill add to this.people being poor these days is nothing like years gone.some people say theyre poor theyve got no money etc etc.if youve got a roof over your head,clothes on your back,food on your table and a family car then to me and a lot of people especially the elderly generation you ARE NOT HARD DONE TO.yes times are harder but we are lucky in a lot of ways.talk to the people who went to work as kids and couldnt afford to go to school cos they had to help their parents feed the family and tell me then that you are poor.sorry makes me mad.

The thing that baffles me a lot of the time is how so many people can afford so many children. One friend has just had her fifth child, and is planning at least one more. They don't seem to skimp or go without anything even though there are 7 of them; the kids all have decent shoes and clothes, they do activities, go on holiday, buy nice furniture etc.

Another has had her fourth; she is a SAHM, her DH works and earns less than 25k. They 'might have another at some point'. And again their kids all have nice things, they do activities, they have holidays, they bought a brand new Bugaboo for baby 4.

We couldn't afford a fourth child, and we are on a fairly high income. I really don't know how people do it.

I was born into a very poor background. My dad was a miner and had a coal allowance. My mum had 6 kids and struggled on the tightest of budgets as my dad was a drinker. She still gave part of her coal allowance to someone who was worse off than she was. I grew up so jealous of other people I couldn't rein it in. I had a chip on my shoulder 4 miles wide and couldn't get on with anyone.

Shoot forwards to now. I'm now 48 years old and I've learned over the years that material wealth isn't the be-all and end-all. Being envious of others achieves little, though I know we all have twangs of envy.

I also know that being able to pay your bills without struggling is one of the greatest gifts. Not having that awful shadow in your head when you go to bed at night, worrying about money. Being able to get cash out of a machine and not worry about your card being swallowed. Being able to buy something you fancy, within reason...all are priceless.

This is a difficult time and I feel so sorry for the people who have money worries. I am not, however, jealous of the folks who seem to have more than me. I spend what money I have how I like. Other people are entitled to do the same.

Doritos, they may have inherited or done well in the rising property market in the 90s?

That's a good point FoundAChopin; in both these cases though both couples are in their twenties, so too young to have benefitted from the property market. One couple I don't think would have had any inheritance as I'm pretty sure both sets of parents aren't well off financially, but I think the other family do get a bit of help from the woman's parents. Only relatively small things though such as clothes for the kids, or a weekend away somewhere, rather than financial help with their mortgage

Sometimes I find having lots of dcs saves money, in a strange way. For example, going to the cinema is crazily expensive, so we don't. Same for days out involving expensive passes, just not on the radar, or feeding everyone with ready made pizza, or going to a fast food place. So we find cheaper and free stuff to do, which are just as fun. Even going shopping with lots of dcs is hell, so we tend to only go when it's school shoes time, and then it's in and out as fast as possible.

We have just been lucky I guess. We have high rent, but we've been here 5 years so are used to it. In those 5 years, my salary has gone up 4k, DPs gone up 9k, so while we used to have a housemate to split bills with, the higher income now covers it all.
We are both really into gadgets. Both have IPads but mine was bought from America (cheaper) and DPs is second hand. We both have nice phones, on contract. We are going on holiday this year. But - we aren't massive shoppers. Clothes are bought when needed. Probably go on a night out once every 2-3 months. And we both work 2 jobs. I work about a 45 hour week, really early/really late shifts so I get to see DD between. So yeah we have nice stuff, but we work our asses off for it.

We both kept working when the dcs were small.So we both have well paid pt professional jobs. We bought our 1st flat in 2002 and have done work to all our properties so have a large equity in our house.

We can afford foreign holidays, domestic help and nice things (sometimes). Our combined gross salary is 100k, but we pay little HRT as its split between 2 IYSWIM. We also haven't lost our child benefit. So yes we have a fair bit of disposibal income and hope to have more when I go back ft.

Disposable ffs