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?

[Alligatorpie]

I live overseas so have a standard of living I could not achieve in the UK ( regular meals out, cleaner twice a week, we live in a nice villa, 5-6 holidays - maybe 2 international trips per year)
But when we go to the UK for visits, I am always astounded at the amount of people pushing very expensive prams. I always wonder how everyone affords them.

[dashoflime]

I totally get the baby kit thing.

Its an expression of hope and aspiration isn't it? Exactly the sorts of sentiments prompted by a new baby. especially the precious first born

I didn't buy new kit but I have realistic hopes that my DC will have middle class lives in future.

I could afford it more easily but it wouldn't mean the same thing to me and I feel less need to do it.

still occasionally feel self conscious pushing my tatty old buggy around though

[Toadinthehole]

I paid NZD 500 for my Samsung Galaxy (that's about 260 pounds). It adequately performs everything I need a computer to do - in fact it is better than my five-year old PC (which itself cost very little).

A tablet / Ipad can actually be the most cost-effective option if one wants a new computer.

[raisah]

My colleague has opted out of the company pension scheme to fund her 4 holidays a year.So far This year she has gonr to S. Korea & Spain. She has got trips to Brazil & New York planned for later this year.

[MrsMangelFanciedPaulRobinson]

That's a really good point, thermals. I guess I was referring to people on a higher than average but not super-high income.

[Quenelle]

Some people are well off with have well-paid jobs, plenty of savings, final salary pensions and very small, or no, mortgages. They are not going to be affected by the current economic problems.

It's a good job, really, otherwise there would be nobody left at all to buy goods and services and the rest of us would be suffering even more.

[alienbanana]

i suppose we're the sort of people the op is talking about. DC wear Boden and joules a lot, and it is expensive but it lasts so much better than cheap clothes that its often still in good condition once DC have grown out of it that I can sell it on, usually getting about half what I paid for it.

This can be more cost effective than buying second hand on eBay tbh, esp if you use money off codes.

But the fact is that 5 years ago we were struggling with a high mortgage and childcare payments. Our salary hasn't increased by anything noticeable, but our mortgage is £400 less a month due to interest rate drops and we have no childcare costs.

[TwoForTuesday]

I know a family who are a bit like that, and I have often wondered before where they get their money from. The dad is a postman, and the mum works very part time in the local shop. However, I've recently found out a few things that make sense about how they can afford all the things that they have:

They were given their house (lovely barn conversion cottage) by one set of parents. Therefore they have no rent, or mortgage costs each month.

Their two children have only high end clothes (Boden, Joules, Fat Face, Monsoon), however they don't have many clothes as such, and the mum sells their clothes on Ebay once they have outgrown them.

The mum enters, and wins, loads of competitions; in the past year she's won cash, vouchers, a UK minibreak, and various other bits and pieces.

They are vegetarian, and don't eat any junk food, or crisps, or anything like that. I'd imagine that that keeps their food bill right down.

[nenevomito]

It depends totally on outgoings. I have friends who earn the same as me, but because they don't have children or bought their houses before the boom, have much lower outgoings than I do.

By the time I've paid childcare and mortgage, my disposable income is quite small. BUT we have been decorating and plan to do the bathroom this year by cutting back and saving. So while someone will come to my house and think 'can't be that poor if they can spend that much money on the house', the reality is that we cut back and save for those things.

[ivanapoo]

If you saw me in my charity shop clothes and 8 year old buggy shopping in the 99p store, you would probably assume I wasn't well off. But I live in a naice house and while not loaded, I have money in the bank (but no iPad). Friends who are worse off than me have designer bags, much more expensive holidays and gadgets coming out of their arse.

Appearances can be deceptive.

[lemonmuffin]

I know what you mean, it's baffling.

Friend confided in DP a couple of months ago that they were struggling to pay the bills at the end of each month with the income they have.

Then they announced this week that they are off to Disneyland for 2 weeks, with 3 children!

Maybe it's just all on credit, I don't know.

[Snowme]

Nothing's how it looks.

I have an iPad and an iphone.
iPad was a generous Christmas gift from a friend, and the iPhone was sold to me by my sister as part payment towards the money I lent her once.

I actually have £6 in my bank, I'm a single mother on benefits. I literally have no money until Friday.

[MrsMelons]

For example - Some people earn loads so will always be able to afford nice things, some people have scrimped and saved to pay their mortgage off so now have lots more spare cash and some people may have become qualified in their jobs so earn more than before.

Unfortunately thats how life is - those people may have been fairly well off before and may have cut back a bit but will still be able to afford the luxuries in life.

I am not sure I would be particularly suprised about it though.