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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be absolutely fucking amazed how much money people have?

390 replies

HiggsBoson · 26/04/2013 17:54

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?

OP posts:
BoffinMum · 26/04/2013 19:48

Kolping about £30 a day per person incl half board and activities.

Self catering in the Bavarian forest (cheaper accommodation is out there but this website is in English)

Bavarian Forest

Harz Mountains in former East Germany is supposed to be another nice place to go.

overprotection · 26/04/2013 19:48

I mean 50K would be just life changing for us...really could never even dream of that! It IS jealousy

The thing to remember is that whatever you earn you will always wish you earned as much as the next person above you on the jobs ladder, whether they earn £10k or £100k. So no point getting jealous about it, it's the same for everyone.

givemeaclue · 26/04/2013 19:49

Poppy wearer, are you paying school fees, because on a fantastic salary I am surprised at what you're not able to afford

Original poster
HiggsBoson · 26/04/2013 19:49

I dunno...we'd be seriously minted on 50K :)

OP posts:
GoSuckEggs · 26/04/2013 19:49

We are doing very well despite the resession. DH got a 30% payrise and 25% annual bonus! He works very hard and deserves it.

LindyHemming · 26/04/2013 19:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ouryve · 26/04/2013 19:51

My iPad mini was £269.

Generally, few people have ALL of those things without a debt to match.

ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmmmmmmmm · 26/04/2013 19:51

" many people especially those in public sector not affected by recession. Life goes on and they get their rise up a scale point each year. "

Nope. No pay rise or progression up the scale in last 3 years for this public sector worker. Sad

Not moaning. Very pleased to have secure(ish) work. Don't have an Ipad. Grin

overprotection · 26/04/2013 19:52

He works very hard and deserves it.

I do wish people would stop it with the "One works very hard" line. Lots of low paid people work very hard too, and don't have a big salary to show for it.

I earn good money now, but the jobs that drained me most were much lower paid.

Original poster
HiggsBoson · 26/04/2013 19:54

Totally agree overprotection

OP posts:
GoSuckEggs · 26/04/2013 19:55

tough tit overprotection. He does work hard. i am sure if i had said he sits on his arse and does fuck all all day and his job is piss easy then you would have something to moan about also.

Want2bSupermum · 26/04/2013 19:55

Alas... no one can tell me how these people are able to live in a 500k house with an income of about 40k a year plus still afford to drive a car (lets forget the fact it is a shiny new one), afford to park in the city center which is 9/day and also buy at least one, if not two or more things while on their weekly shopping trip.

LindyHemming · 26/04/2013 19:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

forevergreek · 26/04/2013 19:58

To the person with £20 mortgage. How?

And £200 a month still would help with £20 mortgage for me.

Don't you pay bills? Our council tax is £140 a month, add yor £20 mortgage and that only leaves £40 per month. £10 per week.

Are you really trying to say you pay the rest of your bills/ food/ holidays/ pair of pants on £10 per week? No of course not

You salary is earnings + any benefits = total. So that includes wtc, child benefit, any bill reduction etc etc

I'm sorry but no one in the uk lives on £200 per month in total to pay for all housing/ bills/ food.

bamboostalks · 26/04/2013 20:02

Some of many people's spending power is from benefit fraud and tax avoidance. Deeply unfashionable to say this on mumsnet but true.

DontmindifIdo · 26/04/2013 20:03

I think as well, a lot of people have lost track of what job titles pay well and what don't - and who they think should be equal to them wage wise because they are seen as equal status wise (not sure if that's clear)

For example, my dad was horrifed to discover that a PA in London with 10 years experience would expect a salary of around £40k, depending on workload/hours. He had a career as a teacher and always thought of the secretary being someone quite junior.

Also a lot of careers the big money jumps in income are around your early to mid 30s, so you can have two people who earned about the same when they were in their early 20s suddenly have a vast difference, but if you hadn't realised their career was the sort to do that, then you might assume they were roughly following the same sort of pay scale as you because their job used to be paid about the same as yours.

(Plus things like ipads are often given by work, and aren't actually owned by the person using it, it's their company's property - I'm currently typing this on one of the two laptops DH has been given by work, both belong to his company, if he leaves their employ he has to give them back, it's over a decade since he's owned his phone as well - he just has whichever one the company gives him as he can't be arsed carrying around 2).

expatinscotland · 26/04/2013 20:05

'Depends on where you live too, I suppose. I live in a teeny town in Midwest America. Houses are cheap, food is cheap. Only one (state) school so no school fees. DH has a decent job. I work part time at a cinema for very little...it's just my "extra" money and we go to the cinema for free so days out that way are cheap.'

That's true. My parents and sister live in areas where cost of living is cheap in relation to average salaries, and my sister and BIL have very, very good ones and also used an inheritance from his side of the family to minimise their mortgage even more. They have a disposable income goes a long way there.

My father bought a home in the early 70s that's now worth very much more than he paid for it. But he had a low mortgage in relation to his salary and was frugal and lucky in investing. This and a good pension package means they have lots of holidays far and away and are able to buy things like jewellery and nice handbags and do hobbies like golf.

IShallCallYouSquishy · 26/04/2013 20:06

I don't think it's fair to assume people but things on credit just because they have new/nice possessions.

I'd be very upset if people thought I was in debt. My DH and I work hard (well I'm on mat leave but that's bloody hard too Grin) and are fortunate enough that we have a nice car and my pile of shit iPhones, iPad, his nice bikes and golf clubs, my nice shoes and handbag, and DD has a nice pram and nice clothes.

Some people are careful with their money, some work hard, some have inheritances. Yes, some most likely are in debt, but its wrong for that to be an automatic assumption.

Pixel · 26/04/2013 20:10

Both my dcs have ipads. Smile
Dd rents hers from 6th form for £15 per term, paid for by her paper round. When she leaves she can pay another £50 and it's hers. Not only does that make for a cheap ipad but it spreads the cost. even if it will probably be very dated by then
Ds has autism and friends and relatives gave up trying to find presents for him a lot of Christmases and birthdays ago! They usually give him a token gift (sweets or comics) and some money which goes in his account. When his school wanted him to have an ipad for communication we used his own money.

I don't therefore think ipads can be an accurate gauge of wealth, although when we went to buy ds's I was surprised at the number of people in the Apple shop snapping them up (on a weekday too), so who knows?

expatinscotland · 26/04/2013 20:14

Plenty of people 'work hard' and are very poor. Hmm

ChocolateCakePlease · 26/04/2013 20:15

One thing that baffles me is the amount people eat out/get take out. A friend of mine will always be moaning about lack of money saying how skint they are yet will regually be getting Dominos etc.

McDoanlds/pizza hut/takeaway pizza/kfc etc are all friggin well expensive, even with vouchers yet the amount of people i know who get them several times a week is amazing despite saying they are struggling finacially and slagging off the Government for cuts etc is amazing!

GrowSomeCress · 26/04/2013 20:17

yeah takeaway food is a big one chocolatecake, I agree.

soverylucky · 26/04/2013 20:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jux · 26/04/2013 20:19

My iPad was a present from my brother, who is a single bloke with no dependents, no mortgage and had a fuck of a good job which earnt him squillions a year. He worked all hours so the only thing he spent money on aside from basic food, rent, fares etc, was books. There's actually a limit to how many books you can buy a month and still read them all!

Sadly, he's just been made redundant.

PoppyWearer · 26/04/2013 20:21

givemeaclue nope, no school fees. We are similarly mystified about what we can't afford compared to friends!

Honestly, I think it's the fact we are trying to save a bit that is the difference.