6 figure incomes and can't afford a load of bread?

[LemonyFresh]

Is it just me or has there been a influx of posts about household incomes of over 100k or similar and complaining or wondering how they're skint at the end of the month and struggling? Is it a stealth boast or do these people actually struggle?

Am I really in the minority with a household income of less than half of this?!

I know we tend to spend to our means but even when DP and I are having a flush month I don't see the point in over spending for the sake of it.

I seen a recent article on the "squeezed middle" and those with the higher incomes had much higher outgoings that some would call "luxury products" eg private school and pivate health care and yes they now can't afford to make ends meet but it's their choice to have such massive outgoing!

P's our income is nowhere near that combined with dh it's around 45k!

I haven't seen any posts like that.

Where is this influx of posts? 😂

I haven't seen any either.

Nope. Me neither.

I did see one where a poster was pissed off with her sister in law with a £50k income for wanting a loan for a car but that's it.

I've also not seen these, can you link?

I've seen more comments than I would have expected on the £27K thread - that's apparently not a good enough income.

It's all relative depending on income and outgoings... 'Living within your means' should be upheld really in all cases.

I haven't seen posts like this either but I feel that it doesn't really matter what a person earns, it's more what they spend that counts.
To earn that kind of money you may need a cleaner, childcare, expensive office wear.
You probably live in or near a city with higher housing costs and or an expensive commute.

You perhaps have your children in private school (choice) feel you've earned that holiday/meal out.
Your friends are likely to be earning similar so perhaps your choice of entertainment and hobbies are more expensive (again choice)
I can see how 100k looks like an amazing salary, I can also see how in London with a couple of kids it wouldn't stretch as far as one might assume.

It's all relative. A friend of mine earns almost the same as our household income and has no children or pets. Her mortgage is about half ours. She goes on several holidays a year, eats out regularly, always has her nails done, shops at Waitrose, gets her hair cut every 2 months, has loads of Apple devices.

Yet always says she is skint. The truth is that lots of her friends do earn and spend more than her so she feels skint in comparison and probably doesn't save much.

sounds a bit of an exaggeration on your part op 'influx of posts' on mn really ?
i'd be interested to see these as they sound like stealth crap.

Cost of commuting, childcare and housing will quickly reduce a joint £100k salary.

Two train commutes from Home County location: 10k.

Nursery fees/full-time nanny for two DCs: 20k?

Mortgage on 3 bed property: 12-15k?

So certainly not poverty by any means but it adds up to a fairly normal lifestyle.

Is it the one where she has lots of money (and kids) & is wondering how to save more? I imagine that sort of lifestyle is expensive.

I always say that if I was rich then I could just buy better shit than the shit I already have. That's all. Benidorm / Dubai. Oxfam / Gucci.

I haven't seen an influx either

Exaggerated post of the week.

I haven't seen a single post like you've said.

There was an article in the Daily Mail (sorry) very recently, I think the family couldn't manage on £75k pa. The point was that the wife was complaining about not having any money left over after paying a large mortgage, £15k car loan and £11k loan for her kitchen, plus going on nice holidays. What she was saying was that she had spent all her money on choices she had made and then had nothing left over, which is rather skewed logic.

I haven't seen these threads and I'm on MN a lot throughout the day.

However I am also in a high income household. I would say that the squeeze does often come from the fixed outgoings. Clearly they are a matter of choice but for example in our household out mortgage payment is £4k a month, school fees are another £2.5k a month, running the house is expensive £130 a month just on electricity (and we don't heat using electricity), council tax is high etc etc.

I'm not moaning. Our income is fine and we've made these choices knowing that we can afford the payments but I know a number of families who have "upped" their lifestyles (generally buying much larger houses) and then realised afterwards the cost of doing so e.g. the large increase in the cost of heating bills and property maintenance costs.

No I don't think people on that salary struggle in the sense that lower earners can struggle and it's in poor taste/offensive to say that if you are a higher earner. Your choices can make you feel stressed at any income if you don't make them properly. We earn a good whack, have a very large mortgage, high childcare costs, but I don't worry about money because I know that I can stick things on the credit card if I've foolishly overspent and I'll cut back next month. Different if you are sticking essential repairs on a credit card with no hope of paying it back in a timely way, there is no comparison between these situations.

Not seen an influx either, but there are more people talking generally about how they are struggling.

I wonder though if our parents/older generation did have similar but never spoke about it as freely as people do now? I think as well there are more people with credit versus just a mortgage now, not that I am saying there never was the ability to have it before. More people seem to have access to it more now/use it. I don't think I knew anyone growing up with a car loan for example, or many people with a credit card.

I do think as well more women go back to work than they did before which adds its own costs in there.

I'm another one who missed the influx.

There's no clear-cut answer for these things. I remember living happily on under £1000 a month (it wasn't that long ago!) and wondering what the hell everyone who earned more did with all their money. Now that our household income is well into six figures I do sort of get how people can find themselves "struggling" (in relative terms) - high outgoings, mortgage, insurance, possibly school fees, a nanny, tutors, higher-end restaurants, nice hols a few times a year, clothes, a large Ocado bill weekly...

Obviously very little of that is necessary but often being cash-rich means being time-poor, so sitting down to sort out an investment plan or think of ways to cut spending doesn't always happen when it needs to.

I've not seen posts like that.

Financial situations have changed in the last decade. It will be harder to maintain a lifestyle on a static income as costs have risen, and interest on savings is negligible. A lifestyle should be within financial means, and people may be slow to scale that back, particularly if there is a certain level of image and lifestyle associated with a level of position. People on that level of income will often be unaccustomed to watching the pennies in a way that a person with little disposable income would.

If jobs involve travel, that may incurr cashflow issues if travel/ accommodation costs have to be paid for upfront then claimed back later through expenses.

I've seen 2 such threads.

It is very very annoying. I don't get how people can live in such a bubble and not be aware of the problems of others. Also I don't get why they need to post. If they are aware of MN, they could go through the credit crunch topic.

maybe they do want to wail. There's definitely an entitlement thing - entitled to have stupidly eexpensive everything, entitled to have dinner out twice a week - that's seen as normal for some people. Is it consumer culture?

and in some cases they don't appear to have realised that children cost money. The mind boggles.

Have you got links lorelei

We have an income of over £100k and are a bit skint at the minute. I wouldn't post about it on here though. People with a higher income tend to have higher outgoings (we've got a massive mortgage), and we are a bit slack with money.

Bit foolish to moan about it though.

EssentialHummus - yes, being cash rich often does mean being time poor - you'd think there'd be less spent on expensive holidays then really - but those only come up because people think "yes, I will have everything I want".

I mean, I'm not stopping them, I just thinking moaning about it is bizarre.

it would be a bit like coming on here saying "I quite like my flat but it's not the mega apartment of my dreams, what should I do?" And the answer is "get real".

the other thing is that working very long hours makes many people time poor but we don't respond with Ocado shopping and pricey holidays.

yes buck I fear we could also get ourselves a spot in the daily mail if we chose moaning about how we struggle to pay our huge mortgage and ridiculous childcare costs and how it constrains our ability to buy cashmere and go on nights out :) I shall refrain though!