To think you are not skint on £70k, even in Central London??

[LottaLou]

Just had a ridiculous conversation with a friend who lives and works in Central London. She is in digital marketing, which is a field where salaries can vary significantly, so until now I had no idea what kind of salary she might be on. She is single and childfree, so no dependants.

She always complains that she does not have enough money to do this and do that, how skint she is at the end of the month, they should pay her more for her job and so on. I usually listen to her and sympathize, as I have had money problems in the past, and I know how tough it can be.

Well today she (accidentally) revealed to me that she is on bloody £70k, which is more than twice my salary!! I am stunned as I genuiney thought she was on some "barely above NMW" money, given how often she complains about being skint!

I love her dearly and I will always be her friend, but AIBU to tell her to STFU the next time she starts complaining about being skint?

It depends what her outgoings are, does she have a new mortgage or a massive debt?

It’s all relative. As above it will depend on her outgoings.

The issue here isn't her salary, but her priorities and spending habits I imagine.

We live in London. A family of 5 on nowhere near that kind of money, but we have a fab life. I think people assume we have money simply BECAUSE we live in London but my 3 children share a bedroom and more than 3/4 of our income goes on mortgage, council tax and travel to work.

It's all relational, perspective and about priorities. We have holidays abroad sometimes but I have no pension, we have a second hand tv and no games consoles etc.

YANBU.

I live in London and it's expensive. And I guess you don't know what her mortgage is or what other financial commitments she has. Sometimes even £100k pa doesn't stretch too far in London (depressing I know).

However, she should be mindful that £70k is an extremely high salary in this country and that it's ridiculous to say she's skint.

We all live within our means. If she's skint then she needs to have another look at how she's living!!

Rent in London can easily cost 1.5-2k then you have your travel costs plus everything is more expensive in general so I think yabu

Not skint of course but she’s probably not living the life she expected a 70k salary might afford her if that makes sense. Although with no kids she should have plenty left over.

I know pisses me off when MPs plead poverty

If your an MP from Liverpool or Darby 60-70 means you a fudgeing minted

It is a lot more expensive to cover housing and utilities costs, in London.

On 70k, with no dependents, she has the freedom a lot of choices, but she might feel skint if she makes expensive ones.

Depends on her outgoings. Of course she can be skint on 70k. You can be skint on 200k if your outgoings 200k. It’s all relative.

You can be skint on 200k if your outgoings 200k.
Exactly.

I'd be skint on that. It's all relative, and all about what you're uses too.

I could live on that, but I would consider myself skint as lifestyle would change, amount being saved and put into pension would change, holidays would change.

Rent in London can easily cost 1.5-2k then you have your travel costs plus everything is more expensive in general so I think yabu Assuming that's per month, then even with travel and say £20k tax, you'll still have £20k left for everything else. About one person in three lives on that as their entire pre-tax salary.

Yeah. Our household income (2 adults) is £45k, in zone 2 London, both working across town. We’re fine. Shop at ocado, go on nice holidays. Someone who thinks they’re skint at £70k has just lost touch with what is ‘normal’ and feels entitled to a higher standard of living than they can afford, imo.

You can be skint on 200k if your outgoings 200k.

Yes, but that’s not “complaining your employers don’t pay you enough” skint, is it? That’s “bad at managing money” skint.

When I earned that in London and was single, it was about £4,300 a month.

I had to work long hours so needed to be somewhere that was accessible from the city 24/7. Outgoings were roughly:

Rent then mortgage - £2,000
Service charge - £150
Travel - £120
Council tax - £150
Electricity/gas - £50
Water - £50
Mobile - £50
Tv/phone/broadband - £100
Insurance - £100
Car loan - £250
Car insurance - £100

So it left about £300 a week. That's hardly skint. But at the same time, by the time you've done food shopping; bought smart office clothes; had hair and nails done; gone out to see friends a couple of nights a week (in a city where the cinema and popcorn is about £20!); paid for train fare home to see family; bought birthday presents; saved for a holiday - it's v easy to FEEL skint when you're surrounded by people who earn more than you and when your social life tends to involve expensive nights out. I was always always skint by the end of the month.

Basically you are skint but in the most first world problem way possible. You could trim a lot of that right down easily - but that feels hard when you're single and you've gotten used to it all, hence her complaining!

I could live on that, but I would consider myself skint as lifestyle would change, amount being saved and put into pension would change, holidays would change.

Tbh if you can afford savings, pension and holidays, you are by definition not skint.

It is harder to cover costs of living etc as a single person, though.

You're not being unreasonable at all, OP. It would've took me more than 4 years to earn 70K in my last job! If she is truly strapped for cash, maybe she is in lots of debt with huge monthly repayments or is just wasting cash on unimportant things. Jeezo, 70K is nearly 6 grand a month. My eyes are watering at the thought.

Alot does depend on if & when you got on the property ladder. One of my neighbours is a nurse (about 15-20 yrs older than me) & would think it’s a very high salary. However someone earning that today would not be able to afford her house.

Depends on housing costs. If you have high mortgage or rent, you won’t have much left over in London. If you own outright, living in London is no more expensive than any other uk city, in fact I’d argue it’s cheaper as there’s loads of free things to see/do and cheap, good food is far more easily available.

YANBU. We might not be in London but we raise a family on a joint income of much, much less than that.

70k is nowhere near 6k per month after taxes

70K is nearly 6 grand a month.

If only it’s more like 4k

yeah tell her to STFU. Plenty of kids are living in abject poverty probably a stone's throw from where she lives. She needs a wake up call and to be a bit more grateful and a bit less entitled.

2 people earning 35k will take home more plus be entitled to child benefit.

But at the same time, by the time you've done food shopping; bought smart office clothes; had hair and nails done; gone out to see friends a couple of nights a week (in a city where the cinema and popcorn is about £20!); paid for train fare home to see family; bought birthday presents; saved for a holiday it's v easy to FEEL skint

But being ABLE to afford to do all of that means you arent skint!!

Being skint is not having any cash to spend on luxuries and having no money BECAUSE you have spent it on luxuries are two different things entirely.