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?

I think lots of people feel a bit skint because whatever their income is they tend to spend right up to it leaving little wriggle room and once they've to used to a certain lifestyle it's hard to reign it in.

I think the general rule is you should only complain up the income scale though. If you're on 400k and you have a larger than expected tax bill and will only be able to afford 3 luxury holidays this year instead of 4 you can't complain to your sister who is a single mum on 18k.

Witty

Well, if you live near the city, you probably don't need a car. or pay 120 for travel. Also 2000k will get you something reasonable even in London, so that could be scaled back.

I agree it relative. But skint is the wrong word.

problem with living in london isn't just that things are expensive but that it's really easy to start comparing yourself to a set of people who have even more than you do in terms of income.

so the folk who earn £70k think that they're badly off because they can't afford to live in the same bits as people on £2m, or can't afford to do stuff that they see (fancy bars, posh restaurants, cabs everywhere).

they're also probably comparing to what they think they should be able to do with £70k rather than what they actually can do on £70k in one of the world's most expensive cities.

your friend will probably be happier if she recognises that comparison is the thief of joy.

or she leaves london

or maybe you'll be happier if she just realises that a modicum of tact when talking about incomes goes an awful long way

I don't get "but she might have a lot of outgoings" thing. Well, yeah, only if she's chosen to live expensively.

Yes, but that’s not “complaining your employers don’t pay you enough” skint, is it? That’s “bad at managing money” skint.
Yes I agree, but people generally prefer the solution that is the least effort for themselves.

I wouldn’t get too worked up. People feel skint for all sorts of reasons. She certainly doesn’t need to spend £2k a month on rent though (not that you say she does but some posters indicate that’s normal for a single person in central London - it’s not)

I think lots of people feel a bit skint because whatever their income is they tend to spend right up to it leaving little wriggle room and once they've to used to a certain lifestyle it's hard to reign it in.

I think people have pretty high expectations.

After tax we have a 7.5k income, and we have two kids. We live in central London. I basically think we can have whatever we want, except a bigger fancier London house. That's partly because we don't have extravagent tastes, but I think that's part of being smart with your money. I would never describe us as being skint because that bigger better London house is out of our reach.

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

But she’s single. So no child benefit and no child to feed, clothe and pay for childcare. She also only needs to feed and home one adult on that money.

Of course she is not skint.

These threads always end badly.

It’s a decent income and If managed correctly will give a decent lifestyle.

DH works in media planning in central London for a financial institution. He’s in his mid-forties, and most of his colleagues are in their twenties and thirties.

They all moan about how skint they are and how they will never be able to afford to buy a house. On the other hand, they then take the p*ss out of DH for taking his sandwiches into work with him. They think nothing of spending £8 on an artisan coffee and pastry on the way into work and then a further £12 on sushi for lunch.

One of his colleagues has recently started ‘copying’ DH by bringing in lunch from home as if it’s some sort of ‘novel’ idea!

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.

This, this, this, this, this, THIS!

Did I mention THIS?????

I have seen 'once you take school fees into account' trotted out way too many times to be good for my blood pressure in this kind of thread.

Yes, London is expensive for the bare necessities. Yes, it's even bloody expensive for the simpler pleasures of life - the aforementioned £20 cinema trips (though it's also over-specced in terms of free entertainment). But don't cry bloody poverty because the spare room in your house eats up your mortgage, those private school fees are a drag, and once you've had your week in Cancun, you really have to cut back on the caviar.

@Witty why would you pay a car loan and insurance then get the train to visit relatives. Was the £120 on travel to work petrol or your oyster card. And you wouldn't need to buy clothes every month, nails you could do yourself.

It’s all relative. As above it will depend on her outgoings
I hate this answer, its such bullshit! "Oh I'm on a high income, but I've chosen to have a huge mortgage and spend all my money on stuff, so really I'm poor!"
Its pathetic. And wrong.

problem with living in london isn't just that things are expensive but that it's really easy to start comparing yourself to a set of people who have even more than you do in terms of income.
so the folk who earn £70k think that they're badly off because they can't afford to live in the same bits as people on £2m, or can't afford to do stuff that they see (fancy bars, posh restaurants, cabs everywhere).

That can be said of anywhere you live not just London

Mumoftwoyoungkids Of course & I’ve stated she’s not skint. I think sometimes people forgot the tax implications though & base calculations on what they earn now hence posters saying it’s equivalent to 6k.

I know how you feel. I have a friend who used to moan about how low paid her job was, every single time we met.
Every time.
And every time I sat there and thought, you are on the same wage as me, and I am a single parent with three kids to support, whilst you have a partner and no kids.
It never seemed to occur to her.

She's not poor. She choses to live in an expensive city and spend all her money on over priced housing, probably because those salaries are only available in London.

marchin1984 I agree. I think DH and I have the advantage of having spent a lot of time as students followed by a period of much lower paid jobs than we have now. We also don't have extravagant tastes (no expensive hobbies, happy with decent but not expensive clothes etc). Our expectations are just fairly low I feel I can afford everything I want (household income after mortgage and bills is about 2k a month). I think we're unusual though - if we won the Eurolottery I genuinely can't imagine what I'd do with it (apart from help family&friends, give to charity etc).

@sweenytoddsrazor I know people on more money than the that who don't have a car and live in central London. They just hire cars when they need to visit relations etc in out of the way places. Much cheaper than owning one.

In fact most of the car owners I know who live in London, especially all the younger ones, live in the outer zones due to the high cost of insurance plus they are more likely to work in the Home Counties with poor transport.

Also £50 per month for a mobile?

I think the OP needs to refer her friend to the moneysavingexpert website.

It’s in some people’s nature to look at what they haven’t got and then moan about it and compare themselves negatively to others.

My sister always does the ‘it’s alright for you’ one when we go away on a ‘two weeks in the Med’ holiday. She forgets that she goes to France for 3 weeks in the caravan every year and has 2 short breaks at Center Parcs (in the UK, in school holidays, in the most expensive type of lodge).

When you’ve spent it, you’ve spent it. It’s your choice. Don’t moan when it’s gone and you can’t choose to spend it on something else.

She makes choices about how i,portant, say, housing is. Living in the perceived 'right' area could be very expensive, going to the places she thinks she should be going, buying the right clothes etc. She may feel that she has no choice, but of course, she does.

She's just either crap at budgetting (maybe you could help her?) or her budgetting priorities are expensive.

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

This!

Witty £50 a month on a mobile?! That's a luxury! Mine is pay as you go and is £5 per month. As much as I'd love a top of the range iPhone with unlimited everything, I can't. Hence it's a luxury.

One can't really live lavish then complain one is skint. OP, you need to tell her to STFU

My brother gave up his car 20 years ago, but there was a local co-operative of residents who had a deal with a local garage so they could hire cars when needed. It was brilliant for him and worked very well. I've no idea whether it continues.

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

That's ridiculous. A skint person can't do all those things so she is not skint. People should be careful who they say these things to. It seems massively insensitive of your friend to go on about being skint when she earns so far above the average wage and has a disposable income of the size it is likely to be. Hair, nails, cinema, presents and holidays are non essentials. A skint person will be doing without those things.