Would you consider £25k to be a good salary

[Sergio4]

I would. I live in London and would love to earn that much. Most of my friends living on London are on £20k or under (some have kids)

Your thoughts?

Not everyone lives in London. Feel like I should change my username to that as Every Thread involves the same insistence that everyone is in London!!

No

I earned that plus bonus (about £33k all in) in 1989. I was 28.

what is your profession madame? it would be helpful for all these high earners to say exactly what they do to earn these salaries?

It’s a bit below full time median earnings therefore it’s objectively “ok” but not “good” as a full time wage on a national level. It may be a very good salary under the circumstances if you live in a cheap area or are relatively young and inexperienced.

No, I also find it low but that's largely because I started on £38k after leaving university and my siblings and friends were on similar amounts (at the time I was working in London but commuting from my family home in Berkshire). I didn't really have much leftover once tax and bills were deducted and I'm pretty frugal! I honestly have no idea how people can raise their families in Central London.

I earn double that and spend every penny every month. I wouldn't manage on that in London...

I really wish the Op @Sergio4 had come back here to explain rather than lobbing a hand grenade with no context. (If you are reading Sergio maybe you would?)

I responded to another of her posts on MN which shows why she asked this question- currently she's working p/t in a cafe and can't get a grad job so is asking about salaries to get some 'perspective' I think (she's only 22.)

How different her thread would be if she's asked what was a reasonable income for a 22 yr old straight out of uni. Which is what she is on about.

@AbigailisFarty interesting background to the OP

I'm 22, didn't go to uni (apprenticeship instead) but do a job people do get straight out of uni - I'm not should if they are paid more but degrees are less helpful than experience IME.

I started on £23k and 2 years later am on £25k (I never pushed for a raise, different subject). I'm fine for money in London, I rent a bedsit in zone 2 (lower than market but around the same as a room in a shared house), saving a few hundred a month.

Only spanner in the works is I'm pregnant and can't afford a bigger place, childcare etc on my own. Luckily I have a partner who earns more than me but otherwise benefits would have to make up the shortfall.

This thread is so interesting, thank you everyone. I’m going to be post grad qualified in the cultural/heritage sector soon and the plan is to work in London. But the £ has me worried it isn’t going to be feasible for us. It’s good to know it is somewhat achievable.

It's less than the Graduates starting salary at my firm. London based employees get an extra allowance on top of base salary.

I would say in London it is fine as a starting salary but difficult to live on. I earned that much as a new graduate in London and was fine but think it would be a bit of a struggle with a family.

It depends really. If you are living with your parents or paying minimal rent, it's a decent salary. If you have dependants/debt/high rent or travel costs, not so much.

I'd say it's a starting salary. I've earned more, I've earned less.

I'm on less as a midwife in my first year of practice.

The graduate salary comment is a red herring. Only a tiny minority of graduates get a place on a well paid grad scheme. Most take entry level jobs and a couple of years to work up to £25k.

What percentage of the population work minimum wage jobs? 20, 25? It's a big step up from a minimum wage job to £25k a year.

If you think £25k is nothing then you are living in an ivory tower.

Would be interesting to see it broken down:

Oxbridge
Russell Group
Red Brick
Post 92
Vocational training
No quals.

Degree subject is as much a factor as institution though.

DP earns more than twice as much as me. We both have property that we let out. If I was single on 25k I guess it wouldn’t seem as quite as much. But living in such a cheap area, 25k is plenty! Most of the jobs here are minimum wage retail or hospitality.

When I worked in London, my 40k felt like loads!

My teens get £10 an hour in London doh but part time casual work

No I would say it is not a good salary.

It might be enough if you live at home still I guess?

Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to rent without claiming housing benefit would you?

Where I live (naice village) you can rent a nice little two bedroomed terrace for about £450. About £100k to buy.

In the big city 40 minutes from us £500 would get you a nice flatshare room. About £140k to buy a one bedroom flat in a nice area. In both cases you could buy cheaper but not as nice.

So no, you wouldn't have to live at home. But you would struggle to buy without a good deposit.

Tinkly I was on the same salary and saved £700pcm, being extremely frugal for a year. I had saved about the same again over a longer period when I was earning less.

£450 rent, £100 bills (shared house), £1500 coming in after pension. So then I had £250 pcm ish left for spending. Didn’t buy any clothes for a year, my commuting costs were low, and luckily for me nothing went too wrong with my car. Bad luck would probably have slowed my savings down by a few months. I couldn’t have been that frugal for that much longer without getting pretty fed up, so I imagine I would have wanted to spread it out to 3 or so years to give more room for fun. But certainly think it’s pretty doable to save for it over a few years.

So did you buy then Etymology?

DS currently brings home £1350 (first proper job after uni). He gives us £200, spends £150 on commuting and phone etc, saves £500 and spends £500. He's got quite a nest egg and seems to have a good lifestyle going out and buying stuff.

He starts a £27k job next month though and is moving out. To me £1700 a month seems perfectly doable for a single lad.

Tinkly Yes, I did! Made life much easier once I had as the belt could be loosened and I didn’t have to budget for every penny. I wouldn’t have wanted to be raising a family on that wage, but for one person I think it’s really pretty comfortable.

In my indusrty, in my role, for which you need a degree and about 10 years experience, £25k would be a very good salary. South East England. if be thrilled to earn that much.