To ask how you got rich

[getmeacupoftea]

We're struggling financially to put it bluntly. DH is full time in the military and I do as many hours as I can around the kids and his work schedule. I want ask what people have done to be in a comfortable position with their money. I'm driven and ready to work my ass off, just not sure which direction to go. I feel I'm still relatively young and have already got my maternity leave etc done and dusted. I know money isn't everything but I'm sick of having to skimp and save for things.

For me it's been staying in nd working in London at whatever cost.

Taking every qualification or training course (can do trendy ones for free via Lynda on LinkedIn) and being savvy about what pays well

So I works as a legal secretary with just quick typing speed age 22, on 36k. Then trained myself in Microsoft office became expert and promoted to documentation SME on £40k age 24 with women who had 20yr exp.

So much of success if about sounding right , being believable, being up to date. Fitting in, being reliable.

Work our what skill are needed in your area. What is being advertised for on LinkedIn or local agencies? And get the skills. Temp if you had to. But get a day rate increase every time upwards.

Most of my friends, neighbours, acquaintances have a combination of relatively good jobs & parental help. The richest person I know (multi millionaire) has own tech business.

I don’t know anyone who fits the mumsnet trope of “worked like a beast for 10 years but don’t spend a penny”.

i left school with deent gcse's but wasted any chance at A levels.
I just wanted to work and earn money.

Started in 2005 earning around £15k per year in a basic customer service role and looked out for what jobs were paying decent money.

I then have made certain job moves and learnt on the job what I needed to do to then get a technical role within the construction industry now paying £50k per year plus benefits and bonus.

DH is on less, and after having DC I chose to work a bit less so dont bring as much as I could in, but we manage ok.

I may be wrong but I also think it was easier to get “rich” in the past. Degrees were free/cheaper & rarer whereas now you may need a masters to stand out. Making money from property was easier as lending wasn’t so strict, house prices lower & much better rental yields/taxes for landlords. Plus some people have made millions just because they managed to get on the ladder at the right time. Better pensions eg final salary which don’t really exist now.

By not having children. Although it wasn’t by choice (have been trying for the best part of 20 years to start a family and now, at 45, I’ve reached acceptance that it’s not meant to be. But the flip side is that I’ve never had a career break and I’ve continued to climb and climb at work. We also haven’t had the expenses associated with raising children. We have a very comfortable life and a beautiful home, luxury holidays and we are as happy as two “child-free not by choice”people can be. We have 19 nieces and nephews to spoil, however.

I’d swap it all tomorrow though to be a mother. Don’t think that money makes you happier.

Blood, sweat and tears

I failed my A-levels, started a job and studied at the same time. Eventually qualified and built up a couple of businesses. Have worked around a 70 hour week for the last 20 years at least.

I have taken chances, never walked away from an opportunity and earnt very single penny of it.

Oh & I also think it’s not that hard to get the 70/80k jobs particularly in certain professions eg medicine, accountancy but it’s a lot harder to get the 200k plus jobs eg banking, law.

Oh & I also think it’s not that hard to get the 70/80k jobs particularly in certain professions eg medicine,

Very curious as to what you mean by ‘not that hard’?

OH is a doctor. Like his colleagues, he worked his arse off at GCSE to get all A*s, took four difficult A Levels (chemistry is mandatory for any hope of getting into medical school) and got As, then seven years at medical school (intercalated for one year to top up to an extra science degree). He’s done his F1 and F2 years and is now at the start of training for his specialty and earning around £43k after a total of thirteen years so far of very, very hard work. He’ll be 30 when he’s qualified in his specialty and earning around £50k to start off with. Which over a fair number of years should rise to £70-80k or more if he decides to become a partner (which is yet more work and a totally different kettle of fish to just clinical work).

I’m not saying he has worked harder than people in other jobs, far from it, though it has amazed me how hard he HAS worked as someone who wouldn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of having the kind of brains that it takes to assimilate and utilise (for years on end) all of the information he needs to be a hospital doctor, a job where people’s lives are literally in his hands each day.

I’d say 70/80k is a fair reward for choosing a difficult route like medicine as a career, but I’m stunned anyone would say it’s ‘not that hard’ to achieve the kind of salary you come to after 10/20 years of hard work at each step, each step needing to be achieved in order to move onto the next.

Seems the opposite of ‘not that hard’ to me!

Well I am in London so wages are higher in general. In terms of not that hard I mean if you’re clever, apply yourself at school/uni or you have little qualifications but are astute & apply yourself at work you can get those salaries & it’s of less importance re your upbringing & background. Although that might change with the rising cost of uni fees. However it’s a lot harder to break into the 200k jobs (not own business but employed) without the “right” background.

Also there are lots of jobs that pay that salary that do not require loads & loads over work/hours over 10-20 yrs.

We must live in very different worlds, I’m in Yorkshire in a town where the median salary is £16k. Anyone who manages to reach £25k is doing very well for themselves. Of course, you can move for better salaries. I’m just not familiar with a locality where it’s manageable let alone easy to reach the kinds of salaries up at £60-80k. I guess a lot of it is perception, growing up I never imagined I’d earn more than minimum wage as I didn’t have anyone around me who did, or know anyone with a profession or any kind of higher paid role, it was a case of leave school and work in retail or food service or in care or cleaning. I remember the first time I got a job earning 50p more per hour than NMW and thinking I’d made it haha. Whereas when I got my first post qualifying job on £18k I was amazed at how rich I felt and when a friend asked how much it paid and replied with ‘is that all? That’s disgusting’ was really taken aback; in his life and upbringing he’d grown up expecting to start on £25k+ and naturally rise to far higher wages over time.

But yes in a nutshell I really wouldn’t have known there are ‘lots of jobs’ that pay £60-80k, let alone ones that don’t require immense amounts of hard work, that’s an incredible salary to imagine. Surely it can’t be that easy?

I guess it depends where you grew up. My teacher friends get paid 60k in London (with additional responsibilities) & deputy head teachers get paid 80k whereas I think in other parts of England headteachers earn less.

Plenty of civil service jobs that pay that, plenty of middle manager roles in private sector etc

Within my circle of friends, which includes the friends I made at university, plus the new friends I've made through my children at nct, nursery, and school, plus neighbours - not a single one of us earns less than £60k (pro rata if part time). 90% of us have a degree, all between 35-50, in the south east. Jobs are a mix of accountants, doctors, plumbers, dentists, own businesses, doing something in IT, consultants, buyers, marketing. Mumsnet has been an eyeopener for me.

Within my circle of friends - South east also, I have no idea how much anyone earns other than the one person who told me how much she earned and I was surprised as it was far lower than I guessed as she has quite a lavish lifestyle.
The members of my family who went to university are on anywhere between £35k and £200k and range from designers to bankers.
Most of my friends including myself didn’t go to university and most are in marketing, buying or admin.

It depends what you mean by ‘rich’
I wouldn’t say we are rich but have quite a lot of disposable income - both of our jobs pay well and our outgoings are very low as the houses are cheap in our area.
I climbed the corporate ladder a bit and DH studied for his role.

What age are you boeuf? That probably makes a big difference. (Both to salary and whether you talk about it). I forgot to say - all the friends detailed below, none of us had dc until we were in our thirties with careers established.

Have you ever thought of studying AAT at home to allow you to step into the world of bookkeeping/accountancy?

I think most people who are comfortable plus, set goals and aim for them, working and qualifying for certain things that will aid their careers.
I am 55, me and oh (54) married at 19, bought our first house same time, first baby at 21, just. My oh at that age had set goals and hit and is still hitting every one of them. For the first 5 years money was tight, but then it all took off and we have our own company now.
I cant say what he does for a living,
But he works long hours, but loves what he does, he wouldn't be able to retire.
I brought up our boys and still got a phd whilst being a sahm.
I have worked but was fortunate to pick and choose, and it's not a sexist marriage, I loved being at home with my boys.
I would say you would have to both be behind choices as otherwise it could bring unhappiness to both of you.

@arethereanyleftatall that’s a very good point. I’m the oldest of my group of friends at 32 and friends are all later 20’s or just turned 30

@JemimaPuddlePeacock it's all relative though isn't it... In my area rent and bills alone would be well over £25k a year. In the industry

I started in tech, entry level jobs for marketing are around £23k - this means having a good degree in something like English lit or history from a good uni... Being an accomplished writer and creative . With two years experience it's £25-30k and five years experience can easily be £60k. So you could be 26 or so on that salary.

It's such an affluent industry it's easy to make a high salary.