To feel very poor after recent thread

[Clappingforjoy]

Recent thread on here where posters where revealing their income got me really fed up that I must be one of the lowest earners around and it made me feel like failure failure.
Is everybody well off on mumsnet or something where are these people that have to use food banks because all I ever see is people with brand new cars, going on holidays nice houses etc etc i find it mind boggling.

I don’t earn very much, but I always though our house hold income was ok. Fairly good by our local standards anyway. On mumsnet I’m a pauper.

I'm on a very low wage, though my disposable income is relatively high. I have an outstanding credit rating too. However, I'll never own my own home or afford to send my highly able DC to university.

I often feel shit about myself and life.

Having said that most people on here who are well or very well off either:

Have inherited wealth - have had vast opportunities
Live off the Bank of mum and dad
Are up to their eyeballs in debt
Have rolling debt to afford their lifestyles
Or are in the minority of being rags to riches success stories

They are no more deserving or valuable human beings than you or I are.

@Thereblegeopart don't let your financial situation stop you getting your kids to uni.

They would probably get the full maintenance loan and there's a plethora of extra bursaries and payments available to children who are academically able but from low income families.

@SistersOfMerci Thank you for that bit of information - I'd never heard of that until now.

My income is pretty low aswell, a I work part time for the NHS. Full time i would be on about £27000, but part time i'm closer to £21-£22k. My mind boggles aswell when i see how much other mumsnetters earn! 🤯

OP, if it makes you feel any better, I have two degrees and I'm a teacher. I currently have £30 in my bank account. On Tuesday I'm getting child benefit (£137) which needs to last me until 21/09 when I get my universal credit payment. I'm a single parent and I'm very poor. You'd have no idea if you saw me. No one knows how much I struggle.

RoseHippy1

High earners have a tendency to waste money though

What do you consider that high earners are wasting money on? What constitutes a waste?
Genuine question.

My husband earns a pretty good wage, especially for the area we live but we have a mass of debt so we are also swimming against the current. We don't own our house either or have pensions in place so as far as our future is concerned we pretty much screwed. He's now over the age where a mortgage will be given easily (if it ever been easy in recent years) even if we could get a mortgage our credit history is bad and we would struggle a lot to get a deposit together. The future scares me if I'm honest. We have 2 young children too.
I'm sure there are people much worse off and I'm sure we could tighten our belts but the debt has crippled us.

I'm a single parent to a 8 year old boy who's on DLA and I'm currently waiting to hear if my claim for carers allowance has been accepted, my income is shockingly bad!

But... we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and the bills are paid and I can afford a few days out here and there.

Don't compare yourself to others, people can easily lie to strangers over the internet

No, we're not all rich on here. I'm not poor either & I do count my blessings.
Some people make stuff up about their glamorous lives, I'm sure, but there are quite a few genuinely wealthy folks on here. You can usually tell if it's genuine if they're nonplussed by other people having financial dilemmas. Or if they are whingeing about some real first world problem or other.

I am a single mum who has to work a full time job and a part time job and trying to get some benefits to get a shared ownership property, so I don't have much either.

For anyone really struggling with debt go find help! Don't suffer it alone and don't let yourself be forced into bankruptcy as that has massive negative effects on your credit score. Also don't use any of those dodgy companies that you have to pay to negotiate you out of debt, they are con artists who exploit the vulnerable.

I recommend Citizens Advice Bureau or Christians against Poverty. They are brilliant at helping people out of debt and claiming for any benefits you could be entitled to. they can really change people's lives for the better.

Plenty of us lower earners here ☺ it does get a bit 🤔 with all the sneaky brags "oh no my cleaner cancelled and I've had to clean my own house" being my latest favourite!

I'm not rich, we haven't been abroad this year and I haven't got a new car it's on finance and I don't own my own house.

We are poor too

You are not alone with a low income. Some who do won't want to seem different if there is a deluge of postings of high earners. As to food bank users I know a few and they don't blast it all over the place and I certainly try to be discreet when I see them. You should not be disheartened. You are working, earning albeit not as much as some.

I think people live in their own little bubbles. £22,000 is objectively a low full time wage in national terms given that the median is nearly thirty. But if you live somewhere with low housing costs and don’t have to pay for full time child care then it might feel very comfortable. And if all your friends are earning similar amounts you might, like the OP of the other thread find it very hard to believe that half of all full time workers earn more than thirty grand (and one in ten earn more than a hundred apparently though I haven’t fact checked that one yet.

I'm not a high earner and I didn't post my income: I didn't see the thread and I wouldn't say anyway as I don't post stuff like that.

We shop at Aldi, meal plan and work extra shifts to have the nice stuff. We move money around, book stuff in advance and have loads of discount cards such as railcard, Tastecard (free with Natwest) and a Bluelight card.

Every little helps.

I also agree that high earners waste money... I know someone who could easily have a mortgage but waste so much money on high end holidays, eating out/days out and will only buy and eat branded goods... that she thinks I have a better life than her.

It's not about having the most, it's about making the most of what you have.

I earn £21000, my husband has just been made redundant at 55, my son has just lost his job through no fault of his own. One good thing is we’ve nearly paid our mortgage of, we have £15,000 in savings and £500,000 in pension pots so hopefully we will manage, hopefully my husband and son will get another job soon, we won’t starve, just can’t afford a holiday for a while but I can live with that, things could be a lot worse.

That’s nice of you to choose to post that on this particular thread, Gin96 ffs

One good thing is we’ve nearly paid our mortgage of, we have £15,000 in savings and £500,000 in pension pots so hopefully we will manage, hopefully my husband and son will get another job soon, we won’t starve, just can’t afford a holiday for a while

Yeah, everyone weighs 8 stone, has a 200k a year combined income and are "struggling" to chose how to invest their inheritance LOL

Comparison is the thief of joy OP.

Just don't open any more threads where people talk about their income (or the inheritance ones). It's human to be nosy but it's not going to make you feel better.

I used to read the threads on private school on the education board but now avoid, as always makes me feel stressed.

One good thing is we’ve nearly paid our mortgage of, we have £15,000 in savings and £500,000 in pension pots so hopefully we will manage, hopefully my husband and son will get another job soon, we won’t starve, just can’t afford a holiday for a while

OK, this is my new favourite sneaky brag, forget the cleaner! Honesty Gin96 did you even read the OP? 🤔

I'm not rich, not by a long shot. I could be comfortable if I didn't have debts to pay. I live hand to mouth every month and it's bloody horrible. You're not alone OP 💐

Three kids at private school and a Range Rover Velar to pay off and damn it I feel poor.

I don’t see it as a brag, my husband is 55 and might not get another job, we have to live on £21,000 between a family of 4, I was just trying to look on the bright side of things and counting my blessings, sorry if it came across that way.