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.

Metempsychosis

I’m hoping that PP has some other explanation for why they think another poster was outta line to ask about taking a job with a large salary drop before I share my thoughts. Because I agree, if it’s purely that posters shouldn’t discuss higher salaries and the decisions they have to make around them because some posters earn less then that’s irrational and unfair.

@Koloh according to the link you posted I'm in the poorest 1% of the population. I don't qualify for benefits because STBXH is still paying the mortgage, I have no disposable income, 2 adult children with ASD, 1 qualifies for a free bus pass to college but has to pay for the course, the other is 18 so I don't pay for the course but I'm still waiting to hear whether my claim for a discretionary bus pass has been approved or not, it is currently costing £7.60 per day by bus or about £8.80 (including the extra milage to get me to work) if I take DS by car. I wish I could increase my hours/income but I can't, an accident I had a few years ago + the need to be available to support DS means that it is impossible.

OP, please don't feel bad about your income, I'm sure you are doing the best that you can under the circumstances.

BBOA

So if a well off person has a problem, they are an arsehole for asking?
I’ve noticed that when wealthy people post about a problem, the thread gets ridiculed. It’s pathetic tbh

There was someone on here asking whether they should take a 50k salary cut.... Think for a job abroad.... I just thought they were a totally self indulgent asshole! Who does that?! You are not alone!

Got to be honest, when I signed up for mumsnet, almost 10 years ago I dont remember them saying it was only for people earning under a certain amount.

If reading threads written by people with loony make you feel bad or you dont like it, dont read it.but calling them an asshole for asking for advice stinks if petty jealousy.

Why is someone with money an asshole for having the audacity to ask for advice on a forum that is supposed to be for everyone?

They are no more an asshole than some of the less well off people on here asking for advice about various things.

I'm fairly skint at the moment but I still don't feel the need to flame/ridicule/silence people on MN or people I see IRL for having more money than me and daring not to keep it all hushed up.

I know what you mean OP, I am on minimum wage, makes me feel rather low sometimes as I have to think twice before I spend money (and worrying about money is something I’ve always done anyway as parents were struggling to make ends meet - I would hear them argue about it). Due to a tough family life and being bullied at school, both of which impacted my education, I didn’t amount to much in life.
I’m waiting for my D.C. to start school so I can try and do some some sort adult education course to try and get a job that pays better.

I'm on minimum wage and even though I could get a higher paid job with my quals, I find my job the most rewarding job I could have. We're definitely not rich. Even though DH has a good paying job, we built up debts when he wasn't in a good paying job and I wasn't working due to mental health. So we still can't wait for payday every month.

I LOVE my job. It's shit pay, but I wake up every morning happy and never have that feeling of "I wish I didn't have to go to work today". Money isn't everything. I may not be well off with money but I am rich with happiness and contentment. And that is all that matters, as long as the bills are paid.

I didn’t amount to much in life.

No don't ever feel like that. I used to be a cleaner in the care home in still work in. I'm a carer now. When I first started cleaning there, I was in a residents bedroom and she asked me to help her with something, and I wasn't allowed. I told her I would get a carer to help her because I was "only the cleaner" and this 96 year old lady told me off.

"You're not only anything!"

She said that no job is ever better than any others, that every single job is an important as the rest. We all need cleaners, carers, refuse workers, shop assistants, fruit pickers, potato peelers etc, and they're just as important to the day to day running of the country as doctors, bankers, scientists and the like.

Please don't ever think you didn't amount to much. Your place in society is as equal as everyone else.

That's a lovely post @TwatCat

Cleaners, carers etc earn little because these are jobs that most people could start wihin a day or so of training. So you're competing with everyone who wants a job, and that lowers prices.

That doesn't mean that those jobs aren't important for society. And we should never disparage people who do this vital work.

@MLMsuperfan

I totally agree, but I don't think that care work should be like that. I've worked with a lot in the past that had little or no idea just how hard the job is when they start, because of the low pay they wonder "How hard can it be?" And the answer is very in most cases, and people struggle. The knock on effect is of course the people needing the care don't get the best. But that's a whole other thread!
What I've found of recent years, in hospitality because that's where I am now, is that you have to work harder and harder to stand out and keep your job, even though it's low pay and benefits because of the competition. It's a good deal for the employers because they get to pay the minimum wage but get work over and above that imo. Unpaid overtime happens in these types of jobs too, massive workloads that are nigh on impossible to meet, unreasonable demands. But no one really notices or realises it happens on the lower end of the scale because maybe it's not expected to happen.

I'm on a low income.
My neighbour friend opposite me is on a good income. She works full time and pays for childcare x2, gardener, cleaner and family gym membership. She drives everywhere. She often gets take aways delivered as she is time poor.

I work school hours and don't pay for any of the things mentioned above. I walk everywhere and do my own chores and get enough exercise that I don't need to spend money on the gym. Counting incomings and outgoings our disposible income at the end of the month might not be that different.

Yeah I read a thread about little things that make you happy, and it was like "my heated steering wheel", "my daily cleaner", "my weekly facial" and I felt broke as shit !

@MLMsuperfan
I agree re cleaners but not carers. I doubt I could do that job after 2 days of training and be good at it.
There are hidden extra hours for many low paid jobs that don't get paid as they are not seen as overtime. For example, my Mum was a nurse and when her shift ended, the next person didn't just turn up, high five and get on with it. No, there was always a 30 min overlap at beginning and end of shift for colleagues to hand over/fill in with what is going on.