To think £30K is a decent salary?

[priceisright]

DH earns that. He is under 30 years old. I earned that before but now earn far less due to wanting to be there for my son all the time, and taking a considerably big pay cut when going PT in a less skilled role.

Between us we have about £45K a year. I feel well off... We go abroad twice a year, can buy luxuries, no worries about bills or food, save a small bit. I feel very privileged.

If I worked full time, we'd earn around £55-60k between us. That seems like loads to me! I feel as if my life is already very comfortable so to earn that would be even better.

AIBU to think 30k is a decent salary? And £55-60K combined salary is fantastic?

I do wonder what people spend their money on. I say that as someone who wastes a lot of money buying baby clothes and eating crap on rubbish.

We live in the South East. Currently saving for a mortgage, but rent is £900 per calendar month if that helps.

If you consider the amount of tax paid on a £50k-£60k salary, the take home is never as much as people think.

The amount I lose in deductions each month is eye watering.

priceisright yes. They've just gone down a bit as DC1 gets their free hours.

I also pay into my pension, which was is 9% but the choice is 9% or nothing. So my take home is less than you'd think.

It depends on your housing costs which will be dramatically different depending which region of the country you live is.

Are you managing two holidays in school holiday time?
Are you also putting money into your pension deficit?

When I was on that around your age I had to budget carefully. I bought a house and it was very tight. It’s not a life of luxury but it’s perfectly doable. Now we are on so much more I realise that, but at the time passing on holidays or expensive nights out was perfectly acceptable to me because I wanted other things like a house and security. You cut your cloth. If we lost everything now I’d be totally fine cutting my cloth again.

@priceisright it's the fact you've felt the need to go onto mumsnet and start a post to ask if your wage is decent, then in the very same post call yourself "very privileged".

It depends where you live. Technically it is 'above average' so yes- but I definitely would struggle to live on it where I live, the average house on my street is £370k and they are only victorian 3 beds.

It would also be tight if there was childcare to pay or any debt to repay.

blue No, I said I feel very privileged. Whether I really am or not is up for debate, as you will see most posters who have answered have said they earn more and would struggle on the same income

The ‘South East’ is a big area with huge variation in housing costs. £30k a year here would get you nowhere. Combined £60k the same. Even with one child we’d be struggling.

UNLESS we’d been given a huge house deposit by family (or contribution towards buying much earlier on, enabling us to benefit from a rise in house prices).

Several of our friends have benefited from this and it’s enabled them to be mortgage free in their 30s and feel as ‘comfortable’ with and income of £50k as others are with an income four times that.

We’ve discovered few people reveal that their house was pretty much bought for them by family! It answers the mystery about lifestyle v income in many cases.

Will you have help from the bank of mum and dad with your house deposit?

Our mortgage, utility bills, childcare for 1 DC, & season tickets to get to work cost us not far short of £5k per month. Add in pensions and you are nearer £6k.

That's before we have paid for food, clothes, gifts etc. We would never manage on £55k combined and £900 would rent you absolutely nothing in our town. A bedsit.

I hate threads like this

For someone with no qualifications working in a role which requires very little skill like stacking shelves or waiting tables, £30k is amazing

For a brain surgeon, pilot or someone in charge of national security, not so much

This with Christmas bells on, how can you not know it's a question without a right answer, what's the point of these type of threads?

I’m on £30k, DH on £19k (and that’s a recent promotion, he was previously earning not much more than minimum wage) and we’re very comfortable. No DC yet, but we own our own home and pay into a pension. Not really much in the way of savings, but that’s because we use any extra for home improvements. We have a holiday abroad every year, and that is in school holidays recently since we take our school age nephew.

So with my our of hours enhancements, that’s about 50-51k before tax and it’s plenty for us. It’ll be harder if we ever manage to have kids, but I still think it’s a good household income. I know it’s different in different parts of the country, but I am surprised that people say they couldn’t manage on 50-60k. Millions of people do, and if you had to, you’d just move somewhere cheaper.

What an odd post. If you're happy with that salary, then awesome.

It depends what your outgoings are and what you are used to earning. I even when single couldn't live off 30k. It was fine when in 20's and renting a room in a house, but not once I moved on from that.

Are these holidays abroad out school holidays as I'd struggle to get two pay rent etc otherwise

I think salary wise that is OK and similar to ours .However with many of these posts it is somewhat misleading ,as it depends on your outgoings and attitude to money .One person may earn about the same ,but choose new clothes /furniture less holiday abroad .Another may choose to save and so on . We go abroad sometimes, and are lucky enough to stay with friends /family in Canada .We would struggle to do this every year though .Our mortgage is fairly low .

It depends where you live.

To me a decent salary will pay for a mortgage on a home with suffice to space for your family, and reliable car (or two of needs be) and a good holiday once a year. A decent salary should allow you to build up savings and cover monthly bills without any stress.

Where I live for a family of four two adults would probably need to earn around £40k each minimum for a decent lifestyle.

It depends what your outgoings are and what you are used to earning. I even when single couldn't live off 30k. It was fine when in 20's and renting a room in a house, but not once I moved on from that.

How can it be just 'fine' is you're renting a room in a house?! 30k would be more than plentiful if you're single, no kids, rent a room...

I don't know about the south east. When we had that in the north of England with one child I felt quite comfortable, and I think it would be the same outside of the particularly affluent pockets of Wales, Scotland and NI too. It would also be a decent professional salary in a northern city for someone of that age.

But I understand that the housing costs are massively different in the south east of England. I'm talking about areas where it's possible to buy a family home with change from 150k or rent for £600 a month. I know these are in short supply anywhere near London!

It totally depends on where you live! Where I am a two bed flat (a shithole, not a nice one) cost 1.5k a month in rent so 30k won’t get you far.

Sorry just seen your post.

Dh is on 30k - we are moving north. I have to give up my job (min wage) and won’t be able to find another until we are there but estate agents still say we can’t afford £650 a month rent on 30k

Priceisright Again depends where you live.

A £30k salary is about £2k take home. In some places renting a room can cost over £800 a month, leaving £1200 a month for food, clothes, bills, holidays etc. I would find a £30k salary challenging in these circumstances. It depends what lifestyle you are used to.

Nothing under 100K is a decent wage on MN.
We have a combined (pre-tax) of 42k and manage very, very well AND we’re in the SE.
YANBU.

As you both work and have the benefits of two personal tax allowances your take home on this income is relatively high for the level of income.
DH and I have a higher income than you gross but by the time we have paid tax on it, and pension contributions and N I you don't see that much benefit for each extra pound. Anyone with children who can manage without paid childcare really is quids in compared to everyone else. We found the teenage years extremely expensive as with two sons it was like keeping two extra adults once they were about 14.

30k isn't just for not skilled work some nurses, EMTs, emergency dispatchers...

Of course it depends where you live, I earn probably 25k and manage fine with a mortgage but I'm up North

I agree OP.

People always say it depends on your outgoings which is just another way of saying it depends what you spend it on. Of course it does but that doesn't gauge its value. If someone is paying a big mortgage they are effectively paying a large amount into an expensive asset every month. It isn't just disappearing into the ether. Same with pension contributions. If someone is paying a lot of rent they could live in a smaller, less fancy home or live in a cheaper area. Childcare is a cost that can't really be avoided but other than that people are choosing how to spend their money. You can't say £80k is hardly anything by the time you have spent it.