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.

at the two holiday abroad bit. We rented an apartment in Italy during August school holidays last year and the cheapest apartment could find was £800 per week, plus extra fee towards broadband, bedding etc.

But you don't have to rent an apartment and pay extra for broadband and bedding etc. to go on holiday abroad. You can go abroad and camp, or go via a company like Air BnB, or stay in a cheap hotel, or have a package deal and go full-board somewhere that has a pool and is near the beach, and go back to the hotel for all your meals, or take lunch from the breakfast buffet if you go out.

You don't need to pay for flights, train fares etc. individually, nor do you need to spend 30 euros a day on food. Those are choices you can make if you have 3.5k to spare. Other people don't have that kind of money so they make different choices.

Live in shared ownership house, shop in charity shops, do free stuff with kids (museums, parks etc), eat out sometimes but cheap (like Turkish, Caribbean etc), dont eat much meat at all and cook mostly from scratch. Holidays camping in UK. Get around on foot or by bus. No tv or smartphone. No insurance - dont own much worth stealing, except my laptop. Life does not feel like a massive sacrifice - most its by choice (I dont want a car or a smartphone or a sky package). On the bad side, no pension payments. And an all expenses trip to the Maldives wouldn't be so bad!!

It depends on out goings and people's expectations.

Life in a two bed that you've owned for 15 years, and you don't pay child care is much less expensive that Life in a new four bed with three children, child care costs and a car PCP.

I don't do gym, don't drink, don't have childcare, do my own manicures, seldom have an evening out and my car is 10 years old. So my salary covers my outgoings comfortably.

My sympathy lies with those struggling on benefits through no fault of their own..

Yet one in five people earn under the living wage and around 4 million British children live in poverty.

Why are there so many threads these last few days about “Is £30k / £45k / £whatever a good salary?”

How long is a piece of string?

 at the two holiday abroad bit. We rented an apartment in Italy during August school holidays last year and the cheapest apartment could find was £800 per week, plus extra fee towards broadband, bedding etc. Flights for 4 of us were 1200 (booked several months in advance) Had to pay train fares, connection from airports. Even buying food in the supermarket and a bottle of local wine was about 30 euro a time. Spent easily £3.5 k and that wasn't even doing anything that extravagant. We get household income of about £70 000 in the North and there's no way we could afford to do that every year.

We go to places like Spain, Canary Islands, Turkey. Around £800 would get you a week out there (all inclusive), with free alcohol. Can lunch out if you want go somewhere different, as it's really cheap.

Holidays to us are about relaxing by a pool and going to the beach, and being fed without having to worry too much about finding somewhere else to eat. That's it. It's enjoyable and means I can unwind

These threads bug the hell out of me.

You're doing well! Don't worry about it.
You'll be much better off in future.

These threads are so bizarre. There's loads of them. I don't get it.

Is £45k a decent wage, is £26k enough, blah blah blah.

If you don't like 'these types of threads' then scroll on by What's the point in posting on them, and then having them on your active thread list?

Will you be able to buy a property for £130k because mortgage lenders will only lend about that much on your DH’s salary

I was deliriously happy with 30k as it's the most I'd ever had and it let me eat out loads and have 2 holidays and a few breaks away each year BUT I live alone in Scotland with no car costs and a tiny mortgage.

I chose this so that I could have a nice (to me) lifestyle.

I will also say that my parents gifted me my house deposit as I hadn't been saving for a house as it would have hit my lifestyle too hard. This was completely out of the blue. I was happy renting but obviously this is great.

If you don't like 'these types of threads' then scroll on by confused What's the point in posting on them, and then having them on your active thread list?

What’s the point of them? 30k wouldn’t be enough because of my outgoings.

So no 30k isn’t a decent salary.

I don't think it's that great tbh. I live in the south though. Maybe it's a good salary elsewhere.

Outside of mumsnet this is a perfectly good salary. As I understand, it’s more than the national average

You are doing well for your age

But that said I don’t really understand these questions either- it depends on your outgoings, priorities and lifestyle

We earn over four times as much as that but we live in London with a big mortgage and expensive childcare for kids - which is our choice. We also prioritise our pension (even though we are only mid 30s)

So we spend less on holidays or save for longer for a luxury holiday

It sounds like neither us nor you are doing badly as it depends on what we want from life

And there are people who can’t afford food on the table so I thank my lucky stars everyday

Yeah I'd says it ok, my oh earns that and together about 47k, we have 2dc, we can afford one holiday abroad a year, a weeks camping and days out but have to struggle to pay for the holiday abroad and me and oh Hartley ever buy anything for our selfs and we have to budget everything as there's not enough left for us after the kids and swimming, drama, football. There's lots for the house we need doing and can't afford..we do spend 260 on a car though and about 100 in debts, which I regret and an extra 360 month would make a hugh difference to our lives. I do think it's all relative really, it is a good wage and I think it's about average but if you have high outgoings then to some people itl be a bad wage.

What a pointless question. It’s like saying ‘I weigh 50kg. Is that a lot?” It’s totally subjective and also depends on a lot of other factors.

What are your outgoings?
How are you defining the ‘luxuries’ that you mention? Are we talking a coffee from Starbucks twice a week or a Hermes handbag once a month?

You don’t mention your age but If like your dh you’re under 30, then tbh you’ve done things quite young. (I’m assuming your son must be at least 6/12 months for you to be back at work, so to have had children by this stage is fairly young for nowadays. You’ve not been in your careers that long so that’s another factor - at this stage 30k might feel quite reasonable. But in your forties and fifties it probably won’t. You say you were on 30k too pre children so tbh that (together with your low bills) seems not bad for a couples in their twenties. And presumably you could earn more but are only part time right now. Your family’s needs will change as you all get older and also you may want the stability of home ownership once your son is in school and you don’t want to risk moving, so of course then you’ll have the costs of maintaining a home too

I find these threads annoying and they just encourage showing off and jealousy.

It depends where you live, what you are used to and who your friends are.

Some would struggle to live on that per month (at the extreme end) and some would consider it rich. But, ultimately, so what?! If you are contented with what you have, fantastic. If not, you can aim to earn more. Simple really.,,,

Acci I'm 22

It's higher than the National average wage approximately what I earn and have always earn and like you OP I feel well off and am very happy with my lot. I did have to move away from my home town as it was too expensive but so has everyone I know. In the world of Ferrari's the man with a Lexus lives in poverty.

These threads are so bizarre. There's loads of them. I don't get it.

What’s the point of them?

Well maybe a roundabout dig at people who 'have children they can't afford and expect the tax payer to pay for them' ?

Anyway, it isn't a brag post. I think the message and clarification though, is that we are comfortable because we've chosen to have just 1 DC

^. ^. ^^.
Conclusion I came to when I read this.

You have ludicrously low travel expenses. DH’s season ticket to get to work costs £650 a month. Then car parking at the station every day. Plus we run two cars. Both need insurance, fuel, maintenance...

The average UK salary is around 28k but the median salary is lower, around 22k I believe as the high earners throw the average out.

And one in five people earn under £9.30 an hour which is the “living wage” outside of London.