To think a combined salary of 60k is really comfortable?

[BathedInLavender]

OUTSIDE of London. But still in the South East. This isn't a conversation about London because that obviously won't go very far there full stop.

AIBU to think a combined salary of 60k is actually comfortable and not 'meh' at all.

DH earns 30k, I earn the same but I'm part time so it's less because of pro rata. We aren't struggling by any means. If I returned to FT we would have a lot more spare cash, and we have a fair bit now. We don't have cheap housing costs, £900per month just on that.

I spend a lot of money on ridiculous crap and we holiday every year with DC.

It's not bad money if you're not paying out for an excessive mortgage or rental costs, I'd say.

Fucking hell, some of these responses. Holidays, private school bla bla fuckity bla...

Me spending 45 quid on wrapping paper doesn't seem so bad now does it?!

I do hope all you high earners are giving at least half that money to charity. Because otherwise you're a twat who doesn't care about people who've had a hard year 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

To answer the OP. Yes 60 grand makes you comfortable. Makes you rolling in it in my book!

*That should say according to mumsnet you're a twat...

If you’ve been lucky enough to get on the property ladder when housing was more affordable then, yes, it’s probably fairly comfortable but if you’re one of the unlucky few whose had to pay 650k for a three bed terrace, with monthly repayments of 2k then it’s really not a lot of money at all.

On the property ladder - 3 bed semi w/garden and drive for 2 cars £115k in yorkshire

I think people have different definitions of 'comfortable'. Surely comfortable is having enough to eat, keep warm and clothed and have a stable and safe home. Almost everything else is a luxury, even if it doesn't feel like it! So yes, 60k is absolutely comfortable. People are listing huge expenditure, clothes, holidays, takeways and then saying they don't have much after that...well yeah.

Approx 7% of children are privately educated. MN has a skewed amount percentage wise of posters who say they educate independently.

An educated guess on where do you fit in which is a rough approximation on the institute of fiscal studies website puts you as 59% better off than the rest of the country. It is a blunt instrument but gives some idea. When both working DH and I were in top 10%, I am now retired very early on a decent pension and and we are in top 15%.

We are however not big spenders, we loathe shopping, buy stuff that lasts and he loves and is very good DIY. I’m also handy with a needle. In 20 years we have paid for two new bathrooms in the house, we have done everything else ourselves.

Having choices is what makes people comfortable.

Our real luck were investments doing very well between 15 and 20 years ago.

We don’t mix our money that’s a no no according to MN but I think that’s mainly because earnings are not equal very often. Being economically independent was my goal in life not marriage and children, I just happened to meet DH so that was a game changer.

Me and my husband both lost our jobs due to covid (Its a long complicated story unfortunately) - were now on universal credit and for me, DH and DS we recieve £1100 per month in total.
Luckily for us this is hopefully a temporary glitch - but obviously £60k per annum at the moment (to us) sounds like a lottery win!

You live within your means, right? Ten years ago we had a mortgage we could afford of £1200 - ish. Over the next few years always had 2 kids in full time time nursery which was £2k a month. Now we can afford a house for £3500 a month and no childcare costs. These days we save more and have more disposable income but you basically just cut your cloth accordingly regardless of where you are and what you earn.

Here it would be a great household income. But i do like in a cheap area.

We live in South West, work full time earn £60k and take home £3360 and obviously can't claim £180 child benefit.

No we could no live on my salary with a mortgage, bills, loans, etc. On two salaries (dh self employed but earns aprox £1.5k and 3 kids, we manage to have a nice life e.g cheap holidays, a meal out a month, day trips and diy / clothes etc.

But if we lived on my salary we would not afford all the bills and food costs

Totally depends on your outgoings as to whether it’s comfortable doesn’t it. We earn a bit more than that but could easily be comfortable on that - I’d say we’re really comfortable. But we have a low mortgage (£500 per month) as used to earn more and paid it mostly off previously and I can’t say I ever really spend money on clothes / house stuff etc - it’s not something I’m bothered by and after school care is only £2.50 per half hour.

We do holiday really well - USA most years - and eat out weekly / don’t think about supermarket costs etc.

It all depends on what you want - if you want loads it won’t seem much - if you’re really happy without stuff and have low costs it will be comfortable.

Jesus, that would be more than comfortable round here. It seems like millions to me after growing up with a single parent on a 12k annual income!

I can't believe how long this thread has been going on for, I've been watching it for awhile 🤣
I agree that everyones definition of comfortable is different. Generally the more you earn the more you spend, you may have bigger mortgage/rent as you can afford more, an expensive car as again its affordable with higher salary. Its all relative.

We would be rolling in it with that amount!!

What does everyone consider as comfortable? For me being comfortable means that you have enough to cover all bills with plenty left over. I would also consider being comfortable means you don't need to worry about money, some people are comfortable because they are sensible, budget and save. 😁

These thread usually attracts a combo of "are you tone-deaf, that's plenty" & "we couldn't possibly survive on that".

Personally I think it's very dependent on age & location.
Older &/or mortgage free or tiny mortgage, with teenagers I would agree that 60k is comfortable.
In your 30s & renting or only recently on the ladder with small dc & paying pensions, maybe student loans & perhaps childcare no it's not enough.

What does everyone consider as comfortable?

To me it means having enough savings to provide a comfortable ‘cushion’, private health insurance, life insurance, money left over after paying all the bills and adding to your savings account each month.

Also having a long term plan of when you’re able to pay off your mortgage and retire!

We’re on 134k jointly and honestly, it’s not that comfortable.

Is that because of childcare costs?

We earn more than OP but have only started to feel more comfortable now childcare has massively reduced. We are building up our savings for the next yr & then will feel comfortable.

I am good with money, but you must be outstanding. Well done.

We live in the HC

We both retire in two years, our income post tax (no NI) will be circa £3 k no mortgage, and we are a bit eep about it. I am eight years younger so my state pension wont kick in for nine years after we retire, so I will be a kept woman.

We will have a large savings pot behind us, but will be trying not to use that.

I agree that affording school fees shouldn't not be a benchmark of comfortability. They are a luxury & you would need to earn 70k just to cover the cost for 2dc in most cases.

We are currently just over £50k between us in Wales with a mortgage cost of under £600, £800 nursery costs a month for two children and two cars to run (my commute is 80 miles return a day so quite a lot goes on diesel). I would say we're more than comfortable currently and will be in about £57k in the new year with job changes so £60k is positivity wealthy for me!

We're quite boring though - don't have any hobbies, our children don't do clubs as they're still young, we don't drink/smoke/eat takeaways and our food bill is quite low as we're not big eaters. In non covid times we spend a lot of disposable income on holidays and days out with extended family.

We currently have a post tax income of £5,200 so it will be a large drop, but we are not big spenders and save about £1,000 a month which we will spend as we go if needs be as large pot is our back up.

It’s depends on circumstances- I earn 26k husband 42k currently trying to buy a bigger home in the south east but struggling to save with mortgage, childcare costs, debt left over from wedding etc

Yes £60k is enough to live comfortably. We are on above that, but having grown up with very little money we make decisions to take into account scenarios such as one of us losing our job etc- might sound boring and negative to some but it works for us. So our mortgage was about half of what it could be, we compromised on some stuff but it has everything we need and is big enough for us and in a location we like.