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.

OP - I earn a lot! ( think above 300K per annum)
However, as one of my best friends who earns a tenth of what I do said - designer income with second hand shopping, whilst she is designer tastes on bones of the arse income!

Whilst, I am not a second hand shopper, I do not waste my monies, I budget, look for bargains and do not buy loads of clothes, drive an average car, have no cleaner ( seriously!) in a small terraced house I do not need it, I am a single Mum who has worked her arse off and brought up 2 DCS with a dead beat absent father. I did not always earn this ( last few years) and I learned to not waste monies in the early years. A habit I can not shake even now.

Well off is a relative thing - if you feel well off then you are - it is as much a state of mind as it is the actual number once you are over a certain amount. i stated to feel safe when I hit 40K and after that I started working out how long I could last if made redundant and saved for a years worth of salary.

Enjoy your contentment and ignore the Mehs aound here - 60K is a lot of monies even in London, all depends what you want out of life.

I agree with you OP, being able to buy food, a few treats, have a holiday and have money aside for emergencies without having to worry about money certainly counts as being comfortable to me. Anything above that I’d class as privileged/wealthy. But some people have very skewed ideas of money and don’t cut their cloth accordingly. I feel comfortable on just over £45k in London, and have saved to buy a flat on that salary, but I’m single and live alone which makes a difference

You’re right Op. We are also in the SE - (decent part of Kent, 20 mins from Folkestone), with a combined income of just under 50K. Our mortgage is £336 a month (and that’s an overpayment each month). How anyone thinks its ‘meh’ is beyond me.

I'd be living like a king on just the £30k, never mind £60k.

There's a really strange attitude to money on here. You see people who have multiple cars, big house, kids in private school then trying to claim they are poorly off, despite having much more than most people.
Your situation sounds very comfortable to me.

We are within the m25 and we would not be able to afford our lifestyle on that.
Family of 5. We have one holiday abroad a year, nice cars, own home, and nice things, Property prices are huge here, as we all know.

I’m curious what you rent for £900 per month?
2 bed flats in my area of south east are £1200.

We live on less than half of that, although that’s out of choice as I’m a sahm but could be earning 30+k if I went back full time.
We can’t save an awful lot at the moment but we get by and are very happy so I’d say 60k would be very very comfortable for us. But I live in Scotland so it’s probably much cheaper here, our rent is £600 and we don’t pay any nursery fees

I am assuming your children are still little? Wait until they are food guzzling teens who need adult sized shoes and clothes, school trips that are ££, school diner money of £3 a day, activities that cost more than £2 soft play!, thier own cheap mobile contract - ok only an extra £10 but it all adds up especially if 2-3 kids. School uniform is £200-300 PER child, lots of it has a logo and has to be specific so you can’t buy a full school outfit for £10 from Asda!
It soon all adds up, having small children was cheap as chips! (After the initial buggy and cost buying)

I think as long as you are saving for rainy days and putting money into pensions then it’s alright. If you don’t have these and can’t afford them then you need to budget.

@BrieAndChilli

I am assuming your children are still little? Wait until they are food guzzling teens who need adult sized shoes and clothes, school trips that are ££, school diner money of £3 a day, activities that cost more than £2 soft play!, thier own cheap mobile contract - ok only an extra £10 but it all adds up especially if 2-3 kids. School uniform is £200-300 PER child, lots of it has a logo and has to be specific so you can’t buy a full school outfit for £10 from Asda! It soon all adds up, having small children was cheap as chips! (After the initial buggy and cost buying)

But you wouldn't need childcare costs, doesn't it equal out?

I am glad you are managing well .However comparing yourselves to other people who seem "worse off" is somewhat disingenous and misleading .Some people will tend to go for a nice detached house ,private Schooling ,2 cars and so on .Others will be happy with a comfortable flat or terraced home and State Schooling .Obviously its horses for courses .Many people on good salaries "live up "to what they have coming in ,while others on lower salaries who are more prudent make their money go farther but have less treats eating out only rarely and buying second hand clothes for example

Brie I spend a fortune on DC. Unnecessary obviously, but even so. So I don't think it'll be that much of a shock. He even does private swim lessons (he's suspect ASD and it's one thing he loves). He is an only child though, so it's not like we spend double or triple because of other DC

Our mortgage is £336 a month
I can’t see how your total mortgage can be more than about 50-70k. So assuming you own the majority of your house. If you’d been saving £336 a month then it would have taken you 1000 months to buy a £336k house (which I assume is realistic of a small family home in Kent?) OR you bought decades ago?

You’ve got to know £336 isn’t a realistic mortgage repayment for most 25-45 year olds in Kent?

At the minute were on 14k per year. In two years when I have finished at uni and got a higher paid job, that will be 41k per year. At the minute after bills we have 50 pounds per week to live on
The idea of having that much disppsable income in a few years is quite frankly rather scary. So yes a combined income of 60k is very comfortable in my view. However I am from the NE so its very different from living in the SE xxxxxx

@BritneyS. I’m 56.

I would say your situation sounds comfortable to me. It is all relative however, 60k doesn't stretch as far if you have more than two kids, do private school, have top of the range cars, kids do every activity under the sun, you only wear designer clothes, have a large mortgage and expensive bills or debts. Some people will say having a cleaner is a luxury whereas for others they consider it a necessity but might have to budget accordingly.

We have a take home of 70k before tax and we are in my mind comfortable as I can handle unexpected expenses that may pop up. Maybe not as comfortable as you as I wouldn't food shop in m&s etc but have enough disposable income to have treats onve all the essentials are paid for. I think I am preprogrammed to budget because my parents had to when I was growing up. We are by no means rich, couldn't afford to give up work anytime soon but live comfortably within our means.

I’m not sure we could live comfortably on that with our current setup. It’s certainly enough to live on, but plenty of families live on a lot more (and a lot less). I guess it’s all relative, the more you earn, the more you’re likely to be paying out on mortgage etc. And the more DC you have the more expensive it gets too.

We are on less than that, probably shy of £50k, live in London (zone 2) and I feel like we are pretty fortunate.

We cut our cloth - we have one fairly knackered old car and have camping holidays or air bnb in France with friends, don't spend a lot on new clothes (for ethical reasons as much as anything) and we don't put a lot in pensions - but we don't feel like we are struggling or need to deny ourselves much.

@Whydidimarryhim in our bit of the southeast £900 would get you a 2-bedroom flat, but it would be shitty. Small, run down, neglected area with abysmal schools and a massive drug and vandalism problem. Plus you need a bus or car to get into town (so additional money spend on commuting - bus pass is £50 per month, and they don’t go very often), and need to rent a garage for your car if you don’t want it keyed and windows broken regularly.

We're on about 60k pre-tax joint income too OP (also South East). We're mostly comfortable but not rolling in it. We both have to run a car for work, and we have 2 DDs to cover childcare for in addition to the usual mortgage / bills.

I mean we never have to worry about paying the mortgage or utilities, but unexpected bills (like a new boiler, or a car repair bill) can throw us a bit. We're hoping to try and build up our savings a bit over the next year so unexpected bills don't throw us off as much. We do usually manage a holiday abroad each year though, and often a few days away each year on a UK caravan break as well. We definitely try to take advantage of discounts and offers to afford these things though.

It's beyond me how people manage to survive on minimum wage jobs around here.

@maddiemookins16mum I think perhaps the ‘meh’ comment may come from people who have a mortgage 3 or 4 times what yours is then?

OP perhaps you could be so kind as to offer a breakdown of how you can afford multiple holidays, a new car, private swimming lessons etc on 60k? You’re obviously very good at budgeting? I’d be genuinely interested and find it useful to see where I am “going wrong”?

This is exactly our combined income. DP 40k and me 20k. We live in the north east. I would say we are fine, we don't struggle but I wouldn't say we are well off though. Our combined bills for mortgage and other household bills are only £860 and we both own our cars outright. It sounds good on paper but I do wonder where our money goes sometimes! DP is buying a new car soon and won't get much for his old one so we will have less disposable income then.

time 900 gets you a 2 bed house in a fairly leafy area around here. 750 would get you the same but in the 'bad' part of the town

It's comfortable money but you can't be spending that much on ridiculous crap. Or you're buying quite cheap things and getting a lot for your money. Also you say you can afford to just go and pay for kids clubs, treats, etc but these must be fairly reasonable or infrequent.

I spend £2-2.5k a month easily just on food, kids clubs and myself and the dc's clothing and entertainment, presents etc. I could easily fritter away £1k more but rein myself in as it's just wasteful. If restricted to £1800 per month including everything I wouldn't imagine that would cover many wants but possibly all needs.

We go away multiple times a year, save a lot and eat out at least weekly. We don't have a cleaner as we don't want one and don't send our kids to private school because we prefer to save. We couldn't do any of those things earning 60k but of course it's a good household income and above the average.