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.

I suppose if you worry about money and that you won't have enough for the things you believe you need, then you wont t feel comfortable. It explains why people on all levels of income beyond what is needed for survival, can still feel they are not comfortable....because they worry about money.

I've known people who have incomes well over £300k per year feel worried and not comfortable. They have spent and borrowed and invested and things didn't work out quite how they thought, or a client didn't pay up on time and they worried about paying for things that were part of their life, like the children's school fees or the next mortgage payment. They worried about having to say 'no' to their child who was coming up to 17 and expected a new car like their brother had received 2 years previously. They absolutley didn't feel comfortable.

And then like the previous poster who had an upbringing of financial worry about the electricity meter running out of credit and being plunged into darkness, I've known people who feel comfortable with their bills paid at the end of the end of the month, would never have a credit card and having £1k in the bank as back-up feel rich as kings and feel totally unburdened.

Nah. We're on a combined monthly take home income of £5300 and I still feel skint! I must be super crap with money!

We have similar, but live in a cheaper area (North East Wales). It's all okay financially,
I would say we couldn't do private education, or expensive hobbies (such as ponies), or fancy home renovations (still got kitchens and bathrooms from previous property owners, and we have been in our house 15 years). We also have two DC, and the additional childcare that entails. We are comfortable though. We cut our cloth accordingly. We do have savings. If we replace car it is done with savings rather than mortgage.

We're not flash in any way, so this helps.

WombatChocolate Excellent post.

This thread shows me that beyond basic necessities, feeling comfortable is often a state of mind. To me, that's anything but 'meh' because peace of mind is pretty priceless. Loads with far in excess of £69k say they couldn't feel comfortable with it and need far more. Others talk of similar amounts and life being a constant grind.

I don't think you need a set level of luxuries to feel comfortable and not 'meh' .....being comfortable and satisfied in itself is well beyond 'meh' and lack of feeling satisfied seems to be at the root of much of our problems.

Totally agree OP. We have a smaller combined household income and feel totally fine. I grew up in a wealthy family soit's not like I haven't seen the other side. Luxury holidays in Maldives are lovely, but a holiday that costs a fraction of that in Greece is not that dissimilar! We will most likely have a higher income when kids are older but honestly I think it comes down to whether you have very expensive hobbies/clothes/private schooling. If you do, you can waste spend an awful lot. But really a nice £35 dress from next is great, you don't really need to spend £350.....

It's a great amount of money.

A lot of people over spend and can't keep up the lifestyle they have set themselves on having.

If you're sensible it's more than ample

I have a comfortable lifestyle, I would not be able to live as I do on that amount of money.

@BathedInLavender I think its all subjective.

With 1 child, pre-school, you will have some relatively low childcare costs, he won't make a massive dent in your food shopping and whilst there are some activities to pay for, probably not huge.

We're in an expensive "bubble" already mentioned here (albeit not London) so have high housing costs. Also we have 3 children (obviously our choice except 2 of them are twins - we obviously had no say in that !) who are all now teenagers. As someone else has already said, teenagers are dustbins (you will not believe how much food they get through) and clothes / uniform / allowance etc are all massive. They all play at least 2 x competitive sports and we have all the expense that goes with that (think going up 1 size means new football boots / trainers / hockey shoes / school shoes etc every time!). Days out are often charged at 5 x adult prices (aged 12+), factor in expensive school trips, driving lessons, more toiletries than Boots and you can see how it all adds up.

Its funny too that you mention £60k. Its probably far too early for you to think about but if you earn £60k and you child goes to university, you're expected provide about £4.5k per child per year towards their student maintenance loan. Given that we'll potentially have twins going at once, and then a third child joining in, we're looking at potentially £13.5k a year for at least one 3, £9k a year for 2 years.

So, like I say, its all subjective - what your expectations are, how big your family is, what stage of life you're at - when you factor in having 2 or 3 children, and saving for future expenses, you can see how quickly a "comfortable" salary can become less comfortable.

The southeast has a lot of variation just like there is within London. Day nurseries could charge £50 or £90 a day or anything in between. Pp have pointed out what £900pcm housing cost would get you in their southeast hood.... not much. Each family has its own unique finances... different amounts of equity in their houses, defined benefit or contributory pensions, family to help with childcare or not. We all spend on our children, pursue different interests, enjoy different types of travel/holidays... higher outgoings does not necessarily imply the family is more materialistic either. You might more expensive childcare to cover certain working shifts, or private schooling due to specific needs, family members that you support etc. So I'm not sure if there's much point stating an arbitrary figure of 60k as comfortable or not for anyone in SE england.

I agree with what’s been said about comfortable meaning ‘not having to continually question ‘can I afford it?’’.

I think everything is so variable and impossible to compare, BUT I do think a more meaningful rule-of-thumb comparable income would be post-tax, post-housing, post-childcare costs. You’d still see a lot of variability and challenges comparing (eg someone might report a lower figure here because they’ve recently really stretched for a mortgage on a big property; it doesn’t reflect where you were 3 years ago or where you are likely to be in 3 years’ time), but I think it’s probably more meaningful and useable as a comparison.

(FWIW: take-home monthly income £3400pm in London, less housing and childcare costs is £800pm. I’m on the stretched side of comfortable - will feel mentally better once my credit cards are paid off in a couple of years and I can start to save a bit. But I absolutely do recognise it’s a good, fortunate, income!)

I think that's absolutely fine, we'd save £1300 per month on that. Then again we have one old car, a small flat and don't spend money on pointless bollox.

Agree it all comes down to what you pay for housing and childcare. Also transport (car loans etc) is a big cost for some.
For us (SE) with two young kids not at school yet, we wouldn't be able to get by on that salary.

Comfortable means different things to different people. I'd consider 200k comfortable.

Even if you're spending 2k on the house cost and childcare, that's 1800 for everything else.
There was a time when my total nursery cost was £3K, and that was with below average fees.

I'd consider 200k comfortable

Bloody hell

I earn about that and I feel ok, not 'comfortable' as I don't know if it will last, eg I might get ill health or mortgage rates might rocket.

I also don't really have a pension (other than my modest house).

I feel like 'comfortable' is really actually quite rich - much richer than me, with passive incomes etc.

That’s a high take home pay but then you are both under the 40k tax I guess

I earn that as a single parent and it’s plenty .
I’m very frugal though , always hunt for bargains and overpay my small mortgage .

Agree people seem to fritter so much money

In Ireland and yes would see it as very comfortable but only depending on where you live. We live in the country and I know people in Dublin pay double what we used to pay in rent and then there's childcare. Lovely that you're happy out!

People always seem to increase their outgoings with their salary, then panic when shit hits the fan, as that higher salary may not be sustainable. Our spending hasn't gone up even though our combined salary has gone up by 50% over the past few years. We would rather live in a smaller house/shitter area than get a big mortgage. You never know what is around the corner, and I'd rather have savings for when there is an inevitable job loss/illness/car breakdown/mental breakdown.

Someone mentioned buying a £35 dress instead of a £350 one.....I wouldn't even buy that, I'd buy a £3.50 one from the charity shop.

Not having to ask 'can I afford it' is so important to feeling comfortable.

If the norm for yourself or for your circle of friends is a £10k ski holiday each Feb half term, your might have to ask the Q in the first place, even on a £150k income and it might be that some years the answer is 'no' which leaves you feeling less than comfortable.

However, if the £250 week which covers everything for camping and all activities is within easy reach on an income of £35k and it's what pleases you and gives you pleasure, you might not need to even consider if it's affordable or face a possible 'no' answer.

I've known some pretty wealthy people who genuinely hold 'lightly' to both their money and their lifestyles. They've enjoyed some fabulous holidays and they've had some amazing houses and spent big on education and family and charity. And I do believe that if it all went tits up, they really could be happy again in a 3 bed semi, with a camping trip once a year. They've enjoyed their wealth, but it isn't what makes them happy or defines them or gives them their self-worth and crucially they are very flexible and adaptable and can make the best out if any situation. Perhaps I'm naieve in saying this, but I believe not being too attached to certain material ideas or lifestyle choices makes a big difference. These things are great to have if you can, but once they feel essential, they have a hold on you and can remove the joy of simpler things.

So lots of people think they MUST live in London and couldn't work anywhere else....but they could with some lifestyle changes. Or they think they must have 4 bedrooms and the income needed to fund them...but they could live in a 3 bed house and be fine. Or they think their children couldn't attend a state school or the local state school.....but they could in reality. There really are usually more options available than we think and the things which seem fixed and rigid often aren't. But again it's a mindset and sense of what we can feel happy and comfortable with and what is essential and what probably just doesn't matter. Of course there are minimum numbers for everything and a certain level of income is needed to cover those....but beyond that,not here is much flexibility in my view.

Like all the pointless comparison threads on here, it’s entirely subjective.

60 grand is great if you’re getting by on 30 grand or 20 grand. It’s disappointing if you’re bringing in 100k.

Is it comfortable? If you’re comfortable with it.

What’s comfortable to one person might not be to the next. Someone could be on 100k with ridiculous expenses coming out each month.

It all depends on outgoings really so if you have enough disposable income at the end of each month then you’re definitely in a comfortable position.

1800 for everything else?
My entire monthly take home pay is nowhere near that!