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Original poster

What would your households annual income need to be for you to be happy/content?

125 replies

TheTortoiseWon · 18/02/2022 19:52

I'm coming in close to £150k. I don't believe this would make me truly much happier in life but it's what I would like

Savings, investments and pension - £50k
Bills and groceries - £12k
Holidays x 4 - £25k
School fees x 2 - £30k
Days out/dining out - £5k
Clothes, accessories, and beauty treatments - £12k

OP posts:
User76745333 · 18/02/2022 23:29

You would need a massive gross income to have a net income of £150k though OP due to loss of personal allowance, top rate tax etc. I haven’t put it through the salary calculator but probably close to £250k

User76745333 · 18/02/2022 23:32

Just checked. You’d need an income of £270k to get a net annual salary of 150l

StarsAndSugarlumps · 18/02/2022 23:37

For me … probably £40k-£60k
For DH … about £300k

AlmostAJillSandwich · 18/02/2022 23:39

Wow, and here i was, on £13k a year thinking £25k would be pretty darn good.

NeedAHoliday2021 · 18/02/2022 23:41

I don’t need that much money to make me content. Never wanted a massive house with lots of land - nice family home I can manage with a private garden and space to sit and watch dc run around/do cartwheels. Not bothered about fancy cars - happy with our 9 and 6 year old Fords. Nice holidays - that’s what we spend our spare money on, and theatre trips. Ambition to enjoy life rather than be rich.

Gettingthereslowly2020 · 18/02/2022 23:47

£35k annual gross household income would be amazing. I'd be able to afford a basic holiday each year and a few days out. I'd also be able to start saving for a car which would make life so much easier and open up career opportunities.

notangelinajolie · 18/02/2022 23:47

25k a year budget for holidays? I would be staying at home, tutoring the kids to get into a free grammar school, cutting back on the accessories, and saving for a villa in Barbados.

Wafflesnsniffles · 18/02/2022 23:51

Days out/dinning out 5k a year. Thats an enormous amount of money.

5k a year would buy me days out/dining, holidays, clothing and accessories and Id still have change.

There was a thread identical to this one about a month ago actually.

esloquehay · 18/02/2022 23:52

I'm pretty content with life and am on less than 20K. 🤷

IstayedForTheFeminism · 18/02/2022 23:53

@AlmostAJillSandwich

Wow, and here i was, on £13k a year thinking £25k would be pretty darn good.
Same Grin
IstayedForTheFeminism · 18/02/2022 23:54

@blueshoes

OP, You don't a mortgage in there. That is cheating.
Maybe OP is already mortgage free and therefore wouldn't need to include it in the budget Confused
Wiennetta · 19/02/2022 00:03

Massively depends on mortgage - which depends on eg where you live, how much space you need (how many kids?) - mortgage for most people is the single biggest outgoing.

Also, the more you earn the more you spend. You could be happy on a household income of 50k but then when you get a raise and to 100k you up your expenditure - you buy a bigger house, join a fancy gym and all the rest of it. Living on 50k then seems like a squeeze. It’s all relative.

MrsBaublesDylan · 19/02/2022 00:24

I would like a big lump sum of £150k and then I'd be happy to carry on as we are.

If someone could arrange that for me, I'd be very grateful Grin

Hellorhighwater · 19/02/2022 00:26

There is a researched figure at which ‘more’ stops making you happier. I think it was about 70k.

I’m self employed, so mine varies. Pre-covid. I had a 60k year, where I felt we wanted for nothing. Last year I made do with just over 12. It was less fun, sure, but we were fed and warm. I reckon if I was on 60k for long, my ‘wants’ would just creep up until I ‘needed’ 75k. Or 100k. I can’t (currently) imagine what I would spend more than £100k a year on, though. I’m not that into cars, beauty stuff or clothes, and you can’t travel much with kids in school. That 60k plus the mortgage paid off, saving for my retirement and DDs education looks pretty nice from here (ok, maybe a shiny car as well. And a new kitchen …)

BearOfEasttown · 19/02/2022 00:29

Just double what we need. So (obvs) if all our outgoings -including food, and gifts for everyone's birthdays/Christmas etc, and one holiday a year, and rent (or mortgage) and bills and car-running costs, and all clothes, and everything cost £25K a year, then £50K would do. So we are nice and comfortable!

blueshoes · 19/02/2022 00:33

Maybe OP is already mortgage free and therefore wouldn't need to include it in the budget

Jeez. No Shit Sherlock.

£150K may seem high but it will be much more than £150K that the OP needs if she had a mortgage is just want I am saying ...

Lunar27 · 19/02/2022 00:49

It's not what you earn so much as what you don't spend or waste IMO.

We live pretty lean and don't tend to waste much at all. Income is around £40-50k after tax and we never want for much at all nowadays.

Money definitely doesn't make you happy but coming from a poor background, it does relieve a lot of stress. When poor, all I thought about was how to stretch what I had and all decisions were a balance/compromise between various necessities. It's incredibly tiring but we were happy. We're still happy but a lot less stressed!

ClariceQuiff · 19/02/2022 01:09

It would have to be enough for me to retire after working for one year, so probably about £5M (before tax) 🤣

Otherwise I'm happy to pootle along on my average wage.

yoyo1234 · 19/02/2022 06:47

I think the budget was intrigueing, bills (which could include a mortgage only £1000 month appears very low, yet £25000 on holidays!).£50000 in savings a year if that is all in pensions (between 2 adults it would still allow for annual £40000 allowance) then tax would not be payable on it. Minimum gross annual income to allow for this budget I reckon would be circa £94000 per adult.

Alaimo · 19/02/2022 07:04

DH and I are on about £70k combined and are very content. Previously, we were on £50k, and before that £30k combined, and were content then too. I think the only time we struggled was when we had to live on a single £16k salary.

tygh787 · 19/02/2022 07:42

As most people said, your numbers don't account for tax etc plus mortgage. In London. I think most people assume that each earning 150k so household income of 300k is the necessary amount to have a nice middle class life in London. But most jobs don't pay that

Camomila · 19/02/2022 07:48

There is a researched figure at which ‘more’ stops making you happier. I think it was about 70k

That's interesting, I wonder if its area dependent. We're on 64k, 70k would be nice but it still might not get us a mortgage on a (standard 3 bed) house (yes, we're in the SE)

I'd be happy with 80-90k - then we could buy a house without changing DS1s lovely school.

hiraffe · 19/02/2022 07:48

Well the breakdown you have listed would require a much higher income than £150k to account for tax, NI etc.

yep

hiraffe · 19/02/2022 07:49

A lot will depend on age too & whether you want dc

hiraffe · 19/02/2022 07:50

There is a researched figure at which ‘more’ stops making you happier. I think it was about 70k

I often see this but surely it's an old statistic because house prices are now so out of whack it doesn't really make sense?