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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
BulletTrain · 19/02/2022 07:52

£75k. We're not far off now. That would enable me to add more to my pension. We do have backup savings for when, for example, a storm destroys our fence and garden...

Vampirethriller · 19/02/2022 07:53

I'm living on £4224 a year at the moment. £10,000 a year would solve a huge amount of my problems. I could live happily on that, in the flat I'm in now, in this area, for a long time.
Of course more would be nice. But that's what I need.

FindingMeno · 19/02/2022 07:54

Depends on my outgoings.

Lostinafjord · 19/02/2022 07:57

20k
But no mortgage or children here.

Onionpatch · 19/02/2022 07:58

Our household income is enough for us. To have an impact on our quality of life we would need to have less stress and more time with the same money.
My husbands job makes him unhappy so our quality of life would improve if he could earn the same but work 3 days a week (same as me). Then we could share caring for my son with special needs a bit more.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 19/02/2022 08:05

Dickens had it right
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six , result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery
Personally I'm happy as we have a bit left over each month and I'm old enough not to worry about things I can't afford.

Mummadeze · 19/02/2022 08:05

It’s weird, no matter how much I earn, I run out of money half way through the month. I wish I could understand how to manage on the low salaries people say they are happy on. I feel embarrassed that I can’t manage on mine which is pretty high.

GeodesicDome · 19/02/2022 08:06

No amount of money will make a discontented person contented.

You can be contented right now, OP, no matter what your income.

Contentedness is a state of mind.

Vasectomyreversalhopeful · 19/02/2022 08:09

For me it isn't salary itself per se that makes me content. It is amount in savings. So at the moment I am a bit anxious about money as we just bought a house and therefore used up our savings. By the end of this year I will feel content again if all goes to plan.

NandorTheRelentlessCleaner · 19/02/2022 08:10

I once had this chat with a friend, who was impatient for her self employed husband to get £5 million in the bank

She said that was the magic number for her to be able to feel relaxed about money

I remember thinking that for me it would be a lot less Grin

But, like OP, she wanted the 4 expensive holidays a year and private school

I’d love a bit more spending money, but actually think that if he’d have a joint income of £50k I’d feel very well off already Grin

blanketyblanked · 19/02/2022 08:11

40k

Sofiegiraffe · 19/02/2022 08:13

Ours is around 80k and we were absolutely happy and more than comfortable prior to needing FT childcare fees. Now we are much tighter each month, but still content, because we have our baby. It's not just about the money for us.

Sofiegiraffe · 19/02/2022 08:14

@GeodesicDome

No amount of money will make a discontented person contented.

You can be contented right now, OP, no matter what your income.

Contentedness is a state of mind.

This

FilthyforFirth · 19/02/2022 08:16

Well DH earns £50k and I earn just over £40k. I reckon if I was to also be on £50k then we would be pretty content. Luckily this is likely within the next 5 years or so. Though there will be less need as in 5 years time I will be done with nursery fees and more of the mortgage will be paid off. I am always moaning to DH that it is sods law that you have to pay the most out when you are poorest!

Ponoka7 · 19/02/2022 08:18

Without being greedy £30k a year would do me. I'm mortgage free. I'd like £40k just so I could treat the family. I play the lottery set for life, £10k a month. I'd spend a third, save a third and give a third out to my adult children.

Xenia · 19/02/2022 08:21

The thing that makes me happiest is I never seem to be ill and always seem quite happy. I am not sure I can put a price on any of that.
For me it is simply whether I can pay the bills and have a bit over that included 5 sets of school fees (presently the twins cost me £50k including higher education fees) and at one point my mortgage was £90,000 a year interest only. Full time childcare was pretty high too with 3 children under 4 and we both always worked full time.

I have worked for myself since 1994 so i eat what I kill in effect and earnings directly correspond to how much work I put in. At the moment I could earn more if I worked harder but I am happy with the balance. I will probably be free of supporting children in about two years' time.

Charles Dickens in one of his books correctly said if you earn more than you spend - happiness and if you spend more than you earn - misery (whatever the income level).

tiredanddangerous · 19/02/2022 08:23

Having money really doesn't make you happy or take all your worries away. We have a decent income but still have plenty to keep us awake at night!

hiraffe · 19/02/2022 08:24

Having money really doesn't make you happy or take all your worries away.

I certainly find it helps!

Onionpatch · 19/02/2022 08:24

Well my state of mind is a lot more content when I am safe, warm and not hungry.
But i agree that happiness and income dont correlate very well after a certain point.

misspercy · 19/02/2022 08:28

Sure, give me £150k a year and I think I could be pretty content.

PS Is this free money or would I have to work for it? And if I had to work for it, what would the hours be like? Because I feel pretty crushed by the hours I'm currently on for less money.

Rainydaize · 19/02/2022 08:31

A lump sum to pay off our mortgage and then enough per year to pay for school fees for 2 dc.

Bagelsandbrie · 19/02/2022 08:34

Hmm I currently have the least income I’ve ever had in my life and the most debt but I’m the most content I’ve ever been. I think the people you surround yourself with - or not- are the root or whether you’re happy or not.

TracyMosby · 19/02/2022 08:38

Contentedness is a state of mind.
Nonsense. Bills are going up. Some items of food have gone up 50%. My favourite crisps have been out of stock for two weeks in my local shop, Ive been in asking and the assistant said they're having trouble getting crisp deliveries atm, and were back in yesterday 100% more expensive. Energy bills are going up. Petrol is ridiculous. Mobile phone bills / tv subscriptions. Everything is going up.

People who were happy last year could very, very easily be struggling with the amount they earn this year and next. That’s nothing to do with contentment being a state of mind. Thats to do with the state we are in.

SkankingMopoke · 19/02/2022 08:40

For us, we were happy with just over half that OP (with a mortgage). Not rich, but comfortable: able to afford odd meals/days out, an annual European holiday plus a few weekend camping trips, put away some in savings and pension, not stress if something broke etc. We don't have fancy cars and our house is pretty average, but TBH we don't crave the prestigious stuff. Recent price rises have squeezed all that, and although we can still afford the essentials without strain (for now!), we are noticeably needing to plan and prune the fun stuff now. An additional £500/month net would see us back to where we were.

Boombastic22 · 19/02/2022 08:41

Some cheap school fees in the OP Grin

And those saying around £15k you also need to factor other benefits etc.

Depends on part of the country - I’d need over £200k round here for proper life of luxury.

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