To be gobsmacked about my salary increase

[Clementinemist]

I started a new job a month ago, which came with a £15k payrise. 'Lucky me!' I thought when I was offered the role. It should have meant a bit more more disposable income. But in reality my disposable income has now actually decreased by £150 a month, mostly due to recent rent and bill increases.

Just wow.

I'm well qualified and experienced in my profession, and worked really hard for this role. It's quite senior too with more responsibility than my last job. Yes, I'd have been even worse off financially if I was still in my old job, but still a kick in the teeth. The concept of career and life progression now seems to be dead?

This. Surely you can see that your rent has nothing at all to do with your salary?

No one should work their backside off to get a promotion which involves increased responsibility and end up worse off financially. It's not right and it's not fair.

But the OP's rent and utilities would have increased even if she hadn't got the promotion. They haven't gone up simply because she got the promotion.

I know, this is just how I feel. Life just seems an endless grind to stay out of debt, keep food on the table, and a roof over my head. Feels like anything positive you try to do to improve your situation is quickly cancelled out and you get dragged back into the same cycle.

15000pa increase is about a £1000 increase in your take home pay, so your rent and bills have gone up £1150 in the month you got your payrise?

this.

how much have your bills gone up?

The whole system seems broken, I'm worried about the political fallout because it is only a matter of time until people get really angry, surely?

You were lucky to have the payrise, but it has revealed the broken system.

Those without payrises are fucked!

This is illogical. Your pay ris not intrinsically linked to your rent. Or your bills.

how can you possibly think it means career progression is dead?

strangest thing I’ve read in a while.

@GiltEdges my pension contributions increased and the bands are set.

From what I understood, OP is not claiming her payrise is intrinsically linked to rent and bill increases...

She's saying rent, bills and cost of living in general have gone up so much that even though she's worked hard to get a huge pay rise, she's not actually "better off" - not able to afford a better standard of living. Of course if she stayed on the same pay she was on before, she'd be even worse off, which OP acknowledged in her previous post. It's still shit though.

@GiltEdges my 2021 take home was higher than what i'm earning now (only had a small pay rise). I think I will be better off when the NI changes again in the summer

With the increase in costs in general try and workout what you’d have left over with your old salary and current costs. Thats the only way to make yourself feel better.

I haven't had a pay rise and my bills have all gone up. I'm pretty screwed!

Imagine how much worse off you'd be without the pay rise

@Clementinemist

Ignore the posters being shitty.

It's all irrelevant really because wages go up but not enough to cover the increase in pretty much everything else and it's shit.

Just when you think yay a bit more to have spare or to save or whatever but it gets swallowed up instantly.

I haven't had an increase in wages this year which is shite and I've had to take a second job or I can't afford to do bugger all apart from scrape by where by three years ago I had a lot more disposable income left each month

It makes you frustrated and bitter but unlike the shitty mumsnetters on your thread tonight I don't begrudge anyone that is only working one job or getting a pay increase.

I mean, costs are rising and there’s a lot of variation in income and outgoings, sure.

But last year I year made it through on 13k. Just sayin’.

I preferred parish. For a moment there I wondered if it was something I could get 😂

Can you say more about this? I don’t understand.

YABU. Bit of a stealth boast?

But then imagine the position of you hadn’t of got a pay rise………. You’d be like the rest of us, still on the same wage but bills have gone up astronomically

My 3% payrise was completely swallowed up by my increased NI contributions. Meaning I’m no better off after said payrise.

So that was nice…. 😐

OP - as you mention take home pay, Have you checked your new payslip and is your tax code correct? You say you joined a month ago, could you be on code 0T and that is why you are seeing so little extra/less?

I'm guessing the payrise has taken you over the 40% tax bracket maybe? And any student loan deductions or something?

A £15K payrise should give you £850 extra take-home, so if you are then £150 down that means your outgoings have gone up £1000 per month?!
If you only started the job a month ago, are you sure your last pay was a full month of the new salary pay? Perhaps it wasn't a full month. Or perhaps your tax code is wrong. Otherwise, something has really gone wrong with your new outgoings!

I don't think it should be a race to the bottom. I don't know what your finances are but I'm not sure if you meant a 15k payrise or a 1.5k payrise. If the former you need to sit down with an excel spreadsheet and work some things out.

I think people are being harsh with you. You clearly have worked hard to get to senior role and part of that perk should be extra money in your pocket at the end of the month.

I don’t think it’s irrelevant what the figures/OP’s situation is. If a £15,000 pay rise has been entirely swallowed up by bills and rent and tax, then either they’re already on great pay and pushed into a high tax bracket (like over £100K) or their rent & bills increase is astronomical due to moving to a bigger place.

It’s not “everything stayed the same with my life but I’m poorer now”. The OP’s statement was “The concept of career and life progression now seems to be dead?” but that’s a bit ridiculous in this scenario.