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?

£15k is a huge percentage rise, if you were on anything less than £150k to start with, it's at least 10%, which is fabulous.

It equates to an extra £1,250 gross per month, or roughly £840 net. If you're £150 worse off, that means your bills have increased by £1,000 per month.

If you don't mind sharing how the £1,000 of increased costs break down, perhaps some of us here can help you suggest ways to reduce it, as that is an astronomical rise.

my wages have gone up a whole £4 a week thats going to go a long way

My husband was hoping to have had a pay rise (not had one for 4 years) but the bosses at the factory he works at said they can't afford to give anyone a rise (the bastards have all had brand-new cars though)

@AnyCakeButBattenburg

Same here.

Can't afford to pay us anything extra at all but both drive round in top of the range cars and have just had a five week long haul holiday.

And can't possibly shop anywhere other than Waitrose or marks and only the local farm shop for meat of course.

Not had a pay rise at all for three years now but I earn the most within the business.

Unfortunately some companies and bosses will always be the same

It equates to an extra £1,250 gross per month, or roughly £840 net.

surely it depends on tax bracket though? It could be less than £600 particularly if pension contributions have increased.

To be entirely fair op once one is earning at the 40% tax bracket, increases of a £1000 pa extrapolate to less than £50pcm after tax, pension, NI so I reckon £15k brings in about £700 pcm. Has been the case forever.

I recall in 1984ish getting a £1500 increase on £8k and my mortgage interest rates, bills, etc cancelled it out. I was very very lucky otherwise I'd have been skint.

Since 2018 I've twice blown my annual allowance vis a vis pension. In 2018 I had some offsets and the total bill came to £7k which the pension provider picked up and I'll lose about £50 in pension pcm. However I still get a hugely increased pension and my salary increased by £1k pcm.

The next time round I took a much bigger hit but will still be better off overall.

It's not new op. Try to keep your glass half full.

Not sure how much you are paying in rent, but if your utilities have increased by around £500 per month then maybe try turning something off occasionally?! Even assuming you're paying HR tax, your take-home pay will have likely increased by nearly £1k per month, so the extra money gives you more choices, such as moving to a cheaper area to maximise home and minimise outgoings.

Even assuming you're paying HR tax, your take-home pay will have likely increased by nearly £1k per month,

No it won't

This thread is not true. Rent and bills have not gone up by £1000 a month unless the OP used to live with her parents and now lives by herself in which case of course her rent and bills have gone up.

Sorry, who do you think is kicking you personally in the teeth?

Inflation affects everyone even the "hard-working" people with qualifications. As the person receiving a fifteen thousand pound arise you are the lucky one.

If you cant see that then that's your issue.

I think lots of posters are deliberately missing the point.

£15k is a fantastic payrise as the OP is aware.

But if someone getting £15k gross a year more than before is still worse off due to the cost of living increases, what the fuck does that say about how broken this country is? A £15k payrise should mean you're able to save more or have a higher standard of living. The fact it doesn't tells us how bad things are right now.

Millions of people are going to be truly in the deep end, not everyone is lucky enough to get £15k payrises.

And I can well believe costs are going up by hundreds overall. The huge increase in utility prices is well known. My friends rent has just been hiked 20%. Food prices are up. Council tax is up. Petrol is up. All these can easily add up to a £500+ a month increase in costs.

So you're right OP, it's a complete shitshow and it's very sad that what should be good news for you doesn't actually change your situation.

But you are better off than no payrise though, you are very lucky.

Yes it will. "Likely" .

In most cases that statement is valid. That is how our payroll legislation works.

@Lockheart it's bonkers. My wages have gone up because NMW has. So an extra grand a year. Yay

Saw a job advertised a while ago, clicked on it and they were paying about 17.5k a year and I thought who the fuck can live on that
I can't find a job for myself that pays more than 26k and I don't think that's asking a lot considering the price of everything now

The entitlement of whingeing about an extra fifteen thousands pounds salary plus the extra employer pension contributions that will be paid on top of that which mean it's worth even more.

Shes not whinging. She's making the very salient point that the price rises are out of control.

In any world that made sense a £15k payrise would mean you're better off. It's the mad cost of living that means it isn't, and that will leave millions of people in the shit.

Have you moved to a much more expensive area? I don’t think it shows that it’s not worth working and striving as much as it shows how many people’s finances are fucked by the cost of living rise.

@cornflakedreams in what cases?

earn 30k take home 2k a month
earn 45k take home 2.8k a month
earn 60k take home 3.6k a month
earn 75k take home 4.3k a month

& that's excluding pension which will increase as you earn more.

The entitlement of whingeing about an extra fifteen thousands pounds salary plus the extra employer pension contributions that will be paid on top of that which mean it's worth even more.

Why is it entitled? Is there a cut off when you are allowed to "whinge"?

I’ve got a huge pay rise it won’t cover the rise in the cost of living. But I’m better placed to deal with it.

But the OP is working harder and taking more responsibility and has nothing to show for it. Obviously they'd be in a worse position without the pay rise but there is something wrong in the world when you take on a more senior role with a big pay rise but still find yourself paddling to stay afloat financially

I actually earned £50 extra this month with O/T and thanks to NI increase I took home a whole £1.00 more net.

Big whoo

Not doing ot again.

This is also excluding student loan repayments, which have also seen the repayment rates increased this year...

good point

Well done you.

Meanwhile, countless are facing the same cost of living increases without a 15k bump.