To not want a career?

[Holl90]

Anybody else feel the same? I’m happy as I am in my job and don’t really want to progress or want a career? I feel like I should want it though?

It should be funny that you can be poor on £30k.

Its not for the women who are renting really quite ordinary 2 bed flats for £1000+ a month, paying £500-1000 a month in childcare and eating noodles despite being on £30k. There are many thousands of single mums in that position. By the sounds of things we should give them all tickets North.

Is it really that much cheaper up there? DS wanted to rent in Liverpool and it wasn’t exactly bargain basement level rents considering. (He went into postgrad halls in the end). Is it much cheaper outside cities?

I seriously wonder if there will be a big migration north of tenants soon.

OK. That's not what you said though. You said under £30k is poverty.

Well I was trying to avoid saying all of that. But yeah. 😂 It is a thing we see so much at work.

Now I’m falling down a rightmove rabbit hole of “rents up north”. I’ve completely dragged myself off the point.

Just have a plan for if he runs off with a yoga teacher, OP. It’s all I’m trying to say.

So when deciding whether to improve, maintain or drop your PERSONAL earning capacity, it is worth doing these sums of “what if he turns into a bastard, cheats or dies?”, “what if I have to rent?”, “what if I have to cover all bills for me and D.C. and contribute to a pension?”

Stop back-pedalling - that's not what you said at all.

You said "Sub £30k only works if someone else is paying for you. Otherwise it means poverty."

Which is clearly NOT always the case.

Well admittedly I’m probably so deep in southern costs and norms that I can’t quite credit that some places are still affordable…

Is it really that much cheaper up there? DS wanted to rent in Liverpool and it wasn’t exactly bargain basement level rents considering. (He went into postgrad halls in the end). Is it much cheaper outside cities?

Rent here for a 3-bed house with a garden is around £600 per month.
A 2-bed terrace with outdoor space (patio/courtyard) is around £500 per month.

Mortgages are cheaper. We own a 2-bed terrace with a garden and we paid 60k for it - our repayment is £340 a month.

Loads of places are still perfectly affordable, but it seems on MN that nobody can imagine that, lol.

Similarly though, my town (which I won't name!) often comes up on the "worst places to live" threads on here 😉

Have a look at Stoke on Trent, it'll blow your mind!

Wherever you (and your family, friends, work) are becomes “normal to you” doesn’t it?

But not to the extent that you're totally oblivious to the rest of the country, surely?

I mean, you may not know the prices of houses in every county, but surely you must be aware that most of the country is a hell of a lot cheaper than the South East and major cities?

Not so much any more, when we first moved here we couldn't believe how cheap it is, but in the last couple of years the prices have gone mad. Three bed detached in my area for £300,000 these were about £100,000 less last year. It's still cheap though compared to the South where we used to live, I don't know how people manage to survive, you can get a lovely terrace here for not much at all.

Honestly? I know that prices in North Wales have shot up. Same for the Wirral. Same for North Norfolk. I know FTBs can’t afford big chunks of Yorkshire anymore. These are all places I have friends and so those are my sort of personal “index” for places that used to be “affordable” and aren’t really now. So I have a sense of prices going up everywhere and those of us who bought being much better off than rent payers. That’s my non-scientific general sense of the National picture.

Ill stop my derail now though. No offence meant.🙂 I just hate to see women vulnerable in divorce.

Ehhh, you aren't the first MNer to react in disbelief to the idea that there are still areas of the UK where homes can be had for sub 150k or even sub 100k, you won't be the last.

You can still buy a basic 2 bed terrace for £100k though and rent for less than £600. A lot better than most of the country!

I read that Hull is one of the cheapest places to live.

I just hate to see women vulnerable in divorce

I think we all do, but I also don't think it's helpful to assume that everyone needs to earn (x amount) to support themselves just because that's what you need to earn - it will worry people unnecessarily.

Definitely, so much easier to get on the property ladder here.

I used to rent my 2 bed flat for £425pm. Bought my house 2 years ago. My friend lives in Zone 3 London and pays £925 for a room in a HMO. Mad.

Christ, I wish. I “need” to earn much more just to keep going, but I am divorced, with a chunky mortgage and piling money into pension because i might have to take early ill health retirement. I don’t even live anywhere Mumsnetty or fancy.

Always hope of a lottery win though, eh?

Going to check out Stoke on Rightmove now,

We bought our house a while ago, so out of curiosity I had a look on RightMove for properties in our town.

The cheapest three-bedroomed home that doesn't need any work doing is less than 80k. It doesn't have a garden but it does have an enclosed yard. The average price for a three-bed (terrace) is around 95k.

You can rent a 2-bed terrace with an enclosed yard for £500pm - it's less than 100m from the main shopping street, the local supermarket and the train station, as well as within 500m of three local schools.

I rented a city flat for £350pm, was a 20 min walk from my Band 1 NHS job. I worked it for nearly a decade, Loved it. No stress, no homework. Hospital would have not run without me and my fellow Band 1 colleagues.
I lived alone on my wage, and managed fine.... half of the "£30k poverty" mentioned in this thread.

In all seriousness, if you've a moveable skill set it's worth having a look at what's out there. It's not that we don't have our own housing problems in the north of England, we absolutely do, and there are plenty of overpriced areas. But if you'd be in a position to buy a property, thus benefitting from low prices and low interest rates, a nice lifestyle is a lot more attainable up here.

@XenoBitch not sure how your situation is relevant? it's kids that are expensive. Obviously as a single person even minimum wage will be loads lol

@Sortilege If my DH did that to me it would break my heart…I would be too busy trying to pick myself up emotionally…I guess I would then up my hours at or get another job…what ever it takes to get by! I will cross that bridge when I get to it….until then I am
busy enjoying my life with my beautiful children

My situation is relevant when there are people saying anything less than £30k is poverty, and that anyone on a low wage is expecting to be subsidised by a high earning partner.