Do you think £100,000 a year household income is a lot of money?

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

I think it is a lot of money even in London where I live. When I hear people say things like "£100,000 is not enough to live on even in London" I think to myself what are they talking about. I have a family of four and we can only dream of earning that amount. The maximum I can see us earning is about £60k if we are lucky. Currently on over £40k combined income with still a relatively high rent and everything does go on bills and other necessities. But sometimes we are lucky and manage to save some money a year. Luckily no debt. I just think to myself £100,000 would be life changing even in London.

What are your thoughts? What do you consider to be average and above average in London and the city you are from?

the heat has gone to my phones head!

trying to book a week in lyme regis for summer but can't get a cottage for under 1k

Yes same! And 10 years our holidays were much much cheaper and we're often camping in the UK.

I think if you are booking now then all of the cheaper places will be booked up. I'll send you a link to where we often stay.

I think you are completely out of touch with reality. Most people would feel pretty pleased with 10 days in a euro camp and a week skiing!

I've been trying for a few months but yes I'm not organised enough so need to do better. Thank you

@alphapie

You sound quite snobby.

As if those aren't nice holidays lol

You do realise plenty on way less than 100k dont get any holidays?

A lifetime of hard work has put us in this comfortable position along with some inheritances.
”Along with some inheritances” doing a lot of heavy lifting in this sentence 😂 You know most people put in a lifetime of hard work and don’t retire on £100k pa?

yes stuntbubbles, Of course I know that. And?

@lamaze1 I'm in London zone 3 using an Ofsted outstanding nursery. It's just over £1k a month full time.

Where are you because while there are local options that are more expensive, I don't know any at £2k for one child.

Ironically you can be on £100k and still be worse off than a family whose only earner was a part time milkman who bought a house 40 years ago, with a stay at home parent. The elephant in the room is the cost of housing. If you are a pensioner or boomer then even if you are on a low wage or small pension you are still better off than someone on £100k because of unearned wealth from housing.

There was one near me that was close to 2k, I couldn't afford it!

https://www.evelinedaynursery.com/files/ugd/a6df7ff_5b4a0f5e1d42450fbdd4a3f20940fbc0.pdf

@Runnerbeansflower Is the best you can credit yourself for as a parent that your children 'survived' ? (By sharing a bedroom and not having a garden.)

You appear to want to make a virtue out of not providing for them.

Many young kids enjoy sharing a room. I had friends at school - same sex siblings- who enjoyed sharing a room even though their homes had spare rooms.

As for not having a garden- well, I'd not brag about that!

Surely you can see that providing just what is 'essential' is subjective?

And somehow along the way you have accrued £200K thanks to inflation. I wonder if you could have managed that on your own income, or if in fact you and your child's father had a pretty good joint income when you were together?

Hardly a snob, more questioning someone for saying they can do multiple nice holidays and private school on 100k and then those holidays actually being cheap ones.

Im in SW London and pretty much all nurseries are around 2k for a full time place. Even 10 years ago there were no nurseries here for 1k full time!

But most people would think they are nice holidays! Most of the families at my child's private school are doing the same kinds of holidays.

I have boys and most of the seniors in London are higher than 1.8k per month plus you do then need to add all the cost of clubs which are 50quid a day around here due to the longer holidays. But actually @Work2live I agree with you that holidays can definitely be done much more cheaply that is often talked about on MN. We just came back from Lake Garda and it was lovely. I certainly dont get why people are spending 6k on a single holiday. We usually budget about 1.5k for a week inc. flights and accommodation.

I'm Zone 1 in London. Honestly, if I could find one for less than £2,200 before wrap around care for one child under 2, I'd be over the moon. Fees for 2 nurseries close to me taken from their websites are hopefully attached. I've looked at others but they're all a similar price give or take a few hundred pounds. Realistically going to zone 3 morning and evening wouldn't be practical from a timing point of view. It would also mean employing someone as extra to do drop off and pick up.

Indeed. In the last three years even though I earn £90k my retired parents have still made more than me net because of their defined benefit pension and rising house prices.

@YukoandHiro nurseries are 2k around us as well. I think it's really not that unusual. Thats why parents often get a nanny once they have to as that can be approx 3.5k per month i.e. cheaper for two kids

@alphapie

No, not cheap.

Cheap is a sun caravan.

To imply they can't be nice because they dont meet your definition of expensive is snobby.

The pp never claimed they were very expensive. They said they were nice. Which they are.

Where I live (south east, london commuter belt) you can manage on 100k, but with children it won't be a comfortable existence.

Tax & pensions would take out a big chunk before you even see it.

A modest 3 bedroomed semi is around 600k, so you wouldn't be able to afford to buy one without significant family help. There's very little you can rent for less than £1,500 a month, including small flats.

Childcare is around £1000 a month for one child.

Rising food, petrol and utility bills would be a real stress, and there wouldn't really be any money spare to save.

I honestly don't know why people would live in London unless they are mega-wealthy already. The cost of living is ridiculous and you'd be better off earning less money up north .

Jobs specific to London ( yes they still exist)
POC who want diversity and community
Those of us who hate cars and love public transport

Also a combined income of 40k is only just over what you would have from 2 minimum wage earners doing 40 hour weeks, so it's about the lowest earnings you can have from full time work. In london I'd expect most working households to have a minimum income of more like 45k on london living wage.

I adopted as a single parent. No child's father in the background.

My DD's have thrived, thanks.

Even while sharing a bedroom and not having a garden.

When I said 'survived' it was to emphasise the shock and horror some people were expressing at the thought of sharing the bedroom/not having a garden.

It’s a fuck of a lot more than a couple on state pensions get.