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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you have a wage/income that would shock people?

796 replies

Newmumatlast · 27/02/2023 20:40

Inspired by the tipping hairdresser thread, and a post on there about people having no idea what some people earn with an anecdote about a London cabbie earning twice what his nurse wife did.

I just wondered if anyone does a job where people would actually be shocked to know their true earnings based on stereotype- either way. For example cleaner earning loads or lawyer earning very little.

OP posts:
safeplanet · 28/02/2023 06:55

I’m a big 4 accountant in the regions not London and earn nowhere near what people think I do

I think there's a big perception that accountants & lawyers earn loads but there are huge discrepancies. Also wages have stagnated in most industries.

ememem84 · 28/02/2023 06:55

I’m currently asking for a payrise because I should be earning around 16k more than I currently am. I’m in finance.

Dobby123456 · 28/02/2023 06:56

Looforapoo · 27/02/2023 21:12

I’m a childminder, people often assume I’m rolling in it because of the high childcare costs in this country. In reality, I’m barely scraping by

Childminders tell me they have high costs - insurance, petrol etc. I wonder is there some way to make it all more affordable?

safeplanet · 28/02/2023 06:57

I also know some GPs who earn very well but often read on here they don't. Same for teaching, BIL is a deputy head on 80k & good friend is a teacher with a responsibility on 60k.

PandasAreUseless · 28/02/2023 06:57

Brrrrrrrrrrrr · 27/02/2023 23:05

Reading some of the replies and I’m wondering Is it now a badge of honour to behave and look as though you’re penniless when in reality you’re earning a very good wage? I don’t understand receiving a big salary to then live a life that doesn’t make use of it. Surely you’d eat well, wear decent clothes and live in a nice home if you could afford it? As they say…you can’t take it with you.

I can't speak for others, but I've personally always been very careful to avoid 'lifestyle creep' as I've got older and earned more.
Sure, I buy nice things if I want them, and we have a lovely (but affordable) home. But if something goes badly wrong in our lives, DH and I can work in bar jobs to cover our outgoings. We don't NEED to be in well-paying work, and that's a freeing feeling.

Madoz · 28/02/2023 06:58

Quite a few years ago my Sil was convinced we earned enough money to give her £40k with no strings. 😂😂😂 She wasn’t at all happy when we said no we don’t have enough money to do that, apparently dh was a real disappointment. It horrifies me to think how much money she thought we had. To be fair we could now - but after the abuse we got for saying no before - the answer would still be no.

PegasusReturns · 28/02/2023 06:58

300k p/a is beyond ceo level

this is a massive misconception itself. In many organisations CEO - 3 or 4 would be earning that as a package. Literally 100’s of people.

Dobby123456 · 28/02/2023 06:58

benten54 · 28/02/2023 05:30

I have a friend who is a criminal barrister. Some months she pays to do her job. Eg pay is £70 for the day to represent someone. The train ticket costs £72.

Barristers don't gey maternity leave,cand have to pay to keep their office in chambers while off having the baby. That's what my friend told me.

FrenchFancie · 28/02/2023 07:02

I’m currently a teaching assistant and bring home £750 a month, think that works out to about £9k take home for 20 hours a week. Definitely not paid enough for the abuse and chair throwing I got from two different kids yesterday.

i used to be a solicitor, I earned less than £30k when I first started, that rose to about £60k when I lived in London and worked crazy hours. I got burn out then, hence the LSA job!

safeplanet · 28/02/2023 07:05

I can't work ATM due to health issues that children have. Most people assume we are struggling but due to their health issues my income is just under 40k

Surely people just assume you are struggling because you are not working & your dc have health needs & you haven't told anyone you get 40k to help support them?

Thedoctorswife1 · 28/02/2023 07:06

Private tutor and I also make educational resources.

Work completely flexibly around 18 hours a week. I do not work weekends. I earn the same as I would as a full time teacher (30-35k).

DelphiniumBlue · 28/02/2023 07:06

Eastmeetswest1 · 27/02/2023 21:57

Most people think I’m a SAHM to 4 children and am around for my elderly parents.

In reality, I work once the children are asleep / early mornings before they are up / any free time round the their activities and now earn more than my husband who gets to go to his job Mon - Fri 9 - 5 (some flexibility). I could count the number of people on one hand that know I have my own co.

Sounds interesting, what do you do?

Wordsmith · 28/02/2023 07:09

I'm a freelance writer and my income varies. I usually turn over about £50K and get to keep the majority of it thanks to operating as a limited company. But I get no holiday pay, sick pay or redundancy and am 100% responsible for my pension contributions etc.

When things are quiet I often think about going back to an employed position for security of income, but the lack of flexibility and autonomy puts me off. So I sacrifice a lot of security and financial stability for a lot of control over who I work with, how I work and when I work. I'm also the main earner in the family.

I'm either completely in love with what I do and buzzing with the satisfaction of being my own boss, or lying awake at night wondering where the next project is coming from and whether I'll ever work again.

Madoz · 28/02/2023 07:12

PandasAreUseless · 28/02/2023 06:57

I can't speak for others, but I've personally always been very careful to avoid 'lifestyle creep' as I've got older and earned more.
Sure, I buy nice things if I want them, and we have a lovely (but affordable) home. But if something goes badly wrong in our lives, DH and I can work in bar jobs to cover our outgoings. We don't NEED to be in well-paying work, and that's a freeing feeling.

Show quote history

I have a friend who has literally millions in the bank. She tries to live off £10 per day. I can’t listen to her going on about her fake budget. I think she’s done it’s a challenge but I have banned the topic.

Greycatclub · 28/02/2023 07:12

£82k working as a freelance consultant for 3, very different, businesses. Only have my child in childcare 2 days a week so work flexibility during the week.

Generally assumed I earn much less as I’m around during the week so much, have freedom to take my daughter out etc

safeplanet · 28/02/2023 07:15

We also have investments which provide an income of around £35k pa.

now this intrigues me, how much has been invested & how long ago that it produces such a high income? @Amboseli

ballroompink · 28/02/2023 07:15

There's often a lot of horror about charity sector salaries. I'm a middle manager in a large charity ('large' is a classification of our annual income not how many staff we have) with a decade's experience, earning £45k. It's really hard to find roles I would want to move on to that pay more, without becoming a 'Head of' at a very large charity. DH is private sector, also middle management. In four years in the company he's had two promotions and his wage has gone from £35k to £80k. I often have a much heavier workload than him 😂

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 28/02/2023 07:17

I worked with a lady who had left nursing to become a solicitor. When she was one year qualified as a solicitor she was planning to return to nursing before her qualifications lapsed because the pay was better.

safeplanet · 28/02/2023 07:17

Lots of comments about friends & family would be shocked to know how much we earn as we live frugally etc but surely some of those friends & family could be doing the exact same?

DanRogersAndHisHorse · 28/02/2023 07:19

I am a family lawyer in a small economically deprived part of the UK and I earn £26 k. Fully qualified solicitor. Paid £16 k while training.

I retrained from a job with a charity where I eanred 40k for a senior position and naively though this would be better paid.

My line manager (qualified 12 years ) has just had a pay rise to £38 k and our Department Head is on £58 k.

But all lawyers are rich, apparently.

safeplanet · 28/02/2023 07:20

We both earn around £5k take home each a month (I'm on slightly higher) and the parents and teachers at school treat us like crap because we 'look scruffy ' and they think us poor.And actually we out-earn everyone there.
Funny..

How can you possibly know you out-earn every single person in your school community?

pompomdaisy · 28/02/2023 07:20

I'm a nurse but earn £60k. I work in a university.

Alittlebitofbreadandsomecheese · 28/02/2023 07:22

I haven't RTFT but many people don't realise that if you are self-employed what you earn is gross not net.

I turnover £100,000 pa but business expenses will probably take half of that even before I pay tax.

hellesbells · 28/02/2023 07:23

I am basically an admin assistant in the City and I earn £64k a year

Kool4kats · 28/02/2023 07:23

I work in sales as an account manager WFH in the north of England £68k basic + car allowance and £27k bonus if I hit all my targets.
My mum's still sore I didn't chose to be a doctor, looking at some of these doctor salaries, hours and working patterns, maybe I made the right choice.