100k+ salary, is it worth it?

[Goingtogetslated]

For the record…Not trying to be insensitive…

partner and I both earn approx 150k each. Working long and unpredictable hours with high levels of stress and responsibility.

Yet here we are living in a 3 bed terrace in the east end of london, a basic car, neither of us into high end expenses/dining out/clothes. We used to holiday a lot pre children, I guess would classify as our major expenditure in the past.

But is it actually worth it? A decent 4/5 bed house (with kerb appeal I admit) in the commuter belt seems to be coming in at 1.5 million minimum. Add the commuting costs/ extended nursery hours, paid help required theres barely anything left - relatively speaking.

Would we not be better off sacking it all in, moving to the countryside and earning enough to pay the bills?

We appear to be stuck in this middle ground where we earn too much to have any allowances from the state, contribute a lot to the government yet not enough for any real benefits in lifestyle

Still think you are on another planet - I would love to have 1500 left after bills
Read the room

This isn’t real.

@Zorilla @laughinglemons thank you for your comments. I knew I would get shit for this post from many but I appreciate you understanding what I am saying, if not poorly communicating

Also - you pay 6 k a month on a mortgage ?

Look into seeing if your jobs are available in smaller cities. The small pay cut can come with a much better lifestyle. You might earn 90% of what you do now and housing might only be 90% of what you pay now, but what you get for that price is much nicer. We made the switch and our entire previous home would have fit on one floor of our new home. Not all high-earning careers are portable, but if they are, it can make a huge difference long term.

also remember that your high childcare expenses are a short-term problem.

I live in an affluent town in Kent and can assure you that can get a very decent house in our town for 800k . Commuter ticket is about £500 per month . Not sure where you are looking!

I just read a post from someone with only £11 a week to eat. That's a real money issue. Yours is not.

But you can get a decent 4 bedroom house in suburbs for less than 1.5 mil. Perhaps not with the curb appeal you desire. Childcare costs admittedly will be high but only for a period of time, then will reduce.

But at the same time you are progressing your careers further and presumably locking in decent financial provision with pensions.

Of course you know all of this anyway. I do think you’re being a bit disingenuous as realistically you are in a good position albeit with stress and associated responsibilities that come with your careers but you do have choices and that’s the key thing.

Your mortgage would only be £6k if you have no deposit… maybe buy a cheaper house (I’m in East Dulwich and there are plenty of four bedroom houses here for £1m), pay £4K a month on your mortgage, and have some money spare? And then trade up to the mansion in a few years when your children are no longer in nursery.

Yes this

NE London you can easily get a 4 bed for well under 1m, utter bullshit that you need 1.5m. Our 4 bed semi is worth c.£650. 40-60 mins commute into town.

£150k each a year is just over £7.1k EACH a month. And that's allowing for 5% pension.
Have no idea where the £10k came from as it is most certainly not £10k.
Thats £14.2k a month between you.
Even if your mortgage was £6k a month, you still have £8k left

I understand this is a antagonistic subject and I don’t mean to be insensitive.
I have made a lot of sacrifices and continue to do so for my role. It’s a niche position so moving cities is not viable - hence looking into the commuter belt.
Wealth in this country appears to be on a logarithmic scale so whilst I appreciate we may seem to be high earners to many, i just find it amazing that a decent family house seems out of our reach.

If I currently live in a 3 bed semi in London, I might as well go live in a 3 bed in Stockport without the associated stresses I currently endure

There are a lot of people on here who are left with nothing at all after the bills are paid.

Talk about my diamond shoes being too tight.

Also I'm not quite sure how you don't seem to know that your take home is more than £10k.

You're at it...

I think the thing is that the price tag of decent family sized housing in your area is sadly now only achievable to those that got well on to the property ladder many years ago, or have inherited money/property.

Actually working hard and saving up from scratch is just unachievable in those areas.

As evidenced by the fact that even with a household income like yours, so much of that income would get eaten up by housing costs alone that your lifestyle then ends up no better than a family earning less than a quarter of that income elsewhere.

I wonder if you did a survey of that area, how people have actually paid today’s prices for those houses just using money earned by work? And not using any profit from previous property / inherited money / lottery win / tax evasion / trust funds etc etc

If you listen carefully, you can hear the world's tiniest violin playing in the distance.

Your problem is you think you are entitles to a bigger/better house than you can afford. I am going to assume you have bugger all equity but even if that is the case you can easily afford something very nice in London on those salaries. You aren't as well off as you think you are but only in terms of housing.

I say get out of the rat race! We did - although DH continued being a high earner in another city - but in a much less stressful job, we got much more for our money in terms of a lovely house in a lovely area - and I went back to university and retrained - I now earn less than half what I did in London but I do a job I Love, part time and get to hang out with our kids , our household income has reduced but our quality of life has increase. The most important thing though? We don’t feel that pressure that exists in London to be always striving for something else

Fuck me. Talk about being tone deaf. Do you have any idea of how much people are struggling right now? I know that we should still be able to discuss things but wow!

We work our arses off too in public sector jobs with two disabled kids. If you aren't happy then jack it in and move, like you said. There are kids in my school who get free school lunches and can't afford to buy new school shoes.

@HereSheComesInTheFall yes but i didn’t post this to discuss those in poverty and the challenges they face. Am I responsible for those starving due to drought in Sudan?

I am solely expressing my frustration of my situation - I earn a decent salary, but the cost associated with the required lifestyle to have this role make me wonder if it is worth it

If your life is too stressful to endure, do something about it.

Move north. Change jobs

Cut your income and your outgoings

Make different choices

But be aware that you ARE high earners. You don't SEEM to be high earners

You are high earners.

And I understand that you can't buy the house you want in the SE, even on your joint incomes

But many many people can't afford to heat their homes if they buy food

So try to whinge quietly, whilst learning to be compassionate and read the room

What is the 'required lifestyle'?