Imagine if Betty lived near you

[Aserena]

Inspired by another thread.

Meet Betty:

• Betty earns £50k (pre tax) per year, with a stable career.
• She is mid-life and single with no children.
• She has no wealthy relatives.

What living conditions and lifestyle would you expect Betty to have, in the area where you live?

Tell us where she’s living and how she spends her dosh. Feel free to be imaginative!

Bah! I was hoping it was Betty of the famous cake shop. Bring on the fondant fancies.

Very good one.

Pressed too early.
NW city
3 bed end of terrace or semi
2x foreign holidays at least (more is she is good with discounts)
Uk trips
Outings in a city centre 15 min away
Monthly theatre (can get really cheap tickets often)
Saving about 1k a month on top

She sits at home with her cats and counts her money

It's a strange name for someone of that age. More like a very elderly lady or a very young one.

What the fucking fuck are these fucking threads about?

Betty works regular overtime because she is the only one "available" and is never able to get holidays over summer, Easter or at Christmas and is pretty fucked off with it

I know a Betty, she's in her 80s.

Nice 2 bed apartment. A small chic dog. Weekly cleaner.
Bi weekly nails
does her hair when needed (roots, cut and Blowdry)
runs a car
overall decent life
Betty is a saver not a massive spender
betty is a bit dowdy…

Is this some PR agency research? It's very like the rubbish we were forced to sit through last year when someone decided we needed a PR agency.

Why do I care what sort if lifestyle Betty (Betty? a midlife woman called Betty?) has? is this some sort of disguised survey?

OK I’ll go first.

In Cardiff, Betty’d be the proud new owner of a small 2-bed terraced house in a new-build estate in a regenerated area of the suburbs. She’s been renting for years but just now been able to buy.

The mortgage is steep, so she shops in ASDA, Aldi etc. She buys casual clothes from Primark and Matalan and work clothes from Next.

She holidays once a year with family or friends. They’ve been to Edinburgh, Menorca and Greece and are saving for a week in New York.

She drives a small second-hand Corsa which she bought on finance when it was 5 years old.

She tends to invite friends round for dinner and drinks as eating out feels expensive, unless it’s a special occasion. (On these occasions, she goes all out and has the steak.)

Lol sorry I took a while writing that!!

One of these again?

I was hoping you meant Betty White.

Sorry about the name!
I just picked one that seemed pretty anonymous.

She can be Sarah if you prefer.

Not market research, I’m just a bit sad 😂
and want to know what my lifestyle would be like if I lived somewhere else

Where I live she'd have paid off her mortgage and be living comfortably on that income.

Has it been done before? Sorry!

I've looked at tonight's TV and it's pretty shit but are you sure you can't find anything to watch rather than write speculative lifestyles for non-existent women? or perhaps read a book?

Is this really about you then OP?

Betty sounds tragically dull.

Betty sounds tragically dull

Doesn't she just. Shopping at Next and steak is the most exciting thing she can think of to eat. Not to mention her holiday destinations.

Betty is pretty much me! In my “up and coming” area of south east London:

Small one bed flat
Pet
3-4 holidays a year
Between 5-10k in savings
Works flexibly/remotely
Shops second hand a lot for clothes and lifestyle accessories
No car
Eats out/takeaway once a week
Gets takeaway coffee 3-4 mornings a week and feels bad about it
Goes to Aldi for the “main shop” and big Sainsburys/Waitrose for bougie treats
Quiet drinks over a big night out

Not really. I just found another thread with a similar question was full of dull answers and thought I’d start my own more interesting one, as curious about the variation in lifestyle across the UK.

Not my salary, but am single mid life and probably dull, but it’s not very kind to point out.

Please give Betty a dog. She needs the companionship and unadulterated adoration she'd get from them.

She probably works for MI5.

A bit dowdy? She gets her nails twice a week? I wouldn't describe someone who gets nails done that often as dowdy. Maybe it means something else where I am.

Betty is me a few years ago. She could afford to be living in a one bed flat in gentrifying part of zone 3, but a bit further from the tube than she'd like. She can save a bit and treat herself a bit. She balances a Waitrose shop against a Lidl shop. Her friends are on comparable enough money that it's not an issue when socialising in the newly gentrified pubs nearby.