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!

Betty, living in Vancouver, is renting a 650 sq ft one bedroom apartment, does not own a car and lives on a tight budget. She has no savings to speak of.

Betty has a lovely friendship with her two nieces. She was always fun to be around when they were little and had lots of energy, good ideas and change for the ice cream van. Unlike her stressed out sister. Now they are in their early teens, she buys them new nail varnishes, bakes cakes with them and keeps up with their interests. Currently Harry Styles and the women's England football team. They adore her.

Yer.
Still looking for a fella. she has been on few dates but it is always divorced dads.

She dont want this.

Elizabeth - nicknamed Betty

Betty lives in a mid-terrace in town so that she is within walking distance of the varied night life. She spends her money on travelling around Europe going to rock and metal gigs and adding to her tattoo collection. She does however have several cats.
At least this is the Betty I know who fits the op’s demographic.

She sounds like a couple of my friends
South coast, expensive area. 3 bed Victorian terrace
Bought a flat in London after 2008 crash then sold up to live on the coast once she had a buttload of equity in it
Still around 50k on mortgage
Works in a mid- level manager job
Has a dog
Does lots of fitness stuff (part of her social life too)
Travels a lot, few holidays a year one of which is a group holiday to meet new people

Betty has a wild sex life. Good on Betty.

I think you should write a book about this Betty, she has depth of character. I’m glad she has her little haven as home.

@Gillstuck Hey my name is Betty and I'm 35!

@Dotcheck You don't say? Still goes by Betty though

My friend has a cat called Betty.
She lives in a large detached house,
Has several staff to attend to her needs,
Contributes nothing to the household income.
She is in charge of the house.

Would Betty be able to get a two bed new build house on 50k, even in one of the less posh suburbs?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138259751?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=new-homes&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_NEW

3 bed semi, ‘standard’ brand car - bought new and kept for a few years, couple of holidays a year, can go for a meal out at short notice without needing to worry about budgeting til month end. Saves for home improvements.

Only one year of my entire life have I earned £50k (£52k as it happens).
I have a better lifestyle than that and I’m semi retired… (58 if that’s relevant). Also I live in Penarth so very similar to your Betty.

Betty did snog her married work colleague at xmas party once.

Thank god he left soon after.
Awkward much.
She did secretly hope it would develop into summat.

But played it cool when it didn't.

Betty has two kids in nursery which costs double her mortgage and is living on beans on toast in the South East!

Interesting! Maybe I’m being pessimistic, but then @IClaudine’s Rightmove research shows Betty’s budget might not get her very far in Cardiff these days.
Perhaps Cardiff Betty would have to move further out to get a better quality of life these days.

OK, I'll play!

In my area of the SE.

Betty is university educated, but went to uni on a full grant so no student loans (assuming "mid-life"=50 ish).

She has worked in the public sector since graduation. She has a final salary scheme, which recently changed to career average - but since she's pretty much at the top of her likely earning potential, that works out fine for her. She knows that she'll have a comfortable, if not extravagant, retirement, and she is very grateful for that.

Betty bought her property - a modest Victorian 2 up 2 down in a safe neighbourhood near the train station - in 1998 for £80k - at the time she earned £20K. She is paying off the mortgage this year - her property is now worth £450K. Her home is comfortable, clean and tidy, and she enjoys gardening in her modest garden.

Betty is comfortable and content.

Her job keeps her very busy and gives her a lot of satisfaction. In her leisure time she loves meeting up with her friends for food or a theatre trip, and she is involved with the local am dram society and she is a member of Rock Choir.

She spends her long holidays going on walking trips, mostly with some of her close friends, who similarly to her are single with a comfortable disposable income. Sometimes she goes alone, as she is confident, friendly and enjoys meeting people from all different walks of life.

Betty has a good life (but she wishes her parents had called her a less old fashioned name!)

I knew someone a bit like Betty in Brighton, she was super frugle and paid off her mortgage by age 35 on her 1 bed flat. She had a cat, and a nice car but rarely went out tended to watch lots of Netflix and wore same clothes for years.

I'd like to know how Betty earns her £50k as it will have a bearing on my answer. Is she an engineer, a mechanic, a drug dealer, a lawyer, a head teacher, a prostitute??

She lives in a very nicely decorated Victorian terrace a short walk from the City centre and railway station. The smallest bedroom is a study with a sofa bed for when nice's and nephews visit. She has a nice spare room which is in frequent use when friends come for the weekend. She has a solid group of friends who she sees often - they cook for each other on a fairly regular basis. She sings in a choir, and is part of a pub quiz team in the sort of pub where many of the regulars have a PhD. She does an evening class in something interesting, a different thing each year. She goes out a lot at weekends, either to local cultural activities, to visit friends in other parts of the country, for trips to London and for fair weather country walks. She has at least one cat.

She enjoys cooking, but doesn't have a lot of free time on weeknights so often has a meal delivery. She has several godchildren who she takes out for meals and treats and who think she has all the wisdom their parents tragically lack. She pays one if them to catsit.

She thinks she ought to do yoga, but really can't be arsed. She has a bottle of very expensive whiskey in her kitchen, and very expensive perfume in her bedroom, but uses cheap skincare.

She's worried about her aging parents, and suspects that she will be the one who ends up organising care stuff, but she's seen other friends going through this already, so is being quite proactive about talking to them about the future and finding out about wishes and finances and paperwork.

I'm now very emotionally invested in fictional Betty and her life.

My 97 year old grandma gets her nails done…. A manicure now isn’t really a massive deal. It’s just a form of self care…

Sounds like a good life! I’m glad she’s not been priced out of the southeast and is living a good life. Comfortable and content = winning at life!

I bet ‘Betty’ is the one caring for her elderly ‘non wealthy’ relatives and is exhausted because her siblings do feck all as ‘’Betty’ is single, no kids so won’t have a life.

Seems to be quite a lot of variation in our Bettys lifestyles depending on when they got onto the housing ladder. To be expected, really, given current climate. Still interesting though!