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!

I work with several single women in this age and salary bracket.

Michelle (not her real name) is divorced and has a mortgage on a large detached house with several acres of land. She has horses, dogs and chickens that take up most of her time. She regularly travels long haul to visit friends and family. She has great hair which she spends a lot on.

Laura (also not her real name) is divorced and is living in a 3 bed semi with no mortgage. She has significant savings and spends her weekend making and selling her crafts. She has multiple city breaks in the UK each year. She has great hair that she spends a lot on.

There you go again. Harridan. Nice inclusive language.
she admits she smells and is sex starved? And you think this isn’t because she’s been bullied and shamed? I’m not quite sure how I’ve come after you or been vicious. I’ve simply replied to your (pretty insulting)posts.
Let’s leave it there. I don’t think either of us are the type of woman the other likes.

She’d have a nice two bed flat in a new build building near me. Newish car. Nice nails. Either a cat, or a small trendy dog, maybe a dachshund. An expensive work bag she splurged on. A few city breaks a year with the girls. Tried OLD but given it up as a bad job for now..

Betty lives in a 4 bed semi in a gentrified town in the NW. She paid off her mortgage in her early 40s and spends her weekends in a cute little coffee shop in town, shopping, meeting friends and going to the cinema. Unfortunately, on 50k, Betty has a job that requires a lot of work and stress, so her fridge is stocked with M&S ready meals and wine and she often doesn't leave the office till after 6pm.

Newsflash, not everyone likes the same things! Personally I would rather read this than all the whiney stuff about children's school uniforms. We all need to be able to let our imaginations flow at times.

I expect Betty has a secret married lover.

Betty is a badass bitch. By day, she cruises the aisles of the M&S food halls making sure the produce section looks insta-exquisite m.

By night, she indulges her baser desires...

...and when she's out, unfettered, she allows her true self to come alive...

You really are so judgemental, and now you’re trying to play the victim.

you think that all women should stick together - a comment of yours - why should woman stick together when they are like you.

like I said enjoy your holiday, and no, you are right, I would probably stay away from someone like you in real life because I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of your piousness

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

And because she is the only one paying the bills, she needs the extra money from her overtime. She probably wont retire as soon as she reaches pension age because she has used some of her savings for her deposit rather than bumping up her pension. She has never been eligible for any benefits, never had any parental handouts and is struggling while her other friends are much better off financially.

I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed reading the thread and thinking about your dear mum x

It was light hearted and has turned into a bit of fun for the most part. Some people don’t like it - but impossible to please everyone!

Betty would have a nice 3 bed terrace, out every evening with different friends, socialising or exercising.
Goes on holiday to random destinations whenever she feels like it. Does a lot of work remotely. Checks her emails a lot. Probably has lots of different hobbies and quite a lot of savings. Doesn’t mind treating herself to nice clothes or artwork every once in a while. Collects things.

My Betty is late twenties and works in media or marketing. She rides a bike or takes the tube to work from zone 2 to zone 1. She pays 1200 pcm for a room in a house share without a living room. Betty would love to have her own space now she’s getting older but isn’t in a settled relationship. She thought moving to London for uni would be advantageous but she’s thinking about taking a pay cut and moving back to her hometown or Birmingham so she can be near her friends and family

Deprived inner city Birmingham. She's not living here, she's moved to a "nicer" area.

I reckon Betty has a lucrative side hustle on Only Fans and will soon be able to give up the day job.

Interesting how so many don't see Betty in a settled relationship.

It was light hearted and has turned into a bit of fun for the most part. Some people don’t like it - but impossible to please everyone!

This is MN, there are always the sanctimonious who will start a fight in an empty room!

Betty would either need to be in a council flat or live somewhere else as she wouldn't be able to afford a mortgage or a private let. If she moved a few miles away she could have a 1-2 bed flat depending on area, maybe one she's bought and is fixing up herself.

She might enjoy the charity shops, do free yoga or tai chi with the groups in the local parks, and shop in Morrisons and Lidl. She'd probably have a small dog and get signed up for a lot of the shifts nobody else wants at work.

Betty is a swinger who funds Carribbean holidays by going to stay with the rich couples she meets. She works in insurance in Rugby, has a small terrier she calls her baby (in such a way that she confuses people) and spends all her savings on her weird obsession with Elvis memorabilia.

I’m kind of Betty, def not midlife though. I’m London/Herts borders. After I’ve paid all my bills and non-negotiable living costs (food, train fare to work, glasses/contact lenses etc) I’m left with about £600-700 per month which I split between car/fuel, savings and socialising. I get my nails done ever 3 weeks (£30), I dye my own hair but pay for a trim every 2 months (£40).

I’ve absolutely loved it! Been such a treat reading everyone’s posts, I’m so glad you started the thread!

I'm mid 50s, single with no children... and lesbian, so I might have some insight into Betty.

I imagine Betty might live in Dulwich, have her own gardening business and more than one cat, eight actually. At weekends she likes to volunteer at an English Heritage site where she can talk to people. Betty tells people that she's done with men, although the reality is that she was never into them into the first place. The last boyfriend she had was at University, Peter, who helped tell her what to wear as he was very interested in fashion, but she hasn't heard from him in years, since he moved to Sitges, near Barcelona. Betty visited him once there, felt a bit out of place and spent her vacation mostly alone sitting on the beach reading her Patricia Highsmith novel. Betty is also godmother to Peter's sister's, Ann child, but again, hasn't kept in touch for years, especially since Ann took out the restraining order.

I know a Betty. Not sure what you mean by mid life, but my Betty is mid 50s now and by the time she was 45 she owned two properties, renting one out and living in the other, earning enough from work and rentals to have a new VW beetle, new bathroom and kitchen, and several holidays a year.
She also has BPD and several disastrous relationships. Lives in a town just outside the M25.

The OP specified she was single

I'm calling her Liz, not Betty, because I cannot with a 46 year old woman being called Betty.

Lovely 2-3 bed apartment in a Victorian conversion, and her own garden; mortgage nearly paid off (she bought a smaller place in her early thirties and made a mint on it when she sold it a few years ago). One cat, very chunky and amiable The flat is beautiful - lots of original art, band/gig posters (drone metal, experimental EDM), top-of-the-line coffee grinders, Japanese knives etc. Her friends love coming over, but Liz also likes time for herself there.

She's near the top of her game professionally in the arts, hence the comparatively low salary (she'd be making 3-4 times that if she took a similar role in the private sector). She's havering about whether to make the push for really senior management and a proper pay rise, or staying where she is with less stress. If you work in her field, you would have heard of Liz - she's very well-known and respected for having pioneered radical work.

Loads of friends who adore her, and some family nearby. Liz loves her 7 year old nephew, and she loves not having full responsibility for him. She's between partners at the moment - there was a fiance who adored her but struggled with her work ethic (he was quite laid back), and then a slightly younger girlfriend who wasn't ready then for a serious relationship. Liz would like to be with someone - what's been a surprise is that she's been courted (for lack of a better word) by so many younger men and women. Secretly she'd quite like to be part of a power couple with someone else in her line of work. You'll be pleased to hear that in two years time, Ms Right will have turned up - they'll meet through mutual friends in Liz's weightlifting gym.

She's pretty careful with her money on the day-to-day but, with no kids and low mortgage repayments, she has enough stashed away to spend on gigs and international festivals; some lovely pieces of clothes and jewelry from her favourite designers, and also some bespoke clothing. She also loves the occasional splurge on a business-class flight or a fancy hotel somewhere, just because she can.