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 is head of the English department in the local secondary school.

she drives a ford fiesta and owns a neat semi detached house - mortgage nearly paid off. She can afford one nice holiday a year, dresses in a mixture of M&S, Boden and next and enjoys occasional meals out with friends.

she can afford repairs to her house and redecorates every ten
years. She is a little worried about her pension and retirement age.

Betty gets all the shit shifts, never gets Christmas or New Year off because ‘ she hasn’t got children’ she works all the bank holidays because ‘she hasn’t got kids’ she never gets time off in August because’ she hasn’t got kids’ she gets treated like shit at work because she speaks her mind whereas a few years ago she always was pleasant and never said NO , now NO is her favourite word. She goes on lovely holidays whenever she can get the time off work and is counting down the days until she can tell work to ‘go fuck themselves’ Betty has suddenly grown a backbone and is enjoying her new found freedom to say it as it is. She lives in a lovely little paid for already house with a cat, and she is very happy!

This

Let's add some excitement to her life!

Betty lives in a converted lighthouse on the Scottish Highlands, where she works remotely as a marine biologist.

Her days are filled with adventures like rock climbing, kayaking, and exploring coastal wildlife.

In her free time, she surprises everyone with her stand-up comedy performances at local clubs, sharing humorous tales.

Her friends are fellow scientists and comedians.

In this part of Scotland:
Betty lives in a nice two bed flat. She could afford more, but the mortgage is almost paid off and she's looking forward to being mortgage-free. She's also building up a nest egg.
The flat is lovely, because she's never had to child proof it. She enjoys travel - she has one big holiday, plus a short European city break each year, and the flat is decorated with tasteful items brought back from her travels. She's developed several hobbies and interests, and there's evidence of them in her flat.
She drives a small car. Again, like her flat, she could afford more, but doesn't see a need for a bigger car.
She goes out regularly - to an exercise class, or swimming, or cinema or theatre with friends, or for pub quiz nights.
She always looks good - her clothes aren't expensive, but she's also bought accessories such as scarves and earrings on holiday over the years which make everything she wears look good.
She is an indulgent and much loved aunt, but finds that short spells of being with her nieces and nephews is enough.

Oh dear, Betty has been arrested again!

Drinking all that gin, flinging open her window and shouting repeatedly piss off at the people at the bus stop wasn't such a good idea after all. When she's sober she'll have to clean up the contents of the litter tray that she flung at them. It was pretty full as she hadn't emptied it in several days and she has eight cats. She hopes it won't make the papers as it won't be good for her gardening business. Last time, she went by the name Liz for several months until everyone had forgotten.

Although, she knows it is highly improbable that she'll get a prison sentence, she likes to daydream about the women she might meet in prison.

Betty spent her twenties living at home with parents and sharing a room until she saved enough money to buy her own small house at 30. She would have preferred to have her own place but knew she didn’t want to be paying rent for many years.
Betty has been overpaying her mortgage for years so the payments are low. She only has another 5 years left. Betty doesn’t care about fancy cars and always pays cash for a reliable Toyota. She holidays with her best friend from school/university / first job once a year and goes on a city break with her friends from the WI every autumn. She reads Martin Lewis’ website and is very aware of her finances. Money goes into savings as soon as she gets paid. Credit cards are only used for the security they offer and are paid off in full each month.
Betty likes good quality clothes so buys expensive, timeless and sometimes expensive items in the sale / out of season. She’s a classic dresser and doesn’t follow fashion . She eats well and goes to the gym 3/4 times a week. Betty isn’t into expensive creams and makeup as she knows they don’t make her look any better. Not really! Keeping slim and eating well with good nails and a decent haircut is enough for her. She has an occasional french manicure for special occasions but would rather die than wear false eyelashes or fake tan. She’s confident in herself and has never had a problem with getting male attention. Betty is confident and gutsy and just doesn’t want the hassle of another person living with her. She can have sex when she wants. Men aren’t difficult to bed. Knowing that makes her more choosy about who she sleeps with.
Betty loves having her own house and doing what she wants when she wants.

Throwncrumbs....
''Betty gets all the shit shifts, never gets Christmas or New Year off because ‘ she hasn’t got children’ she works all the bank holidays because ‘she hasn’t got kids’ she never gets time off in August because’ she hasn’t got kids’ she gets treated like shit at work because she speaks her mind whereas a few years ago she always was pleasant and never said NO , now NO is her favourite word. She goes on lovely holidays whenever she can get the time off work and is counting down the days until she can tell work to ‘go fuck themselves’ Betty has suddenly grown a backbone and is enjoying her new found freedom to say it as it is. She lives in a lovely little paid for already house with a cat, and she is very happy!''

Do you know me?! This is me APART from the salary, I earn about 1k a month , but I don't have mortgage or rent. I have just moved into the cutest little cottage with my cat, no kids, however, I work weekends, bank holidays, late shifts so more eves than earlies....and always have been expected to pick up the slack for the parents. In fact I left one job because of it. I'm not called Betty but finally at 52 trying to grow a backbone . I never EVER get time off in the summer.. work doesn't allow but also I can't afford to go away then.

Betty is busy spamming the local FB group for rooms to rent in either shared houses or family houses. She shops in Aldi but carries a Waitrose bag, she has taken to eating Vegan in public but at home she's eating fish finger sandwiches. She has taken up yoga with dogs, singing in the railway land, drinking and likes to stand about on a bridge giving out leaflets and free opinion on any topic for any group of liberal like minded folk who will let her. She is thinking about getting a lurcher on a string and some new dungarees because it will take her mind off of the fact she will never get a mortgage here. She lives in Lewes.

Betty hates her name. Her niece told her she thought Betty’s name was actually Elizabeth, Betty said she’d love to be called Elizabeth. Betty’s thinking about changing her name by deed poll.

actually she could quite easily be in an ex council flat or house! 50k is approx what a normal low paid hubby and low paid wife both working full time would be bringing home. she has the same outlays for heat and fuel. one car. only slightly less food.

Liz has a gorgeous period flat and a very fast car. She is gorgeous and slim and is very stylishly dressed. She spends her weekends visiting friends around the country but has a big holiday every couple of years to visit her parents in Australia.

She'd be sharing a flat with other professionals, as she'd struggle to buy somewhere.

Great thread.

Betty lives in a 1900s Stone terraced cottage on the outskirts of a small market town in the Midlands.

She drives a Mini Cooper and is a style and colour consultant, with a small studio in town.

She likes yoga and rambling and has two foreign holidays, plus three UK breaks a year with friends and family. She enjoys up-cycling furniture and ginger wine. It’s not unheard of for Betty to dance around her kitchen whilst preparing dinner - she’s a great dancer.

She’s a key holder at the local village hall and sings in a local rock choir (former 70s rock chick).

Where she gets her energy from, nobody knows.

'Round here' covers quite a few options, as does 'midlife'. But the chances are she's in a 2 or 3 bed house, not detached but probably semi-detached or end terrace, with some garden and off street parking. Mortgage paid off or almost so. Work is no more than a 20 minute commute by bus or train. Drives a second-hand but fairly recent VW, and is pondering an electric Kia for the next one.

If she prefers urban life she'll be in one of the late-Victorian/Edwardian red-brick parts of the city (and extremely glad to have her own driveway). It's not the posh bit of the city, but moderately desirable, with a park nearby that has outdoor cinema and some 1-day festivals in summer, and a street with a very good selection of independent cafes and restaurants.

If she's more outdoorsy/has a dog then she's a short train ride away in a little seaside town. She's known by name in the local shops and cafes, and recently joined the wild swimming group.

Has a week away in July if at all possible, but takes her main breaks outside school holidays - alternates beween a European city break (solo or with a friend) and something further afield with an organised group. Some pure sightseeing trips but the last one was well-digging in India.

Lol, was sort of my life at work although I had kids and they were/ are over 18. I always got the horrible shifts because I didn’t have ‘little ones’ but even when I did have little ones I took turns with the awful shifts. You don’t do yourself any favours being ‘nice’. I don’t take shit from anyone any more, people are surprised when you suddenly say NO ‘but you always say yes’ NOT ANYMORE!

I think this is quite fun! Why is everyone being so negative? 🤣

EC London (hipsterville)

Betty

• Lives in a flat share with at least one, but probably two other people. This costs her about a third of her net income.
• Has much richer friends who work in tech and the City and live in million pound townhouses nearby.
• Has friends from school and uni who earn much less, but have much more disposable income because they don’t live in London. They all think she’s mad and should move.
• She has multiple credit cards, no savings and will never be able to afford her own home. Isn’t overly concerned about any of this.
• No car, as that makes no sense in zones 1-2.
• She has a great social life and frequents the many (many) local bars and restaurants.
• Weekends see her at Columbia Flower Market, Broadway Market and London Fields.
• She goes on a couple of European city breaks a year, to places where she has friends she can stay with. One big holiday every few years. Has done Machu Picchu or similar.
• Once ran the London marathon.
• Has every dating app, but uses them sporadically. Not super fussed about meeting The One, although it would be nice.

On balance, Betty rather likes her life.

Betty lives in Zone 5 in a '2' bedroom flat (the second bedroom is extremely small, but it doesn't matter because she really just wanted to an extra room to use as a home office, rather than a room for someone to sleep in). Her flat is just over 5 minutes walk to a tube station which gets her into central London in less than 25 minutes, so she secretly laughs at people in her social circle who paid far more for a flat in zone 3 but who have a 20 min walk to the nearest station.

She works at a local secondary school as a teacher. She genuinely likes her job, but does sometimes think that if she could choose again, she might have chosen a more 'boring' career but one that would have paid more. However, she isn't interested in moving up into an assistant headteacher position because the extra £10 -15k a year is definitely not worth the extra stress. If she were going to make a change, it would be to something else entirely but she isn't too sure what that could be...

Her lifestyle is perhaps 'mid-range', not quite fancy, but not that bad either. She generally shops at Sainsbury's or Waitrose. She buys some clothes from Next or similar stores, but she can also afford to buy mid range clothes from slightly fancier places (but only when they're on sale- she's signed up to all the mailing lists to get news on discounts).

She has a group of friends who she's known for ages. However, particularly in the past few years ,they're not always available due to having children or partners etc. She makes half-hearted attempts at dating, but it never gets anywhere. She wonders if it's because of the low quality of men available (she does know that loads of good men do exist, because she knows personally lots of amazing men who are already taken by other women). Sometimes she does wonder if it's just something about her that makes her not suitable to long-term relationships and maybe she'd even be happier being single for the rest of her life.

She has tried meet-up groups etc. to make new friends, but it doesn't really work out. She goes to the theatre, cinema or day-trips alone, because she has no-one to go with, but she'd prefer to go by herself than miss out on seeing the show. And just occasionally, at times, she doesn't always really like the weekends, because she doesn't really speak to anyone between leaving work on Friday and going back there on Monday morning.

But overall, she's quite happy with her life and feels that the pros outweigh the cons.

I thought this was mainly meant to be a lighthearted thread, but here you are indulging your hatred of disabled people.

Yuck.

After overcoming breast cancer, Betty is more determined than ever to pursue things that make her life worth living. This summer she spent a month exploring South East Asia with a good friend.

She's thankful for the long holidays that her job as Head of Department teaching English allows. She gives her all at work and has earned the respect of pupils, parents, and colleagues alike. She has more than enough experience to be a Deputy or Head Teacher if she wishes. However, with no dependents, she's financially comfortable and - especially after her health scare - is wary of taking on a heavier burden of responsibility.

Betty never felt the urge to have children. She spent her teenage years raising four younger siblings due to her negligent alcoholic parents. Combined with the tangible difference she makes to her pupils' lives, this is enough for her.

Betty loves nothing more than feeling free. Being tied to a mortgage doesn't appeal, now more than ever. She rents a spacious two-bedroom loft apartment in a grand Victorian house near Sheffield City Centre. It's filled with treasures she's collected on her travels, each one telling a story.

She doesn't care for expensive clothes and her wardrobe is mainly black, accessorised by colourful ethnic jewelry and scarves. She isn't conventionally beautiful but has striking natural looks. She rarely wears makeup and beauty salons don't appeal to her - she sees them as a waste of money.

She spends her weekends exploring art galleries, sampling new cuisines in independent restaurants, and visiting the cinema and theatre. She's equally comfortable venturing out alone or with her close-knit circle of like-minded friends.

Betty has been single for fifteen years since the only man she ever truly loved realised he was asexual. You might think Betty feels betrayed, investing so much of herself in a doomed romantic relationship. Not so - they've rebuilt their closeness on different terms, a deep bond of friendship prevailing.

Single friends admire Betty's strength and independence, wishing they could feel as 'whole' as Betty does, with no urge to dip her toe into the murky midlife dating pool. In truth, while Betty values living life on her own terms, she wouldn't rule out the possibility of finding love again. She's disheartened that dating has shifted online, which feels false to her – the thought of creating a profile to 'market' herself abhorrent.

Only the privileged few see the real Betty and recognise that she isn't impervious to curveballs - it's her wisdom that equips her to deal with them and to see the positives, no matter what life throws her way.

Betty's only regret is that she doesn't suit her antiquated name, passed down from a distant great aunt!

Ooh I'm a bit like Betty -except earn quite a bit less- In my newly single fear driven life I'd like to imagine that in a year Betty has:
-Bought a lovely end terrace in a part of town that she didn't know before but it's what she could afford and now loves it. It's near a lot of lovely countryside and her neighbours are really nice and have welcomed her into the community.
-Money is tight but she is managing and not worrying all the time. She's sociable and seeing friends regularly and meeting new people.
-She's got the lovely dog she always desperately wanted and surprisingly the cats are actually ok with it.
-She's recently lost a stone, her health is much better than it was a year ago and she's feeling positive and resilient.

Ahh I hope my Betty's new life work's out well for her.

Well exactly

It's called having an imagination.

You both sound dry as fuck. Perhaps a different thread is for you?