Many threads...on lifestyle

[Choices321]

NC for this.

Have I just woken up in a parallel universe or what's going on here with so many threads about it being WILD/HARD etc to live in England/London etc without inheritance etc etc and not being able to buy on single income etc. Even some say it is impossible with 2 incomes.

Look, I chose to study hard (5 years and more to qualify), surviving on 4/5 hour sleep throughout my 20s and early 30s to get good grades and to do well in my demanding and difficult career.

ALSO, I flat shared when I used LOGIC that I was hardly at home as worked all the time, so why pay for walls?

Because I was so busy working on my career, it meant I had no time for holidays except 3 weeks each year to see mum; and therefore not many opportunities to spend (waste money) on useless things.

So, I was able to buy a 2 bed flat in Zone 3 on SINGLE income aged 29. So I find it insulting that people want to say you need to be in a couple to afford that. I have since, again on my own, managed to buy a flat in Zone 1.

NONE of that would be possible without choosing a difficult degree and a career where I could earn enough, or if had pissed my early earnings on renting studio flats etc or endless holidays or days at cinemas.

Some posters quite rightly say those who cannot get £350K homes with their spouse who is a low earner, made a poor choice of spouse etc etc I agree. etc etc etc

No inheritance here and none will be forth coming- ever. In fact, I support extended families. So, I knew the hand I had been dealt and made my choices accordingly! How is MN going to help with the choices you made 10 or so years ago? We cannot!

Choices people. Choices. Thank you.

This thread is not about CoL crisis. It is also not about millennials.

I’m 55.

I was forced to leave home at 18 so no opportunity to go to university then but nobody I knew went to uni so how could I even imagine it.
I had no holidays in my 20’s because I simply didn’t have the money, I didn’t really know anyone who did. Not everyone has the brains for uni. You studied for a hard degree because you were privileged to have the brains.

I went to uni at 26 when it dawned on me that it was an option. I’m now married with 3 children and a hefty mortgage (outside London)

my point isn’t actually about me, it’s that most people can’t go to uni, most people simply can’t advance in their careers.

although I do concede that if you’ve got a combined income of £120k just buy a fucking house. If you can’t afford London buy outside like the rest of us.

I'd rather be poor than a condescending arsehole to be honest.

I think it says a huge amount about you that you prize money and possessions above all else and see your approach as the blueprint for everyone else. Wouldn't life be so much better for everyone if we just made the same choices as you.

Also op outside of London the story is different, two of our kids are currently house hunting, neither have inheritance money, both saved their deposit though both are buying with partners, but again no inheritance.

I'm not saying it isn't tough if you are on minimum wage but for graduates on graduate salary schemes around £30k they can buy houses (not flats) here and it's not a cheap place to live. Houses start at £250k

Congratulations, you're far superior to most of us. Seems like that's what you want to hear.

"Choices people. Choices". "No sweet without sweat. Sacrifices. Sacrifices".

Okay, so you have made your choices and sacrifices. Are you happy with those choices and sacrifices? I'm asking as you manage to sound simultaneously smug and patronising, whilst also being bitter and angry. And the trotting out of trite soundbites about choices and sacrifices is just irritating. I'm sorry if you're unhappy with your choices, but you don't pull yourself up by dragging others down. If you're not happy with your life, change it. Sounds like you're in a financial position to do so.

Edited to correct typos.

Each to their own, but I'm glad I spent my twenties doing more than slaving away at work.

No sweet without sweat

There's a lot of sweet without sweat, it's just not material things sweet.
Time with loved ones, beautiful views, lazy Sundays, a swim in the sea, a cup of tea with your mam.....priceless.

Some people spend so much time sweating they miss the real sweetness.

Beautifully put.

Yup! Each to their own. I would rather make sacrifices to have shelter.

'although I do concede that if you’ve got a combined income of £120k just buy a fucking house. If you can’t afford London buy outside like the rest of us.'

My point exactly!

Thank you. I am sure you are also not complaining about your choices. That's the point of the thread.

Every time I read the world WILD!!! used in that ridiculous pretentious hyperbolic way that has crept onto threads of late, I feel like I'm in a parallel universe where I'm no longer my pleasant, mild mannered self, but the sort of person who could do someone else a mischief. (Which I'm aware misses the point of the thread.)

But they're not the ones complaining

A lot has changed between 2000 and now. Ignorant OP.

I am talking of 2007 and not 2000. Ok!

This post should have been a shit podcast.

A lot has changed since 2007

That’s fine, but what is London going to do when all the low paid workers have left? You do actually need teachers, nurses, people to empty the bins and clean the hospitals. Nursery nurses for the kids and people to work in the shops and cafes.

People with money tend to forget they do actually rely on lower earning people for their lifestyle.

I own a house and can afford to work part-time in my thirties - and I didn't need to give up my twenties to achieve it, so no, I'm not complaining in the slightest

Commute? Even I did a bit of commuting for a while to earn more.

🙂

Right, so you think people a) should and b) will commute to clean toilets or pull pints?

Even things like teaching and nursing- you think droves of people should spend an extortionate amount of money and time commuting into London for the shit hours, conditions and pay, when these jobs all exist elsewhere?

YABU.

I know I was lucky. I bought a 3 bed semi age 23, on my wage alone initially. This is a part of the UK with lower housing prices than average. I wouldn't have been able to afford to live without DH's income - we didn't so much cut back as not get used to holidays / lots of nights out in the first place. This was early 2000s. Our house had doubled in value in the 12 months prior to us buying it (prev owner only had it 12 mths), but the increase then slowed right down.

Fast forward over 20 years. DH and I both earn around the mean UK wage. If we started from scratch now, it would take both of our wages - with us both being established in our careers - to be able to get a mortgage for this house.

Just because we could scrape by and do it 20 years ago, doesn't mean people starting out could do the same now.