To be in this job and feel poor?

[fedippp]

I trained for seven years, reasonably large student loan etc, to end up age 35 on 58k, and barely anything left at the end of the month!!! Mortgage is 1300 for a 2 bed semi, (up from 800 last year). Student loans are still hundreds a month. I have a car on finance as I couldn’t save house deposit and car deposit, need car for work. I eat beans on toast 3 nights a week. I feel like an idiot. I missed out on so much in my twenties to get into a decent job that I thought paid well and it seems to have been a waste of time! Does anyone else feel this way? I feel so disheartened.

I think your first step is to sit down and do a budget (if you haven’t already), where you analyse your income against your usual spend. The Budget Mom does some good ‘real life budget’ examples on her YouTube channel, where she gives the person’s budget a ‘red light’ (spending more than you earn) or a ‘green light’ (spending less than you earn) and tweaks it from there. You might be surprised what you find and where you can make some tweaks if you look into it.

OP have you done a budget? E.g.

Take Home approx £3200
Mortgage: £1200
Bills: £300
Food shop: £250
Car: £400 finance, £60 insurance, £20 MOT & servicing, £150 fuel = £650
Other bills/subscriptions - netflix £11, spotify £10, phone £35, gym, £35

Based on the above averages, you should be left with at least £700 per month spending/saving money? Even if your expenses are a few hundred more you should have a fair amount left at the end of the month?

How much are you spending on the car?

My first reaction is not to be sarcastic and I have been a higher earner myself and I lived alone until I was 35 too, so I am not jealous or anything like that. But I honestly do not see why you should be struggling so much. This is a good salary, your take home would be about £3600 per month before loans and your mortgage looks manageable on that income. I think it is your budgeting that needs a review,

Consider a Monday-Thursday night or part time lodger? Are there any big companies nearby might like to put staff up locally for meetings each month etc.

Why is your student loan huge compared to everyone elses?

Did you borrow loads and have a ball at uni? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, in fact I think you should sow your wild oats when young but if you did, it's payback time. Just think of all the fun you had with that money.

You are still much better off than a lot of people, OP, but I’m not going to go jump on the “oh you’re so entitled” train. £58k, whilst more than many, doesn’t go far depending where you live and what your outgoings are. The sad thing is that you’ve bought into the education/career lie that if you just work and study hard enough for long enough it will all pay off. The reality is sometimes it doesn’t. Especially not without vast familial help whether that’s financially, or materially (letting you live at home to save etc.) it is often very hard to “get ahead” even with the qualifications. By the time you’re qualified and earning okay money, you’re often at an age where you feel like you want to settle down, buy a house, have kids etc. but you’re just starting out.
Sometimes you are better off not going to uni, but getting a job with promotion prospects and working your way up (not always possible I appreciate that). Those who did that probably earn the same as you but have no debt and have been earning that level for a good 5-10 years and are more established.
As an example, I worked in a supermarket part time when I was 16. I went to uni, qualified etc. I now earn less than someone I worked with who stayed in that supermarket and is now a regional manager.
There’s a correlation between having a degree and earning potential, but it’s being eroded and offers no guarantees.

Not sure how much your student loans are, but we earn less than that combined (although I am PT) and are a family of 4.

We OP our mortgage so our mortgage is similar to yours.

Not sure how you're struggling tbh.

Sell your car

Why do people say things like this? You can't sell a car that's on finance: you don't own it.

Understandable, your mortgage costs alone are alot! Add on bills/travel costs/car finance etc

Do you have long left to pay off your student loan that would at least free up 270pcm

This is great advice for youngsters who are planning their post-18 plans. Not so much for OP, who has already been to university and has the loans which she’s paying off today. She can’t change her education choices now. She needs strategies for her mortgage, which has gone up nearly 50%. (And possibly her car finance, depending on what it is.)

Of course you can sell a car on finance, you just have to go about it the right way i.e. discuss with the finance provider.

If OP is paying a lot then getting a cheaper car is a good idea.

How much she borrowed wouldn’t change the repayment, it would change how long it would take to pay off. OP’s monthly payment would be £230 on a salary of £58k.

YANBU

I'm on a similar salary and single parent to two children….

my closest family honestly think that my earnings mean that I’m living the high life. Unfortunately in the current climate it just isn’t enough

I completely sympathise but there will be others here who won’t share the same view

Have you considered getting a part time job at night. That's what I did when I was hard up. Worked in a local pub a couple of nights a week.

On £58k your take home pay would be roughly £3300 after student loan payment is taken, and a standard pension contribution. After your mortgage you’re left with £2k for bills, food and anything else, that’s quite a lot and you don’t have nursery or other costs for DC. I’m not sure where the problem is?

Sorry OP but you've chosen to do several very expensive things all at the same time. Living alone, buying and a 2 bed at that, and taking out a loan for car all while still paying off student loans.

And then interest rates and bills have gone up and everything has become even more expensive. As they have for everyone regardless of income. In an alternative universe you'd be facing eviction for not being able to afford the rent increase, but with no other options.

Because of your hard work you do have options. You can take in a lodger, you could rent your entire property out and move back home or into a friend's, travel or work overseas for a bit, you could extend the term of your mortgage, you could suspend auto contributions and pay into your mortgage instead and so on

Hand it back then. Don't be pedantic.

OP can you tell us your budget/outgoings?

I can’t understand how you can be left with nothing on your current salary unless you’re buying coffees and lunches out every day?

I'm on less than the OP as a single income household with 2 DC.
It isn't a race to the bottom, and I don't like when posters are told they have nothing to complain about, "I earn tuppence ha'penny and go sweeping chimneys for 19 hours a day" etc.
But I really don't see how OP is struggling so much. Unless the financed car is an Aston Martin and there's £100k of credit card debt needing to be paid.

58k at 35???

The size of the loan doesn’t matter at the moment…OP will be paying back the same as everyone else earning £58k—it’s a set %. The size of the loan matters when it comes to how long it takes to pay off the loan. Even if her loan were smaller, she would still be paying the same monthly amount that she is today.

Because surely when earning near twice the national average one would expect to be able to save a little and not have to eat beans on toast half the week.

It's crap. The OP is right. And for those on less it's crapper.

When wise in history was someone earning twice the national average aged 35 unable to save anything?

Do you enjoy your job? What is it? Why do you think your wage won’t increase?

OP, what's your take home oat each month
How much are your car repayment and student loans?
Commute costs?

OP why are your student loans so high ? Surely at your age you were Plan 1.