175k salary and all gone

[175allgone]

This will ruffle some feathers, but after tax, mortgage , childcare, living expenses….there doesn’t seem much left. SE London, commuting, wrap around care. Whilst I appreciate I’m not having to watch my bills I’m hardly living an extravagant lifestyle.

People choose to live in the capital city, buy a big house, have someone look after their children while they choose to work and get surprised when it all costs money.

(Single parent, homeowner, full time earning 30k. Now that's "all gone".)

Surely it’s no surprise that if you have a large mortgage then you’re going to have less disposable income.

My entire monthly income is less than what you pay for your mortgage and I pay rent and all bills from it.

I would love to live in a nice area if London but I don’t because I can’t afford it.

We live within our means.

Your biggest issue is obviously childcare but this is just temporary and you have probably looked into alternatives to make it cheaper already.

What do you and your DH do?

Wow, looks like I need to get back into nannying then!

She could look into a nannyshare arrangement then - paying the nanny on the higher end of the pay scale because it will be more than 2 children. Instead of paying £990 a week, she could be paying £495 if she shares with someone else.

I'm also learning about money, best interest rates, compound interest, investments, what is my pension invested in, savings etc.

And how much did you pay for your house? £2500k per month mortgage doesn’t equate to a big house in London unless the OP has a shit load of equity.

Another poster living in the very distant past.

This only works if:

• you do a job that has shift work (not too many shift work accountancy roles)
• you can find a childminder as they’re rare as rocking horse poop due to the increased cost of living

On a combined income of £80k assuming no childcare outgoings you can borrow £280k ish. You only need to find an extra £370k deposit to afford the “average” flat in Islington Borough (£630k ish).

Humble brag?

That’s literally my point. Choices.

Yes; it’d be so much better for society if they jacked in the job, went PT in a local minimum wage role and claimed benefits for the rest. Also a choice.

No wonder productivity is so low in this country.

But it hasn't all disappeared. Some of it is paying down your mortgage, so is now invested in your (hopefully) appreciating asset.

We earn significantly less than half what you do, and have a lovely home (4 bed detached) and lifestyle that many would be envious of. I feel so very very lucky we have the ability to do the jobs we have and earn what we do, rather than moaning about how I can't afford to live.

OP alone has 2 children. Nanny share with 3-4 kids- might not be much better. Doubt many nannies will agree to that, its too much

So you are in a huge amount of credit card debt

Or they’ve booked a summer holiday & are paying £600 a month off?

Yeah, I totally get you. It’s hard to explain to out-of-towners, but London living costs are off the chart. Throw into that private schooling (previously affordable if you earned 175k) vat, it’s basically time to have a rethink. Many high earners (not rich people), are working out their next move which will probably not be: working any harder, paying anymore tax, upsizing London property. That’s fine by us, tbh, we’re fucking sick of the entire country.

Yep. I know a number of people on over £100k have left the country. They also make decisions such as higher pension payments, early retirement, going part time etc because there's a tipping point where it doesn't pay to work any more or any harder. Thus less tax in the whole pot for everyone

This was 2018-20 so a little while back but not too distant! I’m sure things are worse now but surely there are still nannies and childminders? We were a journalist and a charity marketing director, so some flexibility as long as we were around approximately during business hours.

I am always bemused at how so many wealthy people are so far out of touch with planet earth.

Meanwhile, in reality, people earn about £30k on average.

Stupid thing to do if you are clearing 10k a month. Save and pay for your holiday don’t put in on a credit card with interest.
600 a month is likely to be about 30k of debt.

This was not the OPs outgoings, this was another poster

The first one, as stated in my post.

It's not a hugely appreciating asset. House prices have been increasing close to inflation for a number of years. An asset, yes, but she needs somewhere to live!

I have only reached page 14 of comments

but so far there has been 2 brilliant one liners -

the one about ' taking in ironing ' and the ' jellied eels '

@80smonster Yeah, I totally get you. It’s hard to explain to out-of-towners, but London living costs are off the chart. Throw into that private schooling (previously affordable if you earned 175k) vat, it’s basically time to have a rethink. Many high earners (not rich people), are working out their next move which will probably not be: working any harder, paying anymore tax, upsizing London property. That’s fine by us, tbh, we’re fucking sick of the entire country.

Why does anyone need to live in London and pay extortionate housing costs to crooked Russian property owners?

Why does anyone need private schooling?

Have you thought about living in a normal home and sending children to a normal school like everyone else?

Lots of high earners live near to capital economic hubs for access to work, to pay high taxes, hopefully see their children briefly in the evenings, so they can top-up low earners all over the country.

Would it be cheaper than 4k a month to employ a nanny? Luckily the child card costs aren't forever, it just feels like it when the kids are little x

So they can get to work! To top up taxes for the financially disenfranchised up and down the country. Not everyone can coast around on universal credit, the country will go bust.