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.

I get you!
we are on double that income and moved out of Islington for the reasons you describe. We swapped childcare fees for school fees but it’s mainly the fact that house prices are so much cheaper out of Islington! Our mortgage is less than 1k
now. And you get a nice big garden. And you can drive places at weekends without having to sit in the car for ages just to get out of london.

I'm on a similar joint salary in London and wouldn't dream of living in Islington. It's incredibly expensive. Move further out.

You asked for thoughts. We gave you thoughts. Don't hit out when people speak honestly. You chose to live in an insanely expensive part of town. Then it's all expensive.

You could have asked me how we manage on 55 k in London. Two kids. But you didn't.

Look at money saving expert. Do a budget. There are bound to be ways of cutting back. Do you have a cleaner, do you need a car, do you buy lunch out, do you buy new clothes? Do you drink? Do you shop at Waitrose ? Do you go abroad? All these things can be cut right back.

But like I said, you chose the mortgage and you chose to have kids. I would like a bigger house and two more kids but I can't afford them, ever. So I don't have them.

At some stage, the childcare bills drop.

Then you are living on a higher income more than many on here. I speak kindly.

Long term, just count your blessings and get practical about the spending.

This post should be really grabbing people's attention. The UKs productivity is crap. Without London it's just nothing in terms of global GDP. London should become its own country and rejoin the EU.

I get you! we are on double that income and moved out of Islington for the reasons you describe. We swapped childcare fees for school fees but it’s mainly the fact that house prices are so much cheaper out of Islington! Our mortgage is less than 1k now. And you get a nice big garden. And you can drive places at weekends without having to sit in the car for ages just to get out of london.

Some of you people remind me of the clowns who win the lottery, then somehow all of their money disappears within a year because they don't understand that winning the lottery doesn't mean you can buy a dozen supercars and try to cosplay as a billionaire, lmao.

ITS ALREADY HAVING THAT EFFECT. High earners aren’t are problem, families who take lots from local services (and pay little back) are essentially a drain unless there is circa 50k per member of family. That’s what schools, doctors and other public services cost.

Another one 🤦‍♀️
this mortgage DOES NOT get you a massive luxurious home in London. In fact it’s just a little over mortgage on my 2bed flat (although relatively nice but in the East London which isn’t that nice).
this is not expensive childcare, this is standard cost of childcare nowadays.
i bet OP wears average clothes like everyone else (although maybe not Shein), doesn’t eat out much and goes on average holidays

People choose to work in London as that's where a lot of jobs are if you're a high flyer.

London and the City is where most of the UK's wealth is generated.

No one earning a 6-figure income wants to be adding a 2hr commute onto their already long day (often 12 hours.) And housing within 30-45 mins of London is now creeping up to London prices as families move out to get a bit more for their money.

I think many people underestimate the hours you need to put in to earn 6 figures. It's rarely 9-5. I know people earning huge sums (investment bankers, CEOs etc) and they work VERY long hours and even when on holiday.

The OP- if this is a JOINT income- is not in the super-rich bracket by any means for working and living in London.

I know, personally, a couple on £400K (joint) and they were struggling to find a family home and pay childcare.

Which is why I question OP's low mortgage- less than many pay as rent for a small falt.

Understand that crucifying those who work harder isn’t going to change your lot in life. Maybe it’s time to find a new job?

Well its not surprising, just look at all these threads here about choosing to work part time and topping up their income with UC, it’s ridiculous

The UK was the first industrialised country and it was once the scientific and engineering capital of the world. Then clowns in London decided to repurpose the UK economy to have people doing fake jobs like "services" and "finances" instead. Now clowns such as yourself think that the city with the fake financial jobs that sabotaged the rest of the country should just ditch everyone else... lol...

Not everyone who works part-time claims tax credits. They may pay less tax, but generally it's better for the children not to be in full time childcare.

? I understand perfectly that money isn’t endless. Which is exactly why we moved out of london. In order to spend less money but have a similarly nice life. 🙂

You're the one who said that your children can't do well in school unless they go a private school, lol. Have you considered that maybe it's your family that are lazy?

Absolutely. Posts like this get the haters, but those about claiming extra benefits don't receive the same backlash!

I suggest that posters like @User1979289 spend 10 mins on Right Move, look at ISLINGTON , - that's London N1- and see house prices.

You'll be very surprised.

There are no massive houses for £2500 a month.

If the OP is genuine, I bet they live in a flat- possibly a conversion of an old terraced house - because you're not going to get much more for that mortgage without a massive deposit.

Good god, do people need to be such pricks? It’s like a competition to be the most offended and affronted with a sprinkling of race to the bottom.

there will always be people better off AND worse off than each other, people are working bloody hard for their salaries, both high and low. Sure it’s all relative but I dare say that mortgage wasn’t £2500 until recently, and child care of £1000 per week is INSANE. @175allgone will feel like she’s on a hamster wheel. That’s never nice, whatever the pay slip.

@175allgone would you be able to move out of London? You’d get a lot of money for your house and be able to seriously upgrade your current house at a fraction of the cost, childcare is a
pot cheaper.

if you lived out of London - even expensive South/SouthEast, where I live you’d make that salary go further.

sure there’s commuting in that, but could you negotiate a more hybrid work pattern

London isn’t going to get much cheaper to live in, you’re in this for the next few years until the kids are older… but then there’s private school fees.

You’re thinking “there must be more to life than this” there is. You just have to think differently sometimes

That’s not what she said. She said people wouldn’t have the incentive to work hard and earn high salaries if they couldn’t enjoy the perks such as affording private school for children.

Maybe she’s at work? I assume she and her partner don’t earn a joint income of £175k doing jobs that allow unlimited time during the working day to mess about on social media?

And you’re wrong about property in Islington: acc to Rightmove just now there are lots of 3bed apartments in Islington starting at 500k and 3bed houses starting at 700k, but OP may actually have a 2 bed apartment, so that monthly mortgage coupled with a decent deposit that she mentioned they saved for seems totally fair. She may still be able to speak to a broker about getting a better deal though.

And personally I think that the fact that she works FT, has 2 very young kids and yet was awake at 3am in the morning worrying about money deserves a little compassion rather than the general disdain seen on this thread.

Oh, silly me, this is Mumsnet. Never pass an opportunity to kick a woman when she is down …

Those services and finances are the only things keeping the country afloat 😅

Which tax credits are you talking about? UC?
Good for their children. I bet they claim free childcare hours though. But someone is footing their bill for subsidised childcare/NHS/schools/police etc. if they earn less than 40K (or is it 50k now)

4k a month is 1k a week roughly, not 500

No one’s is living an extravagant lifestyle.

Yes, because the rest of the country was sabotaged. If the UK was still an industrial powerhouse, then the country would be kept afloat by real jobs instead. Is that not what I just explained?

Why is that a perk? A child who works hard will get straight As in school regardless of whether they go to a private school or not. So why bother sending them to a private school?