What do you think is a ‘good’ income these days for…

[Greenlp]

Two adults and one child?

I am constantly being told that our income is very good (from online sources, media etc, small talk with friends who don’t know our earnings but make general comments on income/standard of living). I feel like our income is not good enough for a good standard of living. We constantly have to cut back.

Maybe not but this is literally an expense we have to have due to where we are based so it is a factor for us

Is it really the case though? It might be but I’m a Londoner & so many seem to think sending your dc to a state secondary in London is the equivalent to a young offenders. I went to a (good) secondary state here and my dc will likely do the same.

Gosh, your take home pay is lower than ours, and I don't think our salaries are even in the territory of being able to afford private school. I appreciate that decision could be affected by the availability of school places nearby.

Do you have jobs where you need to live at work? I'm just wondering why you can't commute from a different area. Surely not all state schools in a commutable area terrible?? Where are you?

If I heard you say private school fees I'd think you were on a good income.

If I heard you say 5k a month for the household I'd not think you were on a good income.

I would think that when you/your kids see more of the private school kids' home lives, you won't consider it a good income either.

Why is this relevant?

I didn't answer your Q though - I think you do have a good income, it's just that you're choosing to spend it on private education, and that's why you're feeling the squeeze.

It's all down to housing costs. Someone that bought years ago or in housing association will be way better off on a much lower salary

I think people forget the following, after mortgage and school fees you have to pay:

Car expenses
Travel expenses
Contents and buildings insurance
Life/critical health insurance
TV licence
Broadband/Internet
Phone costs
Utilities and water rates
Hair, clothes, etc
Household maintenance
Food

All the above notwithstanding holidays and Christmas and birthdays.

I can see there wouldn't be much left from £5k net pcm.

really? This has made me worried! Do you have a larger mortgage than 1k? We thought we had planned it ok but perhaps we have been reckless committing to it.

Yes about 1.6k but thats with overpaying. Still a few yrs left on 2.2% so want to overpay.

How long have you paying for it? Your OP says you have to constantly cut back so presumably you are feeling the impact of it?

I read somewhere you need to earn 70k to clear your student loan. I earn 60k and I don’t feel it’s ‘good’ income. We are comfortable, we can afford when kids lose their shoes or coat. But I still have to budget.

@VictoryOrDeath is your mortgage higher than 1k a month though? I am a bit worried we have overstretched ourselves to be honest!

Well to me a good standard of living is being able to comfortably afford your mortgage/bills, childcare costs if needed, with money left over for social, holidays, etc. Private school fees is a whole other ballgame.

@TenderChicken i don’t want to say where as it would be very outing but it is one of the very worst places for schools in england. Not the absolute worst but almost.

Depends on where you live.

I would think that when you/your kids see more of the private school kids' home lives, you won't consider it a good income either.

It depends on the school. Some really are the reserve of the mega wealthy but others will have people like the OP, or go help etc. Some will cut back on everything to afford PE.

to demonstrate that £60k being bandied around as a “good income”

would be a shit show for me

We take home about 7.5k but our mortgage is 2k and we also have one set of school fees and out a lot into pensions. I don't have a lot of disposable income, but I realise that is due to what I choose to spend it on and in reality I am in an incredibly privileged position.

@New2thisshizzle been paying it for 3 years so far. We owe 200k on the house and it’s worth around 600k. It’s all a bit worrying but feel we are committed now. I didn’t actually think it was madness until I read some of those posts and it’s derailed my OP a bit! Maybe we should have waited until secondary.

Well, its all relative. I'm on a quarter of that, so yes of course that would feel like a good wage.

There are lots of good free schools but that's a different argument.

as with so much in life op

the devil is in the detail

no mortgage
no children
don’t drive and don’t enjoy holidays

£60k would be great!

Precisely my point

We recently became mortgage-free, but we'll move again at some point, so we're saving towards that.

I think this all depends a bit on the details - how long your DC has left in private education, how long your mortgage has left, whether there's any scope for salary increases.

What's your general quality of life like - can you have days out and holidays etc.? Are you paying enough into pensions, and do you have an emergency fund of savings?

There are lots of good free schools but that's a different argument.

an “argument”? i don’t think so.

Of course there!

@nutrosti a shit show for you 😂 this really made me laugh. It’s how I feel a lot of the time too!!

To be fair, I think £1,700 from £5k net is a stretch vis a vis school fees. How old is the child? When DS started aged 8 the fees were £8k per annum. When he finished aged 18, they were about £19k. Have yiu factored that in. When they were both in their teens, (12ish years ago), the joint fees were about £3k pcm, net.