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.

If you can afford private school, you’re on a good income. I don’t think it matters if you have nothing left afterwards, because you’ve made the choice that it’s worth it. If you needed the money, you also have the choice to take the children out of private school and send them somewhere cheaper. You probably expect your kids to get good jobs and go to decent universities, so it’s more like an investment.

You're wasting £1700 a month on fees. We earn more than you and I wouldn't dream of spending that much on school fees. Enormous waste of money especially for primary.

For reference I actually went to a very expensive private school (fees currently in region of £3k a month). It is a signifcantly worse standard of education than my child's free state school. If there is genuinely not a decent state school nearby (I doubt it) then it's a lot cheaper to move house.

Our take home is also 5k a month and mortgage is going to be £1000 a month, there’s no way we could do private school.

OP’s income after tax is £5k/m

£35k after tax is £2.3k = £4.6k/m

No way would i commit to private school on that income.

I can't believe either all schools are that bad where you live, or thats impossible for you to live elsewhere and work. It's all choices.

You probably expect your kids to get good jobs and go to decent universities, so it’s more like an investment.

They can do that from state school. FWIW out of my entire class of privately educated girls, only 3 have what MN would call decent careers. The rest of us work PT providing childcare or have simply married into more money.

Fucking hell you all need to get a grip. I would consider over 20k a good income so many people earn less than that. If you can't get by on 60k, even in London that's because you are shit with money.

£1700 for a private primary is unnecessary, private is never necessary at primary. Far better to use a tutor if necessary and spend money on extra curriculars.

@Ottersmith £20k is less than minimum wage at full time hours.

No way do you have enough for private school fees. Madness and so limiting for other aspect of your family life. And not all private schools are that good ....what is the advantage you hope to confer?
I just don't believe there are no decent state offerings.

I genuinely wonder if a private education for girls smooths the way to marrying a high income man? If that’s a side benefit of all those school fees?

I didn’t say £3-400k a month that would obviously be absurd. A year.

The parameters I set there are the costs which parents in London might be facing - a £4k/m mortgage increasingly not unusual and paying for two sets simultaneously seems a reasonable consideration?

Private school is very, very expensive - and particularly in context of the already high cost of living in some areas!

It depends on outgoings and arthe ea you live in.

We have a joint income of £70k 2 adults, 1 child but we have a low mortgage, are savvy with utilities , love in a low cost area, low childcare needs. Keep our expenses fairly low. We usually have £600-800 'spare' a month after all bills and expenses.

Before or after VAT?

Obviously that was a typo! 300-400k a yr.

I am trying to think of somewhere that has very location specific jobs but the worse schools. Doncaster is, according to Ofsted, the area with the most poorly rated schools.

You are not left with much disposable per month

A good lifestyle / good income is anything above the average. How one chooses to spend it is entirely personal. I would not spend £1.7 k a month on private fees for a primary school. A secondary perhaps?
Neither of us have a particularly high income but we don’t have a mortgage either which has given us huge financial freedom.
Are the local schools really so terrible? At primary level?

Our income is similar - one nursey age DC and I have no idea where it goes which is really sad.
Very low mortgage (£500) shop at aldi. No finance or debts. High pet costs.
South West location and yes it doesn't stretch as far as I would expect it too.

@MidnightPatrol

Yes living costs are high & PE is expensive. Those things are true. All I said was I think it’s nonsense that you need to earn 300k plus to afford PE comfortably.

Im not sure what else you want me to say? As I already said you can disagree with me 🤷🏻‍♀️

we are around 78k combined, 2 adults 1 dc. By all measurements it’s a good income for where we live (arse end of nowhere northern scotland) but we don’t pay private school. there isn’t one locally and it’s not a high enough income for boarding school (unless we sacrificed absolutely everything else maybe). 🤔 we have good holidays but it’s still something we need to budget and save for. We have a small mortgage on a small ex council house, 1 normal small + 1 slightly bigger luxury car which are both aging now and home improvements looming we have put off due to lack of money. I don’t feel especially well off, but on paper I feel it sounds a lot. We both work full time so per person are incomes aren’t huge and we are ‘time poor’.

Ah, yet another thread where the op does have a good income, chooses to spend a good portion of that income on something not essential and then complains that they don't have a good income 😂You do, you are just choosing to spend a lot of it on something expensive. People who don't have a good income can't afford private school.

Because you've chosen to have a massive expense?

50k of school fees is not included in what a good income would cover. And it wouldn't be a shit show your children would just have to go to a state school

https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in#tool-results-section

This income checker let's you see how you compare including housing costs.

Average household income is around £40k but that includes single people and pensioners. For families the income is or needs to be a lot higher not to feel the pinch.