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.

This ⬆️, I went to a sink school, off the scale poor school, deprived area. I’ve got a PhD.

It's all relative. Our take home is over 7k, in the North. Two adults, one child and two dogs (that are expensive). Still feel skint, outgoing are high and we remortgaged when interest rates were high.

‘Good’ is entirely subjetive and dependent on so many factors. ‘Good’ doesn’t have to reflect just what you need, but also what you want.

What one person considers good another won’t - I’m not sure why that’s controversial.

Our household income is about £100k and a low mortgage and don’t live in London. We have a nice life style, joining out on the weekends etc. however we have very old cars, cheap eurocamp holidays and shop at Aldi. I don’t know where the money goes but I definitely don’t feel rich.

That's a bit skewed by number of single people.
For 2 working adults around 65-70k would be average.
Good would be above 80k

Can you give some idea of where they met the men with money? And what background those men have?

a good salary for us would be £150,000 and even on that I wouldn't want to pay for school fees.

Our take home is £6.5k and I would never think about paying school fees

However our mortgage is 3 times yours @Greenlp

I wasn't having a dig - I was saying that when your friends say 'oh X and Y have £100k joint income between them , they're doing very well', they're not thinking '£100K - £30K fees'. ie they probably wouldn't say 'X and Y have £70K joint income, they're doing very well'

Or whatever the figures are.

But also - it's not a 'literal expense' in the sense of being a fixed outgoing like gas or whatever - otherwise what do all the parents who don't have the £30K for fees do? Sometimes we do accidentally reveal our privilege.

Can you remortgage and take out a mortgage out over a longer period of time?

I wouldn't send my children to private school but if I did I would want them to be able to do school trips and pay for the additional stuff that goes above basic fees.

2.3k left over every month with all other bills sounds really tight.

Honestly? Met all of them through their brothers or through uni.

Both of which could have been done without the private education.

Anyone who says anything else is kidding themselves.

A 'good income' is one that is higher than your outgoings.

OK so the brothers didn’t go private?

Of course anyone can meet a rich husband. But you know, somehow I find it hard to believe that rich daughters from rich families have exactly the same chance of doing so as women from other walks of life.
Privilege is a real thing, though privileged people do seem to like denying it exists.

Our income and expenditure is very similar to yours OP, except our £1700 is on childcare for two children and not school fees. And we have much less equity on our house 😅

We feel the pinch and I can't wait until our childcare costs reduce. I'd love to send my kids to one of the good local independent schools for secondary because the state schools here aren't great. My income should increase by £1-2k pm over the next few years as I finish a professional qualification but even with that we have decided against private school because it would still mean stretching ourselves.

our take home pay is around 4.5k per month.
I work part time two days a week
husband self employed
no car payments for both our cars or mortgage as both paid off.
small nursery bill of £200 per month due to funded hours🙌🏻
go on 2 abroad holidays per year, 4/5 caravan holidays per year.
i think we have a decent standard of living but it's all relative to other bills/commitments/life wants.....

Our income is good for us; Pays all bills and my salary all gets saved and provides all the extras we need and I don't have to budget for coffee shops or hobbies or new tops or anything. SE, three holidays per year, not saying how much because people would accuse me my lifestyle cannot be achieved on that little amount of money. Clever people achieve everything they want and nobody has to know their financial affairs apart from the tax people.

Above average does not mean good, esp when the average is shockingly low. People are paid very poor salaries in the UK with a high cost of living and I can't think of anywhere in the UK where a 38k income for a family could be called remotely good.

And what do you call outgoings? Just bills or discretionary spending as well? If you can only afford to pay your bills and not much else I wouldn't say that is a good income.

Over 20k? Are you joking?

It’s really really not though. Over 90% of the population in the UK don’t go to private schools, and the vast majority of them have happy and successful lives. Your premise that private schools fees are an essential is simply wrong.

To me, a ‘good income’ means that a) you have some money spare each month after paying for the essentials (which don’t include private school fees!) and b) you don’t have to check the exact cost of everything you’re buying at the supermarket to the last penny as you’re confident you can afford it.

Our take home is similar to yours OP, and we feel it's a really good income for us. But, we have a 4 year old who just started state primary school and a 2 year old (no nursery fees as I'm a SAHM). Also we purposely didn't stretch ourselves when we bought the house 5 years ago so have a low mortgage.

Are the state schools really that terrible? I'm intrigued where you live...is there somewhere you could move to which is still commutable to work but has better schools?

My DS went to a "requires improvement" state secondary and has just left with all 8s and 9s at GCSE, planning to do a medical degree.

Depends on outgoings and life style. Five years ago my husband was on a six figure salary now he has given that up for a much lower paid job with less stress and better work life balance. We are also now mortgage free so our lifestyle hasn’t changed dramatically because we no longer have a mortgage.

You say take home is £5K but just two of your bills are more than 50% of your income.

You’ve got all sorts to pay for on top ....Council tax, electricity, gas, water, house insurance, phones (mobile and home), broadband, cars (finance, insurance, maintenance and fuel) life assurance etc;

Plus Food for 3

Extras for school like trips and equipment and sports.

Clothing ...

Plus entertaining, nights out, holidays, birthdays and Christmas to budget for.

You can't afford the school fees AND a decent standard of living. Either you need to find £1500 more each month from promotions or make adjustments to schooling. Unclear of the age of the child but if under 11 - look at selective state schools from year 7.

You’ll need £25-35k for university to top up loans across 3 years so I’d get the child into a state selective high school or sixth form to save the cost of fees and allow for a better life.

About £95k between us. Mortgage £550 a month. 3 children at private school but with generous discount.

I feel hugely lucky and don't earn anything like many of you, but it is all to do with circumstance too.

My take home as a single parent from just my wages 3.1k, I get a sizable bouns that pays for our annual holiday plus my exes pay child maintenance. My mortgage is £650 a month, we have good primary and state schools in walking distance plus train stations also in walking distance with direct trains in to London.

I'm currently funding my daughters driving lessons, as well as her loan horse and my son competes in Jiu Jitsu, I pay for three mobile phone bills plus both my children have had private tuition when needed.

For private school I honestly believe you have to be all in and pay above the fees so they can have the full experience (hence why mine don't go as well as the fact we have good schools close by). I can't imagine trying to fund driving lessons monthly, annual holidays as well as having to pay for school fees without a sizable income. I also think a good chunk of education starts at home with life experience and the things you can also teach them about work and helping with skills like driving or private tuition.