What is your household income, how much is benefits, and how are you coping?

[Gabrilla]

Genuinely curious after so many threads on here about benefit changes. Please feel free to name change!

I’ll start:

Salaries for both of us total 90k. Only benefits are £102 month child benefit, though we also get tax-free childcare and 15hrs free at nursery.

Total income is about 6k a month, mortgage and bills 3k, nursery 1k, commuting costs £500, groceries cost £500, husband pays CMS and other bits to his children totalling about £500 leaving us about £500 for everything else.

Feels like we’re constantly penny-pinching.

I know - I was just replying to the statement you were in the top 1%, as you aren’t.

With four kids that makes you in the top ~18% of households.

90k is the equivalent to 72k in 2020 & 59k in 2010.

Wage stagnation & inflation plus frozen tax bands have really done a number

How’s you husbands ex going with his £500 I wonder when you’re struggling on £5500…

Total net income on £90K is around 7,500 pm.

Unless one of you is a higher tax payer and the other much lower. Like 70/20 split.

Your main extra outgoings are commuting and his other children (which is not an insignificant amount) .

How much is your mortgage and how much are 'bills'?

If you're paying subs for TV, phones, gym etc, that will all add up and aren't 'essentials.

Wanting a ‘better quality of life’ on 90k is ridiculous. If you want a ‘better quality of life (whatever that means) then make changes, move, smaller mortgage etc. You are better off than most people in the uk. It’s not about your QOL, it’s about your choices

The old race to the bottom.

It's actually quite reasonable that people have noticed their income, whatever it is, doesn't buy what it would've done a few years back.

@HerOopNorth how have you worked that out? 2 people on 45k will take home 3k before any pension or student loan deductions

Oh, I got that stat by a crude Google.

"With a salary of £160,000, you are likely in the top 1% of earners in the UK.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Top 1% Threshold:
To be considered in the top 1% of income earners in the UK, you generally need a personal taxable income of around £160,000."

I'm not sure how the number of children impacts where you place on household income.

Children are expensive and the nursery years are tough financially.

I guess, as you are supporting more children than average, then earning 90k between you isn’t going to afford you a better quality of life than average quality of life. And by average quality of life, I mean you can afford day to day expenses but luxuries are limited.

How about applying for jobs on a higher salary? Would that give you a bit more headway?

I became a single parent unexpectedly when DD was 11 and it took me a couple of years of study, exams and promotions to get to a point where we could easily afford luxuries again.

Your income sounds good - that must be the tax applicability. My gross salary is 90k a year (not including bonus) but after pension and other deductions my take home is about 4600 a month.

Single woman, no kids / no partner so obviously no benefits. Obviously not “struggling” but far from wealthy and need to budget very carefully each month. Definitely don’t feel as rich as I imagined I would feel when I earned a fraction of this salary! I cannot afford to travel much - just about 1 trip a year overseas mainly weekend somewhere in Europe.

Rent and fixed expenses are about 2000 per month. Currently spend 400 on average a month on groceries but trying to reduce that dramatically. Now finally debt free for the first time in my life since 19 so that’s good.

when I read the first post she said a combined income of £90K. It didn't break it down into who earned what.

Money saving Expert gives the £7500 figure but clearly that is for one earner.

That's why I asked what the income split was. Still no info on that from her.

Student loans- she's not mentioned.

£500 a month after you've paid everything is not bad. I wouldn't call that penny pinching. You can buy clothes and go out on that.

Also a massive part of disposable income is when & if you bought. An income of 90k if you bought decades ago will go a lot further than a couple trying to rent today.

Oh I forgot the water and car insurance and stuff. I wondered why I was so skint.

I don’t think that mortgage is astronomical. If you have a £500k mortgage over 20 years at 4% that’s £3k a month. If you live in the south east £500k + deposit isn’t going to get you far.

But that's a different statistic.

I was looking at household income.
What are you looking at to find the 18% stat? If it's looking at households with children then it's different to looking at all the households.

I'm not saying it's not a relevant or interesting stat, but the one I cited is not wrong.

@HerOopNorth Total net income on £90K is around 7,500 pm.

No it’s not 😂

@HerOopNorth you confused gross & net 🙄

Some one on 90k takes home 5.2k net...

Joint 150k- no benefits.

Mortgage is £700, other bills about the same i think, DH pays them so im not sure.
I spend £600 on groceries, 4adults and 3 greedy cats! We split saving £900 a month for holidays. I give my mum £160 a month to help with her bills. Try to save £200 a month for emergencies.

I love Vinted for clothes!!

But that's a different statistic.*

😆

Combined income of £160k. Monthly outgoings: mortgage & bills 3k, commuting £400, car payment £500, dog care £200, a few international holidays per year, no benefits. No kids yet but pregnant with first child so things will probably change soon.

I do see why larger households on £90k would be unable to afford luxuries in this economy unfortunately. It’s not unreasonable, OP.

Personal income and household income are different.

The £160k figure is from 2018.

The difference in household composition is calculated via the IFS calculator.

I guess it’s all relative, but I grew up in poverty with a single mother who didn’t work and relied on benefits in the 90s. Assumed with a degree and professional jobs, on 90k household income, I’d be richer than needing to buy clothes second hand, box-dying my hair, forgoing holidays and panicking about car bills like she had to.

I definitely didn’t do a cost-benefit analysis on falling in love with someone who had children already though!

Mortgage should go down next year (bought just when the interest rates went up to almost 6% a few years ago), and we’ll save some when the baby gets to school. I would have loved a second but we can’t afford it until then, and then I’ll be too old.

ok fine- I stand corrected. Posting in a rush in my lunch hour.